Designing Websites

Getting paid for web designing is a great career choice, but do you know where to start? 

We have gathered all the information you’ll need to make an informed decision and find out if this new career is for you, how much you can make, and even how much it can cost to get started.

An Overview of Designing Websites: A Primer

Think of website design as the architecture of the online world: designers build the spaces where digital interactions happen, shaping a visitor’s impression and experience with visual elements and color schemes.  

A website designer’s main job is to turn their client’s idea into a functioning page using tools like Photoshop, Sketch, and various coding languages to bring their vision to life. 

Besides ensuring that a web page is visually appealing for most website visitors, designers must also make sure the pages meet various user experience factors that ensure the pages rank well in search results. These can include:

• Creating easy navigation
• Optimizing web pages for mobile devices
• Creating a visually-pleasant website layout
• Reaching a fast page loading speed, etc.

All these factors make visitors happier and ensure search engines rank the pages.

How Much Can Designing Websites Earn You?

Though consumers now have website builders with simple drag-and-drop tools, many are still looking for skilled designers, especially for more complex sites like an online store.

There are two ways of earning money as a professional website development professional: freelance or full-time. 

As a full-time website designer, you can earn around $73,000 at the start of your career.

However, if you have more experience than an average Joe and want to take the freelance route, you can earn up to $100 an hour in some cases. But you have to make sure you can land enough clients regularly. 

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Side Hustle Designing Websites?

Designing websites is not a cheap side hustle, especially if you plan on doing it from the comfort of your home. Here’s what you’ll need to spend to start your career as a freelance website creator.

• Education: If you are a beginner and have never tried creating visual content or basic web design elements, you’ll need some training. Online platforms like Udemy, Coursera, and Skillshare offer courses ranging from $10 to $100. You may also invest in a search engine optimization course.
• Software: Becoming a web designer without the needed software is as hard as becoming a miner with your bare hands. Get your hands on an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for roughly $54/month. 
• Web Hosting: As a freelance web designer, you want your clients to see your work. What better way of showcasing your abilities to create a website’s design than creating your website, right? A domain with your name will cost you around $15/month. 
• Marketing: If you want your target audience to learn about your services, you need marketing. Spend at least $200 monthly on online ads, social media promotions, and a great content management system. You can also use Google Analytics or any other tool for market research. 

Where Can You Find Gigs Designing Websites?

Here are some tips and tricks on where to find the best website designing side hustle.

Where to Independently Find Website Designing Work

If you want to find website designing work independently, you can always use one of the most popular platforms for freelance work, Upwork. However, the competition on Upwork is often too high for a beginner. 

If you are a beginner, choose We Work Remotely. The number of jobs posted there is practically the same, but the number of job seekers is significantly lower. 

Gig Economy Companies That Offer Website Builder Work

If you want a more specialized place to find a job, try 99designs or Toptal. These websites are solely for design jobs. 

Why You Should Consider Designing Websites As a Side Hustle

Here are three reasons you should consider making money designing:

• High Demand: The demand for UX designers is constantly increasing as more businesses rely on website traffic to get clients. If you’re good enough, you can even try opening a business.   
• Express Creativity: Web designing is for creative people and can allow you to work on some exciting projects, especially if you become an independent worker.
• Flexible Side Gig: As a freelance website builder, you can work from anywhere, anytime. Most companies won’t even track your time but will pay you for the final result. That’s why most web developers and designers work from overseas. 

Problems With Designing Websites As a Side Hustle

While web designing might seem like an ideal job, you may encounter the following issues when working in this industry: 

• Health Issues: Being a website designer means working on your computer for hours or even days. This might cause sight and back problems, not even talking about the long-term effect of sitting at your desk for hours straight.  
• Challenging Environment: You’ll often have tight deadlines, a lot of meetings, and approval processes. This can be a bit stressful and even overwhelming for some. And with the popularity of website builders, many of the available gigs focus on complex sites. 
• Result-Driven: Your job as a website designer is to increase web traffic and improve the website page. If you can’t do both, you’ll risk losing a job or project. 

Frequently Asked Questions