A frequently asked question is: “What is the difference between Web Design and Web Development and which one do I use? Website Development, which entails building a website from scratch or Website Design, which takes advantage of themes?”

When the time comes for you to decide which option to choose from, how do you decide? We are here to help you make that big decision and give guidance on which option might be better for your time schedule and budget. There are advantages and disadvantages to both choices, but in the end, reading and getting a better understanding of this frequently asked question will give you an improved idea on how to choose which option will best suit your website needs.

What Does Website Development And Website Design Mean?

Web Design- Is the theme part of the website? A Web Designer’s main focus is with how a website looks and how the potential customers interact with it. Web Designers that know what they are doing can put together the theme design to produce a website that fits the clients business just right. Web Designers also recognize the usability of the website and how to craft a site that their customers want to navigate with ease of use.

Web Development- Is the back-end control and programmer of a website. The Web Developer also has a lot to do with the interactions on the web pages.  A Web Developer’s focal point is on how a website works and how the customers get things completed on it. High-quality Web Developers identify with programming and using scripts such as PHP. Web Developers understand how to keep a website running effectively as well.

*Note: A majority of the time Web Designers and Developers conduct both traits. Just ask them to see if they are skilled with the particular trait or traits you are looking for.

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

One advantage of having your website built from scratch is that you can have it constructed just as you want it to look. It also permits you to have a website that is entirely unique. This can really help your website get the stand out power it needs to be diverse or unique. Most large web development companies believe that this is true. Contrary to that is you can still be unique with the use of Themes today and the best part is Themes are extremely user friendly. Themes today can have unlimited ways of being designed to fit your needs. We have worked with many companies with the use of themes. We have found that there are a small number of them who have a need that is so unique that we cannot design a site using a theme. There are templates for a huge variety of designs these days and some that can have unlimited designs, such as the Avada Theme.

What is a theme?

Avada at Theme Forest can give you examples of what a theme is. A theme can be installed on a Content Management System, such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. With the use of a theme you can benefit from the additional premium features the theme might include.

What Are Disadvantages of having Developer Build Website from scratch?

The main disadvantage of having a website built from scratch is that it will acquire a lot more time (for the developer), effort (for you and developer) and money (websites built from scratch are not cheap, they take many hours to develop, which will cost you more money in the end) than using a theme would. If you have a web developer build a website from scratch, be prepared to spend more money than if you were to have them design you a website using a theme. There is a lot of tedious coding to build a website. This takes months in time to develop and it will cost you more money. Also, the disadvantage of having a web developer build your website from scratch is you will almost undoubtedly have more bugs than if you would have used a theme with Content Management System such as WordPress. Believe me, if you don’t have a responsible web developer that has great communication skills, it will be a nightmare! Bugs only mean that the web developer has to spend more time testing it and fixing problems, costing you more money.

What Are Advantages and Disadvantages of using Theme?

Using a theme offers some of the opposite issues. For the web designer, it will be much easier and faster to get your website setup. There will be fewer bugs that have to be dealt with. The only shortcoming with the use of a theme is that you will probably have to make some compromises when it comes to design. It all depends on what you want for design. Being that you can find a vast diversity of templates, there most certainly will be something appropriate for your website.

Conclusion:

In the end, the choice about whether to have website built from scratch or the use of a Content Management that is themed is going to come down to your needs and your budget. Large companies with massive budgets will more often than not build their website from scratch. Reason being they want it exactly to their needs. A vast majority of smaller companies find that using a theme is a much more cost effective resolution. Plus, they get a website that is completely sufficient for their needs. If you’re a small business that requires an affordable website, a themed design with Content Management System (such as WordPress) is the way to go. If you’re a large company that wants everything on your website specific to fit your needs, having a website built from scratch is a better choice. If you’re selling merchandise on your website the use of themed website and Content Management System can benefit you immensely. The choice is up to you in the end, just make sure you understand the difference between a Web Developer and Web Designer, as you want to know if you are getting a website created from scratch or a website created with use of a theme.