Need help with web design?
If you have ever found yourself enthralled with the beauty of a website, you may have put some thought into what may have went into building it and wished that you could create a website. Or perhaps as a new business owner you realize you need a website but have either been distressed at how much it can cost to get one or unsatisfied with the results and have made the decision to learn how to design a website yourself. Whatever the reason for deciding to learn this fun and even rewarding skill, the following ten websites offer tutorials, training sessions and other tools to get you on your way. Even if you already know how to do one language but would like to learn another, you will likely find something extremely useful on these sites. Many of them offer even more types of training that you might need also. Learn for your own use, or start a new career – the possibilities are endless! The sites are listed in order of their Alexa traffic count rating.
1. W3Schools: http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp
Global Alexa Rating: 154
W3Schools offers a number of options for training with courses suitable for both beginners and experts. The website is easily organized so you can jump into HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Server Side, XML Tutorials and WEB Building. They are the largest web developers site on the Internet with over 28 million visits every month. On the main page you will find all the links to the various classes as well as links to web building demos including a PHP Demo, ASP Demo and .NET Demo. They also offer an online certification program for those that want to prove to potential clients that they have a commitment to upgrading their skills. This gives you credibility both with clients and your employer. You simply study for free at your own speed on the website and take the appropriate quizzes. When you feel ready, apply for certification by paying an exam fee and then take the exam online – and you can retake the exam a second time if you either fail or want to improve your score. The site is also full of plenty of examples in a variety of subjects such as HTML headings, text formatting, tables, layout, forms and more. There is also a forum for connecting with other students and getting assistance.
2. Lynda: http://www.lynda.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 1,286
Lynda.com offers easy-to-follow video tutorials to its members. Memberships include unlimited access, 2,499 video courses, expert teachers, courses for all levels, on-the-go learning from your tablet or mobile device and custom playlists in which you create and save lists of courses you want to watch. All membership levels include unