It depends on what your customer has to do on the screen. If they read your pages and then call you or fill in a form, a web designer is the right hire. If they need to log in, pay, save something or get a price the site works out for them, you need a full stack developer, because that takes a database and server code behind the page. And if the real job is moving data between tools you already pay for, like sending web form entries into your CRM, that's automation work. Sort your project by that one question before you ask anyone for a quote.
Why do searches for a full stack developer in Indianapolis show job listings?
If you searched for a full stack developer in Indianapolis, you probably got a page of job boards. Indeed and Glassdoor both rank for it, because most people typing that phrase want to be hired. Search the way a buyer does instead. Web app developer or custom web application development, with Indianapolis on the end, brings up the firms that build apps for businesses.
What does each role actually do?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics splits the work between designers and developers. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook says digital designers work out a site's layout and navigation and test them for usability, while web developers own the technical side, like how fast the site runs and how much traffic it can handle. It describes back-end developers as the people who build the site's framework and make sure it works, and front-end developers as the ones who fit graphics and applications into the page, with a retail checkout tool as its example.
A full stack developer covers both ends: the screens people click and the server and database behind them. HubSpot's guide to hiring a designer or a developer makes the practical point that designers often build simple sites in a drag-and-drop site builder, which is fine for that job, while a complex site or a web app that needs custom code needs a developer.
| What your customer does | Who you need | What gets built | Where to start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads your pages, then calls or fills in a form | Web designer | Pages, photos, proof and a form that reaches you | |
| Logs in, pays, saves something or gets a calculated price | Full stack developer | Screens, server rules, a database and payments | |
| Sees nothing new, but data moves between your tools | Automation | Rules and handoffs inside tools you already pay for |
What does a website job look like on screen?
The Moto Supreme cabin retreat website is a clean example. A group organizer reads about the cabins and the land, pictures the trip and then heads to Airbnb to book. The site doesn't need its own database or customer logins, because the booking system already lives somewhere else. Everything that matters happens in the writing and the path to the booking link, which is design work.
Most service businesses sit in this lane. A roofer or a dentist needs pages that answer the questions customers ask and a phone number that works on a phone. Paying for a back end there buys you upkeep and nothing a customer would notice.
What does an app job look like on screen?
Our own Jev Website Scanner is the example on the other side. A visitor types in a website, and the app finds its pages, saves the list to a database, reads each page and emails a report link. A paid audit goes through Stripe Checkout, and the paid scan starts only once Stripe confirms the payment. Every payment notice Stripe sends gets its signature checked before the app trusts it. Closing the tab loses nothing, because the saved report link picks the scan back up.
None of that is design. It's a database, server rules, payments and outside services working together, and a designer with a site builder can't make it. Running the scanner on your own site shows you what that feels like from the customer's side of the screen.
When is it neither?
Some projects change nothing on screen. You want every web inquiry in your CRM, or a text when a big job comes in. If your tools already connect through built-in connectors or a service like Zapier, that's setup and rules inside tools you pay for. It becomes a developer's job once the connection has to hold your business rules, run at high volume, carry sensitive data or check a signed webhook.
How do you tell which one a quote is pricing?
Read the line items. A design quote talks about pages, copy, photos, templates and revision rounds. A development quote talks about user roles, a database, payments, APIs, hosting and who maintains the code after launch. If a firm quotes you a database for a brochure site, ask what it's for. If a firm quotes a web app as a template with a plugin, ask where your data lives and who can change the rules.
Some projects are both. A contractor might need a marketing site that also has a quote calculator, and that means a designer and a developer, or one firm that does both, working on the same page.
Which page should you read next?
- Offer
- Explain what the customer can get.
- Evidence
- Support the offer.
- Action
- Make the next step easy to use.
- Customers read and call: see how we plan a website design project.
- Someone logs in, pays, saves or calculates: tell us what the app has to do. On a free call we'll say what we'd build first.
- Data moves between tools you own: see how inquiry automation works.
Not sure your current site is the problem? Run it through the free website scan first. It reads up to 100 pages and tells you what to fix.
Questions, answered.
Do I need a full stack developer for a small business website?
Not if customers only read your pages and then call or fill in a form. A web designer covers that. You need a full stack developer when customers have to log in, pay, save something or get a price the site works out, because that takes a database and server code.
What's the difference between a web designer and a full stack developer?
A web designer plans how the site looks and reads so visitors find what they need and reach you. A full stack developer builds the screens along with the server and database behind them, which is what a login or a saved record needs.
Can one company do both design and development?
Yes, and a project with a marketing site and an app piece, like a quote calculator, often goes smoother that way. Ask each firm to show a live example of each kind of work before you hire them.
Is moving form entries into my CRM a developer job?
Usually not. If your tools already connect through a built-in connector or a service like Zapier, it's automation setup. It becomes development when the connection has to hold your business rules, run at high volume, carry sensitive data or check a signed webhook.
