Many DIY’ers reach a point where they’ve built their own site, but are ready to hire a professional designer to improve their search, elevate their presentation and convert users to trust them. Hiring someone to build your business website can be a huge investment of time and money and to the untrained eye, it may be hard to determine why agencies and individuals can appear so different on the surface. Here I’ll break down the current state of web design, different players in the market and how to match their offering to your project.
The Players
True Web Developers or software engineers are still your best bet for building complex, dynamic websites and applications, when data and security are a top priority, if you plan to collect and store customer information, if you need to display multiple products for e-commerce and handling online payments. With today’s technology they have inched toward “good design” using standardized user interface libraries like Material Design and Apple Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). The Achilles heel of an expert-level developer tends to be low quality visual design or less sophisticated at best. Here you’ll see more stock photos, clip art and template-based design.
Graphic Designers create a rich visual layer that can convey a strong identity and story. They leverage basic design principles such as hierarchy, scale, emphasis, repetition, contrast, and proximity to create a composition and evoke an emotion or tone. While it is only superficial, it can be the key differentiator in some verticals where products are otherwise the same. We can think of them as the content creation layer of a website. Of course, there might be other specialists involved with that such as videographers, animators, etc. Some Graphic Designers do dabble into the technical realm of web design and others decidedly do not want to deal with code, so here it’s best to clarify with the individual where they sit.
Web Designers or User Interface Designers much like graphic designers apply design principles to visual elements such as typography, color, imagery, video and motion to communicate services, branding and storytelling. They research SEO keywords for technical and on-page SEO, which then informs the site architecture and content strategy. They also understand how front-end technologies like HTML and CSS work so that the design elements they choose can be properly implemented for different form factors like desktop and mobile. What Web Designers gain in technical ability, they may conversely lack on the Graphic Design front. While they’ll have a more refined aesthetic than a pure Web Developer, they may not be as prolific or versatile as a skilled Graphic Designer. Judge it case-by-case here.
UI/UX Designers focus more on a customer’s journey at different points in time. For example, a brand new customer might need more education on a given topic or be persuaded by social proof and business credentials to move forward. When that customer is ready to buy, they might focus on your processes, specific trade products, warranties, and pricing. In practice, this might come in the form of different pages being created for each flow or different user interface components utilized to store added context at the right time. With regard to web design, the UX expert is almost completely removed from code. Since they tend to function as part of a team, it is more strictly out of their domain.
A good SEO specialist understands that about half the strategy lives inside the website itself: keyword research, technical SEO, page structure, mobile optimization, and local signals. The other half is external: backlinks, Google Reviews, and other off-site sources that build your authority and credibility over time. Where they fit in your project depends on scope — a web designer with solid SEO fundamentals may cover the on-site half well, while a dedicated SEO specialist makes more sense if ongoing ranking and off-site strategy are a priority.
The AI-Assisted Builder is the newest archetype on the scene. Using AI prompting and sample references, a brand new experience can be spun up with very little effort. While they may leap frog to a finished product, the real liability comes in accepting the dozens of choices the AI has made for them. The Achilles heel of this type of builder is the lack of domain knowledge in any of the web disciplines, because it has a direct effect on their quality control and ability to recognize problems.
So Who Do You Pick?
Every small-sized agency is going to have a limited range of one or two core strengths, with some adjacent capabilities to a lesser degree. It’s a matter of being clear on what core skill you require most. My rule of thumb is, look at an agency’s past work as a predictor of what to expect your work to look like. It is a solid heuristic of that agency’s standard for success, capability and potential blind spots. If the work portfolio looks amateur, sloppy or shows any other shortcomings, that is a red flag that your standards are misaligned or that your needs are outside of their wheel house. You’ll want to view live sites, to evaluate load times at pagespeed.web.dev, working links, consistency throughout and accessibility score using wave.webaim.org. This is a good proxy for how search engines will rank the site — and yours. If an agency has no work to show at all, this should be a cause for concern. When a designer completes a client’s work, the client owns it outright, so the designer must request permission to present that work in their portfolio. This is also the case with design work done while employed by a corporation. While it’s possible that one of their clients have not agreed to have their project work shown on their site, it’s unlikely all their clients have as well.
For a more practical example, say you’re opening a cool coffee shop and want to cater to a specific demographic — then a web designer with a strong branding portfolio that can give your shop a specific vibe is a good start. Designer’s execution can vary vastly, so choose one whose work you already like, or if you have something specific in mind, show them a sample as it will cut down on the iteration cycle.
Taking the example further, let’s say in addition to this you want a website that customers can buy coffee with multiple SKUs and merch or multiple locations — then you’ll want to look for an agency with a stronger developer arm. Think of it like tuning the knobs on a speaker — turn up the attributes you want to amplify most, and dial-down less relevant ones. Also, realize that in this example you could source your creative direction and branding from a single graphic specialist and then find a separate agency to handle your technical needs.
Process
In either case, you’ll want to ask for an outline of their process, so you understand the touchpoints you’ll be involved in, iterations, and milestones. You’ll also want to get a detailed proposal of the planned work, scope, timeline and deliverables. Regarding the website, you’ll want to see who handles the copywriting, check if SEO is accounted for, accessibility, hosting, domain. You’ll also want to make sure there is a transfer plan in place for you to own the hosting, domain and code. Lastly, check if any post-launch support or training will be conducted.
The Bottom Line
Choosing the right web designer comes down to knowing what your project actually needs most. If it’s a strong visual identity, lean toward design. If it’s a complex, data-driven application, lean toward engineering. If it’s a local service business that needs to be found and trusted online, a UI designer with solid SEO fundamentals is usually your best starting point. The Players above aren’t a rigid hierarchy — they’re a spectrum. The clearest signal you can give yourself is to look honestly at what’s already working in your market, find the agency whose portfolio reflects the standard you’re aiming for, and ask the right questions before you sign anything.