What's the difference between web design and web development?

So you need a website designed, and fast. You go online and search for web designers in your local area, but then bam - you start seeing the words "web developer" all over the place. So are you looking for a web developer or a web designer, or both? What's the difference? Do you need to hire two different entities to produce your website? If you're currently in this situation, you may need a little help to elucidate these terms. While web design and web development are very closely related, each field has a subtley different focus.

Web design is primarily concerned with what a website looks like, whereas web development is how it works and functions. Basically, a web designer produces a website layout with graphic software like Adobe Photoshop, and then the developer takes the web design and makes it functional. The web developer is in charge of "building" the website out of the existing web design elements. Understanding what types of tasks are part of web design or web development means you can better understand costs and time requirements, and you will be more equipped to negotiate quotes from your web designers.

Web development can sometimes go beyond the necessary tasks of writing markup and coding which comprise a web page - it can sometimes mean writing the content for a website, as well as client and server side development, content management systems, e-commerce, customer relations management and mobile applications. Depending on what your business requires, you might need all or none of these services. The process of producing a website requires much planning, and constant reference to your business plan. You should also consider social interactivity features, which are almost a prerequisite for growth in today's age; and finally search engine optimisation which entails helping your website to rank highly in search engines and then maintaining it.

Today, you can generally find companies that can provide you with all of these services, and more. These companies are called digital agencies, however in the public eye they are still classed as web design firms. A professional web design and development team will ensure your website delivers optimal usability through rigorous testing using all the different systems and browsers. Digital agencies can also build your firm's intranet and extranet facilities. The more interactive an internet service is, the more development is required to build it. In short, anything digital or interactive that your company desires can be fulfilled by a digital agency.