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Web designers vs Web Developers

You may have heard the terms 'web designer' and 'web developer' and wondered what the difference is, if there's a difference at all. Web design and web development are two different disciplines: A web designer will typically deal with the 'front end', which includes the visual aspect of a website, the HTML and the user experience, or UX.

The web developer will be responsible for the 'back-end' which means they will write server-side scripts that result in any functionality the wbsite might have. There is overlap though, and often a designer will be capable of developing and the developer will be happy designing.

What can a website say about your brand?

You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and for most businesses, your website is the first point of contact that many customers have with your brand, so it's vitally important that your website reflects well on your business.

With the average time an internet user spends on any one webpage being around just eleven seconds, you don't have long to convince them that you are not only reputable (and internet users are particularly cynical in this day and age - and who can blame them with so many unscrupulous people lurking in the more dimly lit corners of the web!), but you are trustworthy, conscientious, that they won't receive any nasty surprises, that your service or product will be of good quality and if there's a problem you will deal with it courteously. If they have even the slightest inkling that you may not tick all of those boxes, then they will quickly jump ship and try your next competitor, and you'll never hear from them again!

On the other hand, should you get your website/branding combo right, then you can give your brand any character and tone of voice you wish, irrespective of the location and size of your business.

Maddison Creative web design Newcastle are specialists in the use of shapes, photography, colour and typography in order to encourage internet users to feel the way your want them to feel about your business and website, whether it's an entertainment brand that you want people to associate with energy, passion and excitement, or a health spa where you want people to feel at ease, relaxed and empowered. Emotion plays a large part in online user behaviour/experience and so it's vitally important you capitalize on that in order to get the most from your website.

What technologies do you use to design websites?

For functionality, we use php, an open-source, commonly used scripting language that is particularly well suited to web development and that can be inserted into HTML. For Content Managed Websites we use Wordpress, an open source, online website creation tool built in php. We use HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript to develop front-end website interaction, functionality and animation. We use SQL and MYSQL wherever we need a database, and from a design perspective we use the Adobe Creative suite to create for the web.

Can you update and develop my existing website, built by someone else?

Yes, not only can we build you a website from scratch, but we can also work with what you already have to increase performance, update any branding you might have, or bring the technology up to speed. Essentially we can give it a new lease of life!

Flat websites vs CMS - what's the difference?

There are two main categories of website: the flat/HTML brochure style website and the CMS (Content Management System) website. The main difference is that the website owner cannot update the flat/HTML website without web design/development knowledge. They are intended to be built and managed by the web designer/developer, and whenever the site owner requires an update to the site, they would go back to their designer/developer who will be able to make the update for them. This works well for sites that don't require many updates, as they are more cost effective for the site owner, taking less time to set up and build than their CMS counterpart. Flat/HTML websites also traditionally have limited functionality.

A CMS website is built on the back of a content management system (Wordpress for example) and is generally connected to a data source; A database for example (other data-sources are available!). They are also built using more complex programming language; php or ASP.NET for example (along with HTML in many cases) to allow for a greater scope for functionality, enabling the user to interact with the site in much more depth. The main benefit of a CMS website however is that they can be updated and managed by the website owner without any prior knowledge or experience in website technologies. Because they are more complex however, they will cost more than a flat/HTML site, but this is balanced out by virtue of the fact that the site owner does not have to pay a web designer/developer to make updates.

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