June 2019



ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস ব্লগের জন্য সার্চ ইঞ্জিন অপটিমাইজেশন (এস.ই.ও.) খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। সার্চ ইঞ্জিন থেকে প্রচুর পরিমাণ ভিজিটর পাওয়ার জন্য অবশ্যই আপনার ব্লগের সঠিকভাবে এই.ই.ও. এর কাজ করতে হবে। আমরা সবাই জানি যে, ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. ফ্রেন্ডলী, তাই খুব সহজেই কিছু কার্যকরী পন্থা অবলম্বন করে আমরা আমদের ব্লগে সার্চ ইঞ্জিন থেকে অনেক ভিজিটর পেতে পারি। এস.ই.ও. এর কাজ সঠিকভাবে করার জন্য আপনাকে অন-পেজ ও অফ-পেজ দুটোই ভালোভাবে করতে হবে। ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস ব্লগে অন-পেজ ও অফ-পেজ এস.ই.ও. করার জন্য আপনি কিছু প্লাগিন্স ব্যবহার করতে পারেন যা আপনার ব্লগকে আরো বেশী এস.ই.ও. ফ্রেন্ডলী করবে। চলুন দেখে নেওয়া যাক, ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস ব্লগের এস.ই.ও. এর জন্য সেরা ৫টি প্লাগিন্স।

১. ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. বাই ইয়োষ্ট (WordPress SEO by Yoast)

ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস ব্লগের এস.ই.ও. এর জন্য ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. বাই ইয়োষ্ট হচ্ছে সবচেয়ে জনপ্রিয় একটি প্লাগিন। লক্ষ লক্ষ ওয়েবমাষ্টাররা তাদের ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস ব্লগ/সাইট অপ্টিমাইজ করার জন্য এই প্লাগিনটা ব্যবহার করে থাকেন। আপনি খুব সহজেই এই প্লাগিনটার সাহায্যে আপনার ব্লগের প্রায় সব ধরনের অন-পেজ এস.ই.ও. এর কাজ করতে পারবেন। এছাড়াও অফ-পেজ এস.ই.ও. এর জন্য এই প্লাগিনটা অনেক উপকারী।


WordPress SEO by Yoast

 

ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. বাই ইয়োষ্ট ব্যবহার করার কিছু সুবিধা

  • প্রতিটা পোষ্ট ও পেজ এর আলাদা আলাদা মেটা ডিসক্রিপশান ও মেটা কিওয়ার্ডস
  • ফোকাসিং কিওয়ার্ডস ঠিক করে দেওয়া
  • এক্স.এম.এল. সাইটম্যাপ
  • সোশ্যাল ইন্ট্রিগেশন
  • পেজ অ্যানালাইটিকস
  • কিওয়ার্ড অ্যানালাইসিস
  • আর.এস.এস অপ্টিমাইজেশন
  • রোবট টেক্সট ফাইল তৈরী করা ও সম্পাদন করা
  • গুগল, বিং, ইয়ান্ডেক্স, এলেক্সা ও পিন্টারেস্ট ভেরিফাই করা সহ আরো অনেক সুবিধা।
  • ডাউনলোড লিঙ্ক

২. এস.ই.ও. প্রেসর (SEOPressor)

এস.ই.ও. প্রেসর হচ্ছে সবচেয়ে জনপ্রিয় প্রিমিয়াম ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন। এই প্লাগিনে অনেকগুলো ফিচার রয়েছে যা খুব সহজেই আপনার ব্লগকে সার্চ ইঞ্জিনে র‍্যাঙ্ক করাতে সাহায্য করবে। অন-পেজ এস.ই.ও. হচ্ছে এস.ই.ও. এর জন্য খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ যা আপনি এই প্লাগিনের সাহায্যে খুব সহজেই করতে পারবেন। এই প্লাগিনেই সাহায্যে আপনি আপনার ব্লগের প্রতেকটা কন্টেন্ট এর এস.ই.ও. এর স্কোর বাড়াতে পারবনে।

