Website design represents the visual framework, the brand-centric aesthetics and the raw emotion a person feels when they look at your website for the first time. It is the visually cohesive integration of brand elements, the organization of information, brand colors, images and layout logically arranged on each page with the ideal target audience end-user in mind.

Website designers are responsible for how your website looks and feels but they are also, more importantly, responsible for solving all of the potential problems a visitor might encounter when they land on your homepage, scroll through the sections, click on other pages and navigate freely through your content.

Website development, on the flip side, involves the functionality and the intangible “user experience” components of your website. User experience (UX) is an industry-specific term used to describe how visitors interact with your site. How easy is it for them to find the answers they are seeking? Expert UX developers think from the end to the beginning, with big-picture questions answered immediately. They leave no stone unturned.

As you can imagine, the brain that conceptualizes the visual aesthetics of a website is very different from the brain that conjures up all the mechanical how-to(isms) related to the functionality of a website. One person can not possibly do both, or if one person can, it is a designer who is super detail-oriented (i.e. a rare bird).

Cohesive integration involving equal parts of design and development begins with a solid strategy and a complete set of wireframes. Upon completion of site strategy & wireframes, the website continues evolving through various design phases, client approvals, several rounds of testing and final technical details such as minimization of code and cache and a final round image optimization to ensure optimal loading speeds. Web design and development must work as a cohesive unit throughout the entire process and one can not survive without the other.

One simple reality, however, will remain true until the end of time. If the design of your website is not in alignment with your brand; or, if your design looks unprofessional, no one will want to stay long enough to learn about your business. And if no one stays, all the money you just spent on web development is wasted.

Fortunately, we offer both at iQbranding. Need proof?

Check out some of the fully integrated websites we have created in our interactive portfolio. Most recently, we created a website powered by Magento for a client with international partners. Please visit IBIX-USA at ibixusa.com and let us know what you think.