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Las Vegas Web Design Company, Las Vegas Web Designer, Las Vegas Web Developer Or Las Vegas Freelance – Who To Hire?

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n appealing, engaging website and online marketing is vital to your business success -- regardless of whether you're a startup with zero money and no employees, an independent sales agent, a husband and wife team working from home, a small business with a handful of employees, or a major player with offices around the world.

With so much at stake for your business, brand image and earnings potential, it is mission critical you hire the "right" web designer or web design firm for your needs. So, how do you know if you need a web designer, web design firm or web developer?

Let's take an inside look! The following is a quick review on how to contract an independent Las Vegas web designer or small business web design firm.

Is a web designer the same as a web developer?

My short answer is "no." Web design typically refers to all of the visual, graphical, typographical and layout aspects of creating a website. Website development is usually used to describe the technical, programming aspect of building websites. But, it is becoming increasing more common for web designers and web developers to handle crossover work in both.

Should you hire a web designer or web developer?

This depends on your situation. If you are creating your website with a heavy tilt towards the marketing goals of your small business and to create an online brand image -- you should probably hire a web designer. If you need help developing a website that can execute business functions online, such as schedule appointments, calculate shipping costs and track purchases, or otherwise tie into your back office, you should probably hire a web developer.

With that said, the big daddy of them all would be to hire a small business website design firm or Las Vegas web design company. Web design firms, like Formulis, have separate web design and web development teams to ensure sites are top-quality with seasoned experts in design and programming lending a hand.

Do you need a freelance web designer or full-service web design company?

Freelance Web Designers

Freelance web designers and web developers often fall into two categories: independent designers that have a full-time job and moonlight on the side, or, freelance in-between employment; and full-time freelancers that enjoy being self-employed and may or may not have ambitions to build a design firm or studio.

Freelancers are usually the least expensive because they have less overhead, but they can be hit or miss on quality. Some freelancers are experts who, in addition to working with small businesses, also pickup overflow work from large advertising agencies and web design companies. While some freelance web designers have little experience and are simply trying to build a portfolio of work.

If you are strapped for cash or need minimal online work done, a freelance web designer may be your best option.

Web Design Company

If you're looking for additional expertise with search engine optimization and marketing (SEO and SEM), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), complex web programming and online branding, you should consider contracting with a full-service website design or Las Vegas web design firm.

A full-service website design and development company can provide much deeper services, more expertise, and a more well-rounded skill set and experience than a freelancer can muster. Web design firms often tend to be more stable and reliable business partners as freelancers often face financial challenges with being self-employed, may only be seeking temporary work, and face fierce competition from low-end designers.

Michael Borowiecki