Web Designer Skills

If you want a career creating stand-out websites from the ground up, there are several important skills you’ll need to learn. Top tech companies prioritize candidates that possess these core skills. They’re even starting to value on-trend knowledge and experience over formal education like college degrees.

In this post we’ll look at the fundamental skills you’ll need to make it as a professional web designer. We’ll also discuss online web design bootcamps. These intensive education programs teach you career-ready design skills that can help you stand out from the crowd and get hired as a well-paid designer.

Let’s start by understanding the role of a web designer and listing some of the day-to-day tasks that come with the position.

Essential Tech Skills for Web Designers

Hard skills are the specific technical skills required to work as a professional web designer. Firms look for the following hard skills when hiring for the role:

• Hypertext Markup Language: HTML is the most basic building block of a website. Web designers use HTML to add content and structure to a page. Web browsers read HTML documents and display formatted content to the user. You can add headings, text, images, tables, forms, and links to a site using HTML code.
• Cascading Style Sheets: CSS works alongside HTML and allows web designers to create consistent styles and formatting across a site. In theory, CSS is optional and all styling can be defined in raw HTML code. However, if you have a 100-page website and decide you want to change the font color, you’ll have to edit 100 HTML documents manually.
  
  By using CSS you only need to make the change once. This saves a considerable amount of time and allows web designers to quickly tweak design ideas.
• JavaScript: A limitation of HTML is that it’s static. This means a standard HTML website will always display the same prebuilt content each time it’s loaded. JavaScript solves this problem and allows web designers to create dynamic content. This is extremely important for user interaction and improves the overall user experience. Examples of JavaScript in action include:
  
  JavaScript can also be used to technically optimize websites and reduce loading times. This can further improve the user experience, especially on mobile devices.
• Design Tools: To make it in the web design field you’ll need a good understanding of popular design tools. Photoshop is perfect for image processing, Adobe Illustrator is useful for graphic design, Adobe After Effects works well for video processing, and MockPlus is a great tool for creating prototypes and wireframes.
• UX Design: In today’s customer-oriented world, user experience is the most important aspect of any site, web app, or product. As a web designer, you need to cater to the needs and wants of the users. You can use tools like color psychology, type hierarchy, and grid systems to make your designs visually appealing.
• Responsive Design: As mobile web browsing is trending up, web designers need to understand responsive design more than ever. You’ll need to create stunning sites that work on all screen sizes. Page elements like navigation buttons and drop-down menus should be usable on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. They should also be optimized for desktop monitors.
• Graphic Design: Successful web design requires visual creativity and an eye for detail. You need to understand how to arrange elements so they work well together on the page. You should also learn logo design, how to create clean and minimal layouts, and how to use complementary colors.
• Search Engine Optimization: You don’t need to be an expert in SEO, but a basic understanding of on-page SEO principles will help you succeed as a web designer. SEO is used to optimize web pages to rank higher in search results. The higher your site ranks, the more traffic you’ll receive. You should be familiar with breadcrumb navigation, rich snippets, meaningful HTML title and header tags, image alt text, and keyword-friendly URLs.
• Analytics: Google Analytics is a common tool used for gaining insight into user behavior. By studying how users interact with your site, you can iterate the design and improve the user experience. For example, you might find users are canceling the sales process on a particular page. You can then investigate this page for possible causes. Perhaps the navigation button isn’t clear, or the page takes too long to load.

Soft Skills Required to Become a Web Designer

Web designers rarely work in isolation. You’ll need strong interpersonal and social skills to meet with clients and discuss ideas with team members. Here are some other soft skills you’ll need:

• Time Management: Web design often requires you to juggle many different tasks at once. You’ll also be working to project deadlines. This requires excellent time management and prioritization skills.
  
  You need to learn how to identify more important tasks over less essential jobs. You’ll also need to identify risks and potential issues that could result in deadlines being missed. You should always try to mitigate these risks to reduce wasted effort.
• Communication: Both written and verbal communication is key to the role of web design. You’ll need to listen to client requirements, present ideas to them, and write design specification reports. You should be able to convey information clearly at all times to avoid confusion.
• Attention to Detail: You have to pay attention to intricacies in the layout, navigation, color scheme, and other aspects of the design. You need to make sure that everything serves a purpose and appeals to the customer. Small details can make a big difference. If just one heading doesn’t match the site theme, it can look unprofessional and chaotic.
• Open to New Ideas: You should always try to be optimistic and consider every idea that comes your way. Treat colleagues and clients with respect and stay positive. This can-do attitude is essential for progressing up the career ladder as a web designer.

How to Learn the Skills Needed for Web Design

You should now have a good understanding of the many skills required to make it in this industry. The good news is, with a proactive attitude and some determination there are plenty of ways you can get up to speed. Here’s how you can learn core design skills and kickstart your career as a web designer:

• Get a Degree: A bachelor’s degree is the traditional approach used to learn a broad range of web design skills. You can get a degree in graphic design, communication, computer science, or a related field. Degrees typically take 4 years to complete and you’ll need to pay up to $35,000 per year in tuition fees. This path will certainly give you a solid foundation to become a web designer. However, a degree isn’t actually required for the role and some employers consider them too general.
• Enroll in a Bootcamp: Unlike a degree, bootcamps are laser-focused learning programs designed to teach aspiring web designers the career-ready skills they need to get started. Enroll in our UX/UI design bootcamp to master front-end design skills and launch your web design career. We’ll not only teach you web design, we’ll also support you in your job search and help you land a well-paid position.
• Listen to Feedback: Exchanging feedback can be a good way to learn and improve your skills. You can give feedback on the work of others and receive feedback on your own work. You should be able to handle feedback and criticism positively and work towards improving your weaknesses.
• Stay On-Trend: Web design is a fast-moving industry and is driven by trends. You should try to stay on top of these trends. Don’t just blindly follow the techniques you’ve learned. But keep an open mind and adopt new technologies to improve your work. To stay up-to-date read web design blogs, follow online communities, and discuss approaches with your professional network.
• Join Competitions: This is one of the best ways to test and improve your skills. There are many design competitions like DesignCrowd, DesignContest, and 99 Designs that will take you out of your comfort zone. Even if you don’t win, the experience is invaluable.
• Keep Practicing: There’s no shortcut or easy way to improve your skills. You need to keep practicing to become a better web designer. You can create a localhost on your home computer. This can be used to create new designs and experiment with new concepts in private.
• Get Certified: There are many online certification courses offered by various institutions. These not only improve your skills but will also help you grow professionally. They look great on your resume and will impress prospective employers. You can take courses related to JavaScript, UX Design, SEO, or any other area that you find interesting.

Become A Web Designer

The world will always need web designers. Companies understand the importance of building their digital presence and creating a great user experience. If you’re a problem-solver with a creative and artistic mindset, a future in web design is an excellent choice.

Check out our online UX/UI design bootcamp to fast-track your tech career. You’ll benefit from community support and one-on-one mentoring from a leading web designer. Our expert curriculum will teach you everything you need to go from beginner to hired in less than a year.

Alternatively, if you’d like to continue your research feel free to browse our UX/UI design blog. You can learn about the different career options available in UX/UI design (and how much they pay).

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