6 Web Design Industry Statistics Every Student Should Know

Web design is a very interesting, although relatively young industry. The demand for specialists in this field is growing rapidly. A web designer’s career is a very promising one. And as many students feel lost and struggling to find their calling in the modern world - it becomes one of the many options to seriously consider.

Just like any other job - web design has its pros and cons. And doing some research before you start making life-changing decisions is a very sound idea. It is hard to avoid running into subjective opinions. So in order to have the most factual data possible, let’s crunch some numbers. Here are some of the most interesting web design industry statistics every student should know.

Web design revenue

One of the most telling factors of the growth of any industry is how much revenue it generates. In the case of web-design, the answer is as straightforward as it is impressive. In the year 2020, the industry managed to generate over 40 billion dollars of revenue worldwide. That’s 2 billion more than the year before. And the number is likely to grow.

So if you are worried about the investments your industry of choice gets - web design has you covered several times over. Of course, global industry revenue is too vague of a number to be indicative of any benefits you personally might be able to reap. So let’s move on to more specific numbers.

Median pay

Pay is a very important factor when you are trying to decide on your future career. Different people have different motivations. Some don’t really care about their salary. But it is pretty hard to remain an idealist when you are starving. Luckily, web design is all but covered on that front. An average yearly web designer salary makes up an impressive 73,760 dollars.

But before you decide to ditch whatever you are doing now to go start a web designer career, you have to carefully consider all the pros and cons. This may look like an enticing opportunity. It can challenge you in both technical and creative aspects, making for a very nice balance. But despite all of its perceived advantages it still might not fit your needs and wants.

Luckily, web design is relatively easy to get into. At least on the basic level. You might even get away with combining it with regularly scheduled classes. It may take some persuading to make your professor come around. Most will drop the issue of your attendance in their classes if you give them a solid reason. Part-time web design happens to be a good enough reason for all but the few sticklers.

As long as you can keep your grades at an acceptable level, you should be fine. If you need some additional help with that, you can always get help from some of the professional essay writers online to alleviate some of the pressure. Deadlines can pile on remarkably fast. Especially if you start missing them. So even if you are otherwise occupied - don’t let your assignments linger on for too long.

Web design is one of the jobs that can be done on a freelance basis. Use this to your advantage when planning your workload. When you are in college, your first priority is to graduate. And after you get your Bachelor’s degree - you can fully focus on your job.

Projected employment opportunities

So the pay is good, but how likely are you to land a dream job should you ever decide to start working in this field? The prognosis on that account is very much encouraging for future professionals. It is expected for employment opportunities to experience an 8 percent growth through the years 2019-2029. That is approximately two times quicker of a demand growth than average.

Now that doesn’t really guarantee employment as the competition can spike as well. But the industry steadily expands. The internet has been pretty stable as a factor of ever-growing importance in our lives. Companies put more and more effort into the quality of their online presence. Moreover, that presence needs maintenance and constant updates. Plus the nature of the job makes it entirely possible to work remotely.

All things considered, it is safe to say that an average web designer will have very little trouble finding employment in the nearest decade or so. And even if web design as a craft changes drastically throughout these years, it shouldn’t be too hard to keep up. Like in most tech-oriented jobs, you need to constantly work on improving your skills and researching new trends if you want to be good at it.

First impression

Hard numbers can be difficult to put into perspective. And in order to truly understand why web design is becoming such an important part of virtually every business, we have to look at why exactly that is. Online presence is a requirement for big and small businesses alike. Some of them even go as far as operating within the digital space entirely. This makes a website into a sort of bridge between the business and its customers.

It takes 0,05 seconds for an average internet user to make up their impression of the website they’ve just entered. What does this number tell us? 5 milliseconds is too short of a time to start reading or look over any functionality the website might offer. That means that most of the credit for hooking up the customer and making them stay goes to visuals. Patterns, colors - very basic things.

What every aspiring web designer needs to learn is that you only ever get one first impression. The work that designers put into it is enormous and its importance should never be underestimated. Of course, you probably wouldn’t be able to keep your website afloat on initial visuals alone. But making a customer stay to give a fighting chance to the rest of the content.

Negative feedback source

The consequences of poor web design work can be pretty drastic. 94 percent of bad website reviews stem from the poor visual design. The absolute majority of the pool of people who cared enough to write a review. But let’s not get swayed by survivorship bias and avoid offensive language. Stats are a little bit easier to gather on the internet so let’s have a look beyond reported cases of dissatisfaction.

Almost 40 percent of users will leave the website if the visual component is not appealing to them or even if it simply looks too plain. Visuals have a 75 percent impact on the website’s credibility. As such, poor website design is cited as one of the main factors that can negatively impact customers’ level of trust towards the brand. 88 percent of website visitors will not return after a poor experience with a website.

Mobile trend

Being on top of your game is an important part of any profession, let alone web design. This includes following the latest trends as your ultimate goal is to create something as appealing to the masses as possible. Mobile web browsing is extremely easy to overlook. But its growing importance has made plenty of designers to come around and give it the attention it deserves.

Approximately 49 percent of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Spending some extra time and effort to develop a mobile version of your website saves companies millions of dollars every year. At the same time, a positive experience with a mobile version of the website will prompt 74 percent of customers to return and/or recommend the website to their social circle.

Of course, a computer is a way more comfortable canvas to work with in terms of design. But you have to consider the pace of the modern lifestyle. People do anything they can to save time. And browsing the web from your pocket device on the go is one of the most efficient ways to do this. Especially when it comes to looking for fresh start-up ideas  on social media. By accommodating mobile users you can ensure the success of your website design.

Final words

Now that the facts are all laid out you can decide for yourself whether or not going into this field is truly something you want to do. Going purely by the numbers it seems like a fairly decent idea at the very least. But of course, at the end of the day, it is a matter of personal preference. Don’t force yourself to do a job you don’t enjoy. If you don’t like something about your life - change it.

Like many modern jobs, web design possesses a selection of important traits:

• It’s easy to get into;

• It’s hard to master;

• It is open to self-learning.

That means that it’s never too late to pick it up. It also means it is never too late to drop it in favor of something more interesting. Regardless of how you decide to approach it - as a hobby, as a part-time job, as a life calling - you can always find an option that suits you and change it as soon as you feel like it.