August 30, 2023
Freelance Writer
Suzanne is a freelance writer and web designer with 10 years of experience. She previously helped to rebuild a failed digital agency, and now she’s based in Florida running her own business.
Earn
$15–$30/hrStartup Time
SlowStartup Costs
LowRemote-Friendly
YesCollege Required
NoCertification Required
NoIf you’re looking for a side hustle with a ton of staying power, web design is a good one to consider. With new businesses springing up all the time, there will always be high demand for web designers.
In this guide on how to become a professional web designer, you’ll learn what it takes to get started, how much you’ll be able to earn as a freelancer, and the key pros and cons you should consider before jumping in.
Web designers are artists who develop the visual features of websites
A web designer creates the visual interface of a website. Everything from colors and fonts to layout and spacing is decided by the web designer with careful precision and planning.
Depending on the type of web design you do, you may decide to do more than that. For example, you may choose to use a website builder like WordPress, Wix, or Shopify to design websites.
Because many of these platforms are no-code or low-code, you wouldn’t need to hand off your work to a web developer to translate your visual designs into interactive websites. Instead, you’d build the entire website yourself using the platform.
You don’t need any formal qualifications to do web design, but you do need the right skills to succeed
Web design is a complex field that requires certain technical skills and knowledge. However, there are minimal entry barriers, meaning you can get started on your journey into web design right now, even with no experience.
You don’t need a college degree to become a web designer. Some employers and clients require a college education, but those gigs are typically for senior designers and specialists. The same goes for certificate programs.
That said, if you’re looking to give yourself an edge over the competition when applying for jobs, it doesn’t hurt to show off credentials from trusted organizations. Plus, a certification won’t cost you nearly as much time and money as a degree would.
You don’t technically need a certification to do web design. However, a certification can help you hone your skills and stand out from the competition.
Here are some certifications that would look good on your professional web design resume:
These certificate programs cover the basics of visual design, coding, and more. It’s a good idea to start by mastering these basics first before taking on any specialized programs.
Web designers may have different skill sets depending on their area of expertise. However, you typically need a good balance of creative, technical, and professional business skills to succeed as a web designer.
Some you may already have from previous schooling or employment. Others you’ll have to acquire through training and hands-on practice. This is one of the reasons why it takes a while before you can start working as a web designer.
| Creative Skills | Technical Skills | Business Skills |
|---|---|---|
| ● Design theory ● Design principles ● Visual design ● Graphic design ● User research ● User experience ● Color theory ● Typography ● Composition ● Photo editing |
● HTML ● CSS ● JavaScript ● Website hosts ● Domain names ● Web design software ● Content management systems ● Drag-and-drop website builders ● Responsive design ● Quality assurance and testing ● Website maintenance |
● Communication ● Collaboration ● Discipline ● Time management ● Organization ● Problem-solving ● Critical thinking ● Attentiveness ● Patience ● Resiliency |
Creative skills are the ones that enable you to design beautiful, modern digital interfaces for your clients and their target users. Technical skills are hard skills that allow you to turn your designs into user-friendly websites. Finally, professional business skills are soft skills that allow you to successfully market yourself, find new clients, and establish great working relationships.
Build your knowledge and connect with industry pros
If you’re ready to become a web designer, you need to start by gaining the necessary skills and knowledge. This is easier when you know what you need to learn and have access to expert-recommended resources.
Your first step should be learning web design and acquiring all the adjacent skills you need to do the job. The key is knowing where to access useful educational content and training consistently.
The nice thing about tutorials is that they’re not as dense as courses. You can quickly tackle micro topics—like navigation design, wireframing, and UX laws—in 20 minutes or less.
There are so many places to go for web design tutorials. It all depends on what type you prefer. For instance, if you want to watch tutorials, these YouTube channels are worth subscribing to:
If you prefer written tutorials, check out Codecademy and W3Schools.
While you can teach yourself how to design websites, there are several benefits to enrolling in online courses. For example, you’ll be able to get expert guidance, learn at your own pace, get hands-on experience, and create web pages and websites to add to your portfolio. You can even get certified if you enroll in one of the online certification courses mentioned earlier.
Alternatively, there are other websites that offer web design-related courses, such as Coursera, edX, Treehouse, and Udemy. Even courses that don’t come with a certification are worth taking if they help you acquire new knowledge or skills.
As a professional web designer, you won’t be able to do your job without having the right types of software. Here are a few programs and platforms you can use to design interfaces and websites.
If you want a place to design pixel-perfect visual interfaces, then you’ll need web design applications like these:
With these tools, you can create wireframes, visual mockups, interactive prototypes, custom graphics, and more.
The other option is to skip the third-party software and jump right into the website builder platform. These are the most popular options:
These low-code platforms come with intuitive drag-and-drop builders, beautifully designed templates, and plugins that make it easy to create advanced functionality and features.
If you want to specialize in building online shops, learning how to use ecommerce website builders would be beneficial. Here are a couple of examples of builders you can use:
While you can build stores with regular website builders, these devoted platforms come with all the functionality and tools you need to create and monetize a shop.
There are a lot of moving pieces in web design. Following a well-established process will help you keep things straight and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Also, the more you repeat the process, the faster you’ll work.
These are the basic stages in website design:
Once you’ve decided on a process, write it down. Better yet, turn it into a template or checklist for easy retrieval when you start a new job.
It might seem counterintuitive to only work on certain types of websites. However, it will become easier over time to get high-paying gigs if you have an area of expertise.
