Maybe you have your reservations about starting a career in web development. Or, maybe it’s a trade you haven’t thought about yet. Either way, we’ve gathered seven reasons why you should learn development to help you decide if web development should be your next career move. Heard of web development boot camps?

1 Now Hiring! There Are Web Dev Jobs Available

Given that there will be approximately 1.4 million computing jobs available in 2020, with only 400,000 qualified developers to fill them, those interested in acquiring in-demand skills can certainly benefit from having web development and coding in their resumes. It’s safe to say there is and will continue to be, high demand for web developers. You won’t have to worry about finding jobs for web developers any time soon.

2 A Great Income

According to U.S. News & World Report, certified professional web developers earn an average salary of $64,970 nationwide. Salary shouldn’t be the only factor when deciding whether or not to learn web development, but it should be taken into consideration. With the average household income in the United States being $56,516 in 2017, the average income for web developers looks pretty nice.

3 No Wasted Time in Learning How to Code

If you’re serious about learning how to code, there are several options for web dev education. You can do a CS degree, teach yourself online, or do a Bootcamp. All are great options; it really depends on how quickly you want to get out into the workforce. The benefit of Bootcamp is that you can know how to code, and code well, in 13 weeks. 13 weeks! It’s an intense 13 weeks, but you will have people dedicated to your success in learning and finding a job throughout your Bootcamp experience. Before you know it, you’ll be in a career you’re finally excited about!

4 You Can Work From Anywhere

Have the freedom to work whenever you want from wherever—imagine that. All you need for web development is the internet and a laptop. Not all jobs are remote, but if that is your preference, there are remote jobs out there for you.

5 You Can Work at an Awesome Tech Company

Tech is where to be right now. Because there is such a high demand for web developers and so few trained developers to fill those positions, tech companies are doing an excellent job at making work very comfortable, if not enjoyable. If you choose to work for a tech company as a web developer, you’ll enjoy free food, ping pong, and rad coworkers.

6 There Are Always Freelance Opportunities

If you’re the type that likes to work project to project on your own terms, then being a freelance web developer is for you. Once you join the web dev community, you will find that there are plenty of opportunities for you to freelance. Coming right out of Bootcamp, you can charge $50 an hour—depending on where you live—for your work. And, that will only increase as you become more skilled.

7 It’s Creative and Fun

Web development gives you the opportunity to express yourself creatively on the internet. If you have an idea you would like to try as you discover your web dev skills, try it out. Web dev is a fun, creative experience.

Deciding on a career will always be a difficult decision, especially when you’re unsure of what the outcome will be after you’ve invested time and money into learning a new trade. Fortunately, the high-demand, easy-to-learn, fun-to-experience life of a web developer is always a great choice for someone ready to have an exciting career in code.…

Web Development Project Ideas

With web development taking off rapidly in the industry, the demand for Web Developers is skyrocketing. In fact, web development has emerged as a promising field right now, attracting aspirants from all educational and professionals backgrounds. 

If you are also interested in web development, the best way to upskill in this field is to work on web development projects. The more you practice and experiment with challenging web development projects, the better will be your real-world development skills. 

We’ve created this post to help you get an idea of the kinds of web development projects that you can work on. So, without further ado, let’s get started and get your hands on our web project ideas. 

Top Web Development Projects Ideas

This list of web project ideas is suited for beginners & intermediate level learners. These web project ideas will get you going with all the practicalities you need to succeed in your career as a web developer.

Further, if you’re looking for web project ideas for final year, this list should get you going. So, without further ado, let’s jump straight into some web project ideas that will strengthen your base and allow you to climb up the ladder.

1. One-page layout

This project aims to recreate a pixel perfect design and make a one-page responsive layout. This is also a beginner-level project that allows freshers to test their newly acquired knowledge and skill level. 

You can use the Conquer template to build this project. This template comes loaded with a host of unique layouts. Also, it brings before you a series of challenges that Web Developers often face in real-world scenarios. As a result, you are pushed to experiment with new technologies like Floats and Flexbox to hone the implementation of CSS layout techniques.

2. Login authentication 

This is a beginner-level project that is great for honing your JavaScript skills. In this project, you will design a website’s login authentication bar – where users enter their email ID/username and password to log in to the site. Since almost every website now comes with a login authentication feature, learning this skill will come in handy in your future web projects and applications.

3. Product landing page

To develop a product landing page of a website, you must have sound knowledge of HTML and CSS. In this project, you will create columns and align the components of the landing page within the columns. You will have to perform basic editing tasks like cropping and resizing images, using design templates to make the layout more appealing, and so on. 

