We’ll answer your questions about the differences between web design and web development.

Web design vs web development: what’s the difference?

When you arrive at a car showroom, you will encounter multiple vehicles for sale. No doubt you will also have a checklist noting what you want to inspect and look out for to remain on track. Well, the same can be said of planning a website launch or rebrand.

However, failing to understand the differences (and dynamics) between the roles of a web designer and web developer could leave you with buyer’s remorse if you don’t understand the process ahead of time.

With this in mind, we have created this easy-to-follow guide to accelerate your understanding of these two vital services. We hope that this will help you articulate your website requirements to a professional, as a founder or decision maker.

A sporting definition of web design and web development

Consider the creation of a high-end car. The finished product marries technical prowess and peak performance with the captivating looks of a supercar. Each flowing line of its impressive bodywork has been carefully considered, while the engine within has been fine-tuned to achieve effective speed.

This two-layered approach resembles the dynamic of web design and web development services.

Website design (the visuals)

HubSpot describes web design as “the first phase of a project to create a website”. It sees a web designer discussing their client’s business goals and ambitions for the site with them, which can take the form of a video or telephone call.

Topics for discussion here can include:

• Brand logos
• Brand colours
• Images and videos
• Illustrative graphics
• Essential messaging
• Accessibility features
• Any preferred layout styles
• UX (User Experience) priorities
• Any existing branding or style guidelines.

Haven’t got your brand guidelines yet? We can create yours to maintain design, fonts and human-written copywriting consistency across your business.

A web design expert will take this information and build a mockup featuring the above design elements. They then present their ideas (and the reasons behind them) for colour palettes, visual hierarchies, wireframe layouts and other ways in which the site will appear to visitors. Think of these visual components as the paint colour, tyre design and interior detailing you would notice every time you look at your vehicle.

Ultimately, any web designer worth their salt wants you and your customers or clients to enjoy being on your website – the twenty-first century equivalent of a bricks and mortar shop front or office.

Website development (the inner workings)

Once a web designer captures your design vision, the task of creating a new company website is far from finished. Returning to our motoring metaphor, a web developer will then build an optimised, fully functioning and responsive website that can handle high volumes of traffic thanks to the engine that powers it.

At thefingerprint we will develop an internal engine (aka WordPress) tuned for peak performance. The infrastructure of your new website will deliver fast page loading speeds to keep visitors’ attention. Our blog article Website speed: when does it matter? explains why this is crucial. All coding and HTML will also be fine-tuned.

Various functionalities can also be chosen to ensure that your website does what you want it to do for the end user. Possible website functions include:

• Membership sites
• Learning sites
• E-commerce sites.

Please note that we assessed each form in detail within a previous blog, 3 Types of WordPress websites to try, aimed at budding businesses who want to consider their options. Equally, plugins such as WooCommerce allow for bespoke customisation and are trusted by web developers.

A web developer will also ensure that your new website will be optimised for mobile devices. This is essential in today’s interconnected world, and suits the browsing habits of many customers and clients, with 62.54% of the world’s entire website traffic between April and June in 2025 viewed on mobile devices (not including tablets).

Looking for more tips in this area? Explore our article Should you design your website for mobile or desktop first?

Can a web designer also be a web developer?

While it is rarer to combine these in-demand services, several website designers perform the actions of a web developer and vice versa. As a triple award-winning full design agency, thefingerprint has a wealth of experience in delivering this combined service to satisfied clients.

The benefits of hiring a combined web designer and developer

When you do hire a multi-talented web developer-designer or agency such as ourselves, you will streamline the process of website creation. Rather than juggling multiple tasks, conversations and contacts, you will be given access to a sole problem solver, one who is skilled in both disciplines.

This also brings the advantages of:

• Fewer meetings
• Saving you time
• Juggling two agencies
• Clearer communication
• Avoiding miscommunication.

As well as saving valuable resources and frustration, thefingerprint is happy to guide you through your client responsibilities during the design process. Working with only one team or expert on your website or rebrand reduces your workload, especially at times when businesses should let designers lead.

If you are still considering these benefits, we would advise you to heed Mailchimp’s advice, which states that “combining both website design and development is key to truly building a successful online presence”.

Choose thefingerprint to avoid compromise

While you could choose to combine the skills of two separate professionals, your website design and development project will be simplified when you combine the two with thefingerprint as shown above. Our team is equipped with technical, creative and soft skills to ease the process of outsourcing your new business site.

Curious to see if we would work well together? Contact us or email design@thefingerprint.co.uk to discuss your business or organisation’s requirements with no obligation to proceed.

 

If you found this helpful, then you should also read these articles: Do websites matter in the age of social media?, Should You Design Your Website with AI or an Agency? and Writing Effective Title Tags and Meta Descriptions.