For instance, let’s say an accounting firm is looking to hire a web designer. They see two great-looking portfolios—one with websites mostly in the financial services sector and one with examples that are all over the place. They’ll be more likely to hire the person who demonstrates firsthand experience within their industry.
How do you choose your area of expertise? You’ll find your niche at the intersection between your passion, the website types you have direct experience designing, and the industries with long-term profitability and potential. Figure out what your perfect niche is and embrace it.
In addition to choosing a niche, you can also improve your employability by branching out beyond general freelance web design into one of these core web design specialties:
These are highly specialized fields of design that require extensive training and experience. As you learn more about what it takes to become a web designer, you’ll get a feel for the type of designer you want to become and if you want to level up and specialize down the road.
Your website should be the best example in your entire portfolio. Any prospective client who sees it should instantly think, “I need that for my own business.”
When building your website, do exactly as you’d do for a client’s site. Follow your process and put your tools to the test. Since this will be the first site you design, it’ll give you a good chance to work out some of the kinks in your workflow before you do any client work.
Your website will need the following pages to start:
Once you start working, you’ll need to add two more pages: Portfolio and Testimonials. These pages will be key to establishing your reputation in web design. Your portfolio page will showcase your best work, and your testimonials page will feature glowing recommendations from satisfied clients you’ve worked with in the past.
Many freelance designers turn to their personal network for their first job. This could be family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, or old classmates—you never know who might need web design help.
If your network doesn’t have anything for you, that’s okay. The next place to turn to is local businesses and nonprofits that you know or want to support.
While you might not get paid for this work, it’s a low-pressure way to land your first gig, get some practice, and start growing your portfolio.
Once you’ve finished your first job, you’ll be ready to list your professional services on freelancer marketplaces. Here are some of the more popular marketplaces pro web designers use:
These websites give you space to advertise your services and share some of your work. Clients can search for and request your services. You can also apply to jobs on these marketplaces.
However, there are a couple drawbacks. For starters, these sites take a percentage of everything you earn through the platform. Secondly, you’ll be competing against hundreds or even thousands of other designers for each job.
All this is to say that while it’s a good idea to establish yourself on these marketplaces, don’t depend on them to bring you a steady workload.
You’ll find web design jobs all over the place, not just on marketplace sites. You can use traditional job boards to find these contract gigs as well:
Set aside time either every day or a couple times a week to scour job boards and marketplace sites. Aim to apply to a few gigs in each sitting. Getting in the habit of regularly applying for web design jobs will help you maintain a dependable schedule and keep the money rolling in.
After you finish designing a website for a client, add it to your portfolio. Even as a side hustle, web design work will quickly add up, and you should have an impressive portfolio to show off to prospective clients in about 6 months.
But don’t stop at your website—it’s also a good idea to share your latest work on social media. Photocentric platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are great for this. So are design-specific sites like Dribbble and Behance.
Some clients might take your word for it when you explain how experienced and professional you are. However, others will need more than that. Your portfolio serves as the visual proof of what you’re capable of. Testimonials are the written proof—straight from the mouths of your clients.
What you don’t want is generic soundbites, like these:
“He was great!”
“I love my site!”
“Five stars.”
Great testimonials explain what it was really like to work with you and why it was beneficial to hire you. If you can get your happy clients to give more details, their testimonials will be more effective in convincing new clients to pay for your web design services.
Working as a web designer isn’t always an easy ride. Even experienced professionals sometimes need help solving a problem with a website, dealing with troublesome clients, or getting answers to job-related questions. In these situations, having a group of like-minded individuals to turn to can be a lifesaver.
Start with your local community. Meetup.com is a good place to find groups of web designers, creatives, and freelancers. Another option is to look online. Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have all kinds of professional groups you can join.
One final thing you should do to advance your web design career is keep learning. Take more courses. Watch more video tutorials. Subscribe to web design blogs. Attend design conferences.
By prioritizing your education and training, your skills will stay sharp. You’ll also never lose sight of the latest design trends, news, and innovations.
Freelance web designers enjoy a high degree of freedom, but it takes time to get started
One of the main draws of web design as a side hustle or career is its flexibility. However, it isn’t a quick side hustle that can start earning you money today, and it takes time to learn the ropes if you haven’t got any prior experience. You need to acquire the necessary skills (and establish proof that you have those skills) before you can start seriously working.
It’s also important to note that while you can do web design in your spare time, it’s not a sustainable business model. If you want to land high-paying gigs, you have to be prepared to meet the high expectations of clients, such as fast turnaround times, real-time communication and collaboration, and measurable profits within a few months of website launch.
While there’s high demand for web designers, it’s important to be realistic about how competitive you’ll be. On top of having the same skills and experience as side hustlers, full-time freelancers have the availability and capacity to meet the rising demand of clients. The bottom line is that a web design side hustle should be a jumping-off point into a career.
According to Indeed, the average wage of a web designer in the United States is $25.36 per hour. 1 This is in line with typical rates among web designers on Upwork, which fall in the range of $15–$30 per hour. 2
Those earnings quickly go up as you amass experience. Particularly skilled or experienced designers can earn up to $70 per hour. 3 However, it’s not just experience that influences your earning potential. These other factors also affect how much money you make as a web designer:
How much you earn as a web designer ultimately comes down to what you’re willing to invest in this career or side hustle to make it worth your while.
If you’ve decided that web design isn’t really worth it as a side hustle or you’re looking for a creative side hustle with more relaxed expectations, consider going into one of the following fields:
These side hustles have their own unique challenges, but they also open the door to earning an income from doing fun and creative projects on your own schedule.
