Six Additional Skills To Master As A Website Designer

As a website or app designer, expanding your design skillset is essential. Finding someone who knows how to use a specific platform to design a website or app for your business or nonprofit is relatively simple. 

However, finding a designer with diverse skills who can provide insight into multiple areas of design within one project is far more valuable. For example, I use my design knowledge, copywriting experience, UX expertise, and social media marketing skills when designing websites for clients to deliver a holistic design approach. 

If you're a new designer or just ready to learn additional design skills, here are six specific skills to consider learning as you broaden your horizons and become a more well-rounded designer.

Social Media Marketing

As a designer, you likely already have a strong understanding of visual communication. However, you may not be as well-versed in the world of social media marketing since it seems to be an area that changes daily!

Social media marketing isn't going anywhere, though, so it's an essential skill to master. From understanding how to create engaging content, tracking and analyzing analytics, and using social media to drive traffic to your website, it's a core component of every evergreen marketing strategy. 

If you're unsure where to start, you can click here and find plenty of online resources to help you learn the ropes of social media marketing. 

Search Engine Optimization 

The best designers understand that driving the right type of website traffic to a client's site is vital. Otherwise, no one will ever see that beautiful design work! Search engine optimization techniques center around making intentional decisions on the text and the user experience to signal that the content is valuable to Google and other search engines. 

Mastering SEO takes time and patience, involving everything from keyword research to content marketing and technical SEO work behind the scenes. However, if you can master SEO, you'll be able to drive more traffic to your website and ultimately increase your visibility online.

Copywriting

As a designer, you're probably used to working with copy (or text) daily as you design digital or print resources. However, few designers have expertise in writing copy.

As a designer, I find it extremely valuable to hone my copywriting skills. This skill allows me to make changes on the fly in the middle of design work and improve copy provided by clients. 

If you're ready to learn more about this design area, try taking a copywriting course or following copywriting experts online to learn new techniques and stay updated on the latest research around copywriting best practices. 

Photography And Video Editing 

Photography and video editing are advanced design skills often outsourced by designers due to their required skill level. But if you're up for a challenge, having a good eye for photo composition and lighting can be a great way to capture attention-grabbing images for your designs.

And, if you know how to edit videos, you can create engaging and informative video content that can complement your design work nicely. For instance, you could create a short video tutorial to accompany an infographic or website design. Or, you might put together a portfolio reel that showcases your best work in a concise and visually appealing way. 

Learning these skills may require a significant time investment but will give you more options when creating designs that get results.

Coding 

Most drag-and-drop website platforms make it relatively simple to design a website without extensive coding knowledge. In my work with Squarespace websites, however, I've found that the more coding I learn, the better designer I become. 

In the beginning, I found coding resources online to be extremely helpful, and eventually, I learned enough to experiment on my own. While a great designer should first and foremost rely on design best practices and principles, adding extras like animated graphics or customized brand elements through coding can elevate your designs and make client sites stand out from the competition. 

User Experience (UX) Design

Even if you're not marketing yourself as a UX designer, understanding the basics of UX design makes you a better all-around designer. That's because UX design is central for users to have the best possible experience when using a website or app. 

If you've ever "gotten lost" on a website or been frustrated when the link you open takes you somewhere you didn't expect, you've experienced a website or app with poor user experience. These small but intentional changes to design set the stage for users to quickly find what they need and make a decision - whether that's adding a product to their cart, booking a service, or completing a form. 

UX Design courses are popping up in all kinds of places, so find one that suits your style and budget and dive in! 

Final Thoughts

As a designer, striving to improve your skills continuously is important. By expanding your skill set and adding new skills to your repertoire, you'll be better equipped to meet the challenges of the ever-changing design landscape. And who knows, you might just find yourself in demand for a whole new type of design job.

Tell me - where do you go for design help, or what new design skills are you in the market to learn? 

One Nine Design is a digital marketing company helping small businesses and nonprofits learn how to use their website and email list to grow their reach and make a bigger impact!

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