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In my personal opinion, this is quite the complex question, and I guess the answer really depends on what you are trying to achieve with your website. There are literally loads of great people offering website creation services. All of them have a place in this market, but I think it is important to draw some specific distinctions between those who develop, design and install websites so customers can understand why there is such a wide difference in costs quoted by these providers.

So, there are many different types of providers, and I may not have that all covered here; this is pretty generalized. I will focus on 3 types, often there are companies who are a hybrid of these services.

The three types are:

• Website developer
• Website designer
• Content management system provider

Website Developer

Website developers have the skills to create web-based applications which are very prominent in today’s websites. This often involves designing database structures and writing code for the website to interact with those databases. They are adept at writing code that will allow a website to perform specific tasks as defined by a customer. A website developer is the type of person who could program a CMS (like WordPress), write plugins, or develop an interactive website without a CMS at all. They are often fluent in many of the web technologies and languages. Rarely will you find a developer who also has the skills of a website designer, which I will cover next.

Website Designer

Website designers are the graphically talented folks who can take your vision or help you create a vision that draws interest in your products or services. Using visual imagery and a little psychology, they understand the impact colors, proximity and visual spacing will have on a prospective customer. Many web design folks have some skills with html and content management systems, and fewer may have real development skills.

Content Mangament System Provider (CMS)

Generally, CMS providers are masters of one or more of the well known CMS platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. Some have been known to even resell configuration of things like GoDaddy templates. They have the knowledge to properly install, update and even add plugins (programs which perform certain customer necessary functions) to a website. Though many online templates have “how-to” information freely available, make no mistake… there is a skill in getting this right. The CMS provider is not always gifted with the other web skills, but will install one of the many free or pay templates you can purchase on the internet and add graphics and functionality to a site. These templates allow you to add logos, photos, text, etc.

You can see there are some significant differences of what these various providers have to offer. Choosing the right one will depend on your goals for your website and the budget you have available. Generally, the developer is more costly than the designer, who is, in turn more expensive than the CMS provider. My company, Ikon Marketing Group, offers services in all three catagories which allows for a lot of flexibility in what we provide to our customers, though we are very rarely involved in a straight CMS site.

Remember, regardless of what type of provider you choose, be sure that you emphasize results! Results are conversions. Thats all that matters in the long run, if a company cannot prove results, find one that can.

What are your thoughts? Fire Away!