Web Design & Web Development
How To Buy?
How To Buy A Small Business Website
Hire your web designer to deliver mockups for each unique page on your website. Tell them you wish to hire them to create Photoshop (PSD) Comps.
Hire a competent web developer to convert your PSD comps into high quality web code -- to transform the design images into a website.
A Common Mistake
Many small business owners make this mistake. They hire a web designer or web developer to do both jobs: the creative job of web design, and the logical job of web development.
Why would you want to hire a creative artist, to write computer programming for your website? Don't do it. Hire a web developer. Your website will load faster, function more predictably, and be accessible to a wider audience.
Why would you want to hire a left-brained programmer to design your website? Don't do it. Hire a web designer for this part of the project. Your website will be more visually appealing, more likely to inspire confidence, and more effective at converting visitors to customers.
Why Does This Happen So Often?
If you've purchased web design and web programming from the same vendor, you are not alone. This is the way most small business owners buy a website. And it is too bad. Because websites that have been designed and developed by the same contractor are almost invariably flawed. Business owners who hire a web designer to do both jobs wind up with error-ridden and sloppy code. Business owners who hire a web developer to do both jobs typically receive an unattractive website that doesn't convert visitors to customers.
What Do Web Designers Sell?
Web designers sell web design. Did you know you can hire a web designer to produce design mockups? Let me say that again. You can hire a web designer to produce design mockups. After all, that is what they do best. And why not hire them to do what they do best?
What Do Web Developers Sell?
Web developers sell web development. You can hire a web developer to program (code) the design your web designer produced for you. Web developers are programmers. Why not hire a programmer to write your website code? After all, that is what they do best.
Do Your Business A Favor
Don't hire a web developer, a logical left-brained person, for the part of your project that requires visual creativity.
Don't hire a web designer, a creative, right-brained person, for the part of your project that requires linear thinking and attention to programming best practices.
Hire both!
Common Misconception
There is a common misconception among small business owners that it would cost too much to hire a web designer and a web developer. This is not so. Your business deserves good design and good development. Don't settle for anything less.
