 You have heard about this before. Web developer. Following the internet boom and now smartphones getting into the hands of just about everyone, the need for web developers has grown exponentially. With so many different specializations out there when it comes to coding, every skilled web developer counts. Hello and welcome to Starita. If you are good at writing long lines of codes and can use that skill to develop websites, the gig economy has a place for you without you needing to work a 9 to 5 shift. Quite simply, anyone who can build and maintain websites is a web developer. As technology has progressed and new innovations have come about, the job has continued to require more and more knowledge to stay relevant amid the competition. That great user experience you got while visiting a website was created by an individual or a team of web designers. Firstly, you need to be aware of markup languages such as HTML to be able to write web pages. Just having the basic know-how of these languages isn't going to serve you if you plan to take it professionally. And so, you need to keep experimenting and creating markups. As a web designer, you need to have the know-how of two key things. Frontend, which involves the end user interface and user experience. And backend, which has all the servers and databases. If you are good with both, you can offer full stack services that is from backend and frontend as an entire package. To be a web developer, you need to be good with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. HTML or Hypertext Markup Language is one of the most frequently used frontend languages. It essentially gives this structure to the website. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets basically makes the website look pretty. Considering only HTML would look pretty basic. JavaScript is especially important to learn today as it would help you add dynamic elements such as graphics and interactive to your web pages. There are other things to learn as well including SQL and PHP which would help you get more gigs as you go along. While you may not need to be an expert in designing, you must learn the basics of design to be able to build a good looking website for others. Since you would be responsible for the UI and UX, it won't be a bad idea to test the different design tools that Adobe has. Once you are confident of your abilities, build a portfolio website for yourself. And since you are now a web designer yourself, you wouldn't need to look too far. Make the website which in itself gives a different experience giving potential clients an idea of what you are capable of. Inside the website, use experimentations you have done earlier to show them different skill sets. There are plenty of websites such as Freelancer and Upward where you can search for gigs and showcase your skills. With each gig you get, make sure to get testimonials from the clients and demonstrate that as a validation of your skills to advance more clients. Apart from the obvious investment in a heavy-duty computer system and internet connectivity, there isn't a lot of investment required for this. A good computer system can cost upwards of Rs. 70,000. Apart from that, you would need to spend a bit on the Adobe tools. The full stack of products will cost about Rs. 3500 a month in case of an annual plan. You might not need all the tools and so you can pick and choose to reduce this expense. A good internet connection will cost you about Rs. 1000 per month. In terms of earning, you can charge per project. As an amateur building a simple website, you can start off by charging upwards of Rs. 2500 per project and increase the charge moving up the ladder as you go along. Web development is a much-wanted and lucrative skill set and so if you manage to master it, there's a lot of money to follow. Hope you like the idea and for more such ideas, log on to www.entrepreneur.com.