Becoming a web designer in 2024 is a dream come true for many people. The reason why so many artists are interested in the graphic or web design is that there are thousands and thousands of new websites and businesses out there that require this skill set. The availability of jobs related to web designing is huge. Finding a new job in this expertise requires only a couple of days of hard work while experts in other areas require months to find a reliable job.
However, just because you have mastered web designing, does not mean that you will be able to find a project to work on as easy as the press of a button. You will still have to invest a bit of your time and a bit of effort. The reason why have to put up so much effort is because of the fact that the competition is quite great. If there are thousands of jobs out there, there are tens of thousands of freelancers.
To help you stay ahead of the competition here is a guide with a couple of steps that you will need to follow to become a successful freelancer in the web design area.
Acquire the needed knowledge
Assuming that you currently do not have any particular knowledge regarding graphic design, this is where you will need to start. Your first step will be to start gathering the knowledge regarding this area of expertise and practicing as much as you can. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at it. Once you have acquired hundreds and hundreds of hours of practice while working on logos, brand colors, or any kind of graphic design, you can start working towards doing websites.
Learning about websites and how to properly portray a business on them is easy, but it requires a lot of creativity. You must remember that there are certain rules you have to follow to entice people to visit the website you’re working on. In other words, your job is to retain customers as much and as long as possible.
Make an account on a freelance marketplace
Once you are confident that yours skilled enough in this area, you can start registering on different freelance marketplaces. These websites will allow you to advertise your skill set, your portfolio, and basically every bit of information you want to share about yourself. On platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork, there are thousands, if not millions of employees that will be interested in your particular style.
However, employers that promote a good salary usually have certain standards and requirements. Newer accounts on Fiverr, Upwork, or other similar platforms are not usually as advertised or accepted for jobs. The reason is that clients or employers cannot exactly trust you or believe whether you will be able to get the job done.
For example, let us compare two different accounts on Fiverr. One has a history of a dozen or maybe even a hundred successful tasks with a rating of four or maybe even five stars. The other account has a history of just one or two jobs that are rated at five stars. Sure, both are rated quite high, but the former one is quite a lot more reliable because of its history.
In other words, you will need to invest a bit of time to build your portfolio on these platforms to reach a higher level of trust. It is your obligation to show people that your skill in web designing will attract and retain more customers. The reason why this is so important is because of the fact that good web design is essential for customer retention, especially when it is an online business, as suggested by ewrdigital.com
Build your own website
So, you have made an account on these platforms I mentioned previously and you have started to build your portfolio, but there are a couple of other things you can do to speed up this entire process of becoming a successful freelancer.
The most effective way of showing your skills to different employers around the world is through creating your own website. What should you do with this site? Well, you can start by designing your own logo, your brand, the brand colors and basically depicting yourself in the best light possible. Keep in mind, when creating this site, you should invest a lot of effort and time into it. You cannot just do it enthusiastically. The entire point of this is to show just how skilled you are in creating this type of product.
You can also add your entire portfolio on the site you made, share a bit of background history about yourself and some contact information too. Make sure you do not forget to post this website on your freelance marketplace profiles.
Do not tie down with just one employer
Finding a reliable job with great pay is always a good thing, but since we are talking about becoming a successful freelancer, you cannot tie yourself down with just one job. If you do decide to work for just one employer, you may become limited in several different aspects.
You might be forced to work in a certain timeline throughout the day and the amount of work might start increasing over time while the salary stays the same. Although I’m not saying that this is definitely going to happen, the chances that it will, are quite higher.
Stay up to date with web design
You have learned everything there is about graphic and web design, but things can change over the years. Trends usually come and go, but it is important to follow them if you wish to be as successful as possible.
Becoming a freelance web designer in 2024 is not an easy process, but with enough effort and time investment, you will be able to find a lot of jobs that you might be interested in. The more clients you take, the more experienced you will get which will ultimately lead to a lot more potential well-paid jobs.
