Web designing is the most in-demand and high-paying field in 2022. Its scope is going to increase by 27% by 2024. Even UI/UX designers make an income of $100,000 per anum. These facts enhance the need for a good web designer with trendy skills.
Do you want to be a demanding web designer to build your professional career? This guide is specifically for you. Here, you will get 22 tips on how to improve your web skills in 2022. So, read the full guide to level up your skills.
1. Decide your path
This is the basic reason why most web designers fail in their careers. You decide to learn web designing skills and start with your passion. But then, you spend months of months learning every possible thing.
You learn some skills in one field and lack in another. The result is you are an expert in nothing. How much you have learned does not matter, but how expert you are in one field, matters.
So, before you start to improve your web design skills, research what is needed for the hour. What your clients want and how you can provide them the valuable designing skills. Then learn everything about your goal and master the required skill.
2. Research on YouTube
You can easily learn from credible online sources like YouTube. Various expert web designers are there to teach the latest skills. It is free of cost way to learn web development skills at home.
Simply, search web designing tutorials on YouTube. And you will get hundreds of worthy videos. The designers share their tips to start and improve skills as a beginner. Just stick to the best channels and follow their advice. Compile the latest tips and trends that your competitors are following.
You can learn from:
- Newboston
- Stefan Mishcook
- Learncode.academy
- Will Paterson
and many more channels.
3. Check for web design courses
Apart from Youtube, several online websites offer web designing courses. Some of these are costly, but most of them are free. Each course varies in its content and mode of teaching.
Generally, these courses focus on theory with limited information. Search for a web designing course that gives you assignments and hands-on practice. Additional tests at the end of the course enable you to judge your learning. These courses are available on online websites like Coursera, Skillshare, and Udemy.
You can learn to improve your skills with the following courses:
- Web design for Beginners -Udemy
- Web design for Everybody -Coursera
- Complete web design –Skillshare
4. Follow web design blogs
Invest some time in following web design blogs. When you look at the design of other sites, you will get an idea of the latest trends. Moreover, it will give you inspiration for future web designing assignments. These blogs have extensive information and actionable tips to improve your skills. Get various ideas, designs, and layouts with the latest trends.
These blogs are best for learning web designing skills.
You can also search for knowledge within the best web development books.
5. Practice, practice, and practice
You already have heard it, and trust me it is 100% applicable. Practice is the key to master the art of web designing. If you want to become a professional web designer, then practice everything. Use the plugins, designs, and tools that you have learned. You can make your own website for practice.
Check the other sites and identify their design. The simple practice is to replicate the design of another website. It helps you evaluate your skills and determine your learning.
6. Take advantage of social media to grow your brand
Doesn’t it seem awkward to you? Yeah, I know it can be. But there is a complete mechanism behind it. Let me explain it. Sharing your web designs on social media gives dual benefits. First, your artwork is shared with potential clients. There are chances of getting a lot of work.
The other benefit that you get is the improvement in the web designs. You may get critiques about various elements of the site. People share their comments on what color or style you can change to make your design the best.
7. Cultivate methods of work
Have you encountered distractions while working? You might get it due to the lack of proper working methods. Repeating our very first tip, don’t indulge in learning everything. Make up your mind and goal that what you want to design. Then learn the basic coding skills to design your site.
CSS and HTML are the most used languages for web designing skills. Practice the tools and plugins for better use. And the most important thing, keep an eye on the latest trends. Look at other sites, how they are designed and what is the change in them. Make a list of your tasks to perform. And prioritize the list by keeping important at 1st and in your productive time.
8. Use wireframes
A wireframe is the essential element of a good website design. Wireframe enables you to communicate with the client about the software or website you are working on. It is simply the structure of your site that mainly focuses on the functionality and content of the site. You can make the wireframes to give your client a modern website design.
You can use the following free software to make wireframes in 2022:
9. Show your designs on Dribble or Behance
It’s pretty much difficult for a designer to survive and learn lonely. Do you agree with this point? Well, you do. Communities and platforms are like the families of web designers. You may join a community or connect with a mentor. Getting the advice and comments on your work proves great in improving your web designing skills.
Dribble and Behance are the most used social media platforms by designers. Showcase your design on Dribble and get feedback from the other designers. Plus, these platforms are free to use. Register there and showcase your projects in front of other designers.
10. Avoid plagiarized content
Taking inspiration from others’ content is one thing. But don’t copy and paste the same thing. Use your mind to transform the inspirational content into the creative one. You may take the objective from others’ content. But again write it in your own words with impeccable English. Try to write the content that helps the client get the engagements and the conversions.
11. Research trends for fonts, colors, and designs
You know that trends for web designs change rapidly. The popular design of the last month becomes outdated in the next month. While creating a good design website, use font and the color combination that provides the best user experience.
Keep in mind what the user will feel when he visits your website. You can check the popular sites and look for their fonts and colors. You can use Google fonts for help when you are stuck. Dribble also helps you know the trends that other web designers are following.
