Web design and development is arguably one of the best freelance, remote-friendly industries to get into. There are a lot of opportunities for those who know how to put their designs on the web, and there is less competition than in other fields. What’s not to love?

Key Benefits:

With an internet connection, web designers and developers do their work from anywhere they can find a computer and reliable Internet access. What more could you ask for? With this freedom come many additional career benefits too:

1. Work Schedule Flexibility – Working remotely means working when you want rather than having your schedule controlled by someone else. You decide your own schedule so you can set benchmarks for yourself that better fit your lifestyle needs as well as being able to work around daily responsibilities. What this also means is that you can create your own schedule too, which will give you more time to take care of yourself.

2. Financial Flexibility – One of the biggest benefits of working online is the financial freedom it provides and the possibilities for growing your career as a web designer/developer are endless if you know what you’re doing. What’s even better is that you can start off with any hourly wage and move into making higher figures once you have established yourself in the field. In contrast, when getting a full-time job where your pay will be fixed from day one…you won’t be able to negotiate something better later on!

3. Significant Tax Savings – Making through freelancing almost always means getting a 1099-MISC for your taxes rather than a W-2. What this means is that you’ll get to keep more of what you make and won’t have to pay as much in taxes since the income isn’t considered “labor” to the IRS. You also will not be entitled to any benefits since you’re self-employed which would otherwise cut into some of that extra cash.

4. Incentives – The best part about freelancing? If you want better hours or just don’t like where you’re working, it’s easy enough to leave and find something new!

5. Flexibility – Having control over your work schedule allows you to manage family needs even when working from home. You’ll be able to work late at night if you want, or early in the morning when your family is sleeping…or vice versa!

6. National/International Job Opportunities – What’s great about freelancing vs. working for a company is that there are no boundaries set by location and employers know all talent is not necessarily found locally, so they’re willing to search further to get the best fit for the job.

7. Work from anywhere – Your location doesn’t really matter since you can work from wherever you have internet access. What this means is that you don’t have “commute” time and can just focus on getting things done rather than wasting your time in traffic jams or bus rides! There are many distractions around us, you don’t need more of them. What’s even better is that many freelancers are able to work from home or wherever else they want as long as they have their laptop nearby.

In fact, I started my first freelance web design business a year after doing a short course from School of IT and was making six-figures within 4 months of starting! What did I do differently than everyone else?

My Story:

I went into web design out of necessity in order to find a way to make money online while still being around for my family during some very tough times. I didn’t know it then but this would be the best decision for me and as such has made a huge impact on what I’m doing today…and tomorrow! What I learned in this year of freelancing is that it takes more than just knowing HTML and CSS to be successful, there’s a lot more involved when creating a business. What good will all the talent in the world do for you if nobody knows about your work? What did I learn from my first year as an online web designer   …and have always known in some form or another ever since:

1. What are your goals? What do you want to accomplish with your career? What kind of life do you want to live once you’re making money through the web design industry? How much is enough for you? What sort of lifestyle achievement goal are you trying to fulfill by choosing a particular career path?

2. What is your current situation? What sort of financial responsibilities do you have right now? What are the sacrifices that must be made in order to move forward with building a web design business? What steps can you take right now to build revenue streams outside of freelancing so that you are not forced to go back to your day job if/when things don’t work out as planned…or even better, stay at it while making more money than you’re getting from your current employer! What is holding you back from starting today or whatever place you may fall into on this journey.

3. What else excites me besides web design? What am I good at and what other activities would also make for a successful career path? What hobbies do I have and what could I do to combine them with something else in order to make money? What web design related services could I offer that would supplement my efforts today but also increase revenue streams as time goes on? What sort of experience do you have with other work at home jobs, such as freelance writing or data entry? What roles did you hold and how can you apply those skills and experiences toward web design? What does your past tell you about where you can go from here with regard to a career path in web design?

4. What will happen if things don’t work out as planned? What are the worst case scenarios and how incredible it is that they are even worse than they already seem! How much has failure set me back so far? What does my family think about web design as a career? What are some of the biggest challenges that I will face in pursuit of this goal and how can I overcome them? What do you need to make it happen right now, money, time, resources what else. What are the things that you must give up or risk losing due to pursuing this path even though they may not be related directly? What is your plan for making things work or getting back on track if something goes wrong?

5. What is my short term plan? What goals can I set that will help me achieve success within 3-6 months from today…but more importantly provide feedback toward longer term goals. How much time per day/week am I willing to invest in my business? What action steps will I take that will help me get there? What is the first thing that I must do in order to have a successful web design career? What are some small victories I can achieve along the way that will motivate me to sustain momentum, such as purchasing web hosting and creating my first blog or designing a landing page for PPC ads and setting up a Google Analytics account. What are some key milestones along this path that you want to accomplish within the next 6 months…and how can you realistically make them happen. What are your most important responsibilities right now outside of work, family, health etc (hint: don’t say sleep).

6. What is my plan for the distant future? What sort of lifestyle do I want to achieve in the long run and how can I work toward it through web design as a career? What kind of person will my business become over time. What are my five-year goals along this path, where do you see yourself and how is that different from where you are right now or (even worse) where you’ve been along the way so far. What is your vision for your company’s future…and website! What does this all mean for me, personally on a day-to-day basis? What sacrifices are required in order to achieve success?

7. How can online communities help me achieve these goals? What resources exist online that will help me move forward with web design as a career in general but also specifically with my website? What online communities am I a part of-through social media, web forums, reddit etc. What do you see as the benefits of participating in these communities and how can you maximize them to achieve success within this field. What new ones should I join or what old ones have value that I can now take advantage of as part of my business plan for web design? What events are upcoming that would benefit me along this path…or even better attendance is free!

The best online web design courses

1. Treehouse. 
2. Sitepoint. 
3. LinkedIn Learning. 
4. Udemy.
5. Thinkful.
6. Udacity.
7. Launch School.
8. Pluralsight.
9. School of IT.

1. Treehouse

Founded in 2011, Treehouse offers hundreds of video-based training courses in web design, web development, mobile development and game development, from beginner to advanced levels. The videos are professionally shot, the quality of instruction is first-class, and everything is constantly updated to take newly emerging technologies into account (new content is released weekly).

Keywords:

– what are the best courses for web design?

– what are the best books for web design?

– best books to learn web design?

Read here

Conclusion of What are the best courses for web design?