এস.ই.ও. প্রেসর এর কিছু ফিচার

  • অন-পেজ এস.ই.ও. সুবিধা
  • এডভান্স অফ-পেজ এস.ই.ও. ফিচার
  • কিওয়ার্ড এনালাইসিস, কিওয়ার্ড সাজেশন ও কিওয়ার্ড ডেনসিটি নির্নয়
  • সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া ফ্রেন্ডলী
  • ইমেজ অপটিমাইজেশন
  • স্মার্ট লিঙ্কিং
  • রিচ স্নাইপেট সাপোর্টেড
  • ডাউনলোড লিঙ্ক

৩. অল ইন ওয়ান এস.ই.ও. প্যাক (All in One SEO Pack)

অল ইন ওয়ান এস.ই.ও. প্যাক হচ্ছে আরেকটি ফ্রি এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন যা আপনি নিশ্চিন্তে আপনার ব্লগে ব্যবহার করতে পারেন। এই প্লাগিনটি সয়ংক্রিয় ভাবে আপনার ব্লগের প্রাথমিক এস.ই.ও. অপটিমাইজেশন এর কাজ করে দিবে। এছাড়াও এই প্লাগিনটার আরো অনেক ফিচার রয়েছে যা আপনার ব্লগকে এস.ই.ও. ফ্রেন্ডলী করতে সাহায্য করবে।



All in One SEO Pack

 

অল ইন ওয়ান এস.ই.ও. প্যাক এর কিছু ফিচার

  • গুগল অ্যানালাইটিক্স সাপোর্টেড
  • এক্স.এম.এল. সাইটম্যাপ
  • প্রত্যেকটা পেজ এবং পোষ্ট এর জন্য পৃথক পৃথক টাইটেল, মেটা ডিসক্রিপশান ও মেটা কিওয়ার্ডস
  • সোশ্যাল অপটিমাইজড
  • ডুপ্লিকেট কন্টেন্ট খুঁজে বের করা সহ আরো অনেক ফিচার
  • ডাউনলোড লিঙ্ক

৪. এস.ই.ও. আল্টিমেট (SEO Ultimate)

এস.ই.ও. আল্টিমেট আরেকটি জনপ্রিয় ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন যা আপনি ফ্রিতে ব্যবহার করতে পারেন। আপনি খুব সহজেই এই প্লাগিনের সাহায্যে আপনার ব্লগের এস.ই.ও. এর কাজ করতে পারেন যা আপনাকে সার্চ ইঞ্জিনে ভালো র‍্যাঙ্ক পেতে সাহায্য করবে।



SEO Ultimate

 

এস.ই.ও. আল্টিমেট এর ফিচার সমূহ

  • টাইটেল ট্যাগ, মেটা ডেসক্রিপশান ও মেটা কীওয়ার্ডস
  • নো-ইন্ডেক্স ফিচার
  • ওপেন-গ্রাফ সাপোর্টেড
  • স্লাগ ফিচার
  • কনিকাল ইউ.আর.এল. ফিচার
  • অটো লিঙ্কিং
  • এস.ই.ও. উইডজেট
  • ডাউনলোড লিঙ্ক

৫. এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন বাই স্কুইরলি (SEO Plugin by SQUIRRLY)

এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন বাই স্কুইরলি ও আরেকটি জনপ্রিয় এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন যা মূলত আপনাকে এস.ই.ও. ফ্রেন্ডলী কন্টেন্ট লিখতে সাহায্য করবে। এছাড়াও এই প্লাগিনের সাহায্যে আপনি সব ধরনের অন-পেজ এস.ই.ও. এর কাজ করতে পারবেন।


SEO Plugin by SQUIRRLY

 

এস.ই.ও. প্লাগিন বাই স্কুইরলি কিছু ফিচার

  • কীওয়ার্ড ও কন্টেন্ট এনালাইসিস
  • ফ্রি ইমেজ ফিচার
  • মেটা ডেসক্রিপশান ও মেটা কীওয়ার্ড অপশন
  • ইমেজ অপটিমাইজেশন
  • ডাউনলোড লিঙ্ক







Whether you are preparing to interview a candidate or applying for a job, review our list of top Web Developer interview questions and answers.

Q-1 - What are the responsibilities of a web developer?
Answer - A web developer should fully understand their role and how they contribute to web design and development. This question will help you find out how a candidate plans to support the team and what tasks they will take ownership of.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • Clear understanding of web development processes
  • What tasks they emphasize
  • How they plan to contribute
Example: “A web developer designs, develops, enhances, tests and deploys web applications with an end goal of creating engaging and user-friendly site layout and function. A developer gathers and defines requirements, maintains websites, troubleshoots and fixes bugs, follows best practices and collaborates with other teams.”


