How to Become a Freelance Web Designer with Webflow

shakiroslann -

In this article, you will learn:

  1. What is Webflow
  2. Learning the skills to become a web designer
  3. Portfolio
  4. How to get your first client
  5. Resources

What is Webflow

Webflow is an advanced no-code web development platform where you can design and launch a website in real-time in their browser. The great thing is, it's designed for freelancers.

It’s basically an all-in-one design platform you can use to go from the designing phase to a ready-to-use product. Webflow can be considered a heavy-medium platform that gives its users access to front-end code like HTML, CSS, and Javascript visually if they need more freedom when building a website. In Webflow, visual design and code are not separated.

So usually it's used by designers or marketers who want to produce a professional-looking site without the help of a developer.

Learning the skills to become a web designer

Designing and building those websites with Webflow are the skills needed to start your freelance business. There are a few courses and e-books that can help you learn these skills much quicker than you have to:

  1. Webflow University - free course websites created by Webflow, they have really good courses guiding you through pretty much everything to learn web design with Webflow from beginner to advanced, they even have a Freelance web design boot camp specifically for those who want to start a freelance journey.
  2. Webflow showcase - This is where Webflow designers showcase their work. The best thing about it is you can see some designs that inspired you and break them down and learn how they build them with Webflow.
  3. HTML&CSS - teach you how to develop and style websites with HTML and CSS. It guides you through all common elements of front-end design and development. HTML and CSS are not difficult concepts, it's just syntax that builds your design into a web page and it's something you could learn in a week or two.
  4. Learn Figma course - If you want to use Figma as a design tool, you should invest in a course to master the fundamental of Figma, it will help you to speed up your workflow and save you a lot of time as a designer.
  5. Refactoring UI -  an ebook about learning how to design beautiful user interfaces or UI by yourself. This is a perfect book if you feel you're not creative enough to be a designer or don't naturally have artistic talent. It will teach you how to design with tactics, not talent.

The important part of learning is you have to know it never ends. You don't have to master everything perfectly before beginning your freelance journey. Once you're confident you can build a website for any business that needed your skill, you're actually ready to start freelancing.

Portfolio

Dribbble.com

Once you've learned those fundamentals, it's time to put them into practice. Show your work on your portfolio. You don't have any real project yet and you don't know what project to show. Well, make up a few businesses and imagine they hired you to design websites for them like gyms, coffee shops, photographers, or artists.

As a web designer, you need to have a website. Just build one with Webflow and you can as well show your work on Dribble, and Behance to get more exposure.

Keep in mind, at this stage you don't have to build fancy extravagant websites for the portfolio. They need to serve a purpose that everyone can use, intuitive, and easy to understand. Your portfolio should be a place to/have:

  • Show your work
  • Tell them what you do
  • Contact information/form

How to get your first client

We have three main strategies to get the first client:

  1. Communication - email anyone you know family and friends or take the chance during social gatherings, tell them what you do, and see if they need a website. Let more and more people know what you do so the chances you get referred are a lot higher. It's the best way to build a long-term network and relationship around your business.
  2. Social media - as a web designer Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest are the best visual place to showcase your work. Trying to showcase your work consistently will make people take an interest over time and eventually, you'll get some leads and referrals through social media platforms. You don't have to post a full big project like on your portfolio. A snippet of what you're currently working on is sufficient for social media posts.
  3. Freelance platforms - There are good places like Fiverr and Upwork to get started. However, the competition is high, so the strategy is to start with a low-paying job and be mentally ready because usually, they are demanding clients. This is probably because they get hired by someone and then want to offer you a much cheaper price to gain some profit. It's ok in the beginning, we have to start somewhere. Once you have some good reviews on these platforms and a strong portfolio you can position yourself as an expert to get higher-paying jobs.

Resources

Hope this helps 🔥