Kleinburg Brewery
- design
- / web
While there are tons of platforms out there these days that can help even the most novice internet user build a website, a professional should have a few key skills under his or her belt. Sure, just about anyone can put up a simple site with the myriad of tools out there, but what sets these apart from the dynamic sites is a certain skill set of an experienced developer.
Here are 5 important traits that a well-qualified web developer should have to build awesome websites.
1. Programming
Being a professional web developer and designer first involves the ability to program. While there are tons of languages that exist for different goals, at least a handful of them should be known in order to effectively code a website. Of course, you can still target the ones you prefer based on simplicity, web development standards, and universal use.
HTML, for instance, is the standard language that’s used to format content on webpages, and includes tags such as titles, headings, subheadings, text, and links.
CSS is a language that’s paired with HTML to give the web developer the ability to set the layout, font and colour of a website and its pages. Javascript is a common solution for games, apps and animation, with all the dynamic effects of a website developed with this language.
2. Testing
To a certain extent, a web developer is also a tester. Before a final website is delivered to a client, a number of factors should be tested first to ensure everything is up to par. After all the coding and designing comes a little testing on components such as:
- Links
- Browser compatibility
- Loading time
- Navigation
This list is by no means exhaustive. Basically, every little detail should be tested before the final product is launched for the world to see.
3. Basic Design Knowledge
Basic design skills will come in handy in the every day task of a web developer, much like basic development skills are helpful for a web designer. Some level of graphic design should be learned which will only help to bring a certain level of awareness of the many graphic tools out there. A clear understanding of web design provides developers with a heightened level of understanding of website appeal to the masses.
4. Image Resizing and Effects
Basic knowledge of programs such as PhotoShop and others is a useful skill to acquire for web developers. At the very least, a web developer should be able to resize or crop an image, apply certain creative effects, and tweak the image’s colors as necessary.
5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A specialist in the world of SEO should act as a partner in the development of a website, but a certain amount of understanding of SEO on the part of the web developer is necessary. After all, what’s the point of having an awesome website if no one is going to find it? Basic SEO factors, including keyword-friendly URLs, meta tags, internal linking, subdomains and titles are all key components of SEO that should be well understood.
These are just some of the many key skills that web developers should have under their belt in order to create a dynamic, user-friendly website.