firstly,im new,so hello.

my first question is what is the difference between a web designer and developer?
from what ive read a developer does all the back-end stuff,but what i dont understand is if i was to hire a web designer to build me a site then surely they would do the back-end stuff as well?

why would i need to hire a developer once i my site is finished.
what more can they do that a web designer cant or hasnt?


my second is about building websites.

1.if i want to be able to create nice fancy looking site with flash ect.. then what software do i need and what should i be learning?

2.if i want to design good working websites(not worrying about how good it looks)that im trying to get ranked high in search engines(like a website for a buisness)then what software would i need and what would i need to be learning?


any advice will be much appreciated,thanks in advance.

Welcome

I believe a web designer does purely web design and maybe adds some content.

But a web developer works on the code that actually functions something, ie Image Uploading, Form processing etc.

1. I suggest that you download Adobe Flash (CS3) to make flash, but to make a good looking website without flash then your best bet would be to learn code such as html, xhtml, css, and xml. Although a software for website design which is good is Adobe Dreamweaver (CS3).

2. To get high ranks in search engines, your site will need to be easy to understand and navigate, and have all pages easy to find.

No, I wouldn't say that's necessarily an accurate description at all. The term 'web designer' tends to encompass so much more than just design. My title is "Sr. Web Designer" - but I design AND code.

A DEVELOPER is more often to be the person doing the back-end database type work, the hard core programming if you will.