So you want to become a website designer?
Well, in this, how to Become a Web Designer for Beginners post, I share the web designer roadmap I wish I had when I started in design in 2020.
Let’s get started..
1. Learn The Skills
Before anything else, you have to start with the basics of web design.
Focus on mastering:
- Colors
- Typography
- Grids, layouts, and composition
When you first learn the basics of web design or the skills of web design like colors, fonts, grids, layouts, and composition, you will have a head start when you start taking on clients. You can do a rebranding, branding, and overall website design much better than 99% of websites out there.
2. Choose a Platform
You want to focus and choose a platform to master. I made the mistake when I started in 2020 that I took on any client and I designed on multiple platforms.
Including:
- WordPress(Divi builder and Kadence)
- Squarespace
- Shopify
- Webflow
Now, when you design on multiple platforms, this can be a blessing and a curse. As a blessing, you understand how websites are built and how various platforms work.
A curse: because you can’t dive deep into one platform and get known as an “expert” on one thing and we all know that experts get paid the most in all professions.
So, learn from my mistake: choose a platform and go all in on it.
I chose Showit because it’s similar to Figma, and I love designing in Figma.
3. Set up Your Business
Next, you’ll want to set up your business. You can choose from multiple business structures. Also, I’m in California, so how business students are treated can vary by state or country.
Here are some ideas for how to structure your business:
- LLC
- S-corp
- C-corp
- Sole proprietor
For more information on all the business structures, visit NOLO.
You also want to have a contract in place for your web design business.
Here are a few options.
There are many more options regarding web design contracts, but I can recommend only a few. Always check with a Lawyer to make sure you are fully protected.
4. Create Mock Projects
Next, you’ll want to start creating mock brands or products to showcase in your portfolio. These are easy to make and so much fun. At least, I think so.
In my Web Designer Course, I teach students how to create 3 mock brands from start to finish.
5. Marketing
Now that you have some mock projects, you can start marketing your web design business. There are many ways to market a website design business or creative ones, but here are a few of my favorite ways.
- Referrals
- YouTube
- Blogging
- Social media
- Partnerships
Each of these types of markings is a great way to get clients. I started with no portfolio. No clients. and I landed my first clients with nothing to show for.
You must tell everyone you know you are a website designer because the people in your circle will know, lie, and trust you. So even if you have to show it to people, it will give you a change, at least in your inner circle.
So get ahead and start telling everyone you know you do website design.
For all the other methods, I will discuss how I use different techniques to land clients and sell Showit templates. I will share this in my upcoming web design business course, which you can join the waitlist for.
6. Master the Client Process
If there is one thing that I want you to take from this blog post and remember, it is having a very clear client process in place for your web design offers. I have another blog post you can read that goes in-depth into my website design process.
You can check it out below.
The Complete Web Design Process.
As an overview, your offer in your website design business needs to have an easy process that the clients go through from onboarding to offboarding the client. If you can master this, new referrals will come your way.
7. Take a Shortcut on How to Become a Web Designer
If you want to skip all the headaches of trying to piece together all the moving parts of a website design business, then you can always take a shortcut and join my upcoming course on both web design and the business of web design.
That’s it! I hope you found this blog post useful and remember,
You got this! I’m rooting for you. 🌱
-Silva
