8 Essential Skills To Become A Web Designer In 2024

In this article, I have listed 8 essential skills to become a web designer in 2024. So keep reading. Web design has grown tremendously in the last couple of years for various reasons. One is due to the need for businesses to get involved in digital marketing to stay relevant. And even though web design already started to spiral as early as the year 2000, it isn’t too late to start a career as a web designer.

Want to know how you can get started? Work on developing the following skills and you will surely soar high as a web designer in 2024.

Essential Skills To Become A Web Designer In 2023

1. HTML

HTML is the foundation of every website. These days, CMS has been the trend when it comes to creating websites. Still, knowing HTML would be important because after setting up the website, you’d still need to do a bit of HTML coding.

Knowing HTML will also enable you to understand better how websites work. On top of that, you will be able to create websites outside of these editors which sets the foundation you need in becoming a web designer.

2. CSS

HTML pretty much dictates the overall structure of the website but CSS governs what will be the visual appearance of the website. Hence, you won’t be able to fulfill your duty as a web designer if you don’t have this skill. HTML and CSS pretty much go together. These are two of the most essential web design skills that you need to learn in the offset.

3. Javascript

CSS and HTML are two of the initial ingredients in creating and designing a website. You only need these two things to create a functioning website. But these days, it is not enough to simply have a website. You also need it to be SEO-optimized and interactive. That is where javascript comes in.

Learning Javascript isn’t nearly as easy as HTML and CSS. It is considered a more advanced coding language. Due to the importance of websites for businesses, you shouldn’t be surprised to encounter clients that have higher demands when it comes to their websites. You will need to create enhanced experiences for the would-be visitors of your client. Hence, where knowing how to code Javascript comes in handy.

4. A Good Sense Of Web Design

There are art and science in web design. You need to know the technicalities of building a website but that, alone, isn’t enough. And you need to what kind of design will look good on a website. You need to be able to create a design that will suit the taste and branding of your client.

We recommend that you take a couple of courses on design. Knowing what colors look good when paired together isn’t sufficient. You need to know the elements of a good design, layout principles, and typography best practices. It is also important to know a thing or two about how real people interact with the design. This will assist you in effectively deciding on your web design.

5. Adobe Design Tools

The Adobe design tools that you need to learn are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe AfterEffects. Even though you will be able to design a website through coding or by using multiple WordPress plugins, knowing how to use Adobe products will most certainly come in handy.

For one thing, WordPress plugins can only offer so much good design. Meanwhile, having to code web design can take a lot of time. By creating an actual visual, you get to finish your web design project much faster. On top of that, using Adobe products to create a web design lets you be flexible. Some clients like to have a unique web design.

6. Search Engine Optimization

Don’t worry because you don’t need to learn the entire SEO practice to become a web designer. But at the very least, you need to know how it works. These days, websites will barely give businesses any benefit if they website is not SEO-optimized.

It does not matter how good your web design is if people don’t even know it exists. Hence, learning to optimize the different pages of a website is necessary. Some of the things that you need to learn SEO is keyword research, sitemaps, and robots.txt.

As a web designer, you have two options: 1) to work for a web design company 2) be a freelance web designer. Working for an agency gets you the chance to work with a website design firm or experienced designers where you can learn the basics going to advanced techniques they use to deliver quality services to your clients.

Being a freelance web designer will be a more difficult route. In the succeeding points, we will be focusing on skills that you’ll find necessary if you choose the freelance web designer route.

7. Project Management

Project management is not necessary for the process of creating a web design. But it can be pretty handy as it will allow you to thrive in this career path. Know that freelance web designers don’t just work for one client alone. Otherwise, they would have a pretty tough time making money.

As a web designer, you need to work with multiple clients as well. Now, the tricky part is being able to provide high-quality work while meeting the deadlines of your various projects. That’s where project management comes in. Project management also lets you keep track of what you’ve accomplished recently and what other tasks are left for you to do.

You’ll be able to schedule each task accordingly so that your workday doesn’t have to be too overwhelming. Some of the project management tasks that we recommend are Trello, Asana, and FreedCamp.

8. Digital Marketing

You don’t have to master digital marketing all in one go. After all, digital marketing is quite a broad scope. It might take years before you can call yourself a digital marketing expert. But it is important to have a basic idea of what you can do to market yourself online. For instance, as a web designer, people would want to see your skills in action. The best way to showcase your skills is through your website.

You can also create a Facebook page where you can constantly market your blogs, events, and services. Running Facebook ads will also help you acquire more clients if ever you start thinking about scaling your freelance business.

Are You Ready To Be A Web Designer?

Web design is highly in-demand today due to the transition of brick-and-mortar businesses into an online setup. This might mean having to initially invest in new skills, but it will be an investment that’s worth it because of all the career opportunities that web design can offer to the table.