Question-2 - What sparked your interest in web development?
Answer - Did the candidate want to become a web developer at an early age? Are they self-taught? Learning why a candidate chose web development can help determine their level of passion and commitment to the profession.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • Enthusiasm
  • Motivation
  • Experience
Example: “As a previous marketing coordinator, I frequently used an online tool to create and customize email campaigns. I found the drag-and-drop feature buggy and discovered that I could achieve the look I was going for if I edited the HTML instead. I became fascinated the ability a web developer has to be imaginative, artistic and technical, while developing a product that benefits and inspires others.”




Question-3 -What is W3C and why is it important?
Answer - A web developer should take responsibility for the content they produce, see that it is accessible by all users and follows W3C standards. This question will let you know if a candidate has a working knowledge and respect of W3C.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • General knowledge
  • Consideration of standards
  • Specifics on how they adhere to standards
Example: “W3C stands for World Wide Consortium and it is an international community that focuses on developing and standardizing the web. As a web developer, enforcing these standards ensures that web content is accessible in all browsers to reach all audiences, as well as optimizes the user experience. For example, using W3C-compliant CSS and XML allows every website to function similarly, but also improves SEO.”


Question-4 -Explain how you optimize and reduce web application load time.
Answer - Almost half of all users want a web page to load within two seconds. Ask this question to learn if a candidate is aware of the impact that page load time has on the user experience, and how a web developer should analyze data and track improvements to optimize load time.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • How much importance they place in optimizing web applications
  • Understanding of tools they can use to analyze website speed
  • Evidence they have successfully reduced load time
Example: “Although there are numerous techniques a web developer can use in reducing load time, I always rely on optimizing images, enabling browser caching and minimizing HTTP requests. My go-to tool for evaluating site speed is Google PageSpeed Insights. In one instance, I successfully reduced page load time from 2.1 seconds to .7 seconds by soley enabling browser caching.”


Question-5 -What are the differences of using HTTP/2 as opposed to HTTP 1.1?
Answer - Knowing if a candidate understands the main differences and advantages to using HTTP/2 will reveal their level of understanding, cluing you in to how their methods will align with the web developer role.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • Overall HTTP knowledge
  • Ability to recall specific information
  • Insight into their approach
Example: “HTTP/2 was designed to improve web application performance. A web developer can appreciate how it makes applications simpler and faster by reducing load times and improving communication between browsers and servers. I’m a strong advocate for using HTTP/2, as I’ve analyzed data and seen how HTTP/2 can decrease page load time by up to 20%.”


Question-6 -In what programming languages are you proficient?
Answer - HTML, CSS, SQL, PHP, Ruby, Python and JavaScript are a few of the common coding languages a web developer should be able to navigate comfortably. This question will tune you into a candidate’s experience, preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • Familiarity with coding languages
  • Level of interest in specific languages
  • Fit with the role and company
Example: “I’m proficient in HTML, CSS and PHP, and I have beginner-level proficiency in SQL and JavaScript. I would love to expand my web developer skills to include Python and am currently researching the right Python course to take in my free time.”


Question-7 -What steps do you take to balance demanding client requirements?
A web developer may face unexpected challenges, including short turnaround times and overly-ambitious clients. Gaining a clear understanding of how a candidate handles this type of situation will help you understand their priorities and thought processes.
    What to look for in an answer:
  • Performance under pressure
  • Communication skills
  • Commitment to releasing high-quality products
Example: “In balancing demanding requirements as a web developer, I take steps to fully understand what is expected of me, prioritize my tasks and keep an open line of communication with the client. Keeping a client pleased is a high priority, although I am not interested in producing buggy code and taking ineffective shortcuts to damage the final product. I keep the client informed of my progress and work efficiently to complete the task.”



Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a website for the Internet or an intranet. ... Among web professionals, "web development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding. The best path to learn is from online resources… i can also suggest you the Best Web Development Online Courses:
  • The Complete Web Development Course - Build 15 Projects
  • The Complete Web Developer Bootcamp - Beginner to Expert
  • Learn Complete Web Development From Scratch
Choose the first course..
From this course you may learn about:
Taking this course will help you achieve your dream of becoming a professional web developer, and you will be ready to build powerful and responsive websites to a highly professional degree using today’s most advanced and up to date web technologies within a few weeks from now.
You will first learn the basic concepts, and straight after that apply them in easy practical examples. Then you will easily navigate to more advanced concepts and use them to build more complex applications. Once you have finished the chapter, you will then move to a bigger challenge where you will confidently build a “REAL LIFE FULL PROFESSIONAL PROJECT” using the skills you acquired in that chapter combined with previous ones.
Here are a few examples of in-chapter activities:
  • Embed a relaxing YouTube Video to your website (HTML)
  • Create an online checkout form (HTML)
  • Highway Speed Control (HTML & JavaScript)
  • Outbound and Return Flight date pickers just like the Expedia Website (HTML, CSS, jQuery & jQuery UI)
  • Car Mileage range using a beautiful slider (HTML, CSS, jQuery & jQuery UI)
  • Interactive carousel slider (HTML, CSS, jQuery & Bootstrap)
  • Create a responsive Contact Form (HTML, CSS, PHP & Bootstrap)
  • What day of the week were you born? (HTML & PHP)
  • Guess the date in 1000 days from now! (HTML & PHP)
  • Calculate the route, distance and time between New York and Toronto. (HTML, Javascript, Google Maps API’s)
  • Get the geographic coordinates and postcode of any address. (HTML, jQuery, Google Maps API’s, JSON)
And much more …
Following are some of the “FULL PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS” you will build throughout the course:
  • Mathematics Tutorials Website (HTML & CSS)
  • Maths Game (HTML, CSS & JavaScript)
  • Fruits Slice Game (HTML, CSS & JQuery)
  • App Landing Page (HTML, CSS & Bootstrap)
  • Company Website (HTML, CSS & Bootstrap)
  • Stopwatch App (HTML, CSS, jQuery & Bootstrap)
  • Drawing App (HTML, CSS, jQuery & jQuery UI, Canvas, HTML5 Local Storage)
  • Online Notes App (HTML, CSS, jQuery, Bootstrap, PHP & MySQL) (Full 11h project)
  • Highly professional Blog (Wordpress)
  • Distance Between Cities Website (HTML. CSS, jQuery, Google Maps)
  • Freedom Website with Social Widgets (Facebook, Google+ & Twitter)
  • Speed Reader App for the IOS and Google Play Stores
  • Fully functional Car Sharing Website (HTML, CSS, jQuery, Bootstrap, PHP & MySQL, Ajax, JSON, Google Maps) (Full 10h project)



Way back in 2013, when I first started to get interested in learning to code, I remember being confused about something: Was I training to be a web designer or a web developer?
Being a web designer sounded ideal: I’d get to create beautiful things for the internet, and use up all my creative juices on typography pairings, color schemes, and giving websites that certain je ne sais quois. At the same time, though, I worried I wouldn’t have what it takes to be a web designer. With no history in graphic design, or any design training at all, I wondered who would ever trust me with the aesthetics of their site.
And when I thought about web development, I though: “This is what I should want to do. I’ll make a ton of money and have all the power in the world to build awesome websites and web apps. But what if it’s boring?”
But as I learned HTML and CSS, met more designers and developers, and started working on my own freelance websites, I realized that I had it all wrong. It’s not that you don’t have to make a choice between web design and development. Really, the issue is that my idea of the differences between web design and web development were pretty off the mark. This is the blog post I wish I could have read when I first dipped my toe in the technical waters.

In this post, you’re going to get:
  • A rundown of the biggest myths about web designers and web developers, so you can make an informed decision about which path is right for you,
  • A comprehensive infographic breaking down EXACTLY what skills and tools web designers and developers use,
  • A breakdown of the basic skills ALL techies need,
  • A framework for figuring out which path fits your personality best,
But before I dive in, I want to let the cat out of the bag. The truth is, it doesn’t matter one iota whether you choose to start out in web design or web development! Getting digital skills will position you to make more money and have some of the most in-demand skills out there, regardless of whether they fall into the category of web design or web development.
This guide is based on general personality characteristics and a synopses of day-to-day tasks. If some of it seems oversimplified, that’s because I want to make it super simple for you to make a decision. In reality? There is a TON of overlap between web designers and web developers, and there’s no right or wrong starting point!

