If you’re passionate about programming, problem-solving, and staying on top of new technologies, web development is an excellent career choice, especially here in Perth. While becoming a skilled web developer takes time, dedication, and patience, it’s a highly rewarding profession with diverse opportunities.
In Perth, web developers are in high demand across various industries, including mining, health, and tech sectors, which means there’s excellent earning potential. The average salary for a web developer in Perth is around $94,000 per year, and specialising in areas like eCommerce or mobile app development can increase your earnings even further.
One of the great perks of web development is its flexibility. Whether you prefer working in a local office or freelancing remotely from anywhere in the world, the career allows you to choose the work style that best suits your needs.
Additionally, web development offers vast growth potential. While you’ll need to master essential skills like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the field is constantly evolving with new technologies and tools, giving you endless opportunities to learn and innovate. If you’re drawn to the creative side of things, you might explore web design, which offers both artistic expression and strong earning potential in Perth’s growing digital industry.
Overall, web development is a dynamic, challenging, and ever-evolving career path that offers a combination of creativity, problem-solving, and solid financial rewards—especially in Perth, where the tech industry continues to thrive.
In simple terms, a web designer focuses on how a website looks, while a web developer ensures it works.
A web designer is responsible for the visual aspects of a website, including its layout, color schemes, typography, and overall style. Using design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Figma, they create mockups and prototypes that define how the website will look. Their work revolves around making the site aesthetically pleasing and ensuring an intuitive user experience (UX), so visitors can easily navigate the pages and enjoy using the site.
On the other hand, a web developer’s job is to take these designs and bring them to life through code. Developers work on both the front-end (what users interact with) and back-end (the server and database that power the site), using programming languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and server-side languages such as PHP or Python. They make sure the website functions smoothly and efficiently, whether it’s handling user interactions, data processing, or integrating complex features.
Web designers and developers often have different ways of thinking. Designers are typically more creative and focused on aesthetics, while developers are more analytical, focusing on problem-solving and functionality.
When you hire a full-service web development company like PWD, you benefit from having both web designers and developers collaborate on your project. This combination ensures that your website is not only visually appealing but also fully functional, providing a seamless experience for your users.
Web developers are responsible for building and maintaining the framework of a website. Using programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, they bring the website’s design to life and ensure that all of its functions work seamlessly. From creating interactive features to setting up databases and servers, developers handle the technical side of the website’s creation and operation.
In addition to coding, web developers focus on optimizing the website for performance, ensuring it can handle traffic without slowing down and that it offers a smooth user experience. This includes managing the website’s speed, security, and overall functionality, all of which play a crucial role in the site’s ranking on search engine results pages.
A web developer’s daily tasks vary depending on the project they are working on, but typical responsibilities include:
- Communicating with clients to understand their needs and goals.
- Collaborating with designers to translate visual concepts into functional web pages.
- Writing clean, efficient code to power various website features.
- Using JavaScript to create interactive elements such as sliders, forms, or dynamic content.
- Ensuring the website is responsive, meaning it functions properly across different devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Ultimately, web developers ensure that the website not only looks good but also functions flawlessly on all platforms, providing users with an optimal experience regardless of the device they’re using.
There three different types of developers: front-end, back-end, and full-stack. Front-end developers take a client’s (or web designer’s) vision for a website, write the necessary code to implement it, and make a functional website.
They should be fluent in multiple coding and programming languages, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, to add content to the site in a readable layout with headings and paragraphs in various colours and sizes. Front-end web development also involves adding interactive elements, like buttons and forms, onto the site.
A back-end developer deals with the site’s server and maintains the technical side of a website. They create programs and write code to power the site’s server, applications, databases, and front-end components. Back-end development can affect the site’s speed, so all the code needs to be straightforward and efficient for SEO optimisation. These developers use several different server languages to build programs, including Python, PHP, JavaScript, and Ruby.
Full-stack developers can provide all-in-one website development. They know both front-end and back-end tools and techniques to manage the entire website building process. Smaller companies will hire a full-stack developer to get everything done as a whole web development team or company would be more expensive.
The cost of hiring a web developer can vary significantly depending on the complexity and functionality of the website you need. A simple, informational site will cost much less to develop than a complex, custom-built platform with advanced features like eCommerce, user accounts, or dynamic content.
Web developers typically charge between $120 to $200 per hour, depending on their experience and location. Some development companies may offer a fixed rate based on your project requirements, providing a tailored quote.
For general cost estimates:
- Basic websites, such as blogs or informational pages, can start at around $3,500 to $8,000.
- Interactive websites with multiple features, like booking systems or membership areas, may cost between $7,000 and $12,000.
- Highly complex, custom-built websites with advanced functionality, such as online marketplaces or large-scale applications, can exceed $40,000 or more.
Several factors can impact the final cost of your project, including:
- The number of pages required
- Advanced features like animations or interactive elements, often built using modern technologies such as jQuery
- Whether you need eCommerce functionality or a content management system (CMS)
- Web design and custom graphics
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services
- Web hosting and ongoing maintenance
To get an accurate estimate, it’s best to work with a web development company that can assess your specific needs and provide a detailed quote based on your project goals.
Web development encompasses all the tasks involved in building, maintaining, and optimising a website for the Internet. It includes a wide range of processes such as coding, programming, web design, content creation, server and database management, network security, and ongoing maintenance. Essentially, web development is what makes websites functional, user-friendly, and accessible.
The scope of web development can range from creating a simple static web page to developing complex web applications, eCommerce platforms, or large-scale business websites that handle heavy traffic and require seamless performance.
While the term “web development” is often used broadly, it typically refers to the technical side of website creation—such as writing code in languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or more complex server-side languages. It focuses on building the structure and functionality of the website, ensuring that everything works as it should.
It’s important to note that web development differs from web design. While web design focuses on the aesthetics, layout, and user experience (what the user sees), web development is concerned with the behind-the-scenes aspects like coding and programming that ensure the site functions correctly for users.
The purpose of web development is to create a fully functional website so that people who search for a specific service, product or information that you offer can end up on your site and find what they are looking for.
The main goal of website development and design is to meet all of the client’s requirements for their website. These include easy navigation and interactive buttons and elements to create an excellent overall user experience and boost business.
Having a visually pleasing, easy-to-use website that loads quickly will positively impact your conversions as users will enjoy using your website. This potential impact on conversions is why web development is so important and why you should invest some time and money into building a good website.
A lot goes into the development of a good website, but here are some of the few basic skills that developers need to have.
First and foremost, it is essential to know coding and programming languages. At the very least, they have to be fluent in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In addition to code, they should know their way around the most popular CMS platforms, like WordPress.
They will also need to have good analytical skills and understand responsive design so that their sites can function properly on all devices. Adobe Photoshop is another valuable skill to have as it allows them to create logos and professional designs for their clients.
Lastly, web developers must understand SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to use best practices to help pages rank higher. These include considering page speed, keywords and domain credibility.
