Web Design Vs Web Development: What’s The Difference?

Written By hamza siyamwala
web design vs web development

When you read about building websites, the words website design and development often appear. People often use these two terms together, so that you may be curious about the difference between web design and development.

“Design” and “development” are two areas of expertise in building websites. Knowing each one and how it works can help you hire a web design agency or Web development company.

In this blog, we’ll look closer at web design vs. web development, which will help establish the difference between the two fields. We’ll also highlight the essential similarities between these two disciplines.

Website design is the overall look of your website, from the layout and navigation to the colors and typography. Web design includes all the various elements that make up a website.

  1. Graphic design
  2. UI and UX design
  3. Logo design
  4. Layout/format
  5. Color palettes
  6. Typography

Ultimately, good web design combines form and function: it looks great, works well, is easy to navigate, feels like it’s part of the brand, and has a high level of functionality. Using all these elements, a website becomes a naturally visual product, giving it its visual appeal.

Website development is all about how all of the elements in a website work together, from the back end to the front end. It involves creating a solid, functioning website. Website development includes:

  1. HTML/CSS/JavaScript
  2. CSS preprocessors 
  3. Frameworks 
  4. Web template design
  5. On-site search engine optimization 
  6. Web performance optimization
  7. Server-side programming

Web development involves the client and their goals, the types of websites they want to build, and the underlying technology (HTML/CSS/JS) that supports it. It is not simply about designing a website. It is about creating a site that works for your client and your business goals.

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Web design and development are different fields, but they overlap. Visual design and programming are essential to both. What differentiates these fields? We need to look at other vital differences to answer this question. 

1) Website Designers Aren’t Responsible For Writing Code.

One of the most significant differences between web design vs. web development is that web design is much more focused on the visual elements of a website and usually does not write code or use programming languages. A web designer uses an editor like Photoshop to develop images, create mockups, and design layouts.

On the other hand, web development includes both back-end and front-end engineering (the development of a website and the code that powers it). This may consist of coding with HTML/CSS or using JavaScript and other frameworks to create interactive web pages

2) Website Developers Don’t Make Assets.

Web designers are responsible for creating the images, videos, and text assets used in a website, but web developers aren’t. Web developers are responsible for programming these assets. 

A web designing company works closely with the user experience and the visual design of a website. In contrast, a web developer will use markup languages like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML to implement the designer’s mockups, wireframes, and other assets. 

Web design is primarily visual. It’s about what visitors see—how a website looks. Website development is primarily functional. It’s about how a website works under the hood—how it functions and serves its purpose.

3) Web Design Costs Less Than Web Development.

Another difference is that web design vs. development are related tasks, but they don’t require the same level of expertise. Therefore, the cost of web design vs. web development will be different, with the website design being less expensive and the website development being more expensive.

A website designer will cost less than a web developer. Typically, a designer can deliver a website design for less than $30 per hour, while a developer would charge around $40 to $ 50 per hour. This can vary depending on where you live and how experienced the designers are, but it’s a general guideline when hiring a web designing company.

4) Web Design Adds Aesthetics, While Web Development Adds Functionality.

When done well, website design should improve how your website looks and feels. It should keep visitors engaged, entice them to stay on the site for longer and help convert them into paying customers.

Website development adds functionality—it adds functionality that improves the overall user experience. For example, web development will improve loading times, ensure your website is mobile-friendly, and improve search engine optimization to rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing.

These fields are very similar in many ways. We’ll take a look at the similarities between web design vs. web development, detailed below are:

1) Both Help Create An Engaging User Experience 

Ultimately, web design vs. web development is about creating a website that works for your users. No matter what you’re selling, if there’s one thing that will help turn visitors into paying customers, it’s a good user experience. Site visitors should be able to find what they want quickly, easily, and with minimal effort.

2) Both Are About Creating Stylish Websites

Like website design, website development is about creating a stylish website. You may have a different level of creativity and vision than a professional designer, but you can still create something that looks good and works well.

3) Both Are About Making The Web Faster

Website design and development go hand in hand regarding how well your website can load and how quickly it takes the user to get to their desired page. The goal is to improve the speed of your website by optimizing loading times.

4) Both Help Creates Websites That Work Across Mobile Devices

Mobile devices will very likely be an essential part of how users interact with your website in the future—and you need to make sure that your website accommodates these devices so that it works well on all platforms, including mobile and desktop browsers.

5) Both Help Create SEO Websites

Like website design and development, search engine optimization (SEO) is a big part of the overall success of your site. Both are crucial when ranking higher in search engines like Google and Yahoo to achieve the best possible visibility.

The key difference between website design and web development is that design should focus more on how a site looks, while web development focuses more on how it will work and deliver content. Web designers generally work with many more visual elements, while web developers usually do programming. Web design is more about how the site will look, and web development is more about how the site will work. 

Both require different skills and experience types, but they can work together to create a beautiful, functional website. So when choosing between website design and web development, you must first decide what’s more important for your website. 

If you need your site to look stunning and grab visitors’ attention, a designer may be the better choice. Alternatively, a developer may be the better choice if you need your site to function well to help convert visitors into subscribers or customers.

Web development and design are two different fields, and they require different skill sets. Web designers focus more on the aesthetics of a site, while web developers focus more on functionality. Website designers cost less than website developers. Website design focuses primarily on a site’s appearance, while website development focuses on how it works. 

Website design and web development go hand in hand regarding making the site look good, how quickly the site loads, how responsive it is on all platforms, and ensuring that it’s optimized for search engines like Google and Bing. Hire a Web development company if you need your website to work well—and hire a web design agency if your website looks good!

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