So You Want to
be a Web Developer?

September 4, 2018
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wordpress-website-development

How to stand out in a world where we’re a dime a dozen

The web. Everyone wants in. From the lucrative possibilities of digital marketing to the psychology of UX design, the annals of data analytics and the esteem of Google real estate, there’s loads of pie to go around. But in-between the mining and lead generation and content curation and click-baiting, there’s a middle guy (or girl), in the centre of the web (ahem), holding it all together. This is your web developer.

What does a web developer actually do?

In a nutshell? Build websites. Depending on the level of skills, your web developer will do anything from design the skeleton of your site (called a wireframe), to build all the shiny bells and whistles that make it awesome and a joy for customers to use.

Stuff web developers do:
  • Design and build
  • Secure the domain and web address
  • Make sure everything clicks to the right place
  • Help build the site’s protection
  • Consult and give the best advise based on what the client needs
  • Front-end developers are responsible for the look and feel of the website, and are usually more client-facing than back-end developers
  • Back-end developers look after the nitty gritty building blocks of a website (like coding, servers and databases)
Want this job? Be good at…
  • This type of work is constantly evolving, so you need to be a keen learner and always be ready to learn new tricks.
  • HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript/JQuery. The vertebrae in the spine of your skills
  • You may think that working behind the screen means you don’t need people skills, but this only really resembles truth if you are in deep in the back-end and never touch base with clients. BUT websites are all about people. You need to be able to understand what your client wants and execute that. You need to be able to explain what you’re doing (probably a few times) to put your client’s mind at ease. You need to reply to emails.
  • Websites (duh). You should have a natural eye for what makes websites consumable and how they work and flow.
  • Explaining why you charge what you do. Enough said.
What not to do
  • Don’t rip people off just because you can get away with it. It gives us all a bad name.
  • Don’t over-promise. Rather under-commit and over-deliver – you’ll have clients for life.
  • Don’t assume everything works because you built it. Test test test.

And that’s our take on what you need to do this gig. We love it. These days every second kid out of high school will tell you that this is what they want to do. It’s a highly specialised vocation that requires talent and smarts and a bit of kick-ass dev skills too, so learn all you can and then get building!

If you’re on the other side of the fence looking for a web developer, make sure that they meet all the right criteria, or you could end up with a lemon of a website. #truestory

 

 

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