32 HTML And CSS Projects For Beginners (With Source Code)

web design assignments for beginners

updated Apr 17, 2024

If you want to feel confident in your front-end web developer skills, the easiest solution is to start building your own HTML and CSS projects from scratch.

As with any other skill, practicing on simple, realistic projects helps you build your skills and confidence step-by-step.

But if you are new to HTML and CSS, you may be wondering:

Where can I find ideas for beginner-level HTML and CSS projects?

Even if you are just starting out with HTML and CSS, there are some fun and easy projects you can create.

Whether you are new to learning web development or have some experience under your belt, this guide is the perfect place to start improving your skills.

In this article, I’ll walk you through 32 fun HTML and CSS coding projects that are easy to follow. We will start with beginner-level projects and then move on to more demanding ones.

If you want to become a professional front-end developer, the projects below will help you expand your portfolio.

When it’s time to apply for your first entry-level job, you can showcase your skills to potential employers with a portfolio packed with real-life project examples.

Let’s get started!

Please note: This post contains affiliate links to products I use and recommend. I may receive a small commission if you purchase through one of my links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

What are HTML and CSS?

HTML and CSS are the most fundamental languages for front-end web development.

Learning them will allow you to:

  • Build stunning websites
  • Start a coding blog
  • Make money freelancing

Let’s take a quick look at both of them next:

What is HTML?

HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the standard markup language for all web pages worldwide.

It’s not a “typical” programming language – like Python or Java – since it doesn’t contain any programming logic. HTML can’t perform data manipulations or calculations, for example.

Instead, HTML allows you to create and format the fundamental structure and content of a web page.

You will use HTML to create:

  • Page layouts (header, body, footer, sidebar)
  • Paragraphs and headings
  • Input fields
  • Checkboxes and radio buttons
  • Embedded media

Thus, HTML only allows you to determine the structure of a web page and place individual content elements within it.

For more details, check out my post on what HTML is and how it works .

You can’t format the look and feel of your web page with HTML, though.

Your HTML web page will look dull and boring. Sort of like this:

The first HTML WWW website ever built

The example above is the first web page every built for the WWW , by the way.

This is how websites used to look in the ’90s. But we’ve come a long way since then – luckily.

To make your HTML content visually appealing and professional-looking, you need another language: CSS. Let’s look at that next.

What is CSS?

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language that allows you to adjust the design and feel of your HTML content.

Thus, you can turn your pure-HTML pages into stunning, modern websites with CSS. And it’s super easy to learn, too!

Here’s how it works:

CSS allows you to target individual HTML elements and apply different styling rules to them.

For example, here’s a CSS rule that targets H2 headings, their font-size property, and sets it to a value of 24px:

You can use CSS to adjust:

  • Backgrounds
  • Fonts and text styling
  • Spacings (paddings, margins)
  • CSS animations
  • Responsiveness (media queries)

If you want to create stunning websites and become a front-end web developer, CSS is one of the first tools you must learn and master.

For more details, check out my post on what CSS is and how it works .

learning to code working on laptop

Why build HTML and CSS projects?

Practicing on realistic, hands-on projects is the best way to learn how to create something useful and meaningful with HTML and CSS.

The more projects you build, the more confident you will feel in your skills.

To build a web page from scratch , you need a basic understanding of how HTML works. You should be comfortable with writing the necessary HTML code to create a page without copying a boilerplate or following a tutorial.

Thus, if you want to become a front-end web developer , building HTML and CSS projects will teach you how to use these two languages in real life.

Therefore, practising your skills with the projects in this article will give you a competitive edge against anyone who’s simply following tutorials and copy-pasting other people’s code.

Finally, building HTML and CSS projects helps you build a professional portfolio of real-world projects.

When it’s time to start applying for your first job, you will have 10 to 20 cool projects to showcase your skills to potential employers. Not bad!

32 HTML and CSS projects: Table of contents

Here’s an overview of the HTML and CSS projects we’ll go through:

Beginner project: CSS radio buttons

Beginner project: css toggle buttons, beginner project: hamburger menu, beginner project: pure css sidebar toggle menu, beginner project: animated css menu, beginner project: custom checkboxes, beginner project: pure css select dropdown, beginner project: modal/popup without javascript, beginner project: animated gradient ghost button, beginner project: css image slider, basic html & css website layout, tribute page, survey page with html forms, sign-up page / log-in page, job application form page, landing page, product landing page, interactive navigation bar, responsive website header, restaurant menu, restaurant website, parallax website, custom 404 error page, personal portfolio website, blog post layout.

  • Photography website

Music store website

Discussion forum website.

  • Event or conference website

Technical documentation website

Online recipe book, website clone.

Share this post with others!

HTML and CSS projects for beginners with source code – Mikke Goes Coding

This quick project is a great example of what you can do with pure CSS to style radio buttons or checkboxes:

See the Pen CSS radio buttons by Angela Velasquez ( @AngelaVelasquez ) on CodePen .

☝️ back to top ☝️

This HTML and CSS project teaches you how to create custom CSS toggle buttons from scratch:

See the Pen Pure CSS Toggle Buttons | ON-OFF Switches by Himalaya Singh ( @himalayasingh ) on CodePen .

Every website needs a menu, right?

This hamburger menu is beautiful and clean, and you can build it with just HTML and CSS:

See the Pen Pure CSS Hamburger fold-out menu by Erik Terwan ( @erikterwan ) on CodePen .

Placing your website navigation inside a sidebar toggle is an easy way to clean up the overall look and feel of your design.

Here’s a modern-looking solution to a pure-CSS sidebar toggle menu:

See the Pen PURE CSS SIDEBAR TOGGLE MENU by Jelena Jovanovic ( @plavookac ) on CodePen .

If you want to build a more dynamic, interactive website navigation, try this animated CSS menu:

See the Pen Animate menu CSS by Joël Lesenne ( @joellesenne ) on CodePen .

Styling your checkboxes to match the overall design is an easy way to elevate the look and feel of your website.

Here’s an easy HTML and CSS practice project to achieve that:

See the Pen Pure CSS custom checkboxes by Glen Cheney ( @Vestride ) on CodePen .

Standard select dropdowns often look dull and boring. Here’s a quick CSS project to learn how to create beautiful select dropdowns easily:

See the Pen Pure CSS Select by Raúl Barrera ( @raubaca ) on CodePen .

Modals and popups often use JavaScript, but here’s a pure HTML and CSS solution to creating dynamic, interactive modals and popups:

See the Pen Pure css popup box by Prakash ( @imprakash ) on CodePen .

Ghost buttons can look great if they fit the overall look and feel of your website.

Here’s an easy project to practice creating stunning, dynamic ghost buttons for your next website project:

See the Pen Animated Gradient Ghost Button Concept by Arsen Zbidniakov ( @ARS ) on CodePen .

This image slider with navigation buttons and dots is a fantastic HTML and CSS project to practice your front-end web development skills:

See the Pen CSS image slider w/ next/prev btns & nav dots by Avi Kohn ( @AMKohn ) on CodePen .

Now, before you start building full-scale web pages with HTML and CSS, you want to set up your basic HTML and CSS website layout first.

The idea is to divide your page into logical HTML sections. That way, you can start filling those sections with the right elements and content faster.

For example, you can break up the body of your page into multiple parts:

  • Header: <header>
  • Navigation: <nav>
  • Content: <article>
  • Sidebar: <aside>
  • Footer: <footer>

HTML web page structure example

Depending on your project, you can fill the article area with a blog post, photos, or other content you need to present.

This layout project will serve as a starting point for all your future HTML and CSS projects, so don’t skip it.

Having a template like this will speed up your next projects, because you won’t have to start from scratch.

Here are two tutorials that will walk you through the steps of creating a basic website layout using HTML and CSS:

  • https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_layout.asp
  • https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_website_layout.asp

Building a tribute page is fantastic HTML and CSS practice for beginners.

What should your tribute page be about?

Anything you like!

Build a tribute page about something you love spending time with.

Here are a few examples:

  • a person you like
  • your favorite food
  • a travel destination
  • your home town

My first HTML-only tribute page was for beetroots. Yes, beetroots. I mean, why not?

Beetroot Base HTML Page

HTML and CSS concepts you will practice:

  • HTML page structure
  • basic HTML elements: headings, paragraphs, lists
  • embedding images with HTML
  • CSS fundamentals: fonts and colors
  • CSS paddings, margins, and borders

Here’s a helpful tutorial for building a HTML and CSS tribute page .

Whether you want to become a full-time web developer or a freelance web designer, you will use HTML forms in almost every project.

Forms allow you to build:

  • Contact forms
  • Login forms
  • Sign up forms
  • Survey forms

Building a survey page allows you to practice HTML input tags, form layouts, radio buttons, checkboxes, and more.

Pick any topic you like and come up with 10 pieces of information you want to collect from respondents.

Perhaps an employee evaluation form? Or a customer satisfaction form?

  • form elements: input fields, dropdowns, radio buttons, labels
  • styling for forms and buttons

Here’s an example survey form project for inspiration:

See the Pen Good Vibes Form by Laurence ( @laurencenairne ) on CodePen .

Let’s practice those HTML forms a bit more, shall we?

For this project, you will build a sign-up or log-in page with the necessary input fields for a username and a password.

Because we can create a user profile on almost every website, forms are absolutely essential for allowing people to set their usernames and passwords.

Your forms will collect inputs from users and a separate back-end program will know how to store and process that data.

Creating a clean and clear sign-up page can be surprisingly difficult. The more you learn about HTML and CSS, the more content you want to create to showcase your skills. But the thing is: a sign-up page needs to be as clean and easy-to-use as possible.

Thus, the biggest challenge with this project is to keep it simple, clear, and light.

Here’s an example project to get started with:

See the Pen Learn HTML Forms by Building a Registration Form by Noel ( @WaterNic10 ) on CodePen .

For more inspiration, check out these 50+ sign-up forms built with HTML and CSS .

Using a HTML form is the best way to collect information from job applicants.

You can also generate and format a job description at the top of the page.

Then, create a simple job application form below to collect at least 10 pieces of information.

