What is web development?
A web developer’s job is to create websites. While their primary role is to ensure the website is visually appealing and easy to navigate, many web developers are also responsible for the website’s performance and capacity. In this article, you will learn about the web development or web designer with Pritish Kumar Halder.
Types of web developers
Web developers usually fall under one of three categories: back-end developers, front-end developers, and full-stack developers. Some web developers also work as webmasters. Let’s take a closer look at each of these roles.
Types of web developers
- Back-end web developers create the website’s structure, write code, and verify the code works. Their responsibilities also may include managing access points for others who need to manage a website’s content.
- Front-end web developers work on the visual part of the website—the pages visitors see and interact with (also known as the user interface). They design the physical layout of each page, integrate graphics, and use HTML and JavaScript to enhance the site. You can gain essential front-end web development skills with Meta’s Front-End Developer Professional Certificate.
- Full-stack developers do the work of both a back-end and front-end developer. These developers have the knowledge to build a complete website and may work for organizations that don’t have the budget for a large website team. If you’re interested in full-stack web development, consider earning IBM’s Full-Stack Developer Professional Certificate.
- Webmasters are essentially website managers. Their primary responsibility is to keep the website updated, ensuring that the links and applications on each page work properly.
Web developer tasks and responsibilities
As a web developer, you could work for a company or agency, or as a freelancer taking on projects for individual clients. Your tasks will vary depending on your work situation, but day-to-day responsibilities might generally include:
- Designing user interfaces and navigation menus
- Writing and reviewing code for sites, typically HTML, XML, or JavaScript
- Integrating multimedia content onto a site
- Testing web applications
- Troubleshooting problems with performance or user experience
- Collaborating with designers, developers, and stakeholders
Web developer career path
Many web developers start their careers with a single focus, usually front-end or back-end development. They may move on to be full-stack developers or explore careers in related fields, including project management, computer programming, or graphic design.
How much do web developers make?
The median annual salary for web developers in the US is $78,300, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [1]. However, web developers in the US can earn up to $249,297 according to Glassdoor salary insights [2]. How much you earn will depend on many factors, including where you work, what industry you work in, and how much experience you have.
BLS estimates 23 percent industry growth for web developers between 2021-2031, a faster-than-average rate compared to other occupations. One of the driving forces behind this increase in web development jobs is the growth of e-commerce. Companies are becoming more reliant on functioning websites that operate on multiple devices to do business.
Web Designer vs Web Developer – What’s the Difference?
Web Designer
Web designers keep themselves busy with everything that has to do with the aesthetics of a website. Besides that, usability and user experience while designing are equally as important, if not more important. Web designers don’t just ‘design,’ they have to think about a lot of things during the process. A few of those things are the current trends, the design norms and foremostly, the target audience behavior. It’s not just about what’s appealing to the eye. In most cases, it’s more about what kind of designs will help trigger the right actions from visitors. And when all that is researched and analyzed, the design has to match the branding of the company in question as well.
So, it goes without saying that being a web designer is as much about designing as it is about psychologically understanding what you’re designing and making sure it will do what’s expected from it. It’s an addition to great company branding and helps create another funnel for companies.
A web designer usually handles the first stage of creating a website. They think about what a website needs and how it needs to be set up. This information is vital when being passed on to a web developer.
Web Developer
A web developer contributes to the second stage of creating a website. When the entire structure and expectations are set, a web developer can start putting things into practice. And even here, you can have different types of web developers as well.
How do They Work Together?
Web designers and developers work closely together. Both specializations contribute to the bigger picture which is having a website up and running that matches the client’s needs. If a web designer and a web developer are working together, they usually start off with a detailed briefing. This briefing is a crucial part of the entire process. If the communication between a web designer and developer isn’t on point, it will lead to misinterpretation and bad UI.
A web designer usually shares the following information with a frontend web developer:
- Page mockups and/or design files
- Functionality needs
- CSS properties of design elements (such as padding, margin, color, spacing and more)
But if you want a web designer and developer to be entirely on the same page, it’s recommended that the developer is somehow involved in the design process. That doesn’t mean you have to involve the developer in every step of the way, though. It can really help to include them in initial brainstorming and design reviews, for instance.
Now, depending on the type of website you create and the budget you have, you might not be able to afford to hire both a web designer and developer for a project. If that’s the case, you might want to go with a so-called ‘hybrid’ designer or developer.
These hybrids are involved in both design and development and can help you set up a website from scratch, both design and development wise, in no time. They often work with CMS platforms, such as WordPress, as well. It allows them to finish a website quicker and it can help keep the client within his budget.
