If you want to become a professional web designer or want to design your own website, you need a computer, basic knowledge of html and Dreamweaver or FrontPage. There are many designers who develop their skills at home through books, software, online tutorials, practice, and trial and error.
You need to learn HTML and XHTML - basic languages used to code web pages. These are very simple coding language that once learned is very versatile and easy to incorporate. Find a good online ebook that explain HTML, XHTML, CSS, web designing and web publishing. There are plenty of great tutorial ebooks around (few are given below - check out below).
Graphics play a big role in design, so it's a good idea to learn how to use a variety of graphics and website building programs, such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and FrontPage. However, there's a wide variety of programs that may be used to enhance websites. To gain an edge in the web design field, it is best to learn as much as possible about using the most popular programs.
Set up a practice website. Pick a topic you love and play with it! Seeing a site develop while you are actually learning how to make it can be incredibly motivating and enjoyable! Have fun! Pick something you never get tired of and you may end up with a site that everyone goes to check out!
Register a domain name for your website. There are plenty of domain registration sites (godaddy.com, bluehost.com, etc). Once you have a site that you wish people to see, you'll want to put it up for display on the web. For this, you'll need to upload your web files to a web server. There are plenty of web hosts around like bluehost.com, hostmonster.com, hostgator.com, lunarpages.com etc. Just sign up with one of these great hosts. They have incredibly easy guides to help you get your files uploaded and your website up and running fast and easy. If you have any problems, they are easy to contact via their customer service systems and they get back to you within 24 hours. There is very little downtime on either one of these hosting services, too, so you can depend on your site getting up and staying up.
At this point you may wish to extend you knowledge to improve the look and feel of your page design. Learn CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which is an addition to HTML, and coded in exactly the same way.
You can create dynamic websites using PHP and MySQL. These technologies will enable you to create a website that does not require you to make individual HTML pages but allow you to use templates to display multiple pages within the same design.
If you want to become a professional web designer, design websites for others. For example, a budding web designer may make websites for his friends and family members, either for free or for a discounted rate, building his portfolio. This portfolio can be instrumental in gaining paying clients, as they will be able to see the types of sites he can produce.
Once a person has learned the skills necessary to become a web designer, his job is not over. He may give himself a better chance of success if he enrolls in reading marketing books, learning how to target consumers using such things as graphics, headlines, colors, and ad placement.