Use these HTML elements, for example:

  • Text fields
  • Email fields
  • Radio buttons

Here’s an example job application page you can build with HTML and CSS:

See the Pen Simple Job Application Form Example by Getform ( @getform ) on CodePen .

One of your first HTML and CSS projects should be a simple landing page.

Your landing page can focus on a local business, an event, or a product launch, for example.

Landing pages play an important role for new businesses, marketing campaigns, and product launches. As a front-end developer, you will be asked to create them for clients.

For this project, create a simple HTML file and style it with CSS. Be sure to include a headline, some text about the company or its services, and a call-to-action (CTA) button.

Make sure that your landing page is clean and clear and that it’s easy to read.

If you build a landing page for a new product, highlight the product’s key benefits and features.

To get started, follow this freeCodeCamp tutorial to build a simple landing page . You will need JavaScript for a few features. If you are not familiar with JavaScript, leave those features out for now and come back to them later.

For more inspiration, check out these HTML landing page templates .

Switch landing page template – HTML and CSS projects for beginners

A product landing page is a page that you build to promote a specific product or service.

For example, if you want to sell your ebook about how to use CSS to build an animated website, then you would create a product landing page for it.

Your product landing page can be very simple to start with. When your skills improve, add some complexity depending on what kind of information you need to present.

One of the most iconic product landing pages is the iPhone product page by Apple, for example:

Apple iPhone product landing page example

Of course, the iPhone landing page is technically complex, so you won’t build it as your first project. But still, it’s a good place to find inspiration and new ideas.

The best way to design your first product landing page is to create a simple wireframe first. Sketch your page layout on paper before you start building it.

Wireframes help you maintain a clear overview of your HTML sections and elements.

To get started, browse through these product landing page examples for some inspiration .

Building an interactive navigation bar will teach you how to create an animated menu with dropdowns using HTML and CSS.

This is another great project for beginners, because it will teach you how to create menus using HTML and CSS. You’ll also learn how to style them with different colors, fonts, and effects.

You’ll also learn how to use anchors and pseudo-classes to create the menu navigation, as well as how to create the dropdown menus from scratch.

If you aren’t familiar with CSS media queries yet, building a responsive navigation bar is a smart way to learn and practice them.

CSS media queries allow you to create a responsive navigation menu that changes its size and layout depending on screen width.

To get started, check out this tutorial on how to build an interactive navigation bar with HTML and CSS .

One of the best ways to practice your HTML and CSS skills is to create custom website headers. This is a great project to add to your portfolio website, as it will show off your skills and help you attract new clients.

There are a number of different ways that you can create a stylish and responsive website header. One option is to use a premade CSS framework such as Bootstrap or Foundation. Alternatively, you can create your own custom styles by hand.

No matter which option you choose, be sure to make your header mobile-friendly by using media queries. This will ensure that your header looks great on all devices, regardless of their screen size or resolution.

To get started, check out this simple example for a responsive HTML and CSS header .

If you’re looking to get into web development, one of the best HTML and CSS projects you can build is a simple restaurant menu.

Align the different foods and drinks using a CSS layout grid.

Add prices, images, and other elements you need to give it a professional, clean look and feel.

Choose a suitable color palette, fonts, and stock photos.

You can also add photos or a gallery for individual dishes. If you want to add an image slider, you can create one with HTML and CSS, too.

Here’s an example of a very simple restaurant menu project:

See the Pen Simple CSS restaurant menu by Viszked Tamas Andras ( @ViszkY ) on CodePen .

Once you’ve built your restaurant menu with, it’s time to tackle a more complex HTML and CSS project.

Building a real-life restaurant website is a fun way to practice a ton of HTML and CSS topics.

Not only will you learn the basics of creating a beautiful, professional web page, but you also get a chance to practice responsive web design, too.

And if you’re looking to land your first front-end web developer job, having a well-designed business website in your portfolio will help you stand out from the crowd.

Restaurant website example project with HTML and CSS

Make sure your website matches the restaurant’s menu and target clientele. A fine-dining place on Manhattan will have a different website than a simple (but delicious!) diner in rural Wisconsin.

Here are a few key details to include on your restaurant website:

  • Clear navigation bar
  • Restaurant details
  • Menu for food and drinks
  • Location and directions
  • Contact details
  • Upcoming events

To get started, check out this free tutorial on how to build a restaurant website with HTML and CSS .

To build a parallax website, you will include fixed background images that stay in place when you scroll down the page.

Although the parallax look isn’t as popular or modern as it was a few years back, web designers still use the effect a lot.

The easiest way to build a parallax HTML and CSS project is to start with a fixed background image for the entire page.

After that, you can experiment with parallax effects for individual sections.

Create 3-5 sections for your page, fill them with content, and set a fixed background image for 1-2 sections of your choice.

Word of warning: Don’t overdo it. Parallax effects can be distracting, so only use them as a subtle accent where suitable.

Here’s an example project with HTML and CSS source code:

See the Pen CSS-Only Parallax Effect by Yago Estévez ( @yagoestevez ) on CodePen .

404 error pages are usually boring and generic, right?

But when a visitor can’t find what they’re searching for, you don’t want them to leave your website.

Instead, you should build a custom 404 error page that’s helpful and valuable, and even fun and entertaining.

A great 404 page can make users smile and – more importantly – help them find what they are looking for. Your visitors will appreciate your effort, trust me.

For some inspiration, check out these custom 404 page examples .

Any web developer will tell you that having a strong portfolio is essential to landing your first job.

Your portfolio is a chance to show off your skills and demonstrate your expertise in front-end web development.

And while there are many ways to create a portfolio website, building one from scratch using HTML and CSS will give you tons of valuable practice.

Your first version can be a single-page portfolio. As your skills improve, continue adding new pages, content, and features. Make this your pet project!

Remember to let your personality shine through, too. It will help you stand out from the crowd of other developers who are vying for the same jobs.

Introduce yourself and share a few details about your experience and future plans.

Employers and clients want to see how you can help them solve problems. Thus, present your services and emphasize the solutions you can deliver with your skills.

Add your CV and share a link to your GitHub account to showcase your most relevant work samples.

Make sure to embed a few key projects directly on your portfolio website, too.

Finally, let your visitors know how to get in touch with you easily. If you want, you can add links to your social media accounts, too.

In this project, you’ll create a simple blog post page using HTML and CSS.

You’ll need to design the layout of the page, add a title, a featured image, and of course add some content to your dummy blog post.

You can also add a sidebar with a few helpful links and widgets, like:

  • An author bio with a photo
  • Links to social media profiles
  • List of most recent blog posts
  • List of blog post categories

Once your HTML structure and content are in place, it’s time to style everything with CSS.

Photography website with a gallery

If you’re a photographer or just enjoy taking pictures, then this project is for you.

Build a simple photo gallery website using HTML and CSS to practice your web design skills.

Start with the basic HTML structure of the page, and figure out a cool layout grid for the photos. You will need to embed the photos and style everything beautiful with CSS.

My tip: Use CSS Flexbox and media queries to create a responsive galleries that look great on all devices.

Here’s a full tutorial for building a gallery website with HTML and CSS:

If you love music, why not practice your HTML and CSS skills by building a music store web page?

Before you start, make a thorough plan about your website structure. What’s the purpose of your music store? What genres will you cover?

Pick a suitable color palette, choose your fonts, and any background images you want to use.

My tip: If you feature album cover images, keep your colors and fonts as clean and simple as possible. You don’t want to overpower the album covers with a busy web page with tons of different colors and mismatching fonts.

Create a user-friendly menu and navigation inside the header. Fill the footer with helpful links for your store, career page, contact details, and newsletter form, for example.

Building a music store website with HTML and CSS is a great opportunity to practice your skills while you are still learning.

Start with very basic features, and add new ones as your skills improve. For example, you can add media queries to make your website responsive.

A forum is a great way to create a community around a topic or interest, and it’s also a great way to practice your coding skills.

In this project, you’ll create a simple forum website using HTML and CSS.

You’ll need to design the layout of the site, add categories and forums, and set up some initial content.

Of course, you should start with creating the basic layout and structure with HTML first. You will need a navigation bar, at least one sidebar, and an area for the main content.

To make your discussion forum website more interesting, add new content and remember to interlink related threads to make the site feel more realistic.

Event or conference web page

Creating a web page for an event is a fun HTML and CSS project for beginners.

You can either pick a real event and build a better landing page than the real one, or come up with an imaginary conference, for example.

Make sure to include these elements:

  • Register button
  • Venue details
  • Dates and schedule
  • Speakers and key people
  • Directions (how to get there)
  • Accommodation details

Divide the landing page into sections, and create a header and a footer with menus and quick links.

Come up with a suitable color palette, pick your fonts, and keep your design clean and clear.

Every programming language, software, device and gadget has a technical documentation for helpful information and support.

Creating a technical documentation website with just HTML and CSS allows you to build a multi-page site with hierarchies, links, and breadcrumbs.

The main idea is to create a multi-page website where you have a sidebar menu on the left, and the content on the right.

The left-hand side contains a vertical menu with all the topics your documentation covers.

The right-hand side presents the description and all the details for each individual topic.

For simplicity, start with the homepage and 2–3 subpages first. Come up with a clean layout and make sure your links are working properly.

Then, start expanding the website with additional sub-pages, content, and elements.

  • HTML hyperlinks and buttons

Creating an online recipe book as an HTML and CSS project requires a similar setup than the previous project example.

You will need to create a homepage that serves as a directory for all your recipes. Then, create a separate subpage for each recipe.

If you want to challenge yourself, add recipe categories and create separate directory pages for each of them.

  • embedding recipe photos

One of the best ways to practice HTML and CSS is to clone an existing web page from scratch.

Use your browser’s inspecting tools to get an idea of how the page is built.

As with any HTML and CSS project, start by creating the basic page template with:

Then, divide your page into sections, rows, and columns.

Finally, fill your page with individual elements like headings, paragraphs, and images.

Once the HTML content is in place, use CSS to style your page.

Start with something simple, like the PayPal login page.

Then move on to more demanding cloning projects, such as a news website. Try the BBC homepage, for example.

Where to learn HTML and CSS?

There are no prerequisites required for you to learn HTML and CSS.

