Career guide
Web Designer Job Description: Template, Duties and Skills
A web designer plans and designs websites and landing pages so they look right, work on every screen and help visitors do what the business needs, such as buy, sign up or get in touch. On a marketing team that usually means the company site, campaign landing pages and testing what converts. Below is a template you can adapt and a plain account of the work behind it.
Key takeaways
- A web designer plans and designs websites and landing pages so they look right, work on every screen and help visitors take the next step.
- On marketing teams, web designers usually own the company site, campaign landing pages and design tests that improve conversion.
- Web designers design the experience and layout, while web developers build and maintain the code that runs the site, though many roles ask for both.
- Strong web designer job descriptions name the site, the tools, the goal the pages serve and how success will be measured.
- Web designers are expected to design for accessibility, and the W3C's WCAG guidelines are the standard most teams work toward.
What does a web designer do?
A web designer decides how a website or page looks, how it’s laid out and how people move through it, then hands a finished design to be built, or builds it themselves. The work sits between brand design, user experience and code.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics groups the job with web developers and digital designers: developers create and maintain sites, while designers focus on a site’s look, layout and usability.
Most web designers spend their time on a handful of things:
- Planning pages. Turning a goal ("more demo requests”, “launch the new product") into a sitemap, wireframes and page structure.
- Visual design. Layouts, type, color, imagery and components that fit the brand’s design system.
- Responsive design. Making every page work on phones, tablets and desktops.
- Building or handing off. Building in a site builder or CMS, or preparing specs and assets for developers.
- Improving what’s live. Reviewing analytics and test results, then redesigning pages that underperform.
- Accessibility. Contrast, type sizes, focus states, alt text and layouts that work with assistive technology.
How is a web designer on a marketing team different?
A web designer on a marketing team designs to a business goal: sign-ups, leads, sales. The site is a marketing channel, so the work is judged on whether pages convert, not only on how they look.
| Setting | What the web designer usually owns | What they’re measured on |
|---|---|---|
| In-house marketing team | The company site, campaign landing pages, email templates, design system for web | Conversion rate, launches on time, site consistency |
| Agency | Sites and landing pages for several clients, often from pitch to launch | Client approval, on-time delivery, hours against estimate |
| Product or UX team | App and product screens, onboarding flows | Task completion, usability findings, product metrics |
| Freelance | Whole small-business sites, end to end | Repeat clients and referrals |
On marketing teams the web designer often works closely with a CRO specialist or growth marketer, designing the test variations they want to run.
Web designer job description template
Copy this and replace the [brackets]. Cut anything that doesn’t apply; a shorter, accurate posting attracts better candidates than a long generic one.
Job title: Web Designer, [Marketing / Brand / Growth] About [Company] [Two sentences: what the company sells, to whom, and what the website needs to do for the business.] About the role We're hiring a Web Designer to own the design of [our website / campaign landing pages / the site redesign]. You'll report to [title] and work with [marketing, content, developers, the growth team]. In your first six months you'll [one concrete goal, e.g. redesign the pricing and demo pages]. What you'll do - Design pages for [the main site / product launches / paid campaigns], from wireframe to final design. - Build pages in [Webflow / WordPress / our CMS] or hand off specs and assets to [developers]. - Keep the site consistent with our brand and design system, and extend the system when we need new components. - Design every page to work on mobile, tablet and desktop. - Design to accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2 AA). - Work with [growth / CRO] on A/B tests and improve pages based on results. - Prepare image, icon and video assets optimized for the web. What you'll bring - [X]+ years designing websites or landing pages, with a portfolio of live work. - Strong layout, typography and visual design skills. - Experience in [Figma / your design tool] and [your site builder or CMS]. - Working knowledge of HTML and CSS [required / a plus]. - Understanding of how design affects conversion, and comfort reading analytics. - Clear communication with marketers, writers and developers. Nice to have - Experience with [motion design / illustration / email design]. - Experience with [SEO basics / page speed / a specific platform]. How we'll measure success - [Metric 1: e.g. conversion rate on key landing pages] - [Metric 2: e.g. campaign pages launched on time] - [Metric 3: e.g. accessibility issues resolved] Pay and benefits [Salary range], [benefits], [location / hybrid / remote].