Read: Full Stack Project Ideas & Topics

4. Giphy with a unique API

This project involves developing a web application that uses search inputs and Giphy API for presenting GIFs on a webpage. This is an excellent beginner-level project wherein you use the Giphy API to recreate the Giphy website. We recommend you to use the Giphy API since you need not request for any API key to use it. Another advantage of using the Giphy API is that you don’t require to worry about configuration while requesting data. 

You can use the Giphy API to build a web application that has a search input where users can search for specific GIFs, can display trending GIFs in a column/grid format, and has a load more option at the bottom for searching more GIFs.

5. JavaScript quiz game

This web development project aims to create a JavaScript quiz game that can take multiple answers and show the correct result to users. While gaining JavaScript knowledge isn’t tricky, applying that knowledge in real-world scenarios is usually challenging. However, you can experiment with your skills by working on a small JavaScript-based quiz game. 

While building this project, you will not only deal with complex logic, but you will also learn a lot about data management and DOM manipulation. Depending on your JavaScript skills and ability to handle complex logic, you can make the game as simple or complicated as you want it to be!

6. To-do list

You can use JavaScript to build a web app that allows you to make to-do lists for routine tasks. For this project, you must be well-versed with HTML and CSS. JavaScript is the best choice for a to-do project since it allows users to design interactive coding lists where you can add, delete, and also group items. 

Also read: Full Stack Developer Salary in India

7. SEO-friendly website

Today, SEO is an integral part of website building. Without SEO, your website will not have the visibility to drive traffic from organic searches in SERPs (search engine result pages). While Web Developers are primarily concerned about the website functionality, they must have a basic idea of web design and SEO. In this project, you will take up the role of a Digital Marketer and gain in-depth knowledge of SEO. It will be helpful if you are aware of the technical SEO for this project.

When you are well-versed in SEO, you can build a website having user-friendly URLs and featuring an integrated, responsive design. This will allow the site to load quickly on both desktop or mobile devices, thereby strengthening a brand’s social media presence.

8. JavaScript drawing

This project is inspired by Infinite Rainbow on CodePen. This JavaScript-based project uses JavaScript as a drawing tool to bring to …

Web development is one of the most interesting career paths for a computer science major because it combines analytical and technical skills with creative design and development. Web developers work with professionals in IT, sales and marketing, and other departments to build websites that attract and keep customers, contributing to a business’s sales growth or a government agency’s effectiveness. Websites are so crucial to a company’s success that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the demand for web developers to grow 8% between 2019 and 2029.

There are three types of web development roles: developers who specialize in the user interface (“front-end”), those who write the underlying code for running all website operations (“back-end”), and those who manage all aspects of a website (“full stack”). Each type focuses on a different area of web development, but they all have one thing in common: coding. A bachelor’s in computer science is a great way to learn the programming skills required for a web development career.

What are the different types of web development?

When users click on a website link, such as a “Pay Now” button, they rarely think about the underlying code that takes them to a payment page. Web developers are responsible for creating the look and feel of that button, as well as the logic that drives the website. Here are the three main types of web development:

Front-end web development

Front-end web development is responsible for the look and feel of a website. This means how colors, type, icons, and images appear. Increasingly, front-end development has to account for how a website looks on all devices, from desktop to tablet to phone. Typical programming languages include HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Front-end developers keep up with cutting-edge trends in web design and development to make sure websites are optimized for users and search engines — and with security best practices in mind.

Back-end web development

Back-end web development is responsible for building and maintaining the code that runs a website. This code connects the website to the server and ensures that data flows properly to the website and that transactions are processed correctly. Typical programming languages include Java (different from JavaScript), PHP, and MySQL; newer tools include Python and Golang. Back-end web developers can keep up with changes in technology by participating in networking communities that share coding tips and support.

Full-stack web development

Full-stack web development covers both front-end and back-end responsibilities. Depending on the complexity of a website, a full-stack developer may be responsible for all facets of its development, from the server-side to the user interface. Many full-stack developers may still specialize in one aspect of web development, but their broad experience is useful in troubleshooting or speeding up a build or redesign. Full-stack developers are often responsible for identifying cutting-edge technologies, such as enhanced programming languages (or even no- or low-code trends) and blockchain, that can be used to strengthen websites’ business capabilities.

Skills needed for success

What defines a successful website developer? The following are just a few of the skills that can help professionals advance their careers in web development.