Both languages are easy to learn for beginners, and you can start building real-life projects almost right away.

Here are a few courses to check out if you want to learn HTML and CSS online at your own pace:

1: Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3

Build Responsive Real-World Websites with HTML and CSS – Udemy

Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3 was my first online web development course focused 100% on HTML and CSS.

You don’t need any coding or web development experience for this course. But if you have watched some online tutorials but you’re not sure how to create a full-scale website by yourself, you are going to love it.

2: The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0

The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 – Udemy

The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 changed my life back when I started learning web development.

This course takes you from zero to knowing the basics of all fundamental, popular web development tools. You’ll learn:

  • HTML and CSS
  • JavaScript and jQuery
  • and much more

3: Modern HTML & CSS From The Beginning (Including Sass)

Modern HTML & CSS From The Beginning (Including Sass) – Udemy

I’m a big fan of Brad Traversy, and I really can’t recommend his Modern HTML & CSS From The Beginning course enough.

Even if you have never built a website with HTML and CSS before, this course will teach you all the basics you need to know.

4: The Complete 2023 Web Development Bootcamp

The Complete 2023 Web Development Bootcamp – Udemy

One of my most recent favorites, The Complete 2023 Web Development Bootcamp by Dr. Angela Yu is one of the best web development courses for beginners I’ve come across.

If you’re not quite sure what area or language to specialize in, this course is the perfect place to try a handful of tools and programming languages on a budget.

5: Learn HTML (Codecademy)

Learn HTML – Codecademy

Learn HTML is a free beginner-level course that walks you through the fundamentals with interactive online lessons.

Codecademy also offers a plethora of other web development courses. Check out their full course catalog here .

6: Responsive Web Design (freeCodeCamp)

Responsive Web Design Curriculum – freeCodeCamp

The Responsive Web Design certification on FreeCodeCamp is great for learning all the basics of web development from scratch for free.

You start with HTML and CSS to get the hang of front-end web dev fundamentals. Then, you start learning new tools and technologies to add to your toolkit, one by one.

Also, check out these roundups with helpful web development courses:

  • 27 Best Web Development Courses (Free and Paid)
  • 20+ Web Development Books for Beginners
  • 120+ Free Places to Learn to Code (With No Experience)
  • 100+ Web Development Tools and Resources

Final thoughts: HTML and CSS project ideas for beginners

There you go!

When it comes to learning HTML and CSS, practice really makes perfect. I hope you found a few inspirational ideas here to start building your next project right away.

Learning HTML and CSS may seem intimidating at first, but when you break it down into small, less-intimidating projects, it’s really not as hard as you might think.

HTML and CSS are easy to learn. You can use them to create really cool, fun projects – even if you are new to coding.

Try these beginner-level HTML and CSS project ideas to improve your front-end web development skills starting now. Do your best to build them without following tutorials.

Remember to add your projects to your portfolio website, too.

It’s possible to learn how to code on your own, and it’s possible to land your first developer job without any formal education or traditional CS degree.

It all boils down to knowing how to apply your skills by building an awesome portfolio of projects like the ones above.

So, which project will you build first? Let me know in the comments below!

Once you feel comfortable with HTML and CSS, it’s time to start learning and practising JavaScript .

To get started, check out my guide with 20+ fun JavaScript projects ideas for beginners . I’ll see you there!

Share this post with others:

About mikke.

web design assignments for beginners

Hi, I’m Mikke! I’m a blogger, freelance web developer, and online business nerd. Join me here on MikkeGoes.com to learn how to code for free , build a professional portfolio website , launch a tech side hustle , and make money coding . When I’m not blogging, you will find me sipping strong coffee and biking around town in Berlin. Learn how I taught myself tech skills and became a web dev entrepreneur here . And come say hi on Twitter !

Leave a reply:

Download 15 tips for learning how to code:.

GET THE TIPS NOW

Sign up now to get my free guide to teach yourself how to code from scratch. If you are interested in learning tech skills, these tips are perfect for getting started faster.

Learn to code for free - 15 coding tips for beginners – Free ebook

IT Services

8 awesome web design projects for beginners

Ben Brigden - Senior Content Marketing Specialist - Author

As a novice web designer, you’re building your portfolio and looking for ways to attract clients and opportunities. You need web design project ideas that will help you (and other novice web designers) get the practical knowledge you need to make responsive and user-friendly websites and web applications.

Developing project ideas should not only help you become a better web designer, but they should also help you become a better programmer. After all, your work is more than website design — you’re also helping brands create apps and online tools that improve the customer experience. 

This article explains the prerequisites for completing web design projects, how to get them, and eight website project ideas that will help you improve your skills and build your portfolio.

(Looking for resources to simplify your project planning process? Look no further — learn how Teamwork.com has you covered .)

8 web design projects for beginners

Create a landing page using HTML and CSS

Design a useful, interactive blog

Build a login authenticator

Utilize HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and UX design to create a to-do list

Create an Amazon homepage lookalike

Make a business portfolio website

Create a functional calculator

Launch an internet meme generator project

These web design projects will help you better grasp previously mentioned programming languages. They will also help you master the skills you need to be a great web designer. As you grow, you’ll be able to manage projects better and improve client communication , just like the web development agency, DotSee. Learn more in the case study .

1) Create a landing page using HTML and CSS

Blog post image

Landing pages help businesses hit their website conversion targets. That’s why there’s a great demand for landing page designs, thus making it important for you to develop your skills in landing page design and optimization. 

Many landing page builders exist. But learning how to build a landing page from scratch using HTML and CSS will make it easier for you to customize whatever landing page builder or website hosting platform your clients use. 

There are several landing page project tutorials online that you can use as guides. Here’s one from The Free Code Camp that breaks down the process step-by-step. You can also get inspiration to create your own landing page design project from Behance. Use different designs to practice so that your landing page design skills are well-rounded. 

2) Design a useful, interactive blog

Blog posts are content marketing teams' second most successful content formats. And while improving the quality of content is a top priority, there is also a need for user-friendly blog pages that make helpful blog content accessible to readers. 

That’s why you should work on your blog design skills. Here are some inspiring blog designs to help you improve your design skills. Your blog web design project should focus on creating a blog page where new blog posts can be added and edited. Users should also be able to view other blog posts published on the platform. 

3) Build a login authenticator

There are five main types of login authentication processes:

Password authentication: This is the most common form of authentication you’ll see on a login page. 

Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Two or more independent methods must be used to authenticate a user. Codes generated by an authentication app and Captcha tests are the most popular forms of MFA.

Certificate-based authentication: Digital certificates are used to authenticate users. When presented at sign-in, the server uses cryptography to confirm the user has the correct private key for the digital certificate.

Biometric authentication: Unique biological characteristics of an individual are used for login.

The easiest way to build a login authenticator is to use identity and user management API services, such as Okta. 

Data privacy is a key consideration when building login authenticators. That’s why you should use these web design projects to learn how to keep user data secure while designing the best possible user login journey. 

4) Utilize HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and UX design to create a to-do list

A to-do list app will help you learn four fundamental aspects of the user experience — creating, reading items on the screen, editing, and deleting — and will help you improve your web development skills. 

Dribbble has some great to-do list app sample designs you can draw inspiration from. But remember that the app doesn’t only need to look good; it also needs to function effectively. Here are some tips that can help you create a functional to-do list app users will enjoy:

Make tasks the pathways to accomplishing goals.

Allow users to easily mark tasks as complete, leave comments, and add task fields.

Use simple keyword phrases.

Include subtasks and/or checklists. 

This video by Tyler Potts acts as a good guide for understanding the basics of using programming languages and your UX skills to create a to-do list. 

5) Create an Amazon homepage lookalike

Creating an Amazon homepage lookalike will help you master designing some of the most sought-after elements of an e-commerce website — one-click ordering, personalized recommendations, and advanced search filters. It’s a project that gives you room to learn how to build an e-commerce website from scratch. 

HTML and CSS are crucial for this web design project. Extensive coding must be done on the front and back ends, so prepare to spend hours (maybe even days) putting everything together. The beauty of the process is that you will learn a marketable skill that will help you regularly attract new clients.

AccioJob has a step-by-step tutorial for beginners that will help you use HTML and CSS to make an Amazon lookalike page.

6) Make a business portfolio website

Start by creating a business portfolio website for your web design business. Experiencing the process as a business owner will help you understand what some of your clients go through and why they need you. 

Here’s a four-step process that can help you build a portfolio website from scratch:

Purchase a domain name and then look into domain privacy protection as well.

Use GitHub Pages to build the website from scratch using HTML and CSS. Alternatively, you can use Heroku if you need to host the site with a back-end server and use PHP. Knowing how to do both will help you master full-stack developer skills. You can also use a website builder, such as WordPress, as your base and then add coding to personalize it to suit your needs. Or you can even try an AI-powered website builder , to fast track your process.

Deploy your website using the code you’ve created. 

Ensure the portfolio design matches what you want your brand to portray.

7) Create a functional calculator

Web calculators can be designed to do anything from basic math to pricing calculations and financial projections. Creating a web calculator will help you get more experience coding mathematical algorithms without compromising design and UX. 

There are 46 web calculator design examples on Dribbble that you can use for inspiration. There are calculators for mortgage calculations, basic mathematical calculations, weight-loss journey calculations, and many other types of calculations. These examples show that you can create functional calculators to match your brand's value proposition. 

Here’s an example of one such calculator created by Milan Opsenica.

Blog post image

Although Cruncher is a fictional company, it’s clear that Milan designed this tool based on his vision of the tool being helpful to people who are monitoring their diets. This calculator helps users of this fictional Cruncher app calculate their ideal macronutrient ratio based on their genders, weight goals, age, height, current weight, and activity level. 

8) Launch an internet meme generator project

A meme generator project will help you practice your HTML, CSS, and Java skills. You’re designing an app that allows people to upload images, insert text on the image, and export the completed file. These three steps form the basis of many apps and web programs, thus making it crucial for you to learn them. 

There are many tutorials available that can help with your internet meme generator project. Some popular options are:

Code With Ahsan

Bonus: Programming languages tips for beginner web designers

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the building block of all websites. It’s the first thing search engines will look at when visiting a website, thus making it important for you to know how to use HTML to build a website’s structure. HTML is what makes a website visible to end users. 

