Today almost all businesses need a website if they don’t want to get behind the competition. But before you rush to hire IT specialists and ask them to create a stunning website for your company, let’s first understand the skills required for building a good website. 

So, without further adieu, let’s jump straight to the: 

5 Essential Skills Required For Building a Website 

1) Graphic Design Skills 

Of course, you don’t have to be a graphic designer to build a website. In fact, you don’t have to be a designer at all: all required for developing a good page is just some basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, having the mindset and eye of a designer will certainly help.  

There is a list of elements that go into the making of a website, and if you’re not able to understand how to position them on the page, it will turn into a big mess. 

However, when you can understand what makes the webpage visually appealing, you know exactly how much white space to leave between different elements, what type of color and font to use, and how to arrange it all in the best manner.

So if you don’t plan to hire a separate UI/UX specialist, at least make sure your developer has some basic design skills and good taste. 

2) Platform-specific skills 

There are different platforms you can choose to create your website in. Among the most popular ones is WordPress, the CMS with the largest market share at the moment. So depending on which one you choose, you should also make sure your developer has the skills of working with that specific platform. For instance, if you ended up working with WordPress, it would be better to hire a WordPress developer because he would develop your website faster and more efficiently. 

3) SEO 

The main goal of all business websites is to attract more traffic. Only after having a decent number of website visitors can you start thinking about conversions or purchases. But how do you exactly make people know about your website? 

Well, of course, you could send the link of your page to all of your existing customers one by one, but you would still miss hundreds of your potential customers. And who wants to miss a large group of potential buyers, right? 

So, to get your website out there on the SERPs, search engine result pages, and appear on your customers’ search results, you need to make the most out of SEO. In other words, you’ll have to create quality content, full of specific key phrases and links, and patiently wait until your work pays off. Although the right content is your key SEO weapon, there are a bunch of other factors that influence your page’s searchability, so make sure you pay attention to those too. 

Again, ideally, you need to have an SEO specialist who will optimize your website according to the best SEO practices. However, if you can’t afford one, at least hire a developer who is SEO-savvy 

4) HTML & CSS 

It’s not really a skill, it’s a must. Any website developer should be proficient in HTML and CSS, the main languages for building a website. HTML and CSS really are the languages of the Internet, and if your developer does not know them, that’s a red flag. By the way, these two languages are also pretty easy to learn. You could even figure them out yourself, by following some good free online courses. 

5) JavaScript 

And finally, JavaScript! JavaScript is the language needed to spice up your website and make it juicier. If you want to add some fun interactive elements to your page, then your developer should also know JavaScript. 

JavaScript is responsible for interactive maps, website animations, scrolling video jukeboxes, 2D/3D animated graphs: ugh, the list is endless! In fact, if you want to meet today’s Internet user’s expectations, then using JavaScript in your website development is mandatory. 

That was it! Make sure your developer has all the five skills listed in the blog, and you’ll get a good, competitive website for your business! If there is any vital skill we missed, let us know in the comments section.