Web development has been one of the most popular as well as high-paying jobs in the past 10 years.
Online shopping, online ticket bookings, online money transactions, etc., have become very common now.
All of these require complex websites to function. Here is where the need for a web developer arises. Because of the job insecurity caused by the pandemic, the freelancing business in India is growing steadily. The demand for freelance developers and freelance web designers is increasing day by day.
For any company or organization, having an online presence has become a matter of credibility these days. But not all companies need complex dynamic websites. For a company that isn't dependent on a website for their business, a simple website with a contact form might be enough. Since a lot of these companies are small-scale, they are more open to employing freelance web designers.
Because of different types of requirements, a wide variety of jobs are available in the freelance web development market. It is logical for one to pursue a freelancing career as there is no job security in full-time jobs as well.
Guide on Freelance Web Developer
When it comes to web development, there are two key roles: Font-end development and Back-end development. Front-end development means working on the design, style and interactive aspects of the website.
Back-end means working on the collection, storage, and processing of website and user data. Both of these are different roles and require different skill sets. Someone who can do both these roles is called a full-stack web developer.
A majority of web developers begin their journey as front-end web developers. Front-end development is comparatively easier to learn. Because it is based on a visual design, mistakes can be instantly seen and rectified.
One can pursue a career in freelance web design by learning front end alone. But learning both front end and back end will help you work on complex websites and land you more freelance web developer jobs in the long run.
Learning
HTML, Php, CSS, and SQL are the very basic requirements of a web developer. HTML, CSS, and Php programming language will enable you to work on the front end, and SQL will help you in learning the basics related to back-end data collection and processing.
But learning these alone won't help you become a web developer. Once you get a good understanding of these three, you should start learning advanced technical skills like Javascript, React, and node.js to become a fully equipped web developer. There are hundreds of free YouTube tutorials and dozens of paid online platforms that teach you these web development skills.
Once you gain a decent understanding of these tools, you should start building your portfolio. Today it's easy to get dozens of portfolio projects online. Use this to your advantage and build different varieties of websites for your portfolio. Your portfolio should be professional and have both static and dynamic websites.
After building your professional portfolio, you can start applying for internships. Now why an internship is advised is because internships allow you to work on real-time projects. This will help you in the future while you take up your projects.
Besides internship will teach you how to communicate as a web developer. This is essential because a lot of time when you do freelancing, you need to communicate with non-tech-based clients.
Often your client might not know the actual time and cost needed to meet their requirements. Hence you should be able to communicate with them understandably.
Your communication is the key to converting potential clients into actual clients.
Also, an internship will let you have real-time projects in your portfolio, which is such an advantage. The duration of an internship can be as short as a month; it doesn't matter. Once you complete your internship, you can start freelancing on your own.
The easiest way to begin is to go to an online freelancing platform and sign up as a freelancer. There are lots of freelancing sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Gig4u, and Twine, with thousands of freelance jobs available right now.
All these platforms work on a credibility basis. This means if your clients give you positive reviews, then the platform will automatically recommend you to other prospective clients.
One more benefit of freelancing on these sites is that you can get a wide variety of projects.
You can do full-stack development for a small website or just the front-end for a large website. There are tons of varied opportunities out there, and these sites will let you charge your clients on an hourly basis. Charging on an hourly basis is the most beneficial method for a freelancer because it demands your client to be precise and stop them from wasting extra hours on unnecessary changes.
Also, for a small-scale company to approach a corporate for their website is a high business expense. Also, they can't afford to have a full-time web developer working for them. Hence they will hire a freelance web developer and get their job done, even if they charge on an hourly basis.
Once you have done a considerable amount of work as a freelance web developer, it's better to build your personal brand. All successful freelancers have their personal brands. Create an online portfolio by creating a personal website and social media handle.
Give tips and tricks for budding web developers and create your own set of audiences. Because having a good number of followers on social media means credibility. This credibility will help you land high-paying freelance jobs.
Besides, you can also form a community of web developers on your own and venture into a service-based business if you have good business skills. Remember, an average successful freelance web developer makes $120k a year.
Every freelancer has his own way to do a task and deal with the situations. Being a freelancer is not as easy as it sounds. I suggest you do proper research and make a plan. Follow the above guide and feel free to share your opinion with us.
