22 Best Online Courses for Web Designers (+How Much They Cost!)
Professional development is key to staying on top of your game when it comes to being a web designer!
You’re often tasked with being a jack-of-all-trades, so you’re responsible for knowing a bit of everything from business development to responsive design. Whether you’re self-taught or a university graduate, continuing your education should remain a high priority in order to stay sharp on the industry’s latest trends and teachings.
Sometimes finding the right courses can be like a box of chocolates—you never really know what you’re going to get until you take a bite. In this case, a bite would be signing up and registering for an account, then taking a few modules for a go. There’s lots of trial and error that goes into that, so we’ve simplified the process by rounding up a list of credible courses from reputable companies and teachers!
No matter your interests or budget, there’s something on this list for every area of your role! Click the topic you’d like to learn more on:
Development Courses
Webflow University: Ultimate Web Design Course
This course is filled with heaps and heaps (literally over 100 videos) of content to share everything you need to know to get started in web development. From the back to the front-end of development, there’s a lot of areas to dissect from HTML and code to CSS styles and formatting. This course walks you through a massive overview in case you’re looking to get your feet wet in web design or to brush up on your knowledge!
Commitment: Five hours
Investment: Free
LinkedIn Learning: Web Design
LinkedIn has always been a leading platform for connecting and building professional networks. Now, expand your horizons using their new learning academy: LinkedIn Learning. With over 700+ courses, videos, and learning paths available, you’re definitely getting a lot of bang for your buck. What’s nice is that they have varied methods for you to engage with the courses, so whether you’re better with watching video or reading content, they’ll have an option for you! Some of our course recommendations are the Introduction to Web Design and Development and The Accidental Web Designer.
Commitment: Varies
Investment: First month free, plans start at $19.99/month after for the entire course library
Frontend Master: CSS Grids and Flexbox for Responsive Web Design
If you’re a seasoned pro looking to modernize your practice, this CSS Grids and Flexbox for Responsive Web Design course is for you! It’s offered by Frontend Masters and taught by Jen Kramer, a Harvard University Extension School educator. On top of the comprehensive overview, this course offers exercises built into the course so you can instantly apply the knowledge. This course is absolutely essential if you want to build more responsive, faster-loading websites!
Commitment: Five hours
Investment: Plans start at $39/month for their entire course library
Codecademy
Trusted by over 45 million students in the seven years since their inception, Codecademy is a favorite if you’re looking to improve or learn a new coding language! So many people have turned to them because they’ve perfected the best system for developers from developers. First you’ll choose what you want to learn, then learn by doing with exercises ingrained in the modules, then get instant feedback on how you did. Once you put your learning into practice, you’ll be a true code wiz!
Commitment: Varies
Investment: Plans start at $19.99/month for their entire course library
PluralSight: Code School – Journey into Mobile
With mobile usage steadily increasing over the next several years, it’s more important than ever to adopt a “mobile-first” strategy. This course is designed for intermediate web designers to gain a greater knowledge of responsive and adaptive mobile web design.
Commitment: One hour
Investment: 10-day trial available, then plans start at $29.99/month
Udacity: Responsive Web Design Fundamentals
This free course is being taught by Google’s Pete LePage. The content teaches you about responsive web design across multiple platforms from mobile to desktop and everything in between. If you’re not quite familiar with HTML and CSS, start with one of the beginner courses listed in this article before jump starting this one!
Commitment: Two weeks
Investment: Free
Team Treehouse: Web Design Track
Treehouse has thousands of online courses available for people of all skill levels and backgrounds. We recommend their Web Design Track, which teaches everything necessary to learn the web design basics to start your career. It’s awesome because the track is built in several mini courses that span as low as one hour or up to four hours long.
Commitment: Varies, up to 43 hours
Investment: 7-day trial available, then plans start at $14.99/month
Boagworks: Masterclass
This one’s for all the seasoned pros who are looking for a masterclass. The description says it’s the ideal course for designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and products owners (sounds like a perfect fit for freelance web designers!). The returns on this masterclass promise to boost online sales, expand your mailing list, encourage leads, and increase your Cost of Doing Business (CODB) margins. This course is only available twice a year so don’t miss out!
Commitment: Varies, up to seven hours
Investment: $267 for lifetime access
Skillcrush: Front End Development
This course is best suited for beginners and will teach you the building blocks of all modern websites. It’s very dynamic because you’ll have a lot of interaction with other classmates and instructors (great for accountability!). It even comes with an official certification of completion for you to add to your portfolio!
Commitment: Three months
Investment: $549 for lifetime access
Open Classrooms: Build your first web pages with HTML and CSS
This course anchors on HTML5 and CSS3 as the entry points into the world of code necessary for any web developer. The content offers a clear-cut path for anyone interested in a career in tech! It has built-in quizzes to test your knowledge and application throughout. It’s awesome because these checkpoints ensure you’re truly absorbing the content properly.