Step 1: Dispel the Myths

Before you can make any decisions about what kind of tech career you want, you need to make sure you know exactly what web designers and developers do.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been socialized to define “web designer” and “web developer” in ways that don’t represent what it’s actually like to be one, and you’ve never even talked to a real-life web designer or developer.
My biggest misconceptions about designers and developers had to do with how much money they make, how steep the learning curve is, and what kind of work they actually do. I mistakenly believed the myths that:

Learning to be a programmer is harder than learning to be a designer (or the other way around).

Some assume that because development involves higher level programming, it will be harder to learn than design. Others see design as more difficult because they think that it requires more innate (rather than learned) creativity.
In fact, when you’re starting from scratch, any new skill is a challenge. Web development and web design aren’t inherently more or less challenging—your strengths and weaknesses will dictate which is the path of least resistance for you.

Developers make far and away more $$$.

If you look at average salaries, it does appear at first glance that web developers make far more money than web designers:
  • Web designer: $66,000
  • Web developer: $87,000
*Indeed salary search for the US.
But if you start searching more specific areas of web design, you’ll see that the salaries are competitive:
  • Interaction designer: $93,000
  • Mobile designer: $92,000
  • User Experience designer: $92,000
*Indeed salary search for the US.
It’s true that on average, developers make more money, but as a beginner this isn’t something you’ll have to worry about. Whether you start learning web development or web design, you probably won’t be a senior full-stack developer (and make the very top salary) within a few months, since that usually requires several years of experience.
And besides, web designers make plenty of money. Since both are lucrative options, it’s better to choose what will make you happier rather than what you think will pay more.

Web designers don’t code.

On the contrary, web designers write HTML and CSS code. And some (!) even use a CSS preprocessor like Sass or LESS and write JavaScript. For example, say they need a smooth scrolling site—some designers (we call them unicorns!) can code it up themselves.
Now, there are some designers out there who don’t code, particularly print designers and some digital graphic designers, but most WEB designers can turn their designs into working prototypes using HTML and CSS. The best way to make good money AND be able to deliver what clients and employers want most, is to be a whole package of designing and coding magic.
Web designers who can code, especially those that have next-level skills like Sass and JavaScript, are in HUGE demand. We call them unicorns. And, if you start out with the Skillcrush Web Designer Blueprint, you can take Skillcrush 102 as an individual class after that to learn JavaScript and jQuery and become one of those elusive unicorns!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. You need to know what designers and developers actually DO all day!

Step 2: Figure out exactly what designers and developers do.

Now that you’ve gotten some of the myths cleared up, you need to know how designers and developers actually spend their time.
The first thing to note is that both designers and developers can build a site from scratch. Designers lean more towards the careful planning, and developers are stronger in implementing designs, BUT they can both build a fully functional site.
Web designers and developers both code on a regular basis. On a team, designers and developers work together, with designers focusing on user experience design and planning and developers focusing on code.
If that still sounds a little vague, check out this handy (and pretty!) infographic and see the exact skills and tools designers and developers use:



Step 3: Analyze yourself.

Now that you are well informed about the true differences between web design and web development, you need to figure out which one fits YOU. And if you’re looking at those descriptions and thinking, “I could do any one of these!” that’s okay. These simplified descriptions of the general characteristics of web designers and developers should help:

Web Designers

Web designers tend to experience the world in a visual way. For example, when giving you directions, they might tell you to turn right when you see the big tree.
Web designers also tend to rely on intuition and feeling, since they spend a lot of time developing the look and feel of websites. For example, if you asked them to write a word in the center of a page, they would probably eyeball it.
Web designers love to come up with big ideas and imagine the whole picture. For example, if a web designer were building a theme park, they would love to focus first on the overall “vibe” of the theme park, the layout, and the way a visitor would experience it, before getting into details like the colors, shapes, and names of the rides.

Web Developers

Web developers tend to approach the world from a logical, scientific standpoint. If they were lost, rather than looking for a familiar landmark to guide them, they might look up at the stars or drop a GPS pin.
Web developers also tend to see the world as a vast collection of data that can be used for different purposes. If you asked a web developer to write a word in the center of a page, they would look for a tool to measure it in the quickest, most efficient way, maybe by folding the paper evenly into 4 squares or grabbing a ruler.
Web developers like to handle big projects by taking them one step at a time and paying close attention to the details. If a web developer were building a theme park, she would love working on the details of the physics of the rides and the number of visitors the park could accommodate, and she’d work through them one small step at a time.
And unicorns? Well they’re a unique combination of both!
If you need more guidance when it comes to choosing which way to start your tech career, try these resources:
  • The Ultimate Guide to Turning Your Passions Into Profit
  • How to Find the Perfect Job for You
And remember, it really doesn’t matter how you start learning tech skills, or what path you take. It only matters that you learn tech skills. As soon as you learn those basic skills that both web designers and developers need, like HTML and CSS, you’ll be that much closer to uncovering the tech career that will be perfect for you.
And when it comes down to it, sometimes the best thing you can do is talk to someone who’s a few steps ahead of you. Use Twitter to get in touch with web designers and developers, or email us at hello@skillcrush.com, and we can talk it out!

 

What does it take to be a really good web developer?

If you’re working at your first programming job, you probably found out quickly that it’s not easy.
It’s one thing to watch coding tutorials, read programming books, and make portfolio sites. It’s quite another to have to build websites from spec, to meet deadlines, and most importantly, to make sure that your bosses and clients are happy!
On top of all that, technology changes fast. You may feel like you have to stay on top of trends or risk becoming obsolete next year.
Want to know a secret, though? You don’t have to be afraid.
As you keep working, you will gain experience in your job. In the same way that you’ve learned coding, you can also learn how to perform at a high level at work.
It’s possible to learn how to be a good web developer. And it’s even possible to be an indispensably good web developer. (Obviously I can’t guarantee your job security, but you know what I mean.)
I’m a self-taught web developer, who never took a formal computer science course. I’ve been in the field for about seven years, and I’ve struggled with the learning curve and with impostor syndrome.
But I’ve also picked up a lot of valuable experience and skills along the way. You might find some similarities to my experience and your own:

My first job

When I started out as a junior web dev in my first real job, I was beyond thrilled.
But to be completely honest, I was terrified for the first two years.
Every day I would have to do something for work that I had no idea how to accomplish. And I often didn’t have a clue how to even get started!
I felt incompetent a lot of the time.
Thankfully though, everything always worked out. I had really supportive supervisors and coworkers who showed me the ropes. And I somehow met all my deadlines.
Over time, I wasn’t feeling as stressed as before.
And after four or five years, I actually started feeling confident in my skills. I know five years may sound like a really long time to you. Especially if you’re just starting out.
Just remember this:
Success will never happen overnight. But it often happens after days, weeks, months, and years of trying hard and not giving up.
I feel like I’ve learned a lot in my own brief career. And I want to help newbie web developers who have fought so hard to land their current jobs.
There are some principles that I think will help you to stand out in a crowd. Applying them can enable you to become an asset to your company and your customers.
And even if you’re not working yet you can still apply most of these principles to your learning process.
Want to become an uncommonly good web developer? Read on!


#1: Understand that mastering anything is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you’ve landed a job straight out of bootcamp or college, that’s great! Just know that you’re at the beginning of your coding journey.
Web development is a broad field, and like any skill, it takes a long time to really get good at it. You have a long road ahead of you, and at this moment, there is a lot that you don’t know.
But that’s ok! You’re a beginner. You can’t be expected to be an expert in everything right now.
When I was in fifth or sixth grade, my older sister was starting to study for the SAT (a standardized test in the U.S. used for college admissions). As a younger sister, I wanted to try it too, so I tried answering some practice questions.
Naturally, I didn’t do very well. I don’t think I got even one question right. I was a bit of an overachiever even at that age, and I threw a tantrum because I didn’t get a perfect score.
I doubt any of you are throwing tantrums when you can’t figure a coding problem out. But in the same way, don’t expect that you have to know everything there is to know, right this second.
It’s simply unrealistic, and it will cause you a lot of stress.
Obviously you should want to learn and get better at web development.
But try to keep a bird’s eye view of your progress and be realistic about where you are right now.
Think in the long-term sense of your career, not just in the short term of this current moment.