• Programming abilities. Strong coding skills are essential. Mastering programming languages such as HTML and CSS is just a start. Technology changes fast, so a willingness to always be learning new coding techniques is important.
• Attention to detail. Testing and debugging code requires patience and analytical skills to understand what went wrong and how to fix it.
• Creative thinking. Successful websites have to attract and keep users, as well as be visible to search engines. Web developers have to be creative in how they pull together user experience, search engine optimization, and other factors in building a good site.

While many web designers work alone, most work for an organization. Understanding the needs of the sales department, for example, is crucial in creating a successful website. Collaborating with user experience or content creation experts is also a necessary skill.

Web developers can rely on a variety of community resources for everything from finding a job to helping with tough coding problems. Web experts advise new developers to become part of these communities.

A look at different web development careers

Just as there are different types of web development, there are different web development careers. While they do overlap, each role has different responsibilities and requires different skills.

Web designer

A web designer (also called a digital designer) is responsible for a website’s look and feel. They should have skills in design, art, and coding, as well as an understanding of best practices to build a site that is functional, appealing, and successful at drawing users. Web designers use a variety of graphic design software programs to build their sites. While coding isn’t their sole responsibility, a background in programming is useful to communicate their goals to the web programmer. The median starting web designer salary is about $43,000 per year, according to PayScale.com data from April 2021; with experience, the median salary is about $60,000 per year.

Web programmer

A web programmer or web developer writes the code that brings a website to life. Front-end web programmers build the pages the web designer creates. Back-end web programmers write the server code that runs the website. Web programmers are often familiar with web design concepts since they are responsible for making the user interface appealing to site users. The median starting salary …

Having a website is very crucial for a business. Websites have paved the way for businesses to carry out their operations as long as they are having internet access. Today websites are not only owned by businesses, even individuals who are interested in particular niche can write articles related to that. 
With all the benefits, websites isn’t advantageous for everyone. Just like everything else, websites too posses certain drawbacks. By exploring the pros and cons, you could determine if websites will be right for you. 

In this article, I will be discussing about 7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Websites | Drawbacks & Benefits of Websites. At the end of this post, you will know the pros and cons of having a websites.
Let’s get started,

Advantages of Website

1. Information
Internet contains millions of websites which is dedicated to different topics. Information related to studies, technical or IQ enhancement is provided by a website. Even some of these websites are focused on providing step by step instructions to solve a problem. Search engines display all the listed websites as soon as a user types the relevant keyword.

2. Communication
A website allows communication to take place between buyer and seller. Most sellers display their contact information or come up with a contact form to facilitate communication. For the purpose of communication, websites use modes such as video conferencing, chat box or other methods. 
This type of communication is considered to be a highly cheaper option compared to other traditional methods. Companies and some individuals prefer email as a more secured mean of communication.

3. Entertainment
Websites are also used as a form of entertainment. Numerous entertainment options such as games, music, movie are available from a website. Some services are absolutely free that does not require even a single penny from a user. 
Other than that, there is also a possibility of earning from entertainment industry. Users can start a blog and upload their own talents . Talents include singing, dancing and other entertainments where people will be interested in.

4. Banking
Banking industries also currently use websites so that customers could get connected to their service. Without even coming to the bank, customers will be able to check their account information. 
And this service is 24/7. Meaning, the service is available even when the bank is closed. Banks could notify their customers immediately in an emergency situation.

5. Marketing
Both startup and established businesses can be benefited from website marketing. With the use of websites, businesses can target their potential customers. Customers interested in your products and services can easily make transactions. 
However, businesses must make sure that their websites are user friendly and well optimized. Hence, customers could easily find information they are looking for.

6. Advertising
If you own a website, you can also place advertisements and start earning. There are various advertising services like Google AdSense and Media.net that offers advertisement for potential websites. Moreover, these advertisements have a tendency to reach customers more accurately than other offline methods of advertising.

7. Employment
Whether it can be for freelancing from home or online job applying, various employment opportunities are provided by a website. For an example, companies display their vacancies online so that suitable candidates can be found. 
Similarly, it is easy for candidates to find their required job by applying online rather than searching job opportunities from a newspaper.

Disadvantages of Website

1. Cost
Websites are not entirely a free service. For building a website, a professional needs to be hired who should be paid for his work. Furthermore, companies need to spend on web hosting and domain. Now this is not one time payment, the users need to renew them yearly. 
There are also other indirect costs involved like internet connection and computer system all which can increase the expenditure.

2. Privacy
Some websites require personal information from the user for market data. Most often these data is used by hackers for the purpose of identity theft and other frauds. For an example, banking websites need users to enter sensitive information such as Security PIN, CVV and account number. These information is at a risk of theft.

