Technology has changed almost everything we do, from interacting with each other through online channels, to how we buy products and even how we learn. The world of marketing is no exception to change driven by tech.
We live in an age of online marketing and there are a few things you need to know before making a career switch into this exciting field. To be a successful digital marketing professional, there are two main website building specialties you will need to know – web development and web design.
In this article we will discuss how technology has enabled these two specialty fields to drive change in marketing. We will also discuss ways in which you can get up to speed with these tech-driven fields to find work in digital marketing, or even start your own digital marketing agency.
What is Digital Marketing
Firstly, let’s discuss what digital marketing entails. Think of digital marketing as the online version of those old school yellow page advertisements, except on a larger and more interactive scale.
Digital marketing helps drive monthly visitors to the websites of businesses. This is done through visually appealing and high-functioning websites that help connect businesses with new customers.
Many of these websites include ways for new customers to request information, such as quotes or scheduling appointments. Many businesses also maintain an active blog on their websites to help answer any questions new customers may have.
Now let’s talk about who actually builds and designs these websites so you can get a better idea of which path you want to take as part of your new career.
The multi-faceted nature of digital marketing allows career switchers to embark upon several possible avenues on their new career path. The two biggest of these new career possibilities are web development and web design.
The two sound very similar, but are really just two sides of the same coin. Web developers are the architects who create blueprints for the websites we use everyday. Web designers are the interior decorators who make the websites appealing to the eyes.
Web Development
Web developers are the engineers who build websites to help drive web traffic, which in turn results in new leads and new customers for businesses.
In order to do this, web developers have to build a site that is high-functioning and interactive. This is done through programming languages that tell the website what to do when a user clicks on specific links, such as displaying a box for the user to enter their contact info when they click on the “request more info” link. Some of these languages include html, css, and javascript.
The website also needs to know what to do when a user types something in the website’s search box. Much of the functionality of a website is based upon how the site will respond to specific situations. This is all accomplished through well-written code that helps the website function.
We have all visited websites that work well, helping us get what we need, and those that lag or have links to certain pages that do not work. That is the difference between a high-quality website with code that is well-written and those without well-written code.
It’s up to web developers to make sure the visitor’s experience is positive and that they get what they need from that website. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get certified for web development and begin your journey to a new career.
Web Design
To recap, digital marketing is made possible through well-built websites engineered by web developers through precise, well-written code. Once the website has it’s foundation built, it’s up to web designers to make it pop.
Color schemes, thought-provoking copy, attention-grabbing images, all of these are tools in the web designers wheelhouse. The web developer’s job is to build the website and make it function, after which the web designer decides the function of certain links and what the website will say when it interacts with the user.
Though this is considered to be more traditionally creative work than web development since it deals with the visual design and written mediums, there is still a fair bit of coding that goes into web design.
In fact, when you visit a website that is appealing to the eye, has cool graphics and displays text in a way that provides what you need in an enjoyable way, that is all done through coding.
If you are a creative person who enjoys working within visual and written forms, then you should consider becoming a certified web designer.
The Complete Digital Marketer
If you have the entrepreneurial desire to go your own way and start your own business, digital marketing is certainly a booming industry right now and could be a great business venture.
Many digital marketers are capable of both web development and web design, allowing them to either start their own business or stay afloat working for multiple clients as an independent freelancer.
Many digital marketing professionals eventually start their own agencies as scalable businesses which become much larger enterprises.
The demand for digital marketing experts is continuing to grow and if you are serious about making a stellar career switch, there are some really excellent schools that can help you get certified in both web development and web design.