#2: Try as hard as you can yourself first, before asking for help.

In those early years, the feeling of having to explore uncharted territory was anxiety-provoking. I would feel this pressure of having to figure something out that I just didn’t know.
In that situation, I had two choices. I could go back to my boss and say, “Sorry, I don’t know how to do this. Can you do it for me?”
That might have taken the pressure off in the short-term, but it wouldn’t have been good for me in the long run. Because an employee that doesn’t know how to find solutions will take time away from everyone else.
The other choice would be to first do as much research as possible on my own. Eventually I would hit the end of what I could understand.
Then I would finally go to my boss and say, “Sorry, I can’t figure this out. But here’s what I’ve tried so far, and I think it might be related to this…”
See the difference?

Instead of giving up early and asking someone else to do my work for me, I did as much as I could myself. 

And when asking for help, I showed that I had done some work on my own.
Researching and testing on your own will help you to learn how to teach yourself new concepts. This benefits you in two ways:
You’re learning new skills on the job– essentially, you’re getting paid to learn. You’re not sucking time away from my boss or coworkers with questions that you could figure out yourself. You’re an asset to your company, not a detriment.
Of course, the other extreme is that you spend several hours or even days stuck on a problem, when you could have gotten the answer quickly by asking for help. That’s not good either because at that point you’re spending too much time on the problem.
You’ll have to figure out for yourself how much to try on your own, and when to ask for help. But through experience, you’ll be able to find a happy medium.

#3: Stay curious.

When I first started my job, I frequently got positive feedback that I would soak up information like a sponge.
I was willing to try anything, even if I didn’t know exactly how to do it. And I was honestly curious to learn how things work.

This desire to understand how things work is at the heart of every engineer. Let your curiosity feed that desire.

Don’t shut it off just to get things done. Understanding the why is extremely important.
If you’re researching how to do something, don’t just stop once you’ve found the answer in some Stack Overflow code snippet.
If you’re not pressed by an urgent deadline, take a few extra minutes to look at the solution and how it fits in with your code.
Try to understand why your code wasn’t working before, and why it is now. It’s ok if you don’t understand everything 100%. Just try to grasp the concept.
Even if you don’t totally get it this time, you’ll be better equipped to further your understanding next time you encounter the same problem.

#4: Always be improving.

This applies not just to web development, but to any area of life: cooking, driving a car, even relationships.
When you notice that something doesn’t go quite right, step back and get some perspective. Ask yourself: what did you want to happen, and why didn’t it happen?
If your code broke a website, what happened, and how can you avoid it in the future?
If you got into an argument with a coworker while trying to explain something, what happened there? Is there anything that you said that could have escalated rather than de-escalated the situation?
Try to do the following:
  • Go back and analyze that non-optimal situation.
  • Figure out what happened.
  • Think of actionable steps that you can take to avoid the problem next time.
It takes time, and sometimes we truly don’t have that time to go back and analyze every single decision.

But constantly glossing over mistakes and conflicts without learning from them will ensure that you will repeat your mistakes.

It’s tough to do because when something negative has passed, the natural instinct is to not want to dwell on it.
Think about it like debugging your life. If you keep making the exact same mistake in your code, that would be pretty inefficient. It means that there’s something that you need to learn so that it won’t happen anymore.
Even if it’s just with tiny mistakes, practicing this mixture of self-awareness and self-improvement will reap you rewards in the long run.

#5: Get really good at solving problems.

As a web developer, a large chunk of your job is solving problems. Whether you’re writing new code or debugging existing code, the end goal is to make it do what you want.
So how can you get good at solving problems in code?
First, you have to understand exactly what it is supposed to do, and all the parts involved in the process. Then you’ll be able to figure out where the problem is happening and fix it.

