How to Choose the Right Web Design & Development Company

Finding a single company to take on your whole website project can be challenging. But it’s worth it. Partnering with a vertically integrated company that offers web design and development simplifies your website project.

Hiring multiple vendors to design and then develop your site often results in inefficient workflows, an unstable layout and (worst-case scenario) a breakable website – not to mention a bigger price tag.

What Is the Difference Between Web Design and Web Development?

Web design is when graphic designers and UX experts define your site’s look and structural architecture – what pages go where and what content lives on each page.  

What makes the two so different? Web design services will make your pages visually appealing, intuitive and compliant with accessibility requirements.

Development is the computer programming that allows it to materialize on the web, bringing the vision to life for you and your users.

Web development services will bring the design to life in a responsive, fast and accessible format.

Simply put, design is about how your website looks and development is about how it works.

Design and development are distinct but complementary fields that are best handled together. Why? Because both services are closely intertwined during a site redesign, site migration or new website project. 

Here’s more info to understand the definitions of each service more fully and how they inform one another creatively:

What Is Web Design?

• Arranges content to allow easy access to relevant information
• Accounts for formatting and layout changes on mobile, desktop and tablet devices
• Reflects brand standards for logos, colors and fonts

What Is Web Development?

• Builds and maintains the basic functionality of a site via PHP, CSS, HTML and Javascript
• Display information stored in pre-built or custom template files
• Determines how a site will display the layout created by web designers

Why Opt for an Agency with Integrated Web Design and Web Development Services?

Mobile optimization and web animation require close collaboration between the designers and developers. So does compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For these core components,  designers and developers need to work together at dozens of points in the website process.

Every design team has a different way of communicating how designs should be translated to the live user experience. A project is most efficient when the web developers and designers understand each other’s ways of communicating and use the same – or even better: shared – project management platforms.

Keeping the teams siloed can lead to misunderstandings, guesswork, incompatibilities and a dysfunctional website.

How Do I Choose a Web Design Company?

Once you’ve decided to hire an all-in-one web design & development agency, how do you know which to choose?

Search for an agency whose design and dev teams fully collaborate on planning and executing structural, technical, functional and visual elements of a site together.

Here’s what else you can do to narrow your search:

• Before you commit to a vendor, outline your website goals to make sure the company is single-handedly capable of reaching them. For example, if they focus on small websites and don’t know SEO, they may not be prepared for your enterprise project.
• Do your research about how long the company has been around and how satisfied their other customers are. Be sure to look at real examples of their work.
• Could this vendor serve you after the website is done? You may prefer to hire a team that offers ongoing website maintenance, site speed optimization, graphic design, photography, video, SEO/content and other services to keep your website healthy and frequently visited.
• Set up interviews with your favorite potential vendors. Ask them about industry experience, specific processes and if you can meet the team that would work on your website.
• Communicate everything you’re hoping to achieve with your website so that each candidate can provide a proposal that matches. You may decide to communicate the budget up-front, which will eliminate vendors that can’t work within that price range.

Want the Right Web Design and Development Company?

Here at Oneupweb, our web designers and web developers work closely together, collaborating whenever necessary on shared platforms to make sites our clients – and their audiences – love.

Since we’re a full-service agency, our combined website services team also has seamless access to our SEO, content marketing and video pros to further help reach your goals. For projects from mid-size to enterprise, we’re ready to make sure your website looks awesome, works perfectly and is easy to maintain. Contact us online or call (231) 922-9977 to get started.