Kickstarting a career in technology is not complex as it seems. Even if you want to get started with in-demand positions such as web developer, the only thing required is sheer dedication and hard work. Whether you’re the one who is changing his career path or the one who just wants to start from scratch, there are plenty of opportunities out there in the market that come with amazing flexibility and high salary packages as compared to other profiles.
To become a web developer, you have to put in a few months to understand the concepts, learn a few languages, know about the tools and software, and follow the steps mentioned here in this blog. You can also opt for various online courses to learn new things or take the help of various free online courses by top developers to speed up your learning process.
Who is a Web Developer?
Here’s a one-line answer to this dynamic question: A web developer is an individual who builds and maintains websites developed with the help of various languages and frameworks. He modifies the web experience of the users. Every online business that aims for a successful business needs a great web developer.
A web developer makes things possible with the help of various lines of code and frameworks. There are various types of developers that may specialize in specific areas to work on larger projects that require a big team of different developers. However, small projects are majorly handled by individuals only.
Major Responsibilities of a Web Developer:
- Develop web pages by combining and writing various markup languages.
- Build mockups and prototypes and work with HTML and CMS along with JavaScript.
- Create WordPress websites from scratch and work on UI/UX for making the projects more interactive and robust.
- Maintain websites and implement enhancements for allowing the website to keep up with advancements.
- Integrate websites with various technologies, plugins, and tools for various functionalities.
- Learn about databases to enable the websites to store crucial information.
These were some of the most common responsibilities a web developer performs. Their job is dynamic and may vary depending on different projects and demands placed by the business organization.
Advantages of Being a Web Developer
1. Working Remotely and Independently
As a web developer, an individual will have the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world with better flexibility. Also, it comes with independence from all the workplace chaos and fixed working hours. A web developer can also start a freelancing career or start an agency to offer his services and get better remuneration.
2. Job Security
The web is exponentially growing in demand and it will keep on increasing as technology progresses. More and more businesses are getting online and making space in the digital world to increase sales. Therefore, they’ll take the help of web developers to meet the demands.
3. Improved Creativity
Though the job of designing the websites is of designers, developers are asked to collaborate with them at times. Developers can be asked sometimes to wear multiple hats and design the websites as well. In addition, creating websites becomes a much simpler task if a person knows how to design a website.
Steps to Become a Web Developer
1. Learn the Fundamentals
Before starting the actual web development, individuals need to learn the fundamentals of web development. This includes knowledge about HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and JavaScript, databases, and a little bit of SEO.
A lot of people take the help of various boot camps and online courses to enhance their learning process in a shorter period. They come with short, immersive, and focused instructions to help learners get things more efficiently and quickly. Further, these boot camps also allow learners from any background to get a job in the same field just like someone holding a college degree.
A golden tip for any web developer to always stay in demand is keeping up with the latest trends and things happening around. They should be updated with the programming languages, tools, and trends to keep pace with modern needs and wants.
2. Choose a Specific Field
Right after learning the basics, web developers should narrow their focus towards a specific area of specialization. All the web developers are categorized into the following categories:
- Front-End Developer: The “front-end”, or the “client-side” area of a website is the area that directly interacts with the website visitors. For example, creating menus, dropdowns, CTAs, site’s layout, design, and how users interact and proceed on the website.
- Back-End Developer: The “back-end” is the area that is not directly visible to users but the complete website is managed through this area. Without this area, websites can’t function as they deal with important portions such as servers, networks, hosting, applications, databases, etc. It is also known as the “server-side” of web development.
- Full-Stack Developer: A full-stack developer is one who is capable of working and developing both the front-end and back-end of a website. They are skilled with technologies used in both types of development and are higher in demand.
3. Learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the nuts and bolts for developing websites that are used in nearly every stage of development. Learning them is the most prior and integral step:
4. HTML
HTML is an acronym for Hypertext Markup Language that is used for building the structure of the website. It is an integral component of a website that is recognized as a front-end language and helps in building the basic skeleton of a website with the help of a series of tags. Tags are HTML codes that structure or control the HTML document’s content.
