Web Design Job Outlook

Find out what to expect when you start a web design job.

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The Future of Web Design Jobs

The Internet has become a powerful and revolutionary tool for conducting business, publishing and distributing information, and creating communities and exchanging ideas. A web design job gives you a front-row seat to that fascinating and perpetually evolving world. As companies continue to find new ways to sell their services and products and get their messages out in the virtual universe, the demand for educated web designers is rising as the need for employees with the right web design training and skills becomes increasingly critical to the way companies do business.

Web design jobs require a diverse combination of skills, mixing art with technology. They master coding in HTML/XHTML, using JavaScript, ASP, and editing programs such as Photoshop. Web designers utilize these skills to build websites that help their companies market an image, a message, a product or a service, while enhancing the user's experience.

Web Design Job Growth

Since the 1990 launch of the first website at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Internet has grown exponentially, spurring growth in the demand for skilled web designers. The following chart shows the increasing number of websites on the Internet over the last two decades.*

Number of Sites on the Web

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports job opportunities in web design are expected to increase 15 percent by 2016. More and more companies are regularly seeking new college graduates with the latest techniques in web design.

Web Design Job Salaries

The expected earnings for web design jobs increases with a designer's longevity in the field and how well that designer has kept his or her web design training and knowledge current.

According to Salary.com, the middle 50 percent of web design jobs pay between $57,434 and $75,046. The lowest 10 percent make $50,008 or less while the top 10 percent earn $83,656 or more. Since the technology is constantly evolving and new programs are created every year, web designers are always learning and picking up new skills to increase their value in the market.

Web Design Job Paths

Aspiring web designers should expect to face competition in the job market. There are many talented people looking for web design jobs, so despite the exponential growth in the industry, opportunities for web designers will see a growth rate only slightly higher than the average compared to all other careers. Most active web designers agree that the best way to get into the industry is to create a website and build a portfolio.

Self-employment is common in this field; however, most web designers find their first jobs as employees in firms. The advantage of full-time employment with a company is that the web designer can concentrate on actual website work, without having to worry about finding clients and maintaining customer relations.

Web design careers generally begin in entry-level positions performing website maintenance and quality assurance tasks. Successful web designers frequently have to work their way up to more senior positions.

Getting Web Design Job Training

The techniques in web design and construction are constantly advancing, and businesses compete for employees with the latest skills and knowledge. Now is the ideal time to get web design training and jump into this exciting career field, where you'll be a part of the ongoing and rapid evolution in the way we communicate and interact in cyberspace.