Freelance website development can be a lucrative career choice for anyone willing to put the time and effort into learning how to build and host a website. If you like to design websites, and have thought about design and webhosting professionally, read on for tips to get started.
What do you need to know to become a freelance website developer? As a basic requirement, familiarity with HTML is a must. One doesn't have to be an expert, as there is some degree of on the job training involved in web development - you're going to learn new coding when it's necessary to use the coding for a client, but an intermediate knowledge of HTML is ideal.
HTML is the starting point for website development. Since you're not just designing websites, you need to know how to optimize a website for a client. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important skill to acquire, and will assure that clients' websites are ranked high in popular search engines such as Google.
Determine if you'll need dedicated servers. Dedicated servers are rented from webhosting companies, and are useful to keep your clients' websites from lagging. Some website developers use multiple dedicated servers so that no aspects of the client's website runs slowly; however, use of multiple dedicated servers is usually reserved for gaming websites as a large amount of data has to be transferred quickly. You may not even need dedicated servers if you're working on smaller websites.
How do you get clients, anyway? Website development is largely a word-of-mouth industry. Develop a fantastic website and make a client happy, and the word will spread. The first, and hardest, step is getting your first client. Create a portfolio of websites you've designed for free. You can make your own website, for your web development business, as well as non-commercial websites for friends. If you do volunteer work, offer to develop the non-profit company's website for free. You'll benefit from adding the website to your portfolio, and they'll benefit from having a free website. Link your portfolio on your website, and hand out business cards to local businesses.
So, how much should you charge? This depends largely on the size and detail of the website, but a general range is $2,000 - $7,500. This includes maintenance, design, webhosting, and a web domain name. Aside from design costs, these components are charged yearly. Research prices of competing website development companies in the area to determine a competitive pricing model.
To become a freelance website developer, do you need a computer science degree? Not necessarily, but an Associates or Bachelors degree in computer science, or even specifically in website development, will certainly provide the education you need to know how to design and host a website. However, all of this information is available publicly on the internet, and one of the attributes of a good website developer is the ability to use the internet effectively. It would also help to learn a little advance topic such as cloud hosting and other programming languages. It's really a matter of personal opinion. Do you have the discipline to teach yourself how to design and host a website? Then don't spend the time and money on a degree. Do you need more structure when you learn? Try out a one-year certificate program at a community college, and go from there.
Useful information and also motivate enough for one to start work! We always should remember that there are a lot of opportunities to become professional freelance developer, to get experience, happy clients and valuable salary. Thanks for sharing.
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