5. CSS
CSS or Cascading Style Sheet is used for adding styles and describing the presentation of web pages. They efficiently add colors, layout, and fonts to the websites behind the HTML structure that can run on various devices of different screen sizes. Within the HTML codes, CSS style sheets get referenced and combined. However, CSS is independent of HTML and is utilized for XML-based markup languages as well.
6. JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language through which every content of the website functions. It helps in the addition of elements to the web pages such as the addition of maps, 2D/3D graphics, and more. This text-based programming language can be used on both the client-side and server-side for making more interactive web pages.
7. Knowledge about UI and UX
Designing UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) of the web pages is mainly the job of web designers. That is why web developers are not expected to have top-notch designing skills. Instead, they are often asked for the basics of designing and fundamentals of user experience design. This helps in learning about how websites are designed. For this, users can utilize Adobe Creative Suite because photoshop is a good way to get started.
8. Learn SQL and PHP
These two are different technologies that are used for different functions. SQL is a database technology used for storing information received on a website. Whereas, PHP is a scripting language through which web developers pull and push data from the database. Information such as blog posts, page content, comments, user information, etc. is stored in MySQL database ‘table’. Whereas PHP makes WordPress websites more dynamic and it regularly interacts with databases for updating and managing the information in real-time.
Learning these two technologies will help in mastering the WordPress website development, which is currently dominating the market. Thousands of small and even big businesses look for experts who know these tools.
9. Adding a Pinch of SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is a process of ranking websites on the top of SERP (Search Engine Results Page). It is achieved with the help of various steps that involve humans to think in both ways, machine-oriented and human-oriented. It is one of the most crucial things to learn in the market but is somehow out of the league for web developers.
However, any developer can learn this to provide more robust services and get better revenue. It is achieved with the help of proper structuring of the websites, optimizing HTML tags, optimizing meta-title and meta-description, optimizing images, etc. for users and machines to understand the content easily.
These things will eventually enhance the ranking of websites on SERP. Now, the developed websites will have better chances of getting ahead of the competition, and this will make clients more happier and satisfied.
10. Work on Projects
After following the aforementioned steps and learning the technologies and programming skills used, an individual can start working on projects and showcase his skills to potential clients. Working on projects gives hands-on experience along with an opportunity to hone various technical skills such as programming in SQL or Python and using the jQuery library for easy and robust programming. Also, users will get familiar with tools like Git for version control. Developers can also start working with a responsive design which is a crucial step for making the website run on all types of devices.
11. Build a Web Development Portfolio
A portfolio containing all your skills to display to potential clients will save you from explaining everything verbally. This is a professional way of selling your services, but make sure that all things are properly mentioned in your portfolio. First and foremost, the portfolio must be tailored with amazing web development work.
Be selective while creating your portfolio. Highlight the best works to give a diverse exposure of work experience as well. Include things or skills that make you stand out instead of adding generic stuff. Also, ensure to have a straightforward and responsive website for your portfolio without messy codes.
Conclusion
Web developers are programmers who build and develop websites to run over the Internet. An individual can opt to either get specified with front-end (client-side) development or back-end (server-side) development or have a better scope by being a full-stack developer. Being a web developer is extremely beneficial in this era because it is an in-demand job profile that comes with various benefits such as working remotely and independently and giving better job security.
The blog is composed of certain steps for an individual to become a web developer. It starts from learning the fundamentals of web development such as knowing about languages, databases, UI/UX, etc. Further, users have to learn some of the most basic programming languages, i.e. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that are used for adding different functionalities to websites. Also, an individual should be a bit aware of designing UI and UX along with knowing about databases such as MySQL for storing the data and information associated with the organization.
In addition, learning about SEO will work as a brownie point as it makes the websites rank better on the Search Engine Results Page. After learning all the required skills, languages, and tools, it is suggested to work on certain projects that will work as a portfolio for getting a decent job in any company.