Crucial Web Development Skills
and How to Improve Them
See also: Self-Motivation
If you’re looking for a job in web development, there are certain skills you need to develop and improve.
Just like any other job, web development requires a set of both hard and soft skills that are crucial for executing your job efficiently and on time.
Here, you’ll be able to read more about these skills and how you can develop and improve them.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
First, let’s discuss what hard and soft skills are and how they differ from one another. While hard skills may be of great importance when it comes to applying for a job, soft skills are just as important. This can especially be applied to job positions in web development.
If you plan to be hired as a web developer, most companies will expect you to possess hybrid skills. This means they will look at both your hard and soft skills.
In order to land a good job position and keep expanding your professional competency, you should work on developing both of these skill types.
On the one hand, hard skills are crucial for performing technical tasks required by your job position. These are some of the most important skills that you must have in order to perform well at your job. They include a wide range of technical knowledge that you have collected through training and education.
These skills can differ depending on several different factors, such as whether you’re a frontend, backend, or full-stack developer. As you can tell, these skills are specific to the job you’re applying for, they are easily measured and will be listed in the job specification.
On the other hand, soft skills aren’t that straightforward to describe and measure. They are universal skills, and they refer to our behavioral traits or even inherent abilities. More specifically, they refer to how we interact with company leadership, communicate with colleagues, overcome obstacles, and work under pressure.
Soft skills can be a huge game-changer when companies are hiring new employees, and they can easily make you stand out from the crowd.
With that said, let’s discuss some of the most important hard and soft skills in the web development business.
5 Hard Skills for Web Developers
The following are the 5 most crucial hard skills you should work on developing and improving if you want to become a successful web developer.
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the very core of building Web pages. HTML is the backbone of every website. Understandably, knowing this language and using it proficiently is crucial for web development.
As a basic markup language, HTML describes the content and structure of web applications and web pages. Whether you choose to do backend or frontend web development, you need to be familiar with HTML.
CSS
On the other hand, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a styling language, and it defines HTML code’s visual presentation and look.
It is a type of extension to HTML and, as such, it controls the layout of elements used for the format, colors, and font on the webpages. In addition to HTML, you also need to know how to use CSS.
JavaScript
The single most prevalent and widely used scripting language in web development is JavaScript. It is the core element and technology used for modern websites.
With JavaScript, you can change CSS and HTML elements, which makes the website more dynamic and engaging. The integration of javascript development services into a project can significantly elevate the user experience, making applications more interactive and responsive.
It includes interactive maps, videos, menus, and search bars. If you learn how to use Java Script, you will be able to meet some of the higher expectations your clients set for you and offer a pleasant user experience.
These three are the most important programming languages, and they form the foundation of any web development project. Learning them is crucial for you if you want to keep expanding your career in web development.
Start off by learning the basics, and then move on to specialization. To further develop your skills, choose whether you want to be a backend, frontend, or full-stack developer and learn languages such as Python, Ruby, PHP, amongst others. Make sure you practice a lot to keep improving your skills.
Testing and debugging
A web developer also has to know how to test and debug their code. In the process of development and maintenance, these activities are of great importance and should be done frequently. This is how you ensure that your code is working properly and delivering a positive user experience.
When practicing your coding languages, always make sure you test and debug your codes.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is another crucial element in web development. Your goal as a web developer is to create a website that is both visually pleasing and functional.
SEO is such a huge aspect of web development that, to improve your skills, the best thing you can do is learn from professionals.
Research companies in your area and see where you can learn about SEO in practice. For instance, if you live in the UK, you can look up a trustworthy and professional web development company in the UK and examine how they develop their websites to make them SEO-friendly.
How do they optimize the websites for smartphones? How do they help boost the website’s traffic? You can also look for internships and opportunities to learn and improve your SEO skills.
5 Soft Skills for Web Development
The following are some of the most important soft skills you should work on improving if you want to work in web development.
Though they are not directly linked with the task of programming, these skills are just as important as the above-listed technical skills.
Adaptability and flexibility
First and foremost, web developers need to be flexible and should be able to adapt easily and quickly to new situations.
As a successful web developer, you need to be open, always keep learning new skills, and respond rapidly to trends, expectations, changing ideas, and responsibilities.
You need to be able to overcome unexpected obstacles on the spot and find creative solutions. This kind of flexibility in the workplace is highly valued in web development.
Work on your flexibility by trying out different coding ideas and being open-minded towards frequent change.
Communication skills
As a web developer, you also need to work on your communication skills. While your job mainly requires you to code and develop websites, you also need to communicate with other colleagues and the clients whose websites you’ll be building.
Knowing how to communicate your ideas as well as be an active listener and take other people’s ideas into consideration is a very important skill. This helps keep the teamwork flowing smoothly. It also ensures that your clients are satisfied with the end result.
If you can’t clearly communicate with the clients to understand what they’re looking for, you may end up failing to meet their expectations and requirements.
Learning and openness to new technologies
Tech world and web development tend to undergo a lot of changes in short time periods. It’s simply a fast-moving industry that keeps introducing new trends and improvements.
If you want to become a successful web developer, you need to be able to keep up with these changes in technology.
Use the resources you can find online and make the most out of them. Make sure you always keep up with the latest trends in the web development industry and keep an open mind towards abandoning the old and learning something new every day.
Problem-solving skills
Web development includes a lot of problem-solving tasks. It’s all about fixing some technical issues, fixing bugs, finding the web design, and so on.
It’s even more important to be able to think quickly on the spot and come up with quick solutions for the obstacles you’re facing. For that reason, you need to start working on your problem-solving skills very early in your career.
In order to develop and improve problem-solving skills, you need to practice. Become familiar with common issues found in web development and learn from the experience. The more familiar you become with these issues, the faster you will be able to detect and fix them.
Learn how to define a problem and fix it accordingly. Also, try to learn from experienced employees. Pick up as much knowledge as you can from them and apply it to your work while practicing.
Time management skills
Lastly, web developers usually work on multiple projects at the same time. They have deadlines they need to meet, and they are working with several clients at a time.
Balancing such a high-demanding job with personal life is not an easy task. As such, web developers need to have excellent time management skills.
If you want to stay efficient at work but also healthy and fulfilled in your private life, learn how to set your priorities straight, plan ahead, avoid heavy multitasking, and use beneficial time management techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique to help you get everything done efficiently and on time.
Further Reading from Skills You Need
The Skills You Need Guide to Personal Development
Learn how to set yourself effective personal goals and find the motivation you need to achieve them. This is the essence of personal development, a set of skills designed to help you reach your full potential, at work, in study and in your personal life.
The second edition of or bestselling eBook is ideal for anyone who wants to improve their skills and learning potential, and it is full of easy-to-follow, practical information.
Conclusion
Overall, if you work on both your hard and soft skills, and show dedication and a willingness to learn, any web development company would be more than happy to hire you.
About the Author
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.