Web designing will grow nearly 13% in the next ten years, creating a demand for numerous web designers. Web designers are in great demand locally and internationally as every small business needs a web designer to showcase their goods online.
Businesses now realize it is favorable to have an online store and a brick-and-mortar one or stick with the eCommerce store to own the future. Consumers, who want a product, search online as “product name near me (Beer shop near me)” rather than search for it in the neighborhood. They automatically choose the shop address that shows up on Google and have a good review rather than an unknown shop.
Such scenarios stress small businesses that look for budget-friendly options to make the business go online. Web designers with good design skills and practical knowledge fulfill the needs of such customers quickly.
Starting with web design
Experts divide web designing into three main parts.
Designing
Designing involves drawing the website’s layout on a paper or whiteboard as grids and deciding the colors, typography, where to place the images, etc. Adobe XD, Photoshop, Sketch, and many other tools get used for basic UI design.
Website development
Website development involves using many software and technical tools to bring the design to life. If the web designer wants to write coding for the website, they must be proficient in HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Alternatively, web designers can use WordPress, Wix, Mozello, WebNode, etc., which are open-source platforms to build a website. Familiarize yourself with these drag-and-drop tools and a website builder like Elementor, Divi, or Page Builder.
It is a bit overwhelming when you need to install different software, addons, and plugins while designing a website. Your system might slow down due to overload. Learn how to get more application memory on Mac when opening multiple tools simultaneously. Follow the steps in the link to free up space from time to time and design your website quickly without staring at the blank loading screen forever.
Maintenance and marketing
Connect the website with the suitable backend database once you decide on the design and make it run. Create a related app or make the website mobile friendly and ensure all the software and plugins get renewed regularly. Install security addons and spam-preventing filters for your website. Make the website visible to the relevant audience using various digital marketing strategies and search engine optimization or SEO to keep it running and profitable.
How to master web designing?
Web designing experts advise beginners to start with simple YouTube videos and indulge in a lot of self-training. Join an online course and master the designing part, which is the basis of web, graphics, and app designing. Learn Photoshop, Figma, WebFlow, and Dreamweaver.
Several beginners vote Dreamweaver the best to start if you have little to no coding knowledge. Increase your understanding of HTML, XML, JavaScript, and CSS while you keep using the tool. List the top 5 websites you like and try to recreate the design grids in Adobe XD.
Learn about the right Typography combinations, color combinations, and correct fonts that will attract the user to a design. Use the extensive resources in Google Web Designer to master the basics of UI/UX design. Beginners can take a comprehensive web designing and development class which takes around 12 weeks to master.
- Udemy, Coursera, and Skillshare offer such self-paced courses for beginners. Select their bestselling courses and get enough hands-on experience through various projects. Once you pay for the hosting and domain of a website, you can create 50 to 60 subdomains. Create various sample sites for practicing using these subdomains.
- Try various design tools, WordPress, coding, and different addons and plugins until you find the ones best suitable for you. Create small free websites for friends and acquaintances to check their performance.
- Implement your digital marketing skills to check how far you can make it visible and get a high online rank. Create a professional portfolio website showcasing your best samples and start approaching clients for direct work. Start as a freelancer and apply for web designing vacancies in various companies.
Digital marketing and SEO skills are essential to rank your website better than others and appear in searches. Web designing courses usually concentrate on designing, while web development courses teach coding and implementation. Beginners must learn digital marketing courses separately once they master how to create a website.
Main challenges in web designing and development
Avoid overwhelming when you start with web designing, as it might seem too much and highly costly. Creating an original web design template and selling it in the Envato market will give you regular passive income every time a person downloads the design. Designing a website from the core with coding is not an easy task for beginners. But, pre-made codes for every type of website are already available, which can get customized easily according to your needs.
Web development tools like Elementor make mobile website creation and designing a breeze with child-friendly steps. Categorize the websites like eCommerce stores, booking sites, blogs, and info websites and learn to develop them. Try creating each of them in various subdomains to gain enough practice and try to recreate anything new or impressive you see on any website. Anyone can master web designing and web development skills within four to six months max if they are ready to spend a couple of hours daily.
Web designing might get exhausting when the required design does not materialize in the given time. Several beginners get burnt out, unable to finish a design, or confused when a different design appears instead of the intended one. Be patient, follow designing blogs and use tools like Whatthefont that will give details about fonts and colors on other websites. Concentrate on recreating already done sites first and create your own designs later for better skill development.
Choose your specialization
There are plenty of web designers in the market, but very few with the right specialization. Once you master the basics, start concentrating on a particular specialization that is easy for you. Learn to solve backend-related issues or become a master UI/UX designer. Check websites like Dribbble, Behance, Elementor, and Awards to see unique designs of wonderful websites. Increase your skill to create websites that rock the day. Learn essential coding skills to make the website extra secure and know about the best add-ons and plugins that will help you in the process.
Increase your mobile app development skills and digital marketing skills. Jobs like interaction designer, visual designer, and product manager are available in the field. Visual designers and product managers help in tweaking the aesthetics of the website and the product, respectively. The interaction manager helps solve website issues and serves as an end-point of contact for all IT issues. Read the job requirement for such openings and develop the skills required when learning web designing to stand alone from the crowd.
Learn on the go
Understand you will never be ready with all the required skills one fine day. Learn on the go and keep doing enough projects during the learning phase or the first three months. Deplete all the sub-domains by experimenting with different types of website designs every day. The skill improves only as you practice, stumble, encounter errors, and learn to fix them. Become a member of forums and indulge actively in the group chats of the classes you are taking. Discuss doubts, share impressive designs, and exchange ideas with like-minded people to grow.
Do not wait to learn thoroughly and start doing small projects through freelance websites like Upwork or Freelancer after you master the basics in three months. Get testimony from various clients to showcase your portfolio, which will increase your credibility while approaching huge clients. Get your work featured on magazines or pages like Dribbble to get noticed. Beginners need ample courage to talk and market themselves to the clients and tackle their tricky demands in the field.
Be flexible, know the industry norms and try to explain the reasonable rate and possibilities of creating a custom website within a given time. Some customers need too many features in their websites, while others will never be satisfied with the design. Limit your revisions to three to five times and certain price features as a package. Digital marketing skills will come in handy while handling customers, and high experience in optimizing your website or blog will help give facts.
Conclusion
Web designing is a fun job you can do from anywhere in the world with a laptop and a steady internet connection. Master web designing, development, and digital marketing one by one, specialize in one area and work together in groups or as individual freelance designers. Beginners’ can master web designing only through ample practice and experimenting with various types of websites.
Always start slow and do not get overwhelmed by a load of information. Identify whether you like designing, coding, or marketing as you work with various clients. Enhance your skill set, become a specialist in any particular aspect of web designing, like a visual designer, and start marketing your skills through a unique profile website.
