When you need a website for your business, should you hire a web designer or a web developer?
These skills are often confused. As the name suggests, a web designer designs a website, and a web developer develops it, but this doesn’t tell you much when you are trying to decide whom to hire.
You may need someone to plan the appearance of your website. You may already have a design and need someone to turn it into working web pages. Or your website may look fine, but you want customers to book appointments, get quotations or access their account details.
Each requirement involves a different type of work. Once you understand what that work is, choosing the right person becomes easier.
What does a web designer do?
Designing is mostly visual. A web designer plans the layout, chooses the colors and fonts and decides where the different elements should appear. They may use a visual tool like Figma to create the design and the layout of your website before someone builds it. Please keep in mind that just because a design has been prepared in Figma, your website isn’t ready. The website still needs to be built, even if it is just HTML and CSS.
Suppose you run a consulting business. Your homepage needs an introduction, information about your services, a few client testimonials and a way to contact you.
A designer decides how to arrange these things on the page. How much space should your introduction get? Should the services appear in separate boxes? Where should the appointment button go? How will the same page look on a mobile phone?
These decisions give the website its visual structure.
The designer also plans how visitors move between pages. Your services should have clear names. The navigation should be easy to understand. Someone looking for your contact details should know where to click.
A web designer may know HTML and CSS, but these are not necessary for creating the visual design. HTML gives a web page its structure, while CSS controls things like spacing, colors and fonts. Knowing them can help a designer understand how their design will work in a browser.
The main deliverable, though, is the design itself. It shows how the pages, forms, menus and other elements should look.
For example, a designer can create the appearance of an appointment form. They can decide where the date selector goes, how available slots appear and what the confirmation message looks like. Making that form check availability and save an appointment is development work.
What does a web developer do?
A web developer turns the design into a working website and builds the features your business needs. They use programming languages like PHP, Python or JavaScript, depending on the work involved.
You may also hear the term web programmer. For the purpose of hiring someone to write website code, it describes much of the same work. A PHP programmer is more specific: this person writes code in PHP, a language commonly used for WordPress development and other website applications.
There is a lot happening behind even a simple form.
When a customer enters their details and clicks a button, the website needs to check the information, process it and decide what should happen next. It may need to save a booking, calculate a price or send information to another service.
The programmer writes the instructions for these steps.
Suppose your form asks for a quantity. What happens if someone enters a negative number? What if they leave a required field empty? What if the service receiving the information is temporarily unavailable?
These situations need to be handled. Otherwise, the website may show the wrong result or leave the customer wondering whether their request went through.
You can compare this to constructing a building.
An architect plans the layout and considers how people will use the spaces. The construction team turns those plans into an actual building with working systems.
A web designer’s role is similar to the architect’s. The developer’s role is closer to the team that builds from those plans and makes the systems work.
The comparison helps explain why a finished design is only one part of a website project. A picture of a booking form cannot save an appointment, just as a drawing of a room cannot provide a place to sit.
A developer also builds websites that mainly display information. So, static versus dynamic is not a reliable way to decide whom to hire. The useful distinction is between planning the design and building the website.
What does a dynamic website do for a small business?
A dynamic website can process information and show content or results based on stored data, customer choices or business rules. The practical examples are easier to understand than the definition.
Suppose you are a consultant and you want people to book appointments on your website.
Some slots may be available and some may already be taken. Your website needs to check your availability, display suitable times and let a customer choose one. If you manage your schedule in Google Calendar, the booking system may need to communicate with that calendar.
Once someone books, the website should record the appointment and send a confirmation. It also needs to prevent another customer from booking the same slot.
The design determines how this process appears to the customer. A web programmer handles the instructions and connections that make it work.
Now suppose you have a printing business.
A customer chooses the paper size, the quantity of prints and the paper quality. According to these choices, the website calculates a price and allows the customer to place an order.
But your pricing may have conditions. You may charge less per copy for larger orders. Certain paper sizes may cost more. An urgent job may carry an extra charge.
The programmer needs to understand these rules before writing the calculation. Otherwise, the form may work perfectly while giving customers the wrong price.
Your business may also need:
- A customer account area where each person can view their own invoices and orders.
- A restaurant ordering system that calculates the bill and sends the order to the staff.
- A course website where students can access the lessons they have paid for.
- A service request form that sends each enquiry to the right person.
Existing software may already handle some of these requirements. A developer can connect or configure a suitable service where it fits. When your business needs something different, they can write the code for that requirement.
If your website runs on WordPress, a PHP programmer can build a custom plugin, change how information is processed or connect your website to another business tool.
For example, you may want customer enquiries to appear in your WordPress dashboard, assigned to different staff members. You may need a report based on those enquiries. This is the sort of customization that changes how you use WordPress in your daily work.
Should you hire a web designer or a web developer?
Start by describing what you need done in ordinary language. You don’t need to know which programming language or tool the person should use.
If your pages look cluttered, your text is difficult to read or you need a new visual identity, you need design work. A web designer can plan a better layout and show you how the pages should look.
If you already have an approved design and need it turned into a working website, you need development work.
The same applies when you want a custom quotation form, an appointment system or a customer account area. You need someone who can build the process and make sure it follows your business rules.
For WordPress, describe the actual change you need. “I want a different homepage layout” and “I want each customer to see their own order history” are very different requests. The first needs a design decision before implementation. The second needs development of the underlying feature.
If you want to fully customize a WordPress setup, look for a developer with experience in the parts you need changed. A PHP programmer working on custom plugins, forms and business processes should be able to explain how they would handle your requirements.
Ask what you will receive at the end of the project. Will it be a design file, working web pages or a complete feature that has been tested? This avoids a situation where you expect a functioning website and receive only its visual design.
A web designer plans your website’s appearance, layout and navigation. A web developer builds the pages and features that make it work. A web programmer can handle custom calculations and connections, while a PHP programmer can help with PHP-based systems and WordPress customization. If your project needs both design and development, arrange for both services. Decide what work you need done. That tells you whom to hire.