- We're going over seven web design
certifications that you can use to
increase your hourly rate here, on The Journey.
All right, now we're going over ways to
increase your hourly rate as a web designer.
As we know, super important, we gotta get paid, right?
- Yeah, exactly, and most of these certifications
they do require at least a little bit
of experience or studying.
But, most of them can be completed online and they
are relatively affordable and most are even free.
- And, to help you out, we've compiled this list
of seven web design certifications to keep
your freelance business competitive.
Now, these certifications are not
just gonna cover web design.
They're gonna diversify your skill
set to really set you apart.
- Yeah, that way you can become a
one stop shop for your clients.
So, rather than just developing
their website you can actually offer
all of these other skills, as well.
- Now, starting off that list is Google Analytics IQ.
This certification is absolutely free and
I know what you're thinking, Google Analytics.
That's not really web design or social media.
But, it's definitely a skill that's in high demand.
And when it comes to analytics,
Google Analytics, is the heavy weight.
- Yeah, basing your web design decisions
on data rather than just assumptions
is actually gonna lead to a lot
more results for your client, right?
So you'll be able to tell them
here's what's working with your site,
here's what's not working and maybe
even save them money down the road.
- Right, it's definitely a skill set
that's going to set you apart from others.
'Cause, yes, many people can
throw together a website and make it
look pretty, but, you'll actually
use data to drive results for their business.
- The certification is valid for
18 months but you do have to retake
it to make sure that you're keeping up with that.
- Yeah, and what's cool about Google Analytics is
they give you a couple of beginner and advanced courses.
Just brush up on different concepts and
make sure that you can ace that exam and,
most importantly, deliver results to your clients.
- Yeah, and then the exam will take about 90 minutes.
- Now, next up on our list is
Adobe Certified Expert or ACE for short.
The cost for this is a hundred and
eighty dollars per product.
You essentially get certified by the products themselves.
- Luckily, Adobe does offer specials sometimes,
like, buy one get one.
- That's cool and being that Adobe has
just a large suite of products
you can get certified with things
that can really compliment your business.
Adobe has a ton of products, right?
Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator,
all these things so you can really pick the
ones that make sense for you and your business.
- So, Adobe keeps really close control of their
testing process and their certification curriculum.
So, this is a really rare certification
that can help you actually stand out
as an expert for these products.
- And the good news with these
certifications is that they don't expire.
You get certified once and you're good for life.
Now, that doesn't mean that you might want to
retake it periodically because, as we know,
Adobe makes tons of updates to their products.
So, check in every now and then and retake that
test just to make sure you're up to date.
- Number three is General Assembly Bootcamp Courses.
So, these typically range anywhere
from being free to four thousand dollars.
These are the most extensive and really
in-depth courses and certifications that you can get.
- Yeah, what's cool about this is
they offer in person sessions or online.
Just depending on whatever's best for you.
And, these courses are taught by industry experts.
So, it's not just someone random that picked
up the curriculum and they're teaching it.
These are people that are actually walking
the walk not just talking the talk.
- And, they do hands on courses, right?
So, they're showing you really how
to apply these skills into real life situations.
- Topics can range from front end web design to
Java Script frameworks to mobile app development
and even digital marketing.
- And general assembly does offer some
free introductory courses to give
you a little taste of the full experience.
- Number four on our list is FreeCodeCamp
and, as you can guess, the cost is free.
FreeCodeCamp offers web design and development
skills for free and their library cannot be beat.
There's articles and video lessons and
workshops and all these different things.
What's even better about it is they
offer different study groups in your area.
So, you can get with people that are
just like you and learn these tactics, too.
- And, the unique thing that FreeCodeCamp does
is they let you get that hands on experience
if you're just starting out by
contributing to these open source
software projects for non-profits.
- Yeah, that's so cool and what's even
better about it is you can use those
projects and put it on your resume and your
portfolio as things you've contributed too.
- The fifth certification is Google Mobile Web Specialist.
So, this one costs ninety nine dollars but
that does include a study guide, as well as
three exam attempts in case, you know,
third times a charm.
- Yeah, in case you fail the first couple.
But, what's cool about it is it helps you
set you apart from other web developers
that show off your skills on mobile.
We all know mobile's important.
It's over half of all internet searches.
You want to make sure that all
sites looks great on mobile.
It's really what your clients are
worried about at the end of the day.
Now this certification will help
you test that and really give you
a hands on experience with real world
tasks that you may have to face in the future.
- Yeah, it includes topics like
progressive web application or performance optimization.
- Yeah, even accessibility or mobile web forms.
- Completing this certification also
gives you that really nice digital badge
that you can display on your website or
your different social media platforms.
- And, what's even cooler, is Google
actually adds you to a directory of
all their developers that have passed the exam.
Which is just another way to really show off
your skills and potentially get more leads.
- Number six is HubSpot Academy Certification
and each course is available for free.
So, what's important is that your clients
want a online presence that not only looks good
but actually sells their products or their services
and that's where digital marketing comes in.
- Yeah, think about it.
If you can not only combine your
web design skills now with your
digital marketing skills you're gonna help
your client increase their leads and conversion.
Not only that, you get to charge more for it,
too, because you're adding more value than
just a website provides.
- But, web designers will most likely find the
most value in their inbound certification course.
- Yeah, this course will really take you through
understanding inbound marketing,
the buyers journey, and more.
And most of these courses only take
about two to four hours to complete.
So, it's something that you can spend
a weekend on and up your game.
- Last, but definitely not least,
is the Facebook Blueprint Certification.
So, each one costs a hundred and fifty dollars.
But, the certification requires two exams
so that means three hundred dollars.
But this one can really set you apart because
Facebook is one of the most powerful
advertising platforms available right now.
- Becoming Facebook Blueprint certified
through that certification process
does make you highly valuable to
your clients and businesses alike
because it shows that your experienced
with the platform and you can help
them with their marketing goals.
- Exactly, a lot of the clients
that I work with, you know, they've tried
Facebook boosting in the past and they
didn't quite see any results but it's because they
didn't quite know how to utilize these tools.
So, if you're the expert then you can
show them how to really take better advantage
of the money that their spending and
get the best, you know, return on investment.
- This certification is administered and
proctored by Facebook to basically test how
you do creating ad campaigns, measuring results,
and troubleshooting any issues that do arise.
- And each exam must be retaken once
a year to maintain that certification.
- Now, all of this is great, and all
but landing those great web design clients
is going to require more than being
certified with Facebook Blueprint or
having a HubSpot badge on your website.
- Yeah, ultimately clients care about
how you're actually going to help
their business grow and they don't
want to spend all this time talking
to a million different people.
So, if you offer all of these services, you know,
for them so that it's just one place
they have to go, one person they
have to talk to, then think about all the
money you could be making from that client.
- Exactly, or if they just come to you
because you build websites and then
you can really show off that hey, cool,
I not only build websites but I could
also help you convert more leads.
I can do X, Y, and Z with all these
cool certifications that I have and
really bring in those big bucks.
- So, there are the seven web design certifications
you can use to help boost your hourly rate.
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