Planted web design transparent logo
0491 939 628

Web Design vs Web Development: What Does Your Perth Business Actually Need?

Most Perth businesses say, “I need a website.” But for real, what you need is: more trust, more enquiries, or a faster site. This guide explains the difference, provides a decision test, and helps you make the right choice.
Contact us

Web Design vs Web Development

What Web Design Actually Is

Web design is how your site looks, feels, and persuades. It covers layout, branding, UI, UX, readability, and how each page guides a visitor to act. A designer decides what goes where: headlines, proof, images, and calls-to-action. The goal is a clear path from “I’m interested” to “I’ll contact you.”

What Web Development Actually Is

Web development is how your site works behind the scenes. Developers build the site in a CMS like WordPress, turn designs into templates, and make features function . They also handle performance, security basics, forms, integrations, and tracking. If design is the plan, development is the build.

Where Confusion Happens

Confusion usually shows up with WordPress and page builders. You can “design” with a builder, but you still need development for speed, stability, and custom changes. SEO also spans both sides: design shapes structure and readability, while development shapes crawlability and technical setup 

Quick Decision Test (Design, Development, Or Both?)

You Mostly Need Web Design If…

  • Your site looks dated, even if it works.
  • People don’t “get it” in 10 seconds.
  • Mobile pages feel cramped or messy.
  • You get visits, but enquiries are weak.
    If you’re saying, “It doesn’t feel professional,” you’re describing a design problem.

You Mostly Need Web Development If…

  • The site is slow, broken, or unstable.
  • Forms don’t send, or bookings fail.
  • You need features (membership, quoting, calculators).
  • Tracking is missing or wrong.
    Speed is not a “nice to have.” Google’s Core Web Vitals focus on real-user loading, interactivity, and visual stability. Mobile speed can also hit sales: Google notes conversions may drop by up to 20% per second of mobile delay.BrowserStack also summarises research showing that each extra second (in the first five) reduces conversions by about 4.42% on average

You Need Both If…

  • You’re launching a new site.
  • You’re changing brand, structure, and content.
  • You want better rankings and more enquiries.
    Most growth projects are “both,” but not 50/50. Your mix depends on your problem.

Common Perth Business Scenarios (What “Right” Looks Like)

Local Services And Tradies

For tradies, speed and clarity win. Design priorities are clean service pages, reviews, and big tap-friendly buttons. Development priorities are fast mobile load, reliable hosting, and forms that always deliver.

Professional Services

For accountants, lawyers, and consultants, trust is the product. Design should improve scannability and clarity. Development should protect technical SEO and tracking

Clinics

Clinics need lower friction and safer handling. Design reduces anxiety with clear pricing cues, practitioner profiles, and simple navigation. Development focuses on secure forms and booking integrations

Ecommerce

E-commerce needs conversion design and development. Baymard’s checkout benchmarks report that many leading e-commerce sites still perform “mediocre” or worse in checkout UX. That means small UX fixes can unlock real revenue

What You’re Actually Paying For

Web Design Deliverables You Can Ask For

  • Sitemap (pages and purpose)
  • Wireframes (layout before visuals)
  • UI screens (desktop + mobile key pages)
  • Style guide (fonts, buttons, spacing)
  • Conversion plan (CTAs, proof, form placement)

Web Development Deliverables You Can Ask For

  • CMS build and templates (often WordPress)
  • Performance work (Core Web Vitals improvements)
  • Security basics (SSL, updates, backups)
  • Integrations (forms → email/CRM, bookings, payments)
  • Tracking setup (GA4 events, call tracking, form confirmations)

Budget And Timeline Reality (What Drives Cost)

Cost rises with custom design, many templates, heavy integrations, e-commerce, and SEO migration. A design refresh can be quick. A rebuild takes longer because redirects and testing add work.


Mobile experience is the default. Forbes reports that mobile phones accounted for 62.73% of global web traffic in Q1 2025. If your mobile layout is poor, you lose most visitors before they scroll.

Risks Of Choosing The Wrong One

Design without development can create a beautiful site that is still slow, fragile, or untracked. Development without design can create a functional site that still feels untrustworthy and converts poorly. The goal is balance: clear pages that load fast and guide action

How To Choose The Right Perth Provider

Questions To Ask Before You Sign

  • What are the exact design and development deliverables?
  • Who owns the domain, hosting, and admin logins?
  • Do you use a staging site and a QA checklist?
  • How will you protect SEO (redirects, metadata, sitemap)?
  • What will you track (calls, forms, bookings), and how?

Red Flags

  • “SEO included” with no deliverables.
  • No redirect or migration plan.
  • No staging, no testing, no launch checklist.
  • No tracking plan, so results are guesswork.

A smart next step is an audit. Even a one-page roadmap can stop you from paying for the wrong fix.

The Real Question Isn’t Design or Development—It’s Results

If your issue is trust and clarity, start with design. If it’s speed and features, start with development. If you want better rankings and more enquiries, plan for both. Get a short audit, then build only what moves leads.

FAQs

No. Design shapes the experience and layout. Development builds the working site and features
Sometimes. For small sites, a strong generalist can work. For bigger builds, a team reduces risk
For rebuilds, design first so development builds the right structure. If the site is broken or slow, fix development first
If you need speed, security, integrations, or custom changes, yes
If structure is messy, speed is poor, forms are unreliable, and tracking is broken, a rebuild can beat endless patching

Table of Contents