What Is a Web Developer? Skills and Career Paths

But you also need to understand how a focus on the user translates into business goals. And you need to know how to communicate this to executives or clients. Whether you’re a freelance web designer or work for an agency, you’ll need to communicate with stakeholders regularly to get feedback and update them on progress.

• This figure includes a base web designer salary of $59,302 and $4,892 in additional pay [1].
• Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress have made the process of building professional-looking sites simpler.
• They develop user interface designs that not only attract but retain visitors to the site.
• Website designers must have proficiency in design programs like Adobe Creative Cloud, CorelDraw Graphics Suite, or Inkscape.

Web design clearly requires a variety of creative, analytical, and soft skills. But with dedication, passion and the right learning path, carving out a new career in web design is easier than you think. While you don’t need to be a stunning artist to practice visual design, a good grounding in sketching helps. Sketching is both a communication tool during the early stages of the design process as well as an ideation tool for iterating through design ideas before the heavy lifting begins. That said, understanding how web developers break down designs and craft them into functional websites is an important skill for every web designer to know.

💼 6. Apply to web design jobs

However, a four-year degree isn’t the only path to this creative career, obtaining certifications is another option. Let’s take a closer look at both degree programs and certifications. This position will provide graphic design support for the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC).

Web design theory revolves around how information is presented on the page. Successful web designers will understand the different principles that contribute to a successful interaction with a website. They’ll know which elements to use to grab the audience’s attention and help them navigate your webpage. Either way, you’ll need to do your homework to make sure you’re ready once you land your first interview. Part of that entails researching the company you’re interviewing with. The other part is knowing how to answer some of the more common web design interview questions that come your way.

Popular Career Certificates

On average, freelance web designers in the US earn an annual salary of $50,416 [3]. Once you’ve gained the skills and experience to create websites, the next step is landing your first few web design jobs. If you’re looking for exciting and creatively fulfilling opportunities in web design, Dribbble’s #1 design job board is one of the best resources you’ll find. You can also get daily freelance design leads emailed to you every day and unlock more exclusive freelancer perks with a Dribbble Pro Business membership.

With thousands of computer languages, it can seem difficult to find the right type. Perhaps the best-known web developer is Tim Berners-Lee, who created HTML and launched the World Wide Web. Other famous developers include Lea Verou, co-editor of several CSS specifications, and Håkon Wium Lie, who created CSS. ComputerScience.org is committed to delivering content that is objective and actionable. To that end, we have built a network of industry professionals across higher education to review our content and ensure we are providing the most helpful information to our readers.

How to Become a Web Designer in 2023

But learning web design can be a little overwhelming, especially if you have a background outside of tech or graphic design. Thankfully, there are plenty of options for any kind of skill level and budget. Various skills go into building websites, from knowing how to create layouts to practicing good time management. If you’re wondering how to become a web designer, this handy guide can help. Web developers create functional, user-friendly websites and web applications.

You can earn anywhere between $40,000 to $125,000 depending on your experience and skills. Plus, you’ll have plenty of options in terms of career progression. After gaining a few years of experience as a web designer, you’ll become a senior web designer where you’ll be given more design freedom.

Essential Traits of a Web Designer

Entry-level jobs often require only a small amount of formal education and training. As the Internet continues to expand, so does the demand for talented web developers, making this career an attractive option. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that web development jobs will grow by 23% between 2021 and 2031 — much faster than the national average growth for all occupations.

Graduates will be qualified for careers as web developers, graphic artists, multimedia designers, or art directors. With our bachelor’s degree program, students will master cross-media content delivery via ePub and mobile devices and create a “branded” portfolio to use during the job search. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups web designers into the same category as jobs in graphic design and web development. Graphic designers earn an average salary of $50K each year, while web developers make an average of $69K. For web developers, job growth is projected to skyrocket at 13 percent, while graphic design jobs are expected to increase at a much slower rate, only 3 percent.

Freelance and contract web designer salaries

Search engines like Google read, parse, and rank websites using HTML tags. Discover the tools and resources you need to enter the web design industry https://wizardsdev.com/en/vacancy/middle-web-designer/ as a full-time or freelance web designer. To succeed as a web designer, it’s also essential to learn about the back end of the process.

They tend to be artistic individuals, which means they’re creative, intuitive, sensitive, articulate, and expressive. Some of them are also enterprising, meaning they’re adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic. A designer needs the ability to talk with a company about what they want, ask questions about the intended audience, and convey their ideas for an effective site. Being able to communicate is just the start, companies want a responsive designer too. A responsive designer keeps a company informed, explains issues as they arise, and discusses deadlines.