Fixing a lamp

For illustrative purposes, let’s say that you have to fix a lamp that isn’t working.
In order to troubleshoot this lamp, you have to first identify the optimal behavior. In this case, it would be that switching the lamp to “on” will cause the light bulb to turn on.
If this isn’t happening, you could go through and check each step in the process to determine what’s failing.
Here’s a list that you might make:
  • Step 1: The electricity in the house comes through the outlet. Check that the electricity in the house is on, and check that the outlet is working.
  • Step 2: The lamp is plugged into the outlet to allow electricity to travel through the lamp. Check that the lamp is plugged in.
  • Step 3: The electricity travels through the wire and switch in the lamp. Check that the wire and the switch are both working.
  • Step 4: When the switch is turned on, the electricity reaches the light bulb and turns it on. Check that the light bulb is working and not broken.
By testing each step, you can use the process of elimination to narrow down and identify the culprit of your problem.

Finding and fixing a problem in your code will be more complicated than testing a light bulb, of course. But the process is the same.
I’m not going to lie, debugging code and troubleshooting issues and errors can be extremely frustrating. There have been times where I’ve spent literally days or weeks stuck on a particular problem. These are the worst parts of being a web developer.
However, the flip side is that when finally discover that solution, you will feel amazing. You might almost feel all-powerful, at least in that moment. That feeling of exultation is without a doubt the best part of being a web developer.

Don’t overlook the non-technical skills.

The last two tips will be quite a switch from the topics so far. There are some other aspects of being a professional web developer that have absolutely nothing to do with coding.
You might call them people skills or soft skills.
Even though we work with code we are ultimately working with people. The websites and apps that we build are meant for humans. And no matter your job, you’ll be working with human customers, clients, or coworkers.

The best web developers aren’t just good at coding. They are also really good at understanding the big picture, and at working with people.

I personally think that these last two principles can really help you pull away from the pack. They’re not easy to master because they require a different kind of complex thinking.
And many web developers may not consider the need to develop these non-technical skills.
This is where you can begin to make yourself uniquely useful.

#6: Cultivate empathy towards others.

Empathy involves being aware of and understanding of the feelings, needs, and perspectives of others. In short, it’s the ability to put yourself in their shoes.
When my husband and I have fights, we start off both feeling at odds with each other. I might feel like I’m 100% right– which is never the case in real life! So we talk everything through, even though it’s painful and difficult to do.
Eventually we realize that it was all based on a misunderstanding or one of us had a bad day. We’re both able to finally see the situation from the point of view of the other person.
It’s not about being right or “winning” the argument. It’s about being empathetic and being on the same page as the other person.
In the same way, when you work with people you will inevitably have conflicts or disagreements.

But try to avoid jumping to conclusions and demonizing the other person. Most likely anything they did or said wasn’t meant personally.

Try to talk to them and find out where they are coming from. They might have been really busy and simply forgotten to email you back. They might have just had a horrible meeting and regrettably took their stress out in you in the form of a terse reply.
And beyond giving others the benefit of the doubt, empathy at work also involves being aware and respectful of others’ workloads and situations.
Let’s say that one of your coworkers is working like mad on a close deadline. Don’t bother them with unrelated issues that really aren’t urgent while they’re in crunch time.
But it might be a nice gesture to ask them how it went once things have calmed down.
On a related note, if you’re interested in reading more about workplace etiquette, I’d recommend checking out the advice blog Ask a Manager. It’s super informative about what to do and not to do in the workplace.

#7: Be proactive, not reactive.

In my opinion, being proactive versus reactive is a quality that differentiates successful people from mediocre people.
A reactive employee will do the work that is asked of them, but they will do no more than that. If something goes wrong they will fix it, but they won’t think ahead to prevent this problem from recurring.
They don’t consider the big picture or how interlocking parts of a system work together. The reactive person’s default mindset is: “If it doesn’t affect me, it’s not my problem.”
It’s very short-term thinking. Note that they are not doing bad work, but they are missing out on a lot that they could be doing.
In contrast, the proactive employee won’t just complete their assigned work and call it a day. They will also make small improvements as they go.
When something goes wrong, they will analyze what happened and make changes so that it won’t happen again. They constantly think about how to make processes at work more efficient.

In short, proactive people work in the present in order to improve things in the future. 

They are able to see the big picture, and are willing to put forth effort to improve it.
Sounds pretty good, right?
To learn the skill of being proactive, you’ll have to use some trial and error, and a lot of observation. But once you figure it out, the benefits will spill over into other areas of your life.

In closing

Thanks for reading these tips on how to be a good web developer! If you’re a newbie web developer, I really hope that you’ve found some of them helpful.
And if you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

MKRdezign

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