8 Basic Skills Required For Building Websites

Whether you’re a Self-taught or Professional Web Developer, there are a set of skills that you must be equipped with when Building Websites.

Despite there being numerous pre-designed website building platforms online which do not require you to code, you will still require these skills in order to create an awesome website.

In this article, we will focus on those essential skills and why you should be equipped with them to become a resourceful developer.

Skills You Need to Create a Website

The following skills are vital for all web developers:

1. Basic graphic design skills

Web development and web design are two sides of the same coin. A developer does different work from a designer, but graphic design skills provide you with a better insight into the visual components that make up an appealing website.

Besides choosing the most appropriate color and images for a website, graphic design skills let you determine the suitable amount of ‘white space’ for web pages.

Although it is a huge plus, it isn’t mandatory to be a professional graphic designer in order to become a website developer.

You can learn the basics by getting acquainted with graphic design tools such as Photoshop, Zeplin, Figma, Sketch, Paint, Canva, and others.

There are multiple digital courses, tutorials, and inspiration sources where you can learn these basics online and even acquire a certification.

2. Search Engine Optimization skills

In a web page, not only the content must be optimized but also the website itself. Search engines consider various factors in a website when determining ranking indexes, including the loading speed, ease of use, design and redirect ways.

These factors depend on how well a programmer did his or her job, and the programming language used when developing the website.

As a developer, you must understand the SEO tactics that will enable your website to surface on the first page when users key in an inquiry into search engines. Other crucial elements of SEO in a website include mega titles, meta tags, subdomains, and sitemaps.

3. Programming skills

Programming is a vital skill that web developers must master. To code a website, you must be knowledgeable of a few programming languages since different languages exist for varying objectives.

For instance, HTML is a standardized programming language that is used to format documents or content on a page.

On the other hand, JavaScript facilitates interactive solutions such as animations, games, and all other dynamic functions on a website.

With inadequate programming skills, however, you can build a website using multiple website-building software platforms that don’t require you to code.

4. Content creation skills

A web page contains text-based content, images, videos, and other infographics. Most web developers undermine the potential of high-quality content, and yet search engines must consider the quality of content created so as to rank higher.

Not all developers can however generate good content. If you cannot, it is important to seek the services of a professional journalist or content creator.

5. Basic understanding of security attacks and how to prevent them

Security skills are indispensable when developing a website. You must be knowledgeable with how to provide a reliable solution to any security threat to your website. The most common security attacks are the following:

• Cross-site scripting – This is a type of attack that occurs when a hacker attacks a clean website with a malevolent script. Such a harmful script auto-downloads to a user’s device whenever they try accessing your web pages.

Cross-site scripting attacks can be prevented by regularly checking the data submitted to any form on your website and encoding any HTM used.

• SQL injection – This is an attack of data-driven programs or applications when harmful SQL material is inserted into input fields or forms of your website. Even though any database application is prone to SQL injection attacks, they mostly apply to websites and they can be controlled by using parameterized query forms.

• Error messages – Hackers can source information from error messages. As a preventive strategy, ensure you do not disclose any sensitive information in such messages.

For instance, instead of displaying an error message such as ‘Incorrect password, try something like ‘Incorrect login details. This helps prevent hackers from getting a hint on what to concentrate on while they try cracking into your website.

6. Resoluteness

As a web developer, you must be steadfast and highly determined. Becoming a remarkable developer costs a lot of mistakes and errors, thus requiring you to have a strong and unwavering attitude.

As a rule of thumb, developers have no right to doubt. Although it is more of a human trait than a skill, being resolute is mandatory for every developer.

7.  Time Management and good planning skills

Developing a website takes a lot of stretch and effort, and it may consume most of your quality time.

If you are not time-conscious and you can barely create a plan for your web development projects, you may not spend enough time with your family or catch up with the latest movie you would like to watch.

In the long run, it affects your overall work and reduces your performance rate to great lengths. If necessary, you can find a time management tool or scheduler.

8. Patience and ability to tolerate frustration

Most developers drop out of a project because coming up with a website is hectic work. It can’t be perfect from the first shot, and therefore, you must keep testing and redoing the processes whenever you encounter bugs.

Patience is crucial for a developer because constantly experiencing such bugs and malfunctioning programs can sometimes become intolerable. You need to make mistakes as the stepping stones toward perfection.

Conclusion – Skills you need to create a website

Whether you are a back-end developer or you want to use website building software to create a website, the skills above are essential. Without them, you may not come up with magnificent websites or may end up quitting along the way.

Fortunately, you can build a website using Vonza’s website building software, which doesn’t require you to code – start your free trial today!