Should You Start a Career in Web Design? Pros and Cons

Web design careers have changed a lot in the last few years. The industry landscape has shifted significantly and both the pros and the cons of the jobs are certainly not what they used to be.

But is web design still a good career? What do modern web design careers look like? And what qualifications will you need to get started?

Is Web Design a Good Career in 2026?

In the early 2010s, becoming a web designer seemed like a dream job for many. It was a job you could work in your own hours. You could start small and scale as needed. There was a never ending base of customers needing a modern website that would rank well on google. In short, if you had the skills and the entrepreneurial mindset, then it was the perfect career.

In 2026, things have certainly changed. The skills have become more attainable while the tooling is easier than ever to use. The bar to entry has been drastically lowered and that’s without even getting into the AI elephant in the room. Furthermore, where every company used to need a website of their own, many small businesses now get by with simple social media pages.

Put simply, freelance web design has become a massively saturated market. As for in-house web designers, while you will find job listings, they’re generally looking for people with a solid portfolio of experience. By far the best way to get that experience is by freelancing.

So is it all doom and gloom? Should you give up hope of becoming a web designer?

Absolutely not. While the world of web design is certainly different, different is not the same as worse. Yes, the market is more saturated now but much of that saturation is coming from low-effort designers looking to make quick money on the back of better tooling.

By contrast, a thoughtful, creative, and skilled designer can really stand out in the current market if they target the right clients. Meanwhile, all that better tooling makes your job easier too. This means that you can get through more clients and spend more time focusing on attracting new clients all while building a great reputation as a web designer.

Web designers are still in demand and they will be for a long time. A web designer’s job isn’t just to spit out something functional but to design something practical.

How Much Do Web Designers Make?

As a salaried web designer, you can expect to start at around minimum wage for entry-level roles, climbing to around £50K for experienced developers and even more for those with specialised skillsets.

That said, as we’ve already discussed, the web design space is dominated by freelancers and estimating their earnings is a lot harder. Many freelancers do make a moderate to healthy income as freelance web designers with some earning enough to set up small businesses and hire on staff.

How to Start Your Web Design Career

You don’t need qualifications to become a freelance web designer. For salaried work they might help but even then nothing beats a really first rate portfolio.

What you need is skills. Anyone can crank out an AI made website but far fewer can meaningfully apply design and UI/UX concepts. Even fewer can really analyse and debug the code when something goes wrong. Those are skills that take both knowledge and practise.

All of this to say that if you want to really build a career for yourself as a web designer then your first step should be to build some websites. Client work is always better if you can find it but even if it’s just a few dummy sites to show off your skills, that’s a start. After all, no client will hire you unless you’ve got something real to show them.

Even as you’re taking on those early clients, make sure to keep learning. You can always push your skillset further, learning more and more niche areas of web design in your spare time. On top of that, it’s very important to stay up-to-date with best practices. SEO in particular is an ever moving target that’s easy to fall behind on.

If you’re ready to start your web design career, then don’t wait around. Start building today so you can get a head start on your learning.