Tips for gaining proficiency in HTML

Complete a course that includes practical ways to learn HTML, as well as other relevant programming languages. The Web Developer Bootcamp 2022 is a course you could consider. It has over 830,000 students and a 4.7-star rating across over 240,000 reviews. 

Attend an HTML Bootcamp. Berkely offers a coding Bootcamp each year where you can learn the basics of HTML and get practical experience. 

Get HTML certification. A good certification to pursue is CanCanIt’s HTML5 certification . It proves you have basic knowledge of HTMLfunctions, structure, tagging processes, and media integration. 

Cascading Styling Sheets (CSS) is a programming language that focuses on the style and design of a webpage. It works alongside HTML to add colors, backgrounds, layouts, font sizes, and other design elements to websites.

Tips for gaining proficiency in CSS

Play an online CSS game. Each game helps players master a different aspect of CSS. You can check out a fun list of CSS games in this article . 

Access free beginner courses on YouTube. The Free Code Camp has a video that’s a little over five hours long that you can check out. It covers how to build and deploy your first website and various web design projects that will help you apply what you’ve learned. 

Get a Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certification in HTML and CSS. 

Java is a popular programming language used to develop website content, games, apps, and software. It’s mainly used in front-end development and is platform independent. 

Tips for gaining proficiency in Java

Watch YouTube videos from well-respected brands. You can check out two great tutorials from Programming With Mosh and Free Code Camp .

Complete the MTA Javascript certification . 

Attend a JavaScript BootCamp. Since JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages, there are several Bootcamps to choose from. Here’s a list of 301 of the best JavaScript Bootcamps . 

User interface/experience design (UI/UX design)

UI design relates to all the visual elements you interact with when using a website, app, or electronic device. UX includes UI design but takes a more holistic approach by looking at a customer’s entire experience with a digital product. UI and UX design focus on how customers experience and feel about a digital product or website. 

Tips for gaining proficiency in UI/UX design

Use interactive courses that allow you to test and measure your design skills. Uxcel has a great UX design course.

Become familiar with the most popular UI design tools. You can check out nine of the best tools here .

Learn from leading UX experts on social media, such as Kim Goodwin, Dan Saffer, and Lizzie Dyson.

Learn how to create responsive designs that adapt to a user’s screen size, platform, and screen orientation (horizontal or vertical). 

Visual design

Have you ever seen a dull, uninteresting website and immediately bounced? You aren’t alone. Research from Adobe finds that “when pressed for time, 59% of global consumers crave beautiful design over simplicity.” Beautiful web designs are created using UI and visual design techniques (such as color psychology , spacing typography , and type hierarchy ) to enhance the look and feel of a website. 

Tips for gaining proficiency in visual design

Understand Gestalt Psychology and how it applies to design . Look for ways to apply these principles to your web design and web development projects. 

Learn more about emotional marketing so you can be more aware of the emotions you’re appealing to with your designs. 

Try recreating an existing design. Replicate a website or web application you admire using your preferred design tools. 

Create your own design challenge by creating a design prompt for a fictional company. For example, you could create a web app for a magazine geared towards minorities.

Organize your web design projects with Teamwork.com

Managing multiple web design projects can become time-consuming and overwhelming. You could use a spreadsheet and multiple Google Doc files to keep track of everything. Or you could use a project management tool built with web developers in mind. 

Teamwork.com is here to help you organize and manage your projects as you grow. Sign up for an account today and find out how we can help you succeed!

Ben Brigden - Senior Content Marketing Specialist - Author

Ben is a Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Teamwork.com. Having held content roles at agencies and SaaS companies for the past 8 years, Ben loves writing about the latest tech trends and work hacks in the agency space.

web design assignments for beginners

8 types of IT projects and their business impact

web design assignments for beginners

8 new IT challenges businesses face in 2024

web design assignments for beginners

How to build a scalable IT budget

web design assignments for beginners

The definitive guide to website project management

web design assignments for beginners

The ultimate guide to creating a web design workflow

web design assignments for beginners

How IT project managers succeed with project management software

WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

How to design a website (step-by-step guide)

  • Jenna Romano
  • 25 min read

Get started by: Creating a website →  | Getting a domain →

how to design a website

As technology advances, it enables us to achieve more and more tasks without even realizing how complex they are. Website design by yourself is one of these.

Thanks to the evolution of website builders , you can design a website and craft an impressive online presence of your own. Using professional web design features, you can generate revenue, nurture a community of fans, and promote your brand online.

So, what is web design (and what are the web design best practices ) and how do you get started? We’ve got the knowledge you need to put you on the right track. From choosing your website builder and domain name, to understanding how to design each element of your site from your design concept , this complete guide will walk you through designing and how to make a website .

How to design a website

Set your goal

Choose a website builder

Define your layout

Claim your domain name

Gather your content

Add the right pages

Design your website elements

Pick the professional tools you need

Make it accessible to everyone

Optimize for mobile

Strengthen your SEO

Engage with visitors

Ask for feedback

Publish and update

01. Set your goal

Before you design a website, be crystal-clear about what you want to achieve. With so many types of websites out there, you should start by deciding which kind will help you meet your goals and meet your target audience and market where they are:

An online store or eCommerce website to sell your products

An online portfolio to showcase your art

A business website to manage and grow your business

A resume website to grab the attention of potential employers

A blog to share your knowledge with the world

An event website for weddings, parties and company events

A photography website to display and sell prints

A fitness website to book new clients

A restaurant website to help with online orders, delivery and payment

Once you decide which type you need, it’s time to start the exciting part - designing your site. As you set off on this journey, keep your overarching purpose in mind and think about how the design will help achieve your objectives.

As you move forward with designing a website, you’ll find that your choice of elements to include will vary depending on what you want to accomplish. For example, if you want to sell your photos online, try displaying your work in a portfolio format and including an online store where you can sell prints. Or, if you’re creating a website with the goal of landing a job, a simple and professional resume website sans embellishment might suit your needs perfectly.

If you need help envisioning a design that meets your goal, browse through these Wix website examples for inspiration.

Starting a design business? Use this design name generator to name it.

02. Choose your website builder

Now that you’ve identified your goal, your next step is to choose the right website builder to accomplish it. A website builder (also known as a CMS) is a platform on which you can design, personalize and publish a website without any knowledge of coding.

There are dozens of platforms available on the market. Not sure which one to use? Wix.com is an HTML website builder that was ranked # 1 out of the best website builders in the world, and for good reason. Here are a few Wix advantages:

Diverse pricing models : Creating, publishing and hosting your website is totally free , for as long as you wish. If you want to upgrade your online presence with some tailored features, Premium packages are also available. They include everything you need to succeed online, from professional templates and web design features, to a custom domain name .

website builder to design a website

Design customization: Whether you’re a seasoned web designer or are still learning how to design a website, you’ll find that Wix offers different creative routes for everyone. One option is the Wix Editor, whose drag-and-drop technology and WYSIWYG software gives you complete design freedom. Each element of your website’s design can be customized for the look you want, while plenty of tools and built-in features will heighten its professional presence. You don't need to know or understand markup languages ( HTML , CSS , Javascript ) to build a Wix website. Beginners might also enjoy using Wix’s AI website builder , a first-of-its-kind chat-based experience that taps into Wix's ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to help you design a website in record time. Simply chat with AI about the vision for your site, and you’ll get a complete website that you can customize as you wish. At the same time, experienced creators can look into Velo by Wix , which lets you dive into your site’s engine and interface to build sophisticated apps, APIs and databases . You get to own your website development. This way, you’re sure to have a one-of-kind result that suits your brand perfectly, and looks like no other website in the world. Also look at Wix Studio , an advanced web creation platform build for agencies, who need more from their web creation platform.

Professional solutions: Because your website is the hub of your online life, Wix puts all of the professional solutions you need in one place. Tools like email marketing, invoices, bookings, social media accounts and more can be integrated into your website’s design for the best experience of managing your site and business. On top of this, you’ll also be able to optimize your site with Wix SEO to increase your chances of getting found on Google.

As a creator or entrepreneur, you're often wearing multiple hats. You're designing the website, you're optimizing for SEO. This means you need a website builder that makes it easy and very learnable for you to do all of those things, on the same platform and still deliver as if working with experts in those fields. Esin D. Habif, Product Marketing Lead Outbound at Wix.com

Unique design features: Wix’s design features are completely customizable, which means you can design your website exactly the way you want. From a suite of imagery and backgrounds to innovative features like transparent videos and scrolling effects, you’ll have plenty of options to start with, and you can always upload files of your own.

Customer service: You’re not alone in your journey of learning how to design a website. If you need assistance, you’ll always have someone to talk to thanks to Wix’s 24/7 support team and social media pages. If you want to read up on web design tips , find web design tutorials , and get inspiration, you’ll find plenty of helpful material available online, too. To grow your knowledge in web design, online marketing, SEO and more— take a look at the Wix Blog (sincerely yours) and Help Center .

Ready to design a website with the Wix Editor? Here’s how to get started:

Go to Wix.com from your desktop or mobile.

Enter your email address, pick a password—and voilà. You now have your account, from which you can create as many websites as you wish.

Explore the vast collection of website templates, pick the one that’s most relevant for your needs, and start customizing it with the tools and features of your choice. If you’d rather build your website from scratch, you can start with a blank canvas and take it from there.

Learn the ins and outs of building a website with the Wix Editor with this online course.

03. Define your layout

Once you’re logged into your platform of choice, it’s time to conceptualize your website layout. If you want to start from scratch, you may want to map out your website’s design on paper before you start to use the drag and drop website builder . However, another option is to use a template, which is a pre-designed layout created by a professional designer.

Wix offers an extensive library of free website templates . You’ll find designs for every kind of website, whether you’re looking to create a business website, a blog or a personal website.Start by browsing through the hundreds of options until you find a layout that you love. Then, you can make it your own by fully customizing all its elements and removing, adding or changing details like text, images and color.

