Web Developer vs. Web Designer

Do you know the difference?

Call us crazy, but we'd rather not be called "web designers."  Here's why:

What's the definition of a web designer?  Well, it's a person/company who designs web pages and sites.  It might even be an amateur who dabbles in writing HTML (Hypertext Markup Language, one of the main programming languages of the Internet).

In a good scenario, a professional web designer can produce a graphically pleasing site.  The site may take your breath away with the crisp, original quality of the graphics and the clean well-balanced layout.  But then when it comes to the "next level" of the web, FUNCTIONALITY, these "designer" sites fall short.  

You get confused when navigating them.  You can't find information that should be easily located.  Anyone who has "surfed the Net" has been to a site like this.  We thought the site should have something it didn't, or if it did have it, we couldn't find it.   It might have even been a site as big as Microsoft's.  And we clicked elsewhere.

So what's the alternative?  A professional web developer.

A professional web developer represents the best of two worlds.  One world we're familiar with:  a graphically-pleasing, well-laid out site.  But the other world is the "next level,"  where design meets FUNCTIONALITY.  These are the sites that not only attract visitors with slick graphics and eye-catching color, but they make it possible for the visitor to INTERACT with the site.

In the vast majority of cases, not only is that visitor INTERACTING with the site, they are directly INTERACTING with the company/individual to whom the site belongs.  What does that mean?

First, it means that, if you have a website, visiting that site may be the only way in which some individuals (and even other businesses) have contact with you.  A poorly-designed site can easily sway visitors into thinking that you're not a professional business.  As Internet use escalates worldwide and users become more accustomed to the capacity to INTERACT with businesses, a poorly-developed site is already becoming another mark of unprofessionalism.

Second, it means that you have the potential to save a lot TIME, EFFORT, and MONEY.  By having a high-quality, professional site your business can decrease and sometimes even eliminate costly, time-consuming procedures.  

Which brings us to the crux of the matter.  What is the most costly and time-consuming product that your company provides, although you give it away for FREE every day?

Customer Service.  You spend time and money to provide your customer with an environment that entices them to do business with you.  You spend time talking to customers, the majority of whom have five simple questions and concerns about your business:

• Who are you?

• What do you do?

• When are you open?

• Where are you located?

• How do you do what you do?

• Why do you do it that way?

If you could just get away from answering these same questions every day, you might not lose your mind!  But how?

A web developer.  A company that deals strictly in the design, development and marketing of websites.  A company that can explain in plain English the details of putting your company on the web.  A  company that helps you ask the right questions.  A company that understands that how your company's site looks is ultimately how your company looks.  And a company that realizes that how your site PERFORMS directly affects your bottom line.