3. Socialization
Although websites helps to get connected with people all over the world, the same could take you away from the people around you. Users who focus more on websites prefer to chat in messages rather than having face-to-face conversations. They find it hard to talk to persons in real. 
Now this type of habit is not only bad to the user but also to the society around them, especially to their family. Ideally this is a risk to personal relationships.

4. Addiction
Excessive use of website after a certain period can bring many negative effects to the user. Particularly, websites that promote entertainment such as games could make a user addictive. 
Researches have found that playing games releases a hormone called dopamine which induces a feeling of happiness. Due to this feeling, unknowingly the players could become addictive that they cannot come out.

5. Illegal Activities
Websites are also used for illegal activities. Some of the information provided are used for cybercrime works. Even other dangerous crimes such as terrorism and kidnapping are carried out using a website. 

And also, privacy concerns are created if contacts provided by a website is from other sources. If necessary permissions are not obtained from the original owner, …

Since the innovation of computers and the birth of the internet, the growth of technology is changing lives. With the rapid growth of smartphones, gadget development, and the increasing reach of tech in everyday life, web development is one of the most attractive fields in the tech industry. And being a developer is one of the coolest and most beneficial jobs in 2019. We compiled a fun list of the 8 core benefits of being a Web Developer in today’s world. But first, what is web development?

What does Web Development mean?

Web development is simply how websites are built, implemented, and displayed on the internet. It pertains to the work behind the scenes that creates a functional website that performs a set of particular, defined functions. This includes various aspects of network security, web content development, web designing, web publishing, database management, and more. And to make the website look better and work well, it needs the application of DOM or Document Object Model; HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

The Role Of Web Developers

Web developers are programmers who specialize in the development of applications relating to the World Wide Web or distributed network applications. These network applications typically run protocols like HTTP from a Web server to a client browser using associated programming languages like JavaScript, C#, Ruby, and PHP—to name a few.

In simple words, web developers are programmers who use programming tools and write codes to “tell” a website what to do or how to function. They are like the directors and scriptwriters behind every movie.

8 Benefits of Being A Web Developer

• It’s one of the most sought-after jobs
• It’s a high-paying job
• You can work independently(be your own boss) or with a team
• You can work from anywhere
• It brings out or improves your creativity(build your own idea from nothing)
• It’s interesting and fun
• It helps you become a better problem-solver
• It is a job for the future

One of the Most Sought-after Jobs

Web development is becoming one of the most in-demand jobs. It ranked 8 in the report of  U.S. News & World Report for Best Technology Jobs in 2018. Because of today’s technology, hospitals and clinics, hotel, resorts, restaurants, and many others have their own websites.

Websites are becoming so popular; they can even be called a “need” in almost every company and business. If you browse the internet, you’ll literally see millions of different websites, all over the world.

High-paying Job

When choosing a career path or switching to another, salary is not the only significant factor, but most of us undeniably consider it as well. With thoughts like, “Would it help me pay my bills?” or “Is it enough to provide for my family?”

Web developers’ salary is definitely not cheap. In a Glassdoor report, the average salary of a web developer is $93,402 per year which makes it one of the most lucrative jobs in the market.

Be the boss of yourself

Yes, you can be a freelance developer and be your own boss. You can have better salary rate negotiations for your skills and codes. You don’t have to be tied down to just a single company; instead, you can be a freelance developer, where you can work for various employers with your flexitime work schedule. And because you’re a freelance developer, you won’t have to deal with annoying officemates. The choice is all yours.

Work Remotely

One of the perks of being a web developer is whether you work as a freelance or working for a company, you do the job from anywhere as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection. If a typhoon or a snowstorm is going on, you can still do your job and get your work done while staying in the comfort of your home.

Improves Creativity

As mentioned earlier, designing is part of the job of a web developer. And creativity is a vital skill for web development. You get to mold your own creativity and come up with different ideas. As time goes by, you will also learn from yourself by re-using your previous idea. And the limit? Only your imagination.

Have an Interesting and Fun Experience

Most of us grew up being excited and thrilled about magic. When we watch magicians perform we always have the thought, “how did they do that?” But making something disappear or appear physically is not the only magic in this world.

Programming is like magic on computers, websites, and software. You can make texts appear or disappear, create a clickable button and even drag pictures wherever you want on the screen. It all depends on however you want software or a website to work. But the magic on computers isn’t the only thing that makes web development a fun and exciting work. It is the thought that you are creating something to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable

Depending on what you are working on, whether you are making a website for a hospital, a school, or a business, you are making it easier for users.  You help them find or contact a hospital or a doctor immediately, make students have effortless access to their grades or help a startup company grow, you are contributing something to other people’s lives while enjoying the thrill of coding.

