Web Designing vs. Digital Marketing: Which Career Path is For You?

Web design and digital marketing are two different things. Web design is designing a site, usually with graphics and code. As for digital marketing, it involves promoting and selling products and services through virtual channels such as search engine marketing and email marketing.

What is Web Designing?

Web designing encompasses multiple processes and activities that span from creating a business or organization’s website to promoting its visibility on the web. As part of the process, web designers also have to conduct market research, analyze data, and use social media and content management systems (CMS).

What Should You Know About Web Design?

Creating a website is only the first step in web design. The actual value lies in the process of maximizing traffic and conversions on the site, which involves:

• Integrating Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
• Creating content that engages users and encourages them to share it over social networks.
• A/B testing to determine what works and what doesn’t.
• Monitoring unique visitor counts, page views, traffic sources, and referring websites.

The Key Elements of Web Designing

Web design encompasses several different areas of expertise and requires a variety of skills. Therefore, web designers must be well versed in many areas such as:

• CMS
• Server administration (Linux).
• HTML, CSS (cascading style sheets), and sometimes JavaScript programming languages. Understanding code is unnecessary, mainly if templates are used, but it is beneficial to tweak the code yourself.
• Search engine optimization (SEO).
• Content management systems, since they act as a website’s hub for storing all its content. Examples include Drupal and WordPress.

The Role of Web Designers in Businesses

When it comes to designing websites, the needs of the business come first. A web designer’s primary role is to help companies create, maintain, and update their sites to optimize for conversions.

Businesses must determine what type of website they need (eCommerce or informational), how many visitors it will require at its peak times, and what content should be included. The more traffic a website gets, the more conversions it needs to support.

Skills Every Web Designer Should Master

Web design is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of subjects, but it does have some core skills every web designer should master.

Visual Designing

A website needs to have professional graphics and images and a simple user interface to attract more visitors. Therefore, web designers need to know how to use tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator for graphic design.

Understand the Basic Coding Languages

To have the freedom to insert CSS and HTML code as needed, a web designer must understand how coding languages work. In addition, as more sites are coded using mobile devices in mind, it has become even more crucial for web designers to know the basics of responsive design.

Masters the Interaction Design Process

Interaction design is the process of designing how users interact with a website. This includes knowing what goes into wireframing and prototyping and coming up with ideas for what users should interact with. In addition, web designers must know how to create prototypes that work similarly to the final product.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is a broad term for promoting and selling products and services with digital technologies. The Internet has become a massive part of our lives. An effective digital marketing campaign can take full advantage of this, reaching potential customers through multiple channels such as social media, websites, mobile apps, email, and more.

Types of Digital Marketing

There are many ways to use digital marketing strategies. A few of the most common ones include:

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the process of optimizing a website to have greater visibility when people use search engines, such as Google or Bing. The higher your site ranks in search results, the more visitors you will receive on any given day.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another popular digital marketing technique where companies send emails to their target audience. This is usually done with newsletters and announcements of new products and services but can also be done for marketing purposes.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is another digital marketing method that marketers use to get the word out about their product or service. B2B companies often take advantage of social media sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter, while many brands have Facebook pages with millions of “likes.”

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

PPC is an online advertising method where advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad. This is often used for branding purposes or to promote new products and services.

Mobile Marketing

With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, mobile digital marketing is becoming more critical. Companies can use apps or SMS messages to connect with potential customers directly.

Marketing Analytics

Digital marketing campaigns usually include analytic software that provides real-time data about users’ interactions with any given site. This allows companies to make adjustments as necessary to increase conversions and turn visitors into customers.

Employing a Digital Marketing Agency

While some marketers have the skill set required for digital marketing, many still choose to hire an agency to take care of their campaigns for them. However, choosing the right agency can be difficult, depending on what each company specializes in.

Web Designing vs. Digital Marketing

Now that you have an idea of the skills needed for digital marketing, you can determine if it is right for you. If you think this career path might interest you, be sure to research it further and talk to professionals in the field.

You may also want to attend a few workshops or classes at your local college or university. In addition, most online colleges offer certificates in web design and digital marketing, which can give you a leg up in your career.

Your Career, Your Future

Web designers should develop a strong understanding of digital marketing principles. While they can create websites from start to finish, they need to know how visitors will interact with their designs. Understanding what goes into successful PPC campaigns and email newsletters is crucial to the success of every website project.

On the other hand, digital marketers must understand web design principles since they will be responsible for creating websites and apps that help their clients achieve their goals. They should understand how to sell products online and interact with different web pages to create an optimal experience for visitors.

The Choice is Yours

Both types of careers are in demand right now, so if you are passionate about digital marketing or web design, there is room for advancement and growth. With the proper education and experience, even a beginner can grow into an expert within their field.

The choice of whether to pursue a career in web design or digital marketing is yours. Be sure to consider your strengths, weaknesses, and passions before making your final decision. By doing extensive research on both fields, you will set yourself up for success no matter which path you choose.