How to become a Freelance Web Designer with no degree or experience
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Dreaming of starting a freelance web design business but worried that your lack of degree and experience will hold you back?
Today I’m going to share the practical steps I went through to become a successful web designer and exactly what I’d recommend for someone in the same boat as I was (no computer science degree or education even remotely related to tech!)
How to become a freelance web designer with no experience
STEP #1:
Pick a web design software
Now, let me explain why I want you to pick just one software and not attempt to go out and learn eight different website building platforms at once…
It’s kinda like if you said you wanted to learn a language and then attempted to learn German, French, and Italian all at the same time.
You would get completely overwhelmed and just quit, right?
There are pretty significant differences between each website building software out there…enough that learning multiple at one time would totally just confuse you and make you want to throw in the towel before you even got started!
So I want you to pick one design software to be learning, so you can focus on nailing that one platform right from the get go!
Suggested reading:
Squarespace designer vs. Showit designer: which should I be?
8 reasons I chose to build my business’s online home on Squarespace
STEP #2:
Learn how to build websites on your chosen web design platform
So your next step is to learn said software!
Fab news! You do not need to go to college or university for this! In fact, I would highly recommend against doing that.
So to give you a little background, both of my brothers earned computer science degrees in school, and now, they work for companies where they are coding backend systems, creating the tech behind easy-to-use website building softwares, managing databases, all that crazy stuff.
VS. “I help small business owners like photographers or mom and pop shops to get online with a website”
These mom and pop shops and small businesses? They want websites they can actually use and be updating themselves.
WHEN YOU GO TO COLLEGE, YOU AREN’T LEARNING HOW TO USE THESE DRAG-AND-DROP WEBSITE BUILDERS MOST DESIGNERS ARE USING TO CREATE THEIR CLIENT’S SITES…
You’re learning coding which is used to create softwares like these website building platforms .
So it is completely unnecessary to go to college or university, if you want to serve the average small business owner with website building.
If you did go to college and got a computer science degree, you’d likely end up doing something very different from what we’re talking about here, which is becoming a freelance website designer!
No matter which website building software you choose, there is a course that exists for it.
Free or paid, you can find tons of courses on these platforms that will give you exactly what you need to be proficient in using them.
STEP #3:
Learn web design best practices
So you might have heard the term ‘UI/UX’ before, which means user interface/user experience.
The term UI/UX tends to confuse and overwhelm people, so I just like to call it ‘web design best practices.’
Whatever you want to call it, let me give you a little explainer of what exactly it refers to.
So think of it like this…
Sometimes you go to a website and you can’t find anything you’re looking for. Or it takes a gazillion clicks and annoying steps to do whatever you came to do.
That’s because the website has bad UI/UX…or isn’t following website best practices.
This doesn’t just relate to the functionality of the website, (ie. How hard or easy it is for a visitor to use the website) but also the design decisions.
Picture walking into a luxury store vs. a dollar store. Each one would give you a completely different feeling right?
The same is true of web design. There’s certain elements of design (like the use of color and white space, font pairings, etc.) that give off a totally different vibe.
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Well, the good news is website design is a super in-demand service because over 61% of the web designers we surveyed said they got their first client BEFORE they even officially launched their web design business! 🤯
10% of the people we surveyed landed their first client in one to two weeks!
7% said it took more like 3-4 weeks to be finding their first paying client..
Whereas 8% found it took around two months and 6% found it took more like 3-4 months.
And then 5% of web designers said it took four months or longer to land their first client.
Want the full results of our web designer study? (Including tons of other questions you're dying to know the answers to like how much they charge, what they earn in a year, how much they work, how many of them actually went on to be successful etc.)
Get access to our massive web designer survey results here!
How long before your web design services are consistently booked out?
So the next thing you're probably wondering is, "okay, well, how long until my business will start to be booked with a steady stream of clients, one right after the next?"
If you already offer services like copywriting or branding (and therefore you already have your head wrapped around the whole 'how to find clients' thing) then it won't be taking much for you to add web design services as an option to your existing packages, which means you can pretty much start landing web design clients TODAY.
Just continue with whatever current marketing strategy is working for you, letting your clients know you now offer web design as well!
If you're like me, and you didn't already know how to find clients, then you'll want to tack on a little extra time for learning the marketing strategies needed to book out your new business.
It admittedly took me months to figure out which strategy worked for me and which one I actually enjoyed doing (and therefore would be most likely to stick to long enough to see results!)
Not sure which web design business marketing strategy is right for you? Don't want to take months finding out the hard way like I did?
Take my free quiz I created just for web designers! In just 60 seconds, it will tell you which client-finding method matches your personality type and give you the exact next steps you need to get started with your new made-for-you strategy!
Suggested reading:
Web designers speak out: What I wish I knew about landing clients
THIS skill is the secret weapon you need to be fully booked out in your business
Niching early: How Charlotte quickly filled her calendar as a new web designer
So there you have it! The first 6 steps to becoming a web designer without experience!
But one last bit of encouragement before you go…
If this is you, and you feel like you have zero education or relevant experience to be bringing to the table, I want you to know that there are so many people (not just me!) out there who were in your same shoes but have gone on to build very successful, highly profitable, freedom-filled web design business!