Become a better problem-solver

Problem-solving is one of …

On the Internet, web design tips are a dime a dozen. Many people have opinions on what the perfect website looks like. That’s because, to a certain extent, design is subjective. What one person likes, another might find hideous.

At the same time, web design is one of the most important factors for the success of a website. In fact, almost half of people say that the design of a site is their main factor for judging a company’s credibility. As a consequence, it also influences conversions, bounce rate, and more.

Sigh, if only there was a way to find some objective data on how to create a successful web design. Wait, there is! And a bunch of it has been compiled in this article. Stay on the page for some web design tips backed by science. Stop relying on your gut feeling and start doing things proven to work.

Science-based Web Design Tips to Crush Your Next Website Project

In the following, you will find some research-based tips and tricks on how to improve your web design.

1. Make Site Speed an Absolute Priority

It’s probably one of the least debated facts in the web design sphere that speed is important. Research has shown that it influences everything from bounce rate over user satisfaction to conversions and revenue.

If your site is slow, visitors will not stick around. Period. Plus, because users care, search engines also do and factor your page loading speed into their rankings. For that reason, it’s paramount that you invest in making your site as fast as possible.

How? The articles below will put you on the right track:

• 10 Reasons Website Performance Matters To Your Business
• 14 Ways To Speed Up WordPress And Decrease Page Load Time
• 13 Performance-Boosting Site Speed Tips for WordPress
• 10 Easy Ways to Speed Up Your WordPress Website [Case Study]

2. Leverage the Fold

Whether or not there is still such a thing as the fold is part of a heated debate. Some say that because of the multitude of screen sizes these days, the fold doesn’t matter anymore. Others have a different opinion.

However, the fact is that even in 2018, people spend 57 percent of their time above the fold with a sharp decline afterwards. 74 percent of their time is dedicated on the first two screenfuls.

So, it seems like the fold still matters. For your website that means you need to prioritize your content and use the available space to hook users in so they continue. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Use a clear and descriptive headline — Explain what your site can do for visitors, highlight the benefits. Be brief and use power words. For more advice, look into our copywriting tips.
• Include your main call to action — To improve your chances for converting, the fold is the time to start the user journey. Make sure your CTA is clear and visible.
• Include media — Images, videos or audio help emphasize your point. We will talk more about visual content further below.

Find more awesome examples of the practices above in this article.

3. Take Advantage of Hick’s Law

Hick’s Law states that the more choices an individual has, the longer they will take to make a decision.

There’s actually a fascinating study on this phenomenon in which people in a supermarket were given more or less varieties of jam to try. In the end, those who had more choices were much less likely to end up buying some jam than the ones that had less variety to choose from.

How’s that important for your website? Because you might be able to boost your conversions simply by limiting the choice you give to users. Here are a few examples of what that might look like:

• Reduce the number of menu items
• Limit form fields
• Focus on one call to action
• Only display social buttons for networks you are active on
• Stick to one goal per page

There are plenty of other ways you can reduce overwhelm on your site and move users towards the choices you really want them to make. There’s actually an ebook on that.

4. Keep it Simple

Continuing with the theme of less, this also applies to your design in general. A huge study by Google has shown that visitors don’t like visual complexity. The gist: the more complex your design, the less it is perceived by visitors as beautiful.

What does that mean for your site? Besides the point above, here are a few ideas:

• Rethink the sidebar — More and more websites are ditching the sidebar in favor of single-column design (for example, the one you are on right now). It means less distractions and puts the focus clearly on the content.
• Stick to standard layouts — People love familiarity and can get weirded out by non-standard site designs. Therefore, it can be a good idea to stick with familiar design tropes and layouts. You can still find ways to stand out in other ways.

5. Avoid Carousels, Sliders, Tabs and Accordions

Website owners love carousels. It’s probably one of the most client-requested features. Unfortunately, the research says that they are pretty useless.

One of the most mind-blowing data comes from Notre Dame University. The webmaster there noticed that the first slide on a carousel received almost 90 percent …

by Antoine Lechenault

This article is aimed at junior developers but may interest anyone as a bank of useful tips on how to grow some good habits.

I’m constantly trying to challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone. Here is the summary of the best daily tips I came up with.

I try to perfect my working habits as I’m growing, so feel free to suggest some tips not specified in this article to help me too!

Alright, first tip.

