Hi,

Sometimes change makes people nervous. I got an email from someone recently, who’s been noticing some changes in the web design world and had some fears. Check it out:

I been noticing more ads on the TV and the internet about web site building kits and companies set up to build web sites through the use of templates and prearranged page layout formats to choose from. Since this is on the rise I was wondering in me learning to become a web developer, will this occupation be a dieing breed given all the self help web template sites that are popping up. What are some of the pros and cons of going with a web template based company or a guy who can do it all from scratch like yourself. Any thoughts appreciated.

Best Regards,
Rich

So let’s hit the major points:

… will this occupation be a dieing breed given all the self help web template sites that are popping up

Good question. Short answer: no. Couple of quick points:

1. Many of those website building kits are very, very limited. Though they will satisfy some segment of the population, they only have a small place in the grand scheme of web design things.
2. Web Templates should not be looked at as competition, instead you should look at them as tools … a way to rapidly produce websites. That said, you will find that many clients will not want to use templates for fear that their website will look like it was built with a template.

I would say that you should be open to using templates and designing from scratch. Some budgets will require templates where other clients will want to spend the extra money on original design work.

In the end, if you want to be competitive, you ought to expand you skills into things like PHP, Javascript and blogs.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Hi,

A really interesting question was emailed to me recently by someone that I will call ‘Rick’. Her real name was Jenny, but she wanted to keep that private:

I’ve been trying to make a decision about my career path and I wondered if you could offer me any words of advice?

I have a disability that prevents me from working on-site and I will need to work from home as a freelancer. I’m trying to find out which of these server side technologies will make me more marketable from home as a freelancer …

… Rick goes on to mention a few of the popular web programming languages that he is considering:

• PHP
• Ruby
• Java

The answer and the key points

If you want to work from home, by far and away PHP is your best choice because it is the most widely used language and it is the language that you see small business use more often than not. After PHP, I would give Ruby a go.

… Actually, why not learn both!

Java and .NET are not great choices for stay-at-home freelancers because those technologies are more or less used by larger corporations that more likely than not, will want you to work on site.

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Once in a while, I will step away from teaching raw web design and web programming and look at things from a broader, more strategic perspective. This is one example of that …

One of the biggest mistakes people often make, is trying to develop skills in areas that they suck in. For example, you maybe good at writing HTML and CSS code, yet you still have a terrible time at making your pages look good.

… Let’s face it, some people just don’t have that artistic/designers eye.

You can read more about in the web magazine

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com