12. Niche down on a single industry (optional)
As a web designer, you encounter various clients with different demands. Fulfilling every client’s need will not be easy for you. If you want to improve your web skills, you can adopt the optional step. It involves the pro experience in a single industry. You can level up your skills in the blogs designing, eCommerce stores, or the news sites.
13. Keep websites as simple as possible
Most designers neglect this fact while designing a site. The site design should be trendy, but it must be simple. Most designers focus on complex designs and many images. These sites take time to load and don’t leave a good impression on users.
Keep your site design simple and clean with a uniform color scheme. The faster the site loads, the better it will rank in Google. You can even search for the audience preferences to keep the design simple and trendy.
14. Avoid locally stored videos
Videos and audios are the proven way to engage the visitors to the sites. It not only increases conversions but also enhances the user experience. Avoid using locally stored videos for designing your site. Because the local storage is specific for each domain. Every domain cannot read the local storage of others. Include high-quality videos to attract the audience.
15. Understand SEO before building a website
You might first say that SEO is not your field? But the truth is you should be knowledgeable about SEO to become the best web designer. Because now every website operates on SEO either the educational or the affiliate. Understanding SEO is the main part to improve your web skills. What can you do in terms of SEO:
- Responsive site
- Fast loading speed
- Readable content
- Optimized tags
Invest some time in learning SEO and how to build SEO-friendly websites. It will help you to stand out from the rest of the designers. If the client is happy, you will be rewarded.
16. Organize your resources (For Example on Notion, Google Drive, etc)
Managing your time to make your routine more productive is easy. You need an all-in-one workplace to be a creative web designer to save your time. A place that can manage your work, system, content, notes, CRM, tasks, and many more. With Google drive and Notion, it is pretty simple. Even you can design a site with the Notion. On the Drive, you can manage your content and other design ideas. But with Notion, you can.
- Manage clients, content links, and CRM
- Collaboration to communicate with other designers
- Keeps notes and makes wireframe and prototype
17. Mobile-first (prioritize mobile websites over desktop)
In 2022, mobile is considered the future of the digital world. More and more customers are turning to mobile rather than desktop. It will be your huge mistake in design to focus on the desktop sites. Even Google uses the mobile-friendly site as an algorithm for SEO. Whenever you are designing a site, check it is first mobile-friendly. Ensure the design will be appealing to mobile readers. So, adjust the size, font, and design according to the mobile screen.
18. Learn about CRO (conversion rate optimization)
Friendly speaking, conversion rate optimization is the major purpose behind every site. You can understand the CRO by considering you as a client. You should think about why you are building a site. What you need:
- More readers for reading articles
- Increased customers for buying products
- Email subscribers list
- Booking for your services
That’s why CRO is a major concern for web designers. Try to help your client in making a website that helps in increasing the CRO.
19. Redesign existing websites too
Gaining confidence as a professional web designer is not easy for a beginner. You may find many deficiencies in your design. The best way to overcome this problem is to redesign other sites. Check which site you like more. Try to redesign and make it better than before. Working on a live website can be tricky to redesign. So, try to learn the working on a staging site. It will prevent the issues and problems to go live, and you can easily design.
20. Use your Chrome bookmarks to save your time
Do you ever forget the website whose design and theme you liked? For the next time, tap the bookmark in your chrome and you saved it. Chrome bookmark is a simple way that keeps your sites and other templates saved for future use. You can make various folders on the bookmarks to easily locate what you need in time.
21. Learn to code (choose your coding language: PHP, CSS, HTML, JAVASCRIPT)
Besides the basic designing skills, you must learn coding languages. A common question will pop out in your mind. You don’t need coding for designing a site. Yeah, you are right, but not completely. Coding is not necessary for a web designer, but it can help you design according to the developer’s perspective.
It gives you the freedom to design a site with diverse features and test how it will look. Coding not only enhances your problem-solving skills but lays the basis of a modern website with maintenance.
As a bonus to widen your web designing skills, you can learn:
- CSS
- HTML
- Javascript
- PHP
- jQuery
22. Familiarize with WordPress, Webflow, and other platforms
To improve your skills, introduce yourself to various tools and platforms. WordPress is the most popular platform to design and develop websites. Webflow is also the best web code designing tool. It enables you to design responsive sites, eCommerce sites, and landing pages.
Why you should use these web designing tools:
- Help in building the best template eCommerce stores
- Easily update and edit the web content
- Host and build a responsive website
- Offers CMS, plugins, and customer support
There is nothing better to build trust in a development company than a programmer capable of mastering multiple aspects of web design and development.
This helps ensure that when a client wonders how to find the right development company, you can be in the game.
Final Thoughts
With so many skills to learn, you need to organize your calendar.
Web designing is a demanding field with great opportunities. Improve your skills and focus on learning the latest trends. Generally, spend 80% of your time practicing the skills and 20% learning. Follow the best routine to increase your productivity and skills.