1. Do technology watch. A LOT.

“Technology watch” is the activity of keeping abreast of innovations in a given sector.

There’s not a lot more to say, but in my opinion, it’s the easiest way to learn just by reading. Even if you don’t understand the whole subject or learn how to do the magic thing the article talks about, you know that it exists. And that’s what really matters.

A lot of services and tools are now available online to help you do this. You should use them because they’ll be your first source of information and new ideas on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Tools like Netvibes can help you save a lot of time by monitoring all your technology watch in one place. Plus, I would recommend tracking new content and reading all your feeds for example on Monday and Thursday, not every day.

Some of the websites/forums I read every week :

• Collectives by Codrops
• Hackernoon
• SmashingMagazine
• FreeCodeCamp
• CodyHouse
• Twitter
• Web Fundamentals by Google
• Daily Dev Links
• Daywatch.io

But when you’re using content monitoring tools, try to stay focused on a subject related to the skills you want to work on.

It’s easy to get lost and jump from one subject to another. Ok, the last article on the new Crypto ICO is SUPER INTERESTING, but do you work in cryptocurrency? Stay focused.

2. Look at awesome websites. And unpack them!

You can easily find awesome websites, resources, or code experimentations here:

• Awwwards
• CSS Design Awards
• FWA
• Codepen

But the point isn’t to look at them and say: “I’ll never be able to do this!”

Ask yourself: how you would do the magic, and try to understand what they used to build it. New technology, new JavaScript library, unknown CSS property? We live in a world where every day new things come up and we are not able to learn as fast as the technologies grow themselves.

But I would suggest that you not only try to understand the process but also try to reproduce it, and explain it. Generally, if you can teach someone, you have mastered the subject.

Over the past year, I spent a lot of time changing my process. Unpacking the websites and understanding how skilled people built them. All these steps helped me to combine different techniques and find smart ways to construct my websites.

That directly leads me to the next point.

3. Learn from those with more experience

Usually, when you start as a junior in a company, you’ll be directed by a Lead Dev who will have a look at your code, schedule your tasks, and prevent you from dropping the database.

Don’t be shy to ask to learn more from them. Ask them to show you how to do the cool things they did on the last website they launched, or the nice component they made to make life easier for everyone on the dev team.

But most important: don’t be afraid to ask for things you think are dumb.

Everyone starts with different education, so it is natural to ask questions that may sometimes seem “silly”, but those answers will help you for years to come.

Another way to learn from the best is to code review.

If your team doesn’t do it on regular basis, be the first to introduce it to your dev team. Don’t hesitate to ask other members of your team to review your code and try to improve it.

Listen to them. Start a debate. Explain why you did it that way and not the way they would have done it. Exchanging, discussing, and learning from each other’s strengths is probably the healthiest way to improve.

4. NEVER, EVER, forget to comment your code

Ok, I know, you’ve read that sentence a million times since you started coding. On the internet, by your superiors, by your teachers, even maybe by your dog.

The point of commenting on your own code isn’t to make it only easily understandable by another developer or yourself. It’s also a way to think about your function before writing it. To define a purpose. And only one.

Stop yourself from creating a multiSuperTaskFunction().

Let’s say, for example, you start to write a function to manage a planet’s ecosystem. With the habit of commenting on your code, you’ll automatically sequence your code in multiple functions. And every function has only one task to execute.

This principle of separating all your functions into small ones will help you identify your bugs more quickly. This also allows you to isolate elements and reuse them later (modular components). Finally, it will be much more readable and you won’t need to hide when you show your code.

5. Improve your own code: Refactor.

If you rely on everyone except you, you won’t be able to progress AND gain self-confidence. That’s the reason why it’s important to …

After I design a website for a client, I am often asked to provide other (somewhat related) services, such as managing e-mail marketing campaigns, creating various reports, and updating online stores. This is perfect for me because it supports the model I follow in my business. But even if you typically only provide design services, there are ways you can offer your clients even more value for working with you, and develop a long-term relationship that benefits everyone.

If clients are happy with your work, they are likely to consider you for other projects because they trust you, they know you’re web savvy, and you already have a handle on their businesses. Building on a previous post, “Recession Survival: 9 Ways To Make More Money As A Web Designer,” here is an expansion of #8: Diversify, with seven value-added services you can offer to your clients.

1. Analytics Interpretation and Reporting

You’ve designed the site with web analytics code in place and the site usage is being tracked. But it takes a lot of the client’s time to review the analytics and, most importantly, interpret what it means. It can be beneficial for your clients to have someone who understands the data create reports, interpret them, and make suggestions for site improvements based on the data.

