A web designer is mainly concerned with how the website is structured, presented and experienced. A web developer is mainly concerned with building the website so it actually works. In practice, the roles overlap heavily, and many independent professionals design and develop the same project.
The distinction sounds simple until you start looking at job titles.
Web designer.
UX designer.
UI designer.
Frontend developer.
Full-stack developer.
Web developer.
Creative developer.
No-code developer.
For a small business trying to hire someone, this can become more confusing than useful.
You do not need the perfect job title.
You need the right capabilities.
What does a web designer do?
Traditionally, the web designer is responsible for things such as:
layout;
visual hierarchy;
typography;
colour;
spacing;
navigation;
page structure;
user experience.
They think about:
what the customer sees;
what they understand;
what they click;
how the brand feels.
A strong designer is not merely making things attractive.
They are organising information.
What does a web developer do?
The developer builds the functioning implementation.
That can include:
HTML;
CSS;
JavaScript;
forms;
APIs;
databases;
CMS integration;
authentication;
deployment;
performance;
technical SEO;
backend logic.
The exact work depends on the project.
A developer building a simple static marketing site is doing a very different job from a developer building an online banking system.
"Web development" covers a huge range.
What is frontend development?
Frontend is the part that runs in the browser.
The page the customer interacts with.
A frontend developer turns design and content into:
responsive layouts;
interactive components;
navigation;
animations;
forms;
interfaces.
Frontend development sits right on the boundary between design and development.
A strong frontend developer often needs considerable visual judgement.
What is backend development?
Backend refers to the server-side systems behind the interface.
Databases.
Authentication.
Business logic.
APIs.
Payments.
Accounts.
Data processing.
A five-page small-business brochure site may need almost no bespoke backend.
A marketplace or SaaS product may depend on it.
That is why a client asking:
Do I need a developer?
cannot be answered from the word "website" alone.
What is UX?
UX means user experience.
At a practical small-business level, it includes questions such as:
Can customers understand the site?
Can they find the service?
Is the booking process obvious?
Does the form ask too much?
Does the mobile navigation work?
UX can become a specialist discipline on large products.
On smaller projects, good UX should simply be part of competent web design.
What is UI?
UI means user interface.
Buttons.
Menus.
Forms.
Cards.
Controls.
The visual and interactive components people use.
Again, a large software product may have a dedicated UI designer.
A small website may have one person handling the complete visual system.
Many independents span both sides
This is where the simple designer/developer split becomes less useful.
An independent professional may:
design the pages;
write or shape the content;
build the frontend;
implement forms;
configure hosting;
deploy the site;
handle SEO foundations.
That is effectively a combined web designer/developer role.
The important thing is whether they can do those things well.
Not whether their business card uses the perfect label.
Does a designer need to know code?
Not necessarily.
A designer can produce excellent work in design tools and hand it to a developer.
That is common in teams.
Some designers also build.
Some do not.
Likewise, a developer does not automatically need to be a strong visual designer.
A brilliant backend engineer may have no interest in typography.
The role should match the task.
Worth knowing
Small-business owners are often sold job titles when they really need outcomes. You do not need to decide whether you need a UX designer, frontend developer or creative developer before the first call. You need someone who can explain which capabilities your project actually requires and which ones it does not.
Why does this matter when hiring?
Because you can accidentally hire for the wrong strength.
Imagine you need a distinctive marketing site.
You hire a highly technical backend developer.
The website works perfectly.
It looks completely generic.
Or you need a complex booking system.
You hire a brilliant visual designer who cannot implement the required logic.
Both suppliers may be talented.
Neither matched the requirement.
Small-business websites often benefit from a hybrid
A straightforward business site usually needs the visual and technical sides to work together. That overlap is part of what makes a good business website.
There is not enough complexity to justify six separate roles.
But there is enough importance that both design and implementation matter.
A hybrid independent designer/developer can be a good fit because decisions stay connected.
The person deciding:
how the page should work
also knows:
how it will be built.
Does using a website builder make someone a developer?
The term is loose.
Some people build sophisticated systems using visual/no-code platforms.
Some assemble templates.
Some write custom code.
Instead of arguing over titles, ask what the person actually does. If you are comparing suppliers, the broader guide to choosing a web designer is more useful than obsessing over job titles.
Can they adapt the site beyond the standard layout?
Can they solve technical problems?
Can they integrate systems?
Can they explain limitations?
The output matters.
Does custom development automatically make a site better?
No.
Custom code can be:
excellent;
unnecessary;
poorly written;
overcomplicated.
The goal is not maximum code.
The goal is the right solution.
A good developer should be comfortable not building bespoke technology where an existing system solves the problem better.
Is a designer enough for SEO?
It depends what "SEO" means in the project.
A visual designer may not handle technical search implementation.
A designer/developer may.
An SEO specialist may be needed for competitive ongoing search work.
Ask what is included.
Titles?
Metadata?
Structured headings?
Sitemap?
Canonical URLs?
Performance?
Search Console?
Content strategy?
Do not infer from the job title.
Gavin’s perspective
Where Built by Gavin fits
I describe Built by Gavin as an independent web studio/developer because the work spans both sides.
I care about:
how the website looks;
how the customer moves through it;
how the business is explained;
how it performs technically;
how it is deployed;
how ongoing complexity is kept sensible.
For the kinds of small-business sites I build, separating all of those decisions into different departments would often add more process than value.
For a large application, that would be a different story.
What should I ask instead of "designer or developer?"
Ask:
Can you show me work similar in complexity?
Who designs the site?
Who builds it?
Can you handle the integrations I need?
How will mobile be designed?
What happens with hosting?
Who handles technical SEO?
Can I move the site later?
Those answers tell you far more.
Gavin's take
For most small-business sites, separating design and development into different suppliers can create more hand-offs than value. I prefer the decisions about content, layout, mobile behaviour, performance and implementation to stay connected unless the project is complex enough to justify specialist separation.
The bottom line
Web designers shape the experience.
Web developers build the functioning system.
Frontend work sits between them.
Backend development handles deeper server-side logic.
On small and medium website projects, one capable professional may cover several roles.
Choose based on what the project needs — not the title printed under someone's name.
Need both the design and build handled in one place?
You can see my work and how Built by Gavin projects are scoped, or tell me what the website needs to do.
If the project genuinely requires deeper specialist backend work, that should become clear during scoping rather than halfway through the build.
---