Of these designs, you can pick between a multi-page template and a single-page one. If your website includes a hefty amount of content, you’ll probably opt for a multi-page site. However, with less content to display, you may want to look into one page website templates . This trendy option is a popular choice for landing pages, event websites and other short-form content sites.

Pro tip: There’s no better way to get your web design juices flowing than by seeking creative inspiration. A good way to start is to look at website examples that got it right. Grab a pen and paper, and jot down ideas you like as you browse through some of the best website designs. There are plenty of social media platforms dedicated to design inspiration, such as Pinterest and Dribbble , so make sure to check those out too. You can also expand your design knowledge by exploring concepts such as the golden ratio and how it applies to effective website design, specifically the layout.

The most important thing before building a website is good research. Know what you want to do and collect good inspirations that will contribute to your design. Anna Suntsov, Blog and Social Design Team Lead at Wix.com

04. Claim your domain name

To put it in simple terms, your domain name is your address on the internet. It’s what your visitors will see in the bar of their browser, right after the “www.”

Registering your domain name is critical for online success. Websites with a customized domain are automatically perceived by internet users as more professional and trustworthy.

When chosen wisely, a domain name also helps search engines (like Google and Bing) understand what your website is about. This is important because it helps bring in more traffic to your website.

Now, how do you choose a domain name for your brand? To make it memorable, keep it:

Short: The longer it is, the higher the chances of visitors misspelling it.

Simple: Avoid symbols, special characters and numbers.

Professional: Your domain name should incorporate your own name or your business name, to avoid confusion.

Evocative: Hint about what you do into your domain name by incorporating words that are related to your business.

You can find out if your dream domain name is available by using this domain registration tool . If your top choice is still up for grabs, don’t hesitate to acquire your piece of virtual property. If it’s not, don’t panic. Try out different variations of your original choice by playing around with the word order, or adding “the” at the start.

Pro tip : Picking a domain name also means using the right domain extension. From .org to .com and .net , you can choose from 45 top-level domain extensions. It’s best practice to use one that suits your business type and geographic location.

Choosing a domain also means selecting the right web hosting provider . With Wix, reliable and secure web hosting is standard with every site designed.

05. Gather your content

Now that you’ve set the foundations for your digital design , it’s time to get practical and prepare the content that will be featured on your website. This includes all of your web content - images, text, logo, videos, and more.

Use your own material as much as possible to ensure you’re offering unique and branded content. If you’re not using original content, just make sure to acquire your resources legally. Wix comes with a wide selection of media features, including a library of over one million free photos from our partners at Unsplash, Vector illustrations , and interactive videos that are exclusive to Wix. There’s also endless stock photo and image reservoirs you can check out.

While having plenty of material on your website is great, remember to always put quality over quantity. In an era of decreasing attention spans, the best way to catch your visitors’ attention is to showcase only your best content.

Finally, make sure your content is fully branded. Think of your website as an online persona - everything from the written content to the colors and fonts you use should reflect who you are or what your brand identity is.

Pro tip: New to the marketing game, or feel like you could sharpen up your brand language? From creating a logo to defining your tone of voice, this guide explains everything you need to know about building a solid brand identity.

06. Add the right pages

Every business is unique, and so is every website. Nevertheless, there are some traditional sections that your site visitors will expect to see. If you’re going for a multi-page website design, here are some must-have web pages:

Homepage : You have one chance to make a good first impression, and your homepage is it. Since it’s likely to be the first thing visitors will see, aim for a homepage that’s clean, organized and eye-catching. It should clarify who you are and what you do, and serve as a starting point for visitors to navigate through your site.

Make sure it contains the most crucial information: your logo, the name of your business, and a navigation menu inviting visitors to browse further. Once you’ve got these basics down, consider what sort of website background, imagery, written content, and calls-to-action you can add here to engage with visitors.

screenshot of website homepage with large text and photo background

About Us page: Tell your story, and share your values, methods and any other information that defines your brand with an About Us page. Welcome new visitors by using the first person (“I” or “We”), since it adds a friendly touch of friendliness and warmth. Also, don’t forget to include a picture of yourself or your team members, since clients always like to see the face behind a business.

Contact page: When visitors want to reach out, they should be able to get hold of you easily. That’s where a contact page comes in. Make sure to include your phone number, postal address, business email address and social media accounts. You can also consider adding a live chat widget that gives visitors the chance to reach out and get an immediate response, or a contact form where they can write their message directly through your site.

screenshot of a website contact form

Extras (but highly recommended):

Your product or service page : The product page (or service page, depending on your industry) is where your visitors discover what you have to offer, and if they’re convinced, take out their credit card and make a purchase.

When you design a website with a product or service page in mind, here are some key recommendations: Add high quality product photography, write precise and engaging product or service descriptions, and be transparent about your conditions (such as shipping, return, or cancelation policies).

A blog: Starting a blog with a blog creator boosts your reputation as an expert, helps you foster a loyal community, and is an effective way to drive traffic to your website.

If you’re not a natural-born writer, don’t fret - you have much more to say than you think. You can write about your clients (success stories, case studies, interviews) or yourself (events you attend, new employees, and more). But the most valuable blog ideas will come from your own expertise. Your readers will love to discover the tips, methods and hacks you use to solve the problems you meet, and will definitely appreciate the added value.

Testimonials: An honest testimonials page is a wonderfully effective addition to your website design. Studies show that 77% of satisfied customers will recommend your business or service to a friend after having a positive experience. If the purpose of your website is to bring in new customers, leverage the power of word-of-mouth and let your satisfied clients do the selling for you. You can also consider using social proof examples as part of this page as well. This can help lend credibility to both your site and business.

Splash page: A splash page acts as a preview to your site, greeting visitors before they reach your homepage. This is a great way to engage with visitors using high quality visuals or interesting text, or to promote a special offer or event.

FAQ page: An FAQ page is a dedicated page on your website that provides visitors with quick and simple answers to common questions in an organized and structured manner. It can save time by providing automated answers and provide a great experience for users.

Privacy page: This may be necessary for legal compliance, so be sure to check in your own country. A privacy policy helps you establish yourself as a transparent brand, whom customers can trust. Also often using third-party services, such as web analytics platforms, or monetizing your website through ads, can mean you need a privacy policy page to work with these partners.

07. Design your website elements

You’ve got your content ready, claimed your domain name and set up your website’s pages. It’s officially time to design the elements of your website.

In this section, we’ll talk about all the details that will bring your website together and how to arrange them to form one cohesive design - whether that's inspired by minimalist, modernism, brutalism or something else completely. Ultimately, these decisions should be guided by your brand identity - the distinct appearance and voice you use to communicate your message to audiences. On top of this, keep usability in mind: your website should always facilitate easy navigation and strive to give visitors an engaging user experience.

Here are some elements to work on when learning how to design a website:

Website architecture : In order to provide the best website navigation experience for visitors, your pages need to be properly connected to one another. Make sure visitors can easily find the pages they need by adding a navigation menu and implementing internal links. Ultimately, follow the “two-click rule.” Your visitors shouldn’t have to click more than once to access any page of your site, wherever they are.

When it comes to making a website it's worth considering building a plan for all your website pages from the start of the process. This means creating a clear website plan that includes your planned and potential future pages. This allows you to then build a url structure for your site that is clean and consistent. This in turn can also mean you avoid having to make fixes to your url structure later, with redirects and manually having to update our change your internal linking. Nitsan Eiges, Team Lead Technical SEO at Wix.com

Menu: This central element of your design will display the different items featured on your website, ensuring that visitors can easily find and navigate from one page to another. Website menus range from the standard horizontal header menu, to the condensed hamburger menu. Whichever style you choose, it’s recommended to make it accessible on every page of your site, and to keep the number of items to a minimum to avoid clustering the screen.

Colors: Color psychology proves that different hues have different impacts on human behavior, which is what makes it such an important aspect of website design. The colors you choose may involve different emotions in your users and can impact your site's bounce rate . When choosing your website color scheme, a general rule is to limit yourself to three shades: one primary color (60% of the mix), one secondary color (30%), and one accent color (10%). Of course, if you’ve already solidified brand colors for yourself or your business, these should be included. Don't forget to think about your color palette and your use of the concepts of web colors and color space .

Fonts: When you choose fonts for your website, pick typefaces that are legible (both on desktop and mobile) and consistent with your brand identity. While the world of web typography is vast, opt for a maximum of three fonts in order to avoid visual chaos and to ensure readability.

Header and footer: Your website’s header and footer are found at the very top and bottom of your website, respectively. Both of these elements can be used in your website’s design to enhance usability and engagement. Both your header and footer contribute to the visual hierarchy of your site, which is important for users and search engines to understand what your site is about and who it's for. A website header is a great place to include features that you want visitors to discover immediately, such as your own logo or navigation menu. While a website footer won’t be seen right away, it can still be used to help your visitors in a number of ways. For example, it’s a great place for you to add your contact information, social media buttons, or an email sign up form.

Motion: This refers to all of the non-static, multimedia elements of your website, which can be very handy when you’re trying to catch the eye of visitors. Motion can come in many shapes, sizes and locations across your website design: implementing hover effects to encourage interaction, using VideoBox to add stunning effects or even uploading a full video background. While animations will definitely spruce up your site, use them in moderation. This guide explains all the dos and don’ts of adding animation to your website design.

Scroll effects: As the name suggests, scroll effects appear when the visitors scroll up or down your site. Their sophistication has the potential to draw attention, but most importantly, they help create a smooth transition between the different layers of a website page. One such effect is parallax scrolling. This professional 3D effect can add a sense of depth to your page, resulting in a lively browsing experience. This, along with other scroll effects (such as reveal or zoom-in), can be achieved using the Wix Editor.

Favicon: A favicon is a small icon that will be used in a website browser to “represent” your website. Take a second to look up at this tab in your browser, and you’ll see a tiny Wix logo in the left-hand corner—that’s a favicon. Despite its small size, a favicon is a great tool for helping users locate your website in those moments when one too many tabs are open. It will also contribute to your website’s branding by presenting your logo in an extra location, and its sharp appearance adds a measure of professionalism to your website design.