Commitment: 10 hours
Investment: Free
WordPress Courses
WP101: WordPress 101
The great thing about WP101 is that they’re constantly updating their 260-video content library across their 13 courses. WordPress is always introducing new updates and features, so it’s nice to know you’re learning on a platform that does the same to keep up! Their WordPress 101 course has been completed and trusted by thousands of web designers. It includes 34 easy-to-follow video lessons with step-by-step directions.
Commitment: Two hours
Investment: Plans start at $19.99/month or $49/year
WP Apprentice: WordPress Essentials
Get comfortable in WordPress with this go-at-your-own-pace course (no programming background required)! What’s great about this course is that aside from teaching you how to create a WordPress site, it also goes through WordPress site management such as moderating your comments, site maintenance, and content organization.
Commitment: Varies
Investment: Plans start at $15/month
Skillshare: Make a Website with WordPress – Beginners Tutorial
Looking for a crash course in WordPress? Look no further because your teacher James Stafford will tell you everything you need to know to get started. This course is awesome if you’re a freelancer looking to add or expand your current web design or WordPress services.
Commitment: One hour
Investment: 7-day trial available, then plans start at $10/month
OSTraining: Tips for Speeding up a WordPress sites
You know that site speed is crucial to your success, which is why you want your site to have the best speed and performance possible. For blazing fast speeds, this course will walk you through seven methods for speed optimization from plugin recommendations to UI tips! We recommend this course if you already have a good foundation of WordPress knowledge to build on.
Commitment: One hour
Investment: Annual plans start at $69
LinkedIn Learning: WordPress 5 Essential Training
In order to harness all the latest and greatest features of new WordPress versions, you have to get familiar with each one. This course does just that! A bonus is that it offers foundational WordPress training but is also specific to updates so you can familiarize yourself with new features and bug fixes. This course gets updated as needed when new WordPress releases drop!
Commitment: Two hours
Investment: First month free, plans start at $19.99/month after for the entire course library; individual course purchase $49.99
CodeCollege: Bootstrap to WordPress
Take an ordinary Bootstrap theme and turn it into your own fully-developed, customized WordPress site! Using your basic HTML, CSS, and PHP knowledge, this course will build on how to supercharge those skills whether you’re looking to add or expand on your current WordPress services.
Commitment: 11 hours
Investment: Lifetime access purchase $239
Marketing Courses
Hubspot Academy: Ecommerce Marketing
Learn how to create an eCommerce strategy and plan that’s grounded in the inbound marketing methodology so you can attract, engage, and delight more customers for your website. This course uses interactive quizzes and videos to help you create a marketing strategy with goals to attract the right target audience!
Commitment: One hour
Investment: Free
Google Analytics Academy: Getting Started with Google Analytics 360
This course is perfect if you’re familiar with the basics of Google Analytics and looking to take it a step up in the premium version with Google Analytics 360! Learn how to take advantage of the full enterprise-level features for better in-depth behavior and traffic management. If you’re new to Google Analytics, be sure to complete their beginners course before advancing to this one!
Commitment: Varies
Investment: Free
LinkedIn Learning: Marketing Masterclass Training
LinkedIn Learning has really stepped up their professional development education with this marketing track masterclass! The goal is to create multi-disciplinary marketers through their free, online courses. Pick from social media and strategy to online and content marketing. This course is perfect if you’re looking for a full-range professional development program for your entire team!
Commitment: Varies
Investment: Request free demo for pricing
Design Courses
Lynda Design Training and Tutorials
There’s so much to discover and learn in the world of design. Maybe you’re looking to create a specific resource like an ebook or logo, or maybe you’re looking for more guidance in design applications like Adobe — Lynda doesn’t hold you back! Browse through their 786 courses to find the right fit for you, ranging from classes as short as 60 minutes to as long as 153 hours.
Commitment: Varies
Investment: First month free, plans start at $19.99/month after for the entire course library
Skillshare: Graphic Design Masterclass
If you’re intimidated by the Adobe Creative Suite, sign up for this masterclass now! In this course, you’ll gain an introduction into Photoshop, Indesign, and Illustrator. All these apps are perfect for most of your creative needs. Just as the Adobe CC Suite is getting new updates all the time, these lessons follow quickly soon after, too.
Commitment: 14 hours
Investment: Investment: 7-day trial available, then plans start at $10/month
Udemy: User Experience Design Essentials
In the Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe XD is a great way to combine your creative and web design skills. Adobe XD is the stepping stone to you adding UI designer to your resume. This bestseller course doesn’t require any previous design or XD experience needed.
Commitment: Varies
Conclusion
Professional development is pivotal to remaining competitive in a saturated market! But finding the right courses aren’t easy. There are mountain-loads of training available on the internet, which can be a headache to sift through.
These course recommendations give you a great starting point and will keep you on your toes so you’re always on your A game.
