What Does a Web Designer Do?

What Does a Web Designer Do?

People who are not immediately involved in the world of website design or development often use the two terms interchangeably. While some people do choose a career that enables them to both design and develop a website, it’s more common to specialize in one of these two areas. A broad overview of the differences is that website designers create the artistic aspects of a website while developers write and troubleshoot the technical aspects. That said, most website design careers do incorporate some development work as well.

Website designers meet with clients, their superiors, or a creative team to create the look and feel of multiple pages on a website. They work with computer graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create these designs. Web designers may also use programs such as JavaScript to animate the graphics. People in this role are also expected to have experience working with a variety of media programs to add film clips or sound to a website.

The ultimate goal of web design is to create pages that grab the attention of website visitors to convert them into paying customers or provide specific information about a product, company, or organization. Websites can entertain, may contain “how to’s” or instructions, guidance, and support. There are also social media websites and blogs that entertain and allow users to build a network of connections. While each page has a unique purpose, the overall website should have a uniform message and design. Website designers may provide written content to their clients as well. They may outsource this work to professional copywriters or simply edit and format the work provided to them by a client.

For web designers who specialize in a certain niche, researching and keeping up-to-date on the industry on an ongoing basis is critically important. They need to know the types of designs and multimedia that will be well-received by a website audience, as well as help their client rank high in search engine results. On occasion, clients also rely on web designers to update their company website with a fresh look. An outdated website will quickly lose visitors and ranking, something all parties definitely want to avoid.

Some web design professionals worked in graphic design before deciding to specialize in designing only websites. Creativity, technical ability, and professional communication skills are all necessary to succeed at this career. The ability to adapt to changing trends and work with strict deadlines is also essential. The ability to compromise and to not becoming too emotionally invested in using certain or personally preferred designs for the website are key elements to success in this creative and interesting career field.