A few notes for hiring managers using it:
- Say whether they build. “Designs in Figma, developers build” and “designs and builds in Webflow” are different jobs, and candidates need to know which.
- Name the site’s goal. The pages a designer is measured on tell candidates what kind of work they’ll do.
- Ask for live work. A portfolio of live sites and pages shows more than mockups alone.
- Include the pay range. Some US states and cities require one in postings, so check the rules where you’re hiring.
What’s the difference between a web designer and a web developer?
A web designer decides what a site looks like and how it works for the visitor; a web developer writes and maintains the code that makes it run. In practice the line blurs: many marketing teams hire designers who build in no-code tools, and many small teams hire one person for both.
| Web designer | Web developer | Graphic designer | UX designer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main output | Page layouts, visual design, prototypes | Working code, integrations, site performance | Brand and campaign visuals across channels | Research, flows, wireframes, usability tests |
| Typical tools | Figma, a site builder or CMS | Code editors, frameworks, version control | Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma | Figma, research and testing tools |
| Measured on | Conversion, consistency, launches | Uptime, speed, bugs, delivery | Creative quality and output | Usability and task success |
If a posting asks for “web designer/developer”, read the responsibilities: they tell you how much code the job really involves. Our graphic designer interview questions cover the visual design side, and brand designer covers brand systems.
What skills does a web designer need?
A web designer needs visual design skill, an understanding of how people use websites, and enough technical knowledge to design things that can be built. These show up in most postings:
- Layout and typography, including designing for small screens first.
- A design tool such as Figma, and a design system mindset: reusable components rather than one-off pages.
- A site builder or CMS, such as Webflow or WordPress, for teams where designers build.
- HTML and CSS basics, so designs are realistic and handoffs are clean.
- Conversion thinking: clear headlines, one main action per page, forms that are easy to finish.
- Accessibility. The W3C’s WCAG 2 overview explains the guidelines and their three levels, A, AA and AAA; ask which level the team works to.
- Reading data: analytics, heatmaps and A/B test results.
- Working with others: taking briefs from marketers, giving and receiving design feedback, working with developers.
How is a web designer measured?
On whether the pages they design do their job and on how reliably they ship. A good posting names the metrics:
- Landing pages: conversion rate, cost per lead or sale on the traffic they receive.
- The main site: engagement on key pages, completed sign-ups or demo requests.
- Delivery: campaign and launch pages live on time.
- Quality: consistency with the brand, accessibility issues fixed, pages that load quickly.
If you’re interviewing, ask which pages matter most to the business and how they’re measured today. The answer tells you where your first wins will come from.
How do you use a web designer job description when applying?
Treat the posting as a brief for your resume and portfolio. Find the three or four responsibilities it stresses, then make sure your resume shows a result for each and your portfolio shows a matching project first.
- Highlight the repeated asks, such as “landing pages”, “design system” or “builds in Webflow”.
- Lead your portfolio with the closest project, with a line on the goal and the result.
- Use the posting’s own words on your resume where they’re true. Our web designer resume guide shows how.
- Prepare to walk through one project from brief to result. Tell it the way you’d explain it to a colleague, in your own words, rather than as a rehearsed script.
Recon can match your resume to the posting line by line, using only facts already on your resume.
FAQ
What qualifications does a web designer need?
Many postings ask for a bachelor’s degree in design or a related field, but a portfolio of live work usually matters more. BLS notes that education requirements for web developers and digital designers range from a high school diploma to a bachelor’s degree, depending on the employer.
Do web designers need to code?
It depends on the job. Some roles only design and hand off to developers; others build pages in a site builder or CMS. Knowing HTML and CSS basics helps in either case, because your designs will be easier to build.
What does a senior web designer do differently?
A senior web designer owns larger projects, such as a full site redesign or the web design system, sets standards for other designers and works directly with marketing and product leaders on what the site should achieve.
What does a web designer earn?
Pay varies with location, industry and whether the role includes development. BLS publishes pay for web developers and digital designers, including web and digital interface designers, on its handbook page.
Is web design a marketing job?
On many teams, yes. When the website is how a company finds and converts customers, the web designer sits in marketing and is measured on marketing results. At product companies the same skills may sit in a product or UX team instead.