Web site design/development, is it something i can learn on my own?

I am a computer engineer, hardware is my thing, i've recently relocated to a developing country and quickly realised that i'll make more money developing web sites for companies and individuals, is it something i can learn by myself using books and resources on the internet or do i need to go back to school. I want to be very good at it and give my customers the best services they can get even if they hired an experienced web developer

Web site design/development, is it something i can learn on my own?
While there are more than enough ample resources out there to teach you what you need to learn on your own, and you'll definately want to learn everything involved in a website. You'll find that webdesign is really a daunting task, specified by a person you probably haven't met yet (your future client(s)). Learn what you can and can't offer until you are ready.


I'd suggest by starting to build your own site, after all what kind of web developer doesn't have a website, and learn the following things in doing so:





1) Graphical layout (typically done with professional tools like Adobe Photoshop CS).


Learn how to convert the graphics into a working template.





2) You'll need to learn at least html. Hopefully a server-side programming language like C#, or PHP (this is much more involved though) It will help you to create templates so that changes to existing sites are easier.





3) You'll need to register a domain name





4) You'll need to research and setup a web host. (most particularly know what your host can or can not support for server-side programmign languages: this will impact what you need to learn)





5) You'll need to learn how to do forms, and form processing. (Some form of server-side programming will help here too)





6) You'll need to learn how to process credit-cards online, this means purchasing an SSL certificate, probably VIA your web host - getting it setup on your web host.





7) Learn about the laws of credit card processing: such as you can't charge a card until the item ships - so you need to learn how to charge a credit card without keeping the card number on file (security reasons) The originitaor of your SSL certificate can help you with this. (for example Verisign)





8) You'll need to learn about Search Engine Optimization. You're clients will want to be able to type in keywords and see their page come up on top in the list from google, yahoo, etc.





9) You'll want to learn about Online advertisements such as Google Adwords, a pay-per-click system. You'll need to be able to track who came in from what ad, did that ad lead to a sale. It's important to know which ads are profitable and which are not.





10) You'll also want to draw a fine line in your business. You're a hardware guy - you don't want to be caught up doing two jobs for a client or they will take up all your time (IE if you are building them a website, you are not also setting up their local network).





11) Track the time it takes you to build you're website with all these features. Use this as a benchmark for what you'll charge in regards to time when you build other sites. You may get quicker with some of the html and such, but each client will change their mind about graphics and layouts and you'll probably find that you'll spend a great more time with the design and layout than anything else.





12) Some clients may want Flash. If you want to offer this - you'll need to learn it. Flash also ahs it's own scripting language. You'll need to learn this too.





13) Consider finding people who know this stuff already and are willing to contract out for you, in case you're overloaded.





As I tried to keep mentioning clients ask for and want the oddest things from you. So what I have listed above is merely a starting point.





Good luck and have fun.


If you need me to elaborate on any of the above points feel free to ask me - These points were brought up out of my own personal experiences with Web Design for 5 years.
Reply:It depends on your will. It is possible to learn web development. I started learning when I was only 13 and now, 16, I am already a freelance web developer. Just read lots of books and practice. For design, get inspiration from different sites and archive them for your reference.
Reply:I did that. So it's possible! ;-)
Reply:Joining a course is definately recommended if you want to learn more than just the obvious stuff and be an expert at it. Books and other online resources explain the basics like background colour and stuff like that. It doesn't help that much. If you want to make your own site then it is a different thing... but if you want to persue it as a profession then you should join a course. I joined one 3years back and the experience was really worth it. It took about 9months to complete it (a detailed course for professionals). Now I keep myself updated through the internet.


Good luck!
Reply:a good college course is recommended but the rest of this is mostly what u do with it ...this can be also learned by teaching self but to have cerdentials to serve other's u will have to have schooling...but this can be self taught
Reply:of course, u can :) as long as u rs ure of wat u wanna do nd determined enuff to do it, u can do anything u want :) all the best :)