Do you need a website designer or a developer?

You need both skills in every website, but not always from two people. A plain site leans on design. A site that takes payments or holds your data leans on development. Three things decide it: how standard the job is, how much the site must do behind the screen, and who looks after it later.

In short: if the site only shows information, one person can often do both jobs. If it takes payments or holds your data, expect two kinds of skill.

What does a website designer do?

A website designer decides how the site looks and how a visitor moves through it. The Small Business Development Corporation of Western Australia describes web design as the look and layout of a website, together with the experience visitors have when they browse it. A published guide to hiring says a designer is usually responsible for the overall look and feel of a site.

Layout, pictures, colours and the way pages connect all sit in the designer's hands. Design is about the visitor. It answers whether a stranger can see what you do and how to reach you.

What does a website developer do?

A website developer builds how the site works behind the screen. The same Western Australian body describes web development as the coding and building that gives a site its structure and functionality. The hiring guide says a developer focuses more on technical parts, such as coding and setting up databases.

The hiring guide adds that complex needs, such as online store features, custom applications or links to a database, call for a developer.

Do i need a website designer?

Yes, someone has to do the design work, but you do not always need a separate designer. If the site only has to say who you are and how to reach you, design is the main job. If the site must do things for your customers, development matters as much as design.

A blogging guide by one writer says the answer depends on your own expertise, your goals and your budget. The same writer says the expertise of a professional is often underestimated. The writer also warns that learning the tools from nothing takes time away from running the business. The same writer also says he feels the market is moving towards more independent solutions, so his view is one opinion among many. The hiring guide says that on a tight budget you can try simple tools or templates yourself, and that coding or a complex online shop is where a professional is needed.

Your own time counts as part of the cost. Ask what you would rather spend it on.

When does one person do both?

One person can do both when the job is plain and standard. A site that tells people who you are and how to reach you is the clearest example. The blogging guide lists an existing template or theme as one option a designer may offer instead of a fresh design, and says the choice is yours.

Two people become useful when the site must do more than show information. Then the look and the working parts are separate jobs, and a different person can do each one well.

Whatever the size, ask who will do each part and who you will speak to. Ask who looks after the site later. If only a developer can change your site, it can easily fall out of date.

Is it hard to design a website?

Starting is not hard. Doing it well takes time. A long running blogging guide says site builders, themes and plugins now let a person set up a site in a short time without writing code. The same guide says that learning these tools still takes a great deal of time when they are all new to you. A hiring guide calls designing and running a website a task that is not simple.

The hard part is rarely the screen. It is deciding what the site should do for a visitor. You can describe that without picking a technology. Our article Before you order a website: six things to decide first sets out six plain questions that you can answer without knowing anything about technology.

How long does it take to design a website?

How long it takes to design a website depends on the job, so no single number would be honest. The time is set by how much the site has to do, how many decisions are still open, and how quickly you answer questions. The Western Australian body advises that a provider should give you a schedule of milestones. It says that schedule would cover steps such as domain registration and hosting, then planning the content and structure, then building and coding, then testing.

Decisions still open can slow a site down, so settle the words, pictures and goals early. Ask for the schedule in writing before you agree to anything. A date you cannot see written down is only a hope.

What to settle before you ask anyone

Settle three things first: what a visitor should do, who will keep the site up to date, and what happens after it goes live. Short answers are enough. Half formed answers still make a clear brief.

The Western Australian body also advises that you should own your website and your domain name, not the designer or developer, and that you should get this confirmed in writing before work starts. That body is Australian and its guidance was written for Australia. Rules can differ between countries, so check what applies to you before you sign. Treat its advice as a question to put to any provider you speak to, not as a rule that applies in South Africa.

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