Who Makes More Money: A Web Designer or a Web Developer?

Web design and web development are highly prospective fields. People around the world working in either of these fields earn lots of money. They are one of the best career options today where the chance of success is quite high.

What is the Job of a Web Designer?

A website designer takes care of the visual aspect of a website. How a website looks, whether it is appealing or not depends on a web designer. He/She chooses what kind of layout a website should have, its graphics, and so on to create something that will impress the viewers and will help the business owners generate revenue. It is the designer who decides whether a site should be minimalist or full of features, whether it should be pageless or should have multiple pages. He/She analyses the existing trends in the market designs and closely follows these trends with certain innovations of his own.

What is the Job of a Web Developer?

A web developer or programmer uses programming languages and frameworks to build a website. He/She is primarily responsible for coding and creating everything that goes behind a website. How a website performs, how much capacity it has to handle traffic, whether it is secure to use- all of these are dependent on a developer. He/She first creates the structure on which a designer adds visual elements. He/She is responsible for the functionality of a website.

Web designers and developers are interdependent. When designers create design prototypes and ideas, they have to discuss it with developers to make sure it is feasible and that it will work on the website. At the same time, if a design does not work on a site due to some technical errors a developer is responsible for it and the coding behind it.

Do Developers Make More Money Than Designers?

In general, various surveys show that web developers make more money than web designers. Even among developers, many full-stack developers make more money than front-end or back-end developers because they are proficient in working at both ends.

However, saying that web designers for hire make less money than developers narrows down the field of designing. It is so because, in some specific areas of web design, designers make as much money as developers and sometimes even more. Some of these areas include UI/UX design, mobile responsive design, interactive design, and so on.

Why Do Developers Make More Money?

Developers make more money than designers primarily because their area of expertise is vast and because of their ability to code. Developers can code in multiple languages which is highly beneficial in creating unique, innovative websites and web applications. For web designers, coding is not necessary and do not have to learn it to do designing.

But today, most web designers are proficient in HTML and CSS, which can be used to create design prototypes. Some designers also use JavaScript and Sass. Designers with coding ability are in high demand. They earn more money than designers who do not know how to code.

Interesting Ways in Which You Can Make More Money as a Web Designer

Learn to Code: As boring as this may sound, learning to code alone can get you a long way in your web designing career. Not all designers know how to code so if you learn it, it will be an added advantage. Most developers do not go for web designing because they do not have the creativity or the sense of aesthetics to create designs. But as a designer, you already have that. You only have to learn some technicalities and mechanisms that are necessary to build a website. It is sure to benefit you. Many companies do not have the budget to hire a programmer and a designer separately. So if you can do the work of both not only will you be in high demand, you will also earn twice the amount.

Start Your Design Agency: If you already have some years of experience as a web designer, you can easily start a design agency of your own. It will not only give you a lot of freedom in your work it will also bring in lots of money if you can do business. You will decide and control all the clients that you accept and also the projects that you want your agency to do. You will also decide how many designers you want based on your budget. Your work experience will help you select the best candidates as well.

Create Design Themes and Templates and Sell Them: There are many popular content management systems these days where you will find readymade design templates and themes. These are made especially for users or firms that cannot afford to have customised designs on their site. So you can also make such templates and sell them. There are two ways in which you can do so- you can start and run a shop for them, or you can sell them on an existing, popular online marketplace. In the case of a shop, you will have to wait for your shop to grow and your earnings will depend on the amount of traffic your shop can generate. In the case of a marketplace, you do not have to worry about traffic. But you may have to share a portion of your revenue with the company where you are selling.

Create and Sell a Course on Web Design: This is a popular method of making many that work for many fields, both academic and non-academic. If you are a proficient web designer, you have years of acquired knowledge as well as a lot of practical experience. They will help you create a course that is comprehensive and easy to understand. You can create separate courses for beginners and experts or compile everything into a single course. If the material is good and is helpful to aspiring designers, it has the potential for bringing in lots of money. But make sure that you sell it on popular educational or academic platforms like Udemy, Coursera or SkillShare.

Starting a career in either web development or design may seem daunting. It takes time, effort and dedication to be successful. With the number of designers and developers increasing every day, it may seem difficult to stand out among them.

Here Are Some Questions You May Have:

What are the top five skills every developer should have?

The first thing that companies take into account when they hire a web developer is every developer should know how to code. The better you are at coding, there are more chances you will get hired. The second thing you must have is awareness. You must always be aware of the market trends and know what kind of website is most likely to succeed. Third, you must have a willingness to learn new things. Web development is an evolving field, and so there are new things every day. You must be willing to learn these things and get better at your job.

Fourth, you must have some knowledge of web design. It will help you work in a team. The last, but equally important skill you must have is soft skills. Soft skills include patience, willingness to work, the ability to work in a team and communication skills, to name a few. Quite often, your work will be tedious, and your patience and willingness will get you through. You will also need to have excellent communication skills to convince your clients about your website ideas.

What programming languages should I learn first?

The list of programming languages is endless. But you may start with some of the commonly used ones including HTML, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby. Along with these programming languages, you should also learn to use popular frameworks like Laravel, Rails, and so on. Knowing many languages will benefit you, but you should always choose one or a few languages that you are comfortable using.

What is the future of web development?

The future of web development is huge. New technological inventions such as Artificial Intelligence will be used more and more in development to automate different tasks and make them quicker. It will become easier for web developers to develop websites in a limited time, and the task will also be more engaging. Web development is not a dying field; instead, it is going to improve even further.

What are the biggest web design trends this year?

There are many new trends in web design. Some old trends have also make a comeback. But the ones worth mentioning are minimalism, dark mode, 3D art, a mix of illustration and realism and white space. Many popular websites follow these trends. If you can experiment with them and create something innovative, your site is likely to gain popularity fast.

What are some of the best sources of inspiration for web designers?

Some of the best sources of inspiration for all web designers include Dribbble, Awwward, Behance, Site Inspire, Freebiesbug, Pttrns, Smashing Magazine, and so on. The list is endless. In all of these sites, you will find some of the best and latest trends in designers that are highly popular among users. They are excellent learning materials for beginners and experts alike. In some of the platforms like Dribbble, you can also share your design sample and see how it performs.

What are the most important principles in web design?

The first thing your website should do is impress the viewers. The moment they open your site, it should make them want to browse through it. Then it should communicate to them the purpose of your website. If your site has no clear purpose, even your impressive design will fail to make them stay. It should be easy to navigate. It should have a quick loading time, so users do not have to wait for the pages to open. Lastly, it should be mobile-friendly so users can access your site from any platform or device.

Further Read:- Should I Use A DIY Website Builder Or Hire A Web Designer?