A Website Developer plans, designs and manages a website development project.  To really get ahold of this concept one has to think of a website as a giant book that is not bound together by glue and thread, instead they are bound by hyperlinks.  A web site developer plans all the pages and how they connect. Menus, links, image rendering, all require a method a 'appearing' in a visitors browser.  A developer can build a web site from 'scratch' but usually some kind of Content Management System with a template is the typical solution.  The CMS, as Content Management Systems are called, provides the web pages in a database, or dynamically.  This creates a consistency in the website and continuity in menu link structure.  Linking is an extremely important function that on the surface may appear straight forward but has it's own complexities better managed by a CMS.  This avoids broken links and and lost visitors leaving the website.

What does one look for in a website developer?

• Background in Content Managment Systems is very helpful, especially if you have a CMS in mind
• website design skills. An eye for layout and execution.
• Broad knowledge of other server based applications to add services like RSS, podcasts, forums, shopping carts.
• Search Engine Marketing is very important