2. Competition Monitoring

Regardless of the industry your client is in, there are competitors online. It might be worthwhile to have someone keep an eye on competitors’ websites to stay up to speed with what they’re doing, especially if it can impact the client’s business.

3. HTML E-mail Template Design

If your client sends e-mail marketing messages, he/she may be interested in having e-mail templates created that have the same look and feel as the website.

4. Blog Customization/Management

Blogs are another area where a client may need help carrying over the same look that you created for their website. Beyond the customization and setup, there may be an opportunity to provide blog management services for your clients, where you publish posts, manage comments, add the blog to directories and promote linking.

5. Pay-Per-Click Campaign Management

This is another area that requires a lot of work on the client’s part. If the client doesn’t have dedicated marketing support and if you have experience with PPC campaigns, this may be a great way to give your clients more value, and save them time.

6. Sales Presentation Development

One of my clients had a team of sales people who wanted to use the website as a visual aid during sales presentations, but always feared there would be spotty or non-existent Internet service for the meeting. I was hired to take the website, translate it into an auto-run demo, and burn it to a DVD. This gave the sales people an offline solution, plus a leave-behind for prospects.

7. Usability Testing

After the site is live — or before the work begins in the case of a redesign — it may make sense to get input from the client’s customers and target audience. You can manage usability testing by creating and compiling surveys, managing one-on-one interviews, and reporting the feedback to the client.

Once you know what services you want to offer to retain clients, its time to focus on bringing new ones in. Here’s a great guide to finding freelance work over on Millo.…

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Keep up your development in your role with these tips for improving your web development skills.

Web development is a fast-changing industry. As a developer, there is no excuse for slacking off. You have to constantly learn and improve your skills if you want to stay on top of the industry trends and ahead of the game.

And if you’re like most developers, you probably looked at your code and wondered how you could make it better.

While the old adage, “practice makes perfect” certainly applies to developers, whether they are web or software developers, there are a few other ways to improve your development skills.

In this article, we’ll share five tips that you can start implementing today to become a better web developer.

No matter where you are in your career as a developer, there is always room for improvement. Beginners need to improve their skills to become better at their craft, and experienced developers should always strive for optimizing their code for readability, performance, and maintainability.

1. Write Code Every Day

If you ask any seasoned developer for their best advice on improving your skills, almost everyone will tell you to write code every single day. While the advice might sound obvious (and therefore not very useful) the simple truth is that it works.

Just like you become better at any skill by practicing it regularly, you will become a better developer if you write code on a regular basis. This will allow you to catch your mistakes and it will improve your typing skills as well, which reduces the chances of making mistakes.

Bear in mind, this doesn’t mean you have to come up with new projects every day. But it does mean practicing consistently.

And while you’re at it, take the time to learn the ins and outs of your favorite code editor. Learn the shortcuts and try using it without relying on your mouse or your touchpad. You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you’ll be once you actually know all the features your main tool has.

2. Contribute to Open-Source Projects

Working on open-source projects from places like GitHub helps you immerse yourself in code. You can choose to fork an existing project and create your iteration of it. You can also contribute to an existing project by helping the project reach its final stage or by fixing minor bugs to improve the project’s stability.

No matter which option you choose, it inevitably leads to understanding your code better and it also exposes you to other people’s code which might show you a new way of doing things.

On top of that, you get to collaborate with others on fun projects which help you get a second (or a third!) pair of eyes on your code. You’ll also learn to work better in a team and gain an invaluable learning opportunity.

3. Teach Others What You Know

You might think you aren’t a good fit to write about code. After all, you’re not a writer. But starting a blog, where you share your knowledge with others, is a great way to continue learning.

By writing about what you know, you will learn to organize your thoughts and structure the topic you’re writing about. It gives you the opportunity to review what you already know and back it up with practical examples. In some cases, you might want to research the topic further which leads to more learning and a better understanding of the problem you’re trying to cover.

Not only that, but a blog increases your visibility and it positions you as the expert on the topic. So, go ahead and add a blog to your website. You’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

4. Challenge Yourself With a New Skill

There is no shortage on development tutorials on the web. And while some of the new trends in the development industry don’t stick around for long, there is no reason to stay within your comfort zone.

Break the monotony of working on various projects by trying out a new programming language or a new way of doing things.

If you’re a WordPress theme developer, try your hand at creating a plugin. If you’re a software developer working with web apps, why not give mobile app development a try?

Even though you won’t reach a level of mastery by going through a tutorial here and there, it still follows the principle of being exposed and immersed in code on a daily basis.

