Creating seamless web navigation, testing user experience and expressing technical information in a simplified way – just another day in the life of a web designer.
What Does a Web Designer Do?
A web designer creates visually pleasing websites, tests user experience and updates websites to meet the latest industry and search engine standards.
Designing website navigation
Web designers create the overall layout of websites and decide where certain features sit on landing pages. Designers also play around with typefaces, colors and formatting to create aesthetically pleasing, intuitively organized pages.
UX testing
Web designers work on improving user experience, which is how people feel when navigating the site. To capture the ideal user experience, web designers research consumer behavior and anticipate the path they will take when viewing each webpage. They then use this insight to create a more user-friendly layout that feels like second nature to every visitor.
Updating websites as needed
Web designers oversee the upkeep of various websites and pages, making sure they stay up to date and meet industry benchmarks. They also make adjustments to match company changes. If, for example, one company merges with another, the web designer is the one to integrate online resources into a single location and update branding.
What Skills Should a Web Designer Have?
Essentials
A comprehensive understanding of design is essential to succeeding as a web designer. These professionals must create informative, user-friendly websites. To do so, they must use both sides of their brains, designing visually pleasing landing pages while using analytics and HTML to improve website performance. Web designers benefit from knowledge in the following areas:
- Design software, such as Photoshop and Sketch
- Visual design principles
- HTML, CSS and JavaScript
- SEO technology, such as Moz or SEMrush
Soft skills
In addition to being effective creators, web designers should have the following skills:
Time management: Web designers need to stay on schedule if they expect to perform up to standard in busy, deadline-driven environments.
Strong communication skills: In their day-to-day work, web designers work with different clients and across multiple teams. Web designers should be able to communicate and collaborate with others in a variety of ways, whether they update them on expected due dates, pitch them design concepts or walk them through a site layout.
SEO and marketing: For web designers to create compelling sites that attract plenty of users, they need to learn the ins and outs of search engine optimization. Companies rely heavily on their internet presence, especially on their presence on search engines. Web designers should understand how to implement keywords, meta descriptions and internal linking to create successful websites.
Interview Questions to Ask Web Designer Candidates
- What are some of your favorite website designs? What is your favorite project you’ve completed?
- Give an example of a time when someone disagreed with your design. How did you respond to this?
- What industry websites and blogs do you visit in your free time?
- How would you describe your creative process?
Profiles Web Designer Recruitment
Whether you’re looking for a web designer or hoping to become one someday, the design staffing specialists at Profiles know what it takes to connect today’s best businesses with highly qualified web designer candidates.