Responsive design: Responsive design enables your visitors to have a seamless browsing experience, regardless of whether they are using a desktop computer, tablet or mobile device. With Wix Columns , your website automatically adjusts and stacks content vertically based on the screen size or device being used to view it. This ensures that your website maintains its functionality and visual appeal across various platforms.

Whitespace: This is the area of your website that doesn’t include anything. Frightened by all this empty space? Don’t be. First of all, despite the name white space doesn't mean the absence of color, but rather negative space. Also, white space gives your visitors room to “breathe” between images or pieces of content, contributing to a much better user experience. It also supports Hick's law , that the more choices people are given, the harder it can be for them to make a decision. You want to avoid this on your site where the goal is to get users to interact and move around it.

Pro tip: What would artists like Leonardo da Vinci have to say about how to design a website? A lot, we imagine. Some of the same rules that governed art and design for centuries are also applicable to the internet. From balance to symmetry, discover how the principles of design can be applied to websites. Don't forget you can also test how your website looks with a mockup or website wireframe , that will help show you your design and structure before you press publish.

Ready to put your website design skills to action? Start designing your site now.

08. Pick the professional tools you need

The internet is becoming one of the most important marketplaces in the world. It’s estimated that in 2022, over 2.14 billion people worldwide will purchase goods and services online. For the creative and professionally minded alike, adding some of the following tools to your website can help facilitate efficient and secure transactions. It can also help ensure the scalability of your business through your website.

To further help you design your site, Wix encompasses several bespoke solutions to help businesses across all sizes and industries interact with clients. Incorporating these features will elevate your website so that it not only looks good, but operates seamlessly and functions how you need it to:

Scheduling software: If you run a service business, your website needs to be able to receive online reservations and payments, 24/7. Wix’s scheduling software does just that. It includes the most sophisticated options on the market, from letting clients book appointments online to the ability to manage your staff’s calendars.

screenshot of bookings page on website

Online store: Want to sell your goods online and generate a continuous stream of revenue? An online store is the way to go. From tracking your orders to using Wix Payments to get paid easily, you’ll be able to manage everything from one dedicated place.

Social posts: Raise brand awareness and drive traffic to your site by creating eye-catching social media graphics and sharing your posts directly to Facebook and Instagram.

Music: Wix Music is a cutting-edge platform for musicians who want to expand their audience while maintaining total creative freedom. It enables you to sell your music directly on your website and keep 100% of the profits. Simultaneously, it distributes your tunes to over 120 digital stores.

Video Maker: Did you know videos can boost organic search traffic to your website by 157% ? With the Wix Video Maker , you can enhance your website design with customized videos in order to engage with your audience and improve traffic. These can be used to promote your products or services, share exciting updates and more.

Owner app: The Wix Owner app conveniently allows you to run your site from anywhere, whether this means live chatting with visitors, or designing your website on-the-go. You’ll even have a mobile space where your regular followers and clients can join.

Expert tip: The Wix App Market includes a large selection of apps to boost your website’s business potential. From chat to payment, pop-ups and advertising on Google, there’s a tool for every aspect of your business.

09. Make it accessible to everyone

These days, a truly great website design should be accessible to everyone. Web accessibility ensures that all people, regardless of their abilities, can comfortably experience and interact with your website. This includes people with vision impairment, temporary injuries, hearing loss and more. With over one billion people living with some form of disability, catering to everyone’s needs is crucial. It also shows that you and your business value inclusivity and diversity.

There are a number of ways to improve user experience on your website for everyone. Make sure to build your website layout hierarchically, using clear headers to define the different levels of information. In addition, ensure that your site is fully operable with a keypad, write alt text for your images, use heading tags and more.

"An accessible website benefits not only people with disabilities, but all people. Websites with good contrast for example are not only more welcoming and usable for people with low vision ,but also Improves the experience of a user using the smartphone while walking outside on a sunny day." Nir Horesh, Head of Wix SEO & Accessibility

10. Optimize for mobile

Smaller screens do not equal smaller impact. With an increase in smartphone and tablet usage, it’s crucial that you ensure a seamless browsing experience across all devices by optimizing your mobile website design.

When creating a site with Wix, a mobile version of your site is automatically generated with the Mobile Editor. This means that you won’t have to worry about building a new structure from scratch. However, it’s still up to you to make sure you’re optimizing your content to fit this smaller piece of real estate.

Firstly, on your mobile website design, try to keep only the most important elements on the page, removing whatever isn’t absolutely necessary. Secondly, optimize the space above the fold by placing the most vital bits of information there, such as your menu or name. This is what your visitors will see first on a mobile browser, so keep it engaging and informative.

11. Strengthen your SEO

After you design a website, nothing is more satisfying than watching the number of visitors grow. One way to increase traffic to your website is to build a website design with SEO best practices. SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing your website’s content so that it ranks well in search results.

SEO requires time, patience and persistence in order to get results, but you can start setting up your SEO as you design your website. Here are some SEO tips that you can apply to your content to improve your chances of ranking in the top results:

Conduct keyword research : Keyword research will help you find the keywords that are most relevant for your site. Once you have them, pick one main keyword, and a couple of secondary ones - but no more than that. Place your keywords in strategic locations across your site (SEO title and description, homepage, etc.), but don’t overdo it. Search engines penalize websites that “stuff” keywords unnaturally into their content.

Include on-page SEO: This is about telling search engines what your pages include. On each page, your website builder will ask you to fill in the meta-data. This includes the URL, the SEO title (the blue link you see on Google’s results page) and the description. Although visitors may not notice these elements, they’re important when it comes to ranking.

Add alt text: Alt text refers to the descriptions that you give to your pictures. These won’t be visible to your visitors, but they give a strong indication to Google as to what the media is about. Google may have a lot of knowledge, but it can’t “see” photos or GIFs (yet!). Alt text will help your visual content appear in Google results pages. Plus, writing SEO friendly alt text for your images is also an important practice in improving your website’s accessibility.

Boost internal linking: This will ultimately make it easier for Google’s bots to navigate through and recognize your website. Adding links throughout your website design will also encourage visitors to discover more pages.

Create a sitemap: This will make it easier for Google and other search engines to crawl your site and understand what it's about. This can be done automatically with a Wix premium plan.

Pro tip: You can regularly track the growth of your web traffic and performance of your site by utilizing Wix’s marketing integrations and connecting your website to tracking tools, like Google Analytics or Google Search Console .

12. Engage with visitors

These days, visitors expect to engage with you on your site and beyond. Including some of the following features when you design a website will keep your audience connected and informed. Connecting with your followers across multiple channels is a powerful way to build relationships with them - and will ultimately bring more eyes to your site.

Live chat: Adding a live chat widget to your site makes a big difference in your visitors’ ability to interact with you. Whether it’s to provide fast customer support or to help undecided visitors make their way to the cart, this small window at the bottom of your users’ screen is a friendly addition.

screenshot of website product page with chat box open

Social media: Similar to your website, your social media channels are an important aspect of your online presence. As you design your website, add links to your social accounts to build your social following and provide another outlet for visitors to connect with you. These should be located somewhere visible, such as under the menu, on the right or left side of your page, or in the footer.

Newsletter: Email marketing is a great way to maintain a connection with your audience. You can use email newsletters to update visitors about the latest sales on your online store, promote new blog articles, or celebrate your achievements with subscribers. Invite visitors to subscribe to your newsletter by placing a lightbox on your website.

Forms: One powerful way to build long-lasting relationships with your customers is to ask for their feedback. Creating an online form for your website makes sure that visitors have a safe place to share their thoughts about your products, services, website or customer support.

13. Ask for feedback

At this point, you may know how to design a website successfully, but there’s still room for growth. Being impartial is especially difficult when it comes to your own creation, which is why designing a website involves asking for honest feedback from individuals you trust.

Be receptive to their critique, and remember that you may not always like what you hear. To ensure a flawless final result, ask a friend or colleague to double check the following elements:

Is the text correct? Spelling mistakes can ruin the professional reputation that you’ve worked so hard to build.

Are the pages easy to navigate? If it takes too long to find a strategic page of your site, it means that you may need to rethink your site architecture or improve the visibility of your menu.

Is your web design optimized for mobile? Over 50% of internet users browse websites using a mobile device. You certainly don’t want to leave half of the world’s population frustrated.

Are all the links working? Click on every link to make sure none of them return a 404 page (this indicates that the page doesn’t exist anymore). Check to make sure your call-to-actions (CTA's) are working with the correct links too.

Are the SEO elements filled out correctly? From alt text to title tags, there are some items to verify so you can rank higher and grow your search engine visibility.

14. Publish and update

Having a website is a necessity. But having a website that is up-to-date is what really makes the difference. A site that looks like it’s been lying dormant for too long is uninviting and unreliable. Make sure to be alert, stay in-the-know, and update or redesign your website's content as often as you can.

As you learn how to design a website that constantly grows and evolves, you’ll need to know how to update your site. There’s always room for improvement, and you want to make sure that you keep your website design fresh.

Stay savvy by keeping up with web design trends and UX design trends —use that knowledge to update your site’s design overtime. Don’t forget to keep your content up-to-date, too. Make sure it’s always relevant and proves to visitors that you’re on top of the latest developments in your industry.

What you need to design a website

To design a website, you will need the following:

A domain name: This is the address of your website on the internet, such as example.com. You can register a domain name through a domain registrar.

Web hosting: This is the service that stores your website's files and makes them accessible to visitors. You can purchase web hosting from a web hosting provider.

A website builder or content management system (CMS): This is a software tool that helps you to create and manage your website's content. Using Wix as a CMS for web design offers you a wide range of templates, ease of use and affordability.

Design assets: This includes images, videos and fonts that you will use to design your website. You can find design assets for free or purchase them from stock photo websites and other online resources.

What to keep in mind when you design a website

While you are designing your website, there are essential factors to keep in mind:

A clear understanding of your website's purpose and target audience. Who are you designing the website for? What are their needs and interests? What kind of information are they looking for? This is all part of setting your goals for your website. What do you want visitors to do on your website? Do you want them to learn about your company, buy your products or contact you?

A strong understanding of your brand. Decide what your brand values are and what kind of image you want to project when you are designing your website. What colors, fonts, and images will represent your brand? This is what your audience will come to associate with you, so choose carefully.