Don’t forget that in many cases, the tutorials on these sites have been written by developers with years of experience and they also often highlight new features in new technology, languages, and APIs.

5. Schedule Regular Downtime

While coding everyday is extremely beneficial, take care to schedule regular downtime, too. As ironic as it may sound, time spent not producing anything will actually make you more productive.

If you’re constantly working, you run the risk of burning out and living under stress, which can result in sloppy code, missed deadlines, and missed opportunities. Your ability to think clearly and solve problems will deteriorate and, ultimately, your health will suffer too.

That’s why it’s crucial to schedule regular downtime. If you find you cannot break away from work, then schedule it in your calendar and set a reminder to stop working for a set period …

Within five seconds of landing on your website, can your visitors determine what your company does? Could users easily navigate to the blog if they need to? Is the layout of your pricing easy to understand? Does your website have a low bounce rate? 

If you’re finding yourself answering ‘no’ to these questions, it might be time to take a hard look at the way you’ve been designing and optimizing your website.

A website truly excels when it has a design that feeds into your website’s user experience, functionality, and appropriately complements your content.

It can be super easy to neglect these things, thinking these updates are the lowest thing to worry about on your totem pole of website priorities, but a successful website has both high performing content and an exceptional user experience needs to have balance. 

The last thing you want is to be spending time writing some amazing content on your blog or service pages, only for it to go unnoticed due to design flaws, navigation issues, or confusing layouts, or missed conversion opportunities. 

But the umbrella of website user experience has a lot under it, and it can be challenging to understand all that’s under it while figuring out the most important things to tackle.

So, what do you need to know to start improving your web design?

To answer that, here are 12 website tips to ensure that you’re going in the right direction in your redesign and are assuring you aren’t turning visitors away.

1. Have a plan

Now that you’ve acknowledged that your site likely needs some improvements, it’s time to work your way backward and create a plan detailing how you’ll tackle them. 

Start by mapping out your customer journey from the first time someone visits your website to the moment they become a customer.

When doing this, think about which pages are they going to view, what content are they going to read, and what offers are they going to convert on. Understanding this will help you design a site that actually helps nurture leads through the sales funnel.

I’ve always liked Leadfeeder’s customer journey map as a great example. You don’t need to make it as graphical as they did, but it gets the point across. It illustrates what users do when visiting their website and what commonalities occur between those who do and do not become customers. 

If you are struggling to compile this data, or, lack a CRM that would make researching this easier, you can always interview your customers. Ask if you could have 15-30 minutes of their time to ask them a few questions (you can even compensate them with a $10 Starbucks or Amazon gift card). Interview as many people as you can, but no need to go overboard. 

Then, use this data to map out your strategy. This will help you identify the key touch points of your website or the areas your users interact with. 

Throughout these touch points, you should be able to map out the emotion, thoughts, goals, pain points, and opportunities each touchpoint needs to evoke.

Answering these questions will help you direct your design. Is their imagery that will help best address these areas in the way you want? What about a particular color palette? Getting started on your customer journey map will help create answers to these questions and better reinforce your design. 

2. Remove distractions and reduce friction

Certain elements on your website are going to detract from the value and message you’re trying to convey. Complicated animations, content that’s too long, and “stocky” website images are just a few examples. 

With an audience that only has an attention span of eight seconds, you need to make it abundantly clear what your user will learn on the page they’re viewing and your design must not detract from this. 

This starts with making sure you have consistent brand guidelines you can work off of. 

This should detail your font styles, colors, imagery, iconography, and logo usage. Without this, it’s easy for brands to struggle when designing pages. You’ll likely start to see arbitrary colors and varying font styles and sizes used, which in turn, can distract from your message or create visual confusion for people trying to convert. 

It’s also important to avoid too many on-page animations or interactions. If you’re scrolling through a page and see every button pulsing or a section of icons each with their own animation, it can  feel overwhelming and distract them from reading what’s on the page.

Let’s take a look at the website below as an example. Note, since I’m treating this as more of a critique, I’m removing the brand’s logo from the image so they can remain more anonymous.

When looking at this site, the first thing I noticed was the colors. 

For one thing, the way they are used makes it hard for the user to decide where their eye is supposed to go. Should it be one of the two red buttons? What about the hello bar? Or maybe the top of the navigation? 

You need to figure out where you want users’ attention to go when they arrive on the page and what order it needs to flow naturally. This current color arrangement creates friction in accomplishing this.

Second, there are some areas of inconsistent spacing. The hanger in …