A web developer generally works with
all of the technical details of your web site. A very good web developer will
also help you with web marketing, writing effective content, and achieving good
search engines rankings.
What is a "web developer?"
Compared to a "web designer," a "web developer" usually has a much broader range of skills.
- designing the web site architecture and navigation,
- creating graphics and adding photos,
- creating links,
- programming web applications, and
- creating databases.
Types
Of Web Designers
Graphic
Designer - creates the graphics for the site,
including page layout, colors, etc. Think of this person as the "visual
artist" for your site.
Website Designer - helps you to determine the page layout,
graphics, text location and colors of your site, as well as the navigation and
how pages will cross-link to one another.
You Ask The Right
Questions
- “Does the designer need to work on your conversion rates? If so, are they qualified?”
- “Are the websites in the designer’s portfolio still using the design?”
- “Does the designer need to do branding work? If so, are they experienced with branding?”
- “Does the designer offer testimonials/referrals that are easy to get in touch with?”
- Is this website development company is good?
Ask what programs they use to create
websites. Although it's true that good websites can be made with cheap software
and good software doesn't necessarily mean good websites, there are a few
guidelines which can help create an impression of the designer's skill level:
- Very few professional designers use Microsoft Frontpage for web design — this would be a warning sign.
- Some web designers work exclusively with plain text editors. In theory this is a good sign — it means they write all their code by hand which shows a thorough understanding of the medium.
