Building a great website takes both creative vision and technical skill, but understanding where design ends and development begins isn’t always clear.
What Is Web Design vs Web Development?
The terms web design and web development are often used interchangeably. However, each role comes with its own distinct skill sets. Consider an architect and a construction company – the architect envisions what the building will look like and draws up the plans, while the construction crew takes those plans and builds a structure people can actually walk into. Both are essential to the finished building, but each brings its own unique set of skills. In the same way, web designers and web developers have their own unique skill sets that are essential to creating a successful website.
So what’s the difference?
Web Design Is Phase 1
This role focuses on the visual design and aesthetic of a website. Web design is focused on the colors, typography, spacing, and alignment of all the different elements that appear on a web page. There may be several blocks of content that are all related to one another, such as text, web forms, buttons, charts, graphs, images, and more that all need to fit together to make contextual sense across the various pages of the website. Web design is an important planning phase of a website and ultimately provides a blueprint for development teams to build from.
Common Tools Used by a Web Designer
Figma is used for visual layout and prototyping how a design should look, feel, and function once it’s completed. It’s important to note that while a Figma file or prototype can sometimes look and feel interactive, it is not a finished product until it has gone through the development phase.
Octopus.do is our favorite tool for creating sitemaps – the file where the structure for a website is laid out, defining how different pages within the site relate to each other. A sitemap is an important tool for both designers and developers – it keeps everything organized from start to finish.
Web Development Is Phase 2
If a Figma design is a picture of what your website will look like, web development is what brings that picture to life. It’s the difference between a photo of a storefront and a store you can actually walk into, browse, and buy from. Developers take the Figma design from Phase 1 and turn it into a collection of files that live online and can be read by web browsers for the world to see. These files make all the different pieces of information and interactions contained on a website work seamlessly together.
Common Tools Used by a Web Developer
WordPress is a popular Content Management System (CMS) that runs nearly half the internet. WordPress provides a visual interface that makes your website easy to update and maintain. There are many themes that can be used inside of a WordPress CMS – our favorite is Divi.
HTML is a coding language that creates the structure of web page elements. This contains all of the copy and code on the webpage.
CSS is a coding language that styles different elements of a web page. This is what you see visually, including colors, font styles, font sizes, images, and more.
JavaScript is a coding language that allows different website elements to work together dynamically. If you ever click on an interactive element, odds are it is using JavaScript to complete an action.
These skills are all important in bringing a website to life – and the FSM team puts them to work to help your business grow.
How a Great Website Can Drive Conversions
There are a variety of factors that play into delivering value from a website project, and they are among many pieces that contribute to successful overall marketing initiatives.
Immediate Trust and Brand Credibility
Your website represents your organization in a big way – similar to how in nature all streams lead to the ocean, in marketing all channels lead to your website. If your social media is top-notch but your website looks different or falls flat, it’s going to raise a flag to visitors. Users are looking at more content than ever before, so it’s important to give them a visual throughline from your physical printed flyer to your social channels to your website so they know they’re in the right place at every step of the journey with your materials.
Frictionless User Experience
A great website makes things easier. Customers can find you from a search query. They find information they’re looking for on the site itself, such as product or service information. Finally, it’s simple for them to reach out and take the next step – from making a purchase on an ecommerce website to filling out a contact form for a free quote – a new website creates a seamless experience from beginning to end (and beyond!).
Advanced Functionality & Content Management
Businesses come in all shapes and sizes – and they have varying website needs that come with that. Some organizations only need one core website that can showcase their capabilities, services, company, and help drive leads, while other businesses have multiple arms, franchise locations, client portals, and more! When you need a website that helps your team get the job done well, it’s important to have a strong foundation your team and clients can rely on.
Longevity, Maintenance, and Security
Having a website that runs on up-to-date technology is crucial in a number of ways. An outdated, clunky CMS can make your website a real challenge to update, and, worse, can pose security risks. An updated website that follows modern best practices can save you from a variety of logistical and security issues. Google and other search platforms even use your website’s health as an indicator of whether or not to serve your content to users searching for information contained on your website.
Real-World Case Studies & Proof Points
Brothers Grimm Landscaping
Brothers Grimm provides landscaping and high-end outdoor living spaces. At the beginning of 2026, their new website launched. Within the first 6 months of the site launch, their traffic increased by 16% when compared to the previous year, and the site moved from page 4 of Google all the way up to page 2. In addition, the new website speaks to the brand’s audience in a way that feels compelling and in line with the type of projects users are in search of. From a design perspective, we implemented high-end photography and other aesthetic elements that instantly feel elevated and luxurious.
Learn more about our work with Brothers Grimm Landscaping
Next Day Access
Next Day Access provides accessibility solutions for residential and commercial spaces, providing top-tier customer service through over 100 franchise locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Since launching their new website, overall website sessions are up over 26% year over year as of July 2026, and their average search position moved up from page 4 to page 2. The new website also added an extensive amount of back-end functionality, making it easy for new franchise location microsites to be added to the website ecosystem.
Learn more about our work with Next Day Access
Make the Right First Impression with FSM
We know that when your website looks good and functions effectively, your business thrives. Partner with FSM to create a website you’re proud of!
