What Is A Web Designer? How do they work and how much do they charge?
You will probably have heard the terms web design and web developer flying about. But what precisely is a web developer? And what does a web designer do? And most importantly, how are they able to help you in your business needs?
What is a Web developer?
A web developer is a very broad term that describes somebody that is involved in designing, launching and maintaining website. Their role can vary from working on an existing website and improving it, to completely designing a website from scratch, finding the domain name and writing the content. They are also often involved in SEO, which means they take steps to make sure that a website can be found in the major search engines.
Do You Need a Permanent Web Designer?
Most companies understand that they may need the services of a web developer to make sure that their website is good looking, findable and useable by their existing and potential customers. However, most companies prefer to work with a freelance web developer or with a web design company, rather than hiring a permanent person and creating an actual position for them.
Whether or not you need someone permanently employed will depend mainly on how much work you need doing and how much you can do yourself, as well as in how much you actually use your website to conduct your business. If your business is almost solely based on ecommerce and you have very little web design knowledge yourself, it may be beneficial to hire a permanent web developer. However, if you only require the website to be built and the occasional maintenance, you would be better off working with a freelancer or a web design company. These will be able to step in and out of the picture as and when necessary.
The main aim for the web designer however, should always be, ensuring that you convert as many web visitors as possible. A conversion is simply defined as a user performing a desirable action on your website e.g. purchasing a product, or signing up to your e-mail newsletter etc. It's very easy for a web developer to simply "fling up" a website, however when you hire a web designer you need to make sure you are hiring someone who is going to put some careful thought into the process and is going to make some effort to actually understand your industry and services/products.
It's also very worthwhile suggesting that the web designer tests various versions of the page, mainly to see which one has the best conversion potential.
What is a Web developer?
A web developer is a very broad term that describes somebody that is involved in designing, launching and maintaining website. Their role can vary from working on an existing website and improving it, to completely designing a website from scratch, finding the domain name and writing the content. They are also often involved in SEO, which means they take steps to make sure that a website can be found in the major search engines.
Do You Need a Permanent Web Designer?
Most companies understand that they may need the services of a web developer to make sure that their website is good looking, findable and useable by their existing and potential customers. However, most companies prefer to work with a freelance web developer or with a web design company, rather than hiring a permanent person and creating an actual position for them.
Whether or not you need someone permanently employed will depend mainly on how much work you need doing and how much you can do yourself, as well as in how much you actually use your website to conduct your business. If your business is almost solely based on ecommerce and you have very little web design knowledge yourself, it may be beneficial to hire a permanent web developer. However, if you only require the website to be built and the occasional maintenance, you would be better off working with a freelancer or a web design company. These will be able to step in and out of the picture as and when necessary.
The main aim for the web designer however, should always be, ensuring that you convert as many web visitors as possible. A conversion is simply defined as a user performing a desirable action on your website e.g. purchasing a product, or signing up to your e-mail newsletter etc. It's very easy for a web developer to simply "fling up" a website, however when you hire a web designer you need to make sure you are hiring someone who is going to put some careful thought into the process and is going to make some effort to actually understand your industry and services/products.
It's also very worthwhile suggesting that the web designer tests various versions of the page, mainly to see which one has the best conversion potential.
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