A well-defined website structure. Deciding how your website will be structured involves answering important questions, from figuring out how many pages it will have to how visitors will navigate from one page to another.

Responsive design and accessibility. Your website should be responsive, meaning that it looks good and functions properly on all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Make sure your website is accessible to people with disabilities, too. This means using high-contrast colors, large fonts and clear navigation.

User experience (UX) and visually appealing design. UX is the overall experience of using a website. A good UX makes it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for and complete their desired tasks. On top of that, it's important that the design of your website be eye-catching and easy to use. Use colors, fonts, and images that complement your brand and make the website easy to navigate.

Website security. Make sure that your website is secure from hackers and malware. This means using secure passwords, encrypting sensitive data, and keeping your software up to date.

Designing a website can be a complex process, but it's important to remember that the goal is to create a website that meets the needs of your target audience and achieves your business goals. By following the tips above, you can create a website that is both visually appealing and functional.

When to design a website or hire a web designer

Whether you should design a website yourself or hire a web designer depends on a number of factors, including:

Your budget: Hiring a web designer can be expensive, so it's important to consider your budget before making a decision. If you're on a tight budget, you may want to consider designing your own website using a website builder or CMS platform.

Your time commitment: Designing a website can be a time-consuming process, especially if you're not familiar with web design. If you don't have the time to commit to designing your own website, then hiring a web designer may be the best option.

Your skills and experience: If you have no experience with web design, then it may be difficult to create a website that is both visually appealing and functional. If you're not confident in your ability to design a website, hiring a web designer could be the best option. However, Wix offers easy-to-use templates for beginners, so it's not a necessity.

How to design a website with AI

When it comes to designing a website, AI can enhance various aspects of the design process, from user experience (UX) to visual design and even content creation.

The simplest way to get started is by firing up a platform like Wix's AI maker. A solution like this can connect you with advanced AI tools that take care of the back-end and front-end development of your site, so you can focus on the vision for your brand and business. Meanwhile, AI will suggest the best layout and design for your site based on business goals.

Platforms like Wix will go a step further and set you up with the right pages and business applications. For example, if you run a gym that hosts events and also sells its own apparel, Wix will automatically connect your site with its Bookings and Stores apps. This ensures that you not only have a professional-looking website, but also a fully functional workspace for managing all aspects of your business online.

Sign up for Wix and test drive its AI website maker for free today.

How to design a website FAQ

How much does it cost to design a website.

The cost of designing a website varies. You can start designing a website for free, with a website builder like Wix or choose from a premium plan. Using a designer or expert to design your website could cost from several hundred to thousands of dollars.

Can I design a website by myself?

Do businesses really need a website, how do you design a website from scratch, related posts.

15 outstanding Wix website examples that will inspire you

Was this article helpful?

web design assignments for beginners

How to learn web design: Step by step guide in 9 steps

Discover how to learn web design and learn the basics of UI, UX, HTML, CSS, and visual design.

web design assignments for beginners

Build completely custom, production-ready websites — or ultra-high-fidelity prototypes — without writing a line of code. Only with Webflow.

Jeff Cardello

Learning how to design a website doesn’t have to be difficult. If you want to know the basic fundamentals, we’ve put together this guide that covers everything you need to know to get started.

Web design has so many different facets and it can be hard to know just where you should begin. We want to make things easier for you and we’ve put together a wealth of great information to help get you on your way to becoming a web designer.

We’ll explore these fundamental steps to learning web design:

  • Understand the key concepts of visual web design
  • Know the basics of HTML
  • Understand CSS
  • Learn the foundation of UX design
  • Familiarize yourself with UI design
  • Understand the basics of creating layouts
  • Learn about typography 
  • Put your knowledge into action and build something
  • Get a mentor

What is web design and what elements make it work?

If you want to learn how to design websites, the first step is understanding what exactly web design is.

Web design is part artistry and part science, tapping into both the creative and analytical sides of a person’s mind.

Web designers take what’s conceptual and translate it into visuals. Images, typography, colors, text, negative space, and structure come together offering not only a user experience but a conduit for communicating ideas. Web design skills cover a variety of techniques and expertise in creating websites that are both functional and visually engaging.

A good web designer understands the significance of each piece of a design. They make choices on a granular level, styling each element, while never losing sight of how the elements will come together and function in delivering on the design’s greater goals.

No matter how spectacular the visuals of a web design are, they're meaningless without organization. Logic needs to guide the arrangement of ideas and visuals on each page, as well as direct how users will travel through it. A skilled web designer creates designs that deliver in the least number of clicks.

Web design can be broken down into several subdisciplines. Some designers make their careers specializing in areas like user interface (UI) , user experience (UX) , search engine optimization (SEO), and other areas of expertise. As you begin your journey as a designer, you should know a little bit about all these different facets of web design.

Web designs are powered by the back end

You’re going to come across the terms back end and front end as you learn to design websites. Most beginners mix these up, so it’s important to know how they’re different.

The back end is everything that runs behind the scenes in displaying a website. Websites reside on servers. When a user requests to navigate to a specific section of a website, the server takes this incoming information and in turn, shoots out all of the HTML and other code so that it displays in the user’s browser correctly. Servers host the data a website requires to function.

Web developers who specialize in back-end development are often programmers who work in such languages as PHP. They also might use a Python framework like Django, write Java code, manage SQL databases, or use other programming languages or frameworks to make sure that servers, applications, and databases are all working together.

To become a web designer, you don’t need to go too deep into what happens on the back end, but you should at least understand its purpose. This is an advanced topic but for those who want to become full-stack developers, it’s as important as understanding front-end fundamentals like HTML & CSS. And speaking of front-end web development...

Front end relates to what site visitors see

The back end is considered the server side while the front end is the client side. The front end is where HTML , CSS, JavaScript , and other code work together to display a website. This is the part of a web design that people engage with.

As you advance in your career you might get into more specialized areas of learning web development. You may end up working with frameworks like React or Bootstrap or go deeper with JavaScript or jQuery. These are more advanced areas that you shouldn’t worry too much about in the beginning.

Good visual design make websites stand out

visual design of boxes

Though the best web designs look effortless in execution, they’re all based on the guiding principles of visual design. Though there are those rare web designers who have an innate eye for visual design, for most of us, this is a topic that we must learn on our own. Those who can tell the difference between good and bad design will have an easier time learning web development. Understand how visual design works. Know the rules of composition and understand how elements like shapes, space, color, and geometry come together.

A great starting point is our post about visual design principles for web designers . Studying concepts like reification, emergence, and invariance will allow you to incorporate these principles into your design process. Learning how to be a web designer also means understanding the history of design and web design trends . We’ve put together this in-depth graphic design archive to show you all of the major developments in design that have brought us to where we are today.

How to become a web designer

1. understand the key concepts of visual design.

Every letter, border, and division in a layout is made up of lines that make up their greater structure. Learning web design means understanding the how to use lines to create order and balance in a layout.

The three basic shapes in visual design are squares, circles, and triangles. Squares and rectangles work for blocks of content, circles work for buttons, and triangles are often used for icons that accompany an important message or call to action. Shapes also have a sense of emotion, with squares associated with strength, circles with harmony and comfort, and triangles with importance and action.

Texture replicates something in the real world. Through texture, we get an idea of whether something is rough or smooth. Textures can be seen throughout web design. From paperlike backgrounds to the colorful wisps of a Gaussian blur, be aware of the different kinds of textures that can make your designs more interesting and can give them a sense of physicality.

If you want to learn how to web design and create websites that aren’t an eye strain, you should educate yourself in color theory . Understanding the color wheel, complementary colors, contrasting colors, and the emotions that different colors evoke will make you a better web designer. A huge part of knowing how to web design is knowing what color combinations look good together.

Grids have their roots in the earliest days of graphic design. They  bring order to images, texts, and other elements in a web design. Learn how to structure your web layouts using grids.

2. Learn HTML basics

Hypertext markup language (HTML) provides the directions for how the content, images, navigation, and other elements of a website display in someone’s web browser. Though you don’t need to be an expert in HTML, it still helps to have some familiarity with how it works, even if you’re using a visual-based design platform like Webflow. 

HTML tags are the instructions a browser uses to generate a website. Headings, paragraphs, links, and images are all controlled by these tags. You’ll especially want to know how header tags like H1, H2, and H3 tags are used for content hierarchy. In addition to affecting layout structure, header tags are important in how web crawlers classify a design and affect how they show up in organic search rankings.

Visit Webflow University to learn more about the basic concepts of HTML and CSS .

3. Understand CSS

CSS (or Cascading Style Sheets) provides styling and additional instructions on how an HTML element is going to appear. Doing things like applying fonts, adding padding , setting alignment, choosing colors, and even creating grids are all possible through CSS.

Knowing how CSS works will give you the skills to create unique-looking websites and to customize existing templates. Let’s go over a few key concepts of CSS.

CSS classes

A CSS class is a list of attributes that come together in styling an individual element. Something like body text could have the font, size, and color as part of a single CSS class.

CSS combo classes

A combo class is built on an existing base class. It inherits all of the attributes like sizing, color, and alignment that may already be in place. Attributes can then be changed up. Combo classes save you time and let you set up variations of a class that you can apply wherever you need to in a web design.

Knowing how CSS works is essential when learning web design. Visit Webflow University to see our courses on CSS styling and CSS layouts .

From the fundamentals to advanced topics — learn how to build sites in Webflow and become the designer you always wanted to be.

4. Learn the foundations of UX design

Those who want to learn web development often confuse UI and UX . User experience is the magic that brings a website to life, transforming it from a static arrangement of elements into something that engages with the emotions of someone scrolling through it. 

The color scheme, content, typography, layout, and visuals all come together to serve your audience. User experience design is about precision and evoking feelings. It offers someone not only a smooth journey but connects them with the entity or brand behind the web design.

Here are a few UX principles you’ll need to know.

User personas

If you want to learn website design, you must be cognizant of the connections between websites and the people who visit them.

Web design means understanding end users. You should learn how to do user research and how to create user personas. In addition, you’ll need to know how to use this information to create a design that’s optimized for an audience’s needs.

Information architecture

Without clear organization, people will get confused and bounce. Information architecture and content mapping provide a blueprint for how the website and each section will work together in providing a clear customer journey.

Constructing user flows may come into play when you work your way up to more extensive design projects, but you’ll be better off in the future if you start thinking about these and building them out for your early designs. User flows communicate how people will move through a design. They help you to prioritize the most important sections and make sure that people can access them.

Wireframes show where on a web page headings, text, visuals, forms, and other elements are going to be placed. Even if you’re building a simple one-page web design , mapping out a wireframe will give you a solid guide to work from. As you move on to more complicated websites, wireframes are essential in creating a consistent experience, structuring layouts, and not missing anything that needs to be included. 

Prototyping

Prototypes can have different levels of fidelity but act as a representation of a functioning design. Images, interactions, content, and other important elements are all in place and replicate the real-world design. Prototypes are used to get feedback and fine-tune a design throughout the process.

5. Familiarize yourself with UI design

UI (user interface) design is another huge subject you’ll dive into as you learn website design. A user interface is a mechanism that puts a piece of technology into action. A doorknob is a user interface. The volume control on your car radio that your significant other won’t stop messing around with is a user interface. And the keypad that you enter your PIN into at an ATM is a user interface. Just as buttons and other mechanisms in the real world allow someone to interact with machines, the user interface elements on a website allow someone to put actions into motion.

Let’s review two key UI principles: intuitive design and simplicity.

How to create intuitive interfaces

Interacting and engaging with a website should be consistent and follow repeatable patterns. People landing on a website should immediately understand the systems that are in place in navigating through it.

Make UI simple

UI exists to optimize usability. This means making the controls easy to use, as well as obvious in their functionality. Whether you’re minimizing the number of navigational options, making the checkout process quick, or integrating other interactive elements that increase accessibility, understanding UI will help you streamline someone’s experience in interacting with a website.

Of course, UI is a vast subject that can’t be captured in just a few paragraphs. We suggest you check out the blog post 10 essential UI (user interface) design tips as a primer to UI.

6. Understand the basics of creating layouts

Our eyes latch on to certain design patterns automatically, making for an easy route through a web design. We intuitively know where to look because we’ve seen these same patterns over and over as we’ve consumed media throughout our lives. Knowing design patterns will help you create websites that have a smooth flow to the content and visuals. Two common web layout patterns you need to know about are Z-patterns and F-patterns.

For layouts with an economy of words and images and generous amounts of negative space, the Z-pattern makes for an efficient way to cruise through a website. When you start paying attention to where your eyes are going through a design, you’ll recognize right away when a Z-pattern is in place.

Designs heavy on text, like for an online publication or a blog, often follow a distinct F-pattern. On the left-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a list of articles or posts, and in the main body of the page, you’ll see rows of related information. This pattern is optimized to give people all the information they need, even if they’re quickly glancing through it.

Related reads: Web page layout: website anatomy every designer needs to learn

Understand responsive web design

Along with understanding layout patterns, it’s also important to know the fundamentals behind responsive web design. A responsive website functions and has a consistent look no matter what device they’re being displayed on.

Related reads: Intro to responsive web design

7. Learn about typography

Fonts can impart different tones or emotions as well as affect readability. If you’re learning about web design, knowing how to use typography is essential.

Typography serves several purposes in web design. First, it serves the utilitarian purpose of making content legible. But it can also evoke emotion and atmosphere, and the tasteful use of stylized typography can add to the overall aesthetic.

Here are three basic typographic concepts you should know.

Serif typefaces have minuscule lines known as serifs that grace each letter. This typographic style can be traced back to print.

As the name implies, sans serif typefaces lack the identifying lines of serif typefaces. These typefaces are found throughout the digital realm of websites and apps.

Display typefaces are often used for headlines and can be either large and impactful or made of sharp, thin lines. They usually have sophisticated letterforms and are meant to grab someone’s attention.

Related reads: Typographic design: font styles and resources for designers

8. Put your knowledge into action and build something

Retail website template

You can watch tutorials, read blog posts, enroll in free web design courses , and absorb all of the theory and information you can about web design, but the only way to become a web designer is to begin web designing.

Start with a simple project. Maybe someone you know needs help creating a portfolio or has a side hustle that is lacking any sort of web presence. Offer to design them something for free.

A blog is also another great beginner project. This will give you practical design experience in learning how to use things like a content management system (CMS) , as well as provide a showcase for your writing skills.

Building a website for a fake company or business is another fun creative exercise in developing your design chops. Plus, you can add it to your portfolio.

9. Get a mentor

Mentors are valuable because they’ve been where you are — at the very beginning — and have the desire to help you out through the hard-earned lessons they’ve learned. They have a deep well of expertise and knowledge. They’re a great resource for getting feedback on your work and finding what you’re doing right and what needs improvement.

In searching for the appropriate mentor, make sure you find someone who does the type of design you admire and specializes in what you want to learn. Mentors can give you a clear path from years spent in the field so you don’t have to stumble through learning web design.

Visual development provides an easy entry into web design

There was a time, not that long ago when you had to have a deep understanding of HTML and CSS to manually write the code behind a web design. Today, visual development tools like Webflow, it’s possible to put together a website and launch it in a short amount of time. What took days or weeks can now happen in hours.

Of course, so much goes into creating a good web design. Learning the fundamentals behind visual design, the basics of UI and UX, and knowing how the front end and back end function will make you a more well-rounded designer.

Whether you’re just starting or are an expert, Webflow offers an intuitive visual web development platform to empower you to realize your creativity. Webflow has an entire community to give you advice and to help you level up your skills. We look forward to seeing your work in our user submitted Made in Webflow collection of websites.

Subscribe to Webflow Inspo

Get the best, coolest, and latest in design and no-code delivered to your inbox each week.

Related articles

web design assignments for beginners

12 best web design courses of 2024 (free + paid)

Find the best web design courses, free and paid, to sharpen your skills as a web designer and visual developer.

web design assignments for beginners

Essential web designer skills: 20 techniques to learn

From typography to communication, learn the skills web designers should have.

web design assignments for beginners

Simple web design tips for beginners: A complete guide

Just getting started in web design? This guide will get you ready to tackle your first project as a beginner.

web design assignments for beginners

Web page design: 3 steps every designer should follow

Have you ever wondered what makes a great web page design? Here’s a quick guide to building a conversion-boosting business website.

web design assignments for beginners

What is html?

HTML is a markup language that serves as the foundation of the World Wide Web.

web design assignments for beginners

How experimental web design can take work in new directions

Learn the fundamentals and see examples of great experimental web designs.

Get started for free

Try Webflow for as long as you like with our free Starter plan. Purchase a paid Site plan to publish, host, and unlock additional features.

Transforming the design process at

  • Interactions
  • Localization
  • Figma to Webflow Labs
  • DevLink Labs
  • Feature index
  • Accessibility
  • Webflow vs WordPress
  • Webflow vs Squarespace
  • Webflow vs Shopify
  • Webflow vs Contentful
  • Webflow vs Sitecore
  • Careers We're Hiring
  • Webflow Shop
  • Accessibility statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie policy
  • Cookie preferences
  • Freelancers
  • Global alliances
  • Marketplace
  • Libraries Beta
  • Hire an Expert
  • Made in Webflow
  • Become an Expert
  • Become a Template Designer
  • Become an Affiliate

IMAGES

  1. 5 HTML Practice Projects for Beginners

    web design assignments for beginners

  2. Web Design For Beginners In 7 Easy Steps

    web design assignments for beginners

  3. 11 Simple Website Design Ideas for Beginners

    web design assignments for beginners

  4. 4 Interesting Web Designing Project Ideas For Beginners in 2021

    web design assignments for beginners

  5. HTML Assignments for Beginners

    web design assignments for beginners

  6. HTML project ideas for beginners to start your coding portfolio

    web design assignments for beginners

VIDEO

  1. Mystery Solved! Inside Look at Graphic Design Job Application Assignments

  2. HTML Tutorial for Beginners

  3. My Favourite Graphic Design Assignments💖 #art #digitalart #graphicdesign

  4. college assignment#minivlog #trending #vlog #agriculturaluniversity

  5. HTML में ordered list कैसे बनाये ?

  6. Start a Web Design Business: Web Design Course

COMMENTS

  1. Simple web design tips for beginners: A complete guide

    How to learn web design: Step by step guide in 9 steps. Discover how to learn web design and learn the basics of UI, UX, HTML, CSS, and visual design.

  2. 32 HTML And CSS Projects For Beginners (With Source Code)

    Dive into the world of web development with these hands-on HTML and CSS projects. Perfect for beginners, our step-by-step guide will help you build essential skills and create stunning web pages.

  3. Top Web Design Courses for Beginners [2024]

    Master web design basics with our beginner-friendly courses. Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript & more to kickstart your web design journey today!

  4. 8 awesome web design projects for beginners

    8 web design projects for beginners. Create a landing page using HTML and CSS. Design a useful, interactive blog. Build a login authenticator. Utilize HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and UX design to create a to-do list. Create an Amazon homepage lookalike. Make a business portfolio website. Create a functional calculator.

  5. Web Design for Beginners

    It’s not as hard as it seems, though it requires time and effort to learn. In this course, I will guide you through the basic steps of becoming a web designer. You’ll learn lots of great information, like the difference between UI and UX design or how to read project briefs and create wireframes.

  6. How to Design a Website (Step-by-Step Guide)

    From choosing your website builder and domain name, to understanding how to design each element of your site from your design concept, this complete guide will walk you through designing and how to make a website. Start Your Site.

  7. Projects in Web Design

    Challenge Project: Responsive Club Website. HTML & CSS • Web Development • Web Design Utilize your Responsive Design knowledge to create your ideal MeetUp group! Your page should look clean and crisp - regardless of the screen size! Less guidance, 60 min. Practice Project.

  8. How to learn web design: Step by step guide in 9 steps

    Discover how to learn web design and learn the basics of UI, UX, HTML, CSS, and visual design. Unleash your creativity on the web Build completely custom, production-ready websites — or ultra-high-fidelity prototypes — without writing a line of code.