How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design

Learning to design websites is a crucial skill to anyone wanting to work as a freelancer, serve other businesses or create their online presence. Even if you don’t design professionally, knowing the basics of how to develop a site can help you work with staff to create a highly-engaging hub for your customers. 

How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design Without a Degree?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the typical entry-level education for a web developer or digital designer is a bachelor’s degree. The average web designer makes around $78,300 per year. While a college degree is a good starting point, not everyone in the industry studies web design for their major. 

Some of the top designers don’t have a degree at all but have learned through practice, mentors and experience. What do you need to know to learn web design and start working as a freelancer or a company?

1. Understand the Basic Structure of Websites

Working on the backend of a website is quite different from what you see on the front. You’ll need to understand that every site has a platform and basic structure. Familiarize yourself with what the majority of sites contain. 

For example, nearly every site you visit has a navigation bar with a Home button, a logo, a header, a footer and body content. How long does it take to learn web design if you aren’t familiar with the topic at all? It can depend on how fast of a learner you are and how deep you dive into the topic.

You’ll find there are numerous sites explaining the basics you need to know. You’ll find both free and paid courses available to help you along the way. 

2. Learn Coding Languages

One of the biggest hurdles to designing sites is learning how to code. While some of the more recent artificial intelligence (AI) tools allow you to skip some knowledge and tap into the vast amounts of code available in online databases, you’ll still need to have a working knowledge so you can troubleshoot when you get a critical error.

Small business owners might think they will just tap into a third-party design system such as Wix or SquareSpace. However, you’ll be extremely limited in customization options and costs can quickly get out of hand. 

It’s far better to have options where you can remain fully in control of your own assets. Taking out independent hosting and customizing a design requires a bit of knowledge. You’ll need to work with a professional designer or learn the techniques on your own. The ability to add almost any feature you can think of and adapt your design to the specific needs of your target market make the effort worthwhile. 

3. Develop an Eye for Good Design

Your website should engage site visitors and make them want to convert into customers. The only way to learn good design skills is to study others. Take the time to check out examples here on this site or places such as Awwwards, Dribbble and Medium. 

Pay attention to who wins awards and why. Nearly every design has some flaw. Look for the issues, so you don’t repeat them in your own work. What do you love as a user about your favorite sites? Also, consider what you hate and would change to make the website look better or function more efficiently. 

Study basic design principles, such as the Rule of Thirds, user intent, user experience (UX) and color psychology. The more you understand about how the human brain works, the more likely you’ll design sites people love. 

4. Enhance Creativity

Web designers must know how to come up with a concept, take what a client envisions and make it stand out from the crowd. Creativity isn’t something you can learn but it is something you can enhance and get better at.

Start by brainstorming ideas with your team. What is the purpose of the site? What unique value proposition does your company offer that no one else does? How do you showcase that for the user? You can do so through images, text, video and calls to action (CTAs). 

5. Know About Hosting Options

How long it takes to learn web design isn’t nearly as important as how much knowledge you have about getting a site online and keeping it running. One crucial portion of creating a new online presence for any business is finding the right hosting options.

Your client may have some ideas already about where they’d like to place their site. Some want to use tools such as HubSpot, while others want to put their site on a paid hosting service. How much management you offer after the initial creation of the website may depend on where it’s placed.

For the purposes of most clients, who want a custom solution, understanding the different types of hosting is crucial. The web hosting industry is worth $90.42 billion per year. It’s growing faster than almost any other technical type business. Shared hosting is a good option for most small businesses just starting out. It’s cost effective but still affords customization options. You can always upgrade to a virtual private server or dedicated hosting solution as the business grows. 

6. Develop a Niche

If you don’t already have a specialization for your designs, try to develop one. You might be skilled at creating and adding videos to your designs. Perhaps you’ve studied UX extensively. You could also choose a particular industry to work with. Just be sure if you specialize in a type of business that it is a large enough demographic to keep you working long-term.

Think about what you enjoy working on and gravitate toward those types of clients. Ask for more referrals from them once you design something to their satisfaction. Developing a niche helps with how long it takes to learn web design by shortening the time to perfect a few skills instead of learning all skills at once. 

7. Communicate Effectively With Clients

When considering how long does it take to learn web design, factor in communication skills. As a web designer, you’ll need to figure out what clients want and how to guide them to the best options for SEO.

Read books on how to communicate effectively, take a college course, practice techniques you  hear about and ask your customers how you can better converse with them. 

So, How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design?

If you consider only the length of time it takes to get a bachelor’s degree, one could say four to five years to pick up the skills needed. However, true web designers never stop learning. It can take decades to develop the skills one needs to create designs that shine.