There are more than 1.5 billion websites online right now.

Whilst many of these are currently inactive, that’s still an enormous pool of competition. If you want your website to stand out from the crowd, it needs great web design.

If you’re looking to hire a web designer, you want to be sure they have the skills you need. 

Read on as we look at five of the most important web design skills to look for.

1. HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the code used to give structure to your webpages and put content onto them.

Whilst you may think web design is just about the looks, any good web designer should have a strong grasp of HTML. Without knowledge of HTML, you won’t be able to implement your designs without the aid of a developer.

2. CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. 

HTML determines the structure of your webpages, but CSS determines how it looks. CSS tells your webpage how to display text, backgrounds, images, and more. Without a good knowledge of CSS, you cannot create the visually stunning webpages that will help your site to stand out.

3. Visual Design

Having great HTML and CSS skills are worthless if you don’t have the visual design skills to make the most of them.

A web designer needs an in-depth understanding of all aspects of visual design. These include layout principles, knowledge of typeset, color schemes, and more. They should also be up to speed on all the latest trends in web design in order that their designs don’t look dated.

4. UX

A beautiful looking website will draw people in, but they won’t stay if the site is awkward to use.

User experience is all about putting yourself in the shoes of the user. How would they want to use the site? How would they interact with it? A common method is to develop personas based on the type of people who would visit your site, and build your design to satisfy the needs of these different personas. 

With so much competition out there, you have to get the UX right if you want people to use your site.

5. SEO

A beautiful site with great UX is all well and good. But it’s little use if no one can find it.

Search Engine Optimization is something that should be baked into the design of your site. Factors such as your site’s performance and how mobile-friendly it is can affect how high your site ranks, even before you get to the content. 

If you want a site that ranks well, your web designer will need to know SEO.

Looking for Great Web Design Skills?

If you’re looking for a web design company that offers great web design skills, then we’re to help.

We offer custom web design services to produce beautiful designs that generate higher conversions, greater brand engagement, and measurable results. We have both design and development teams, as well as offering hosting, security, backups, tech support, and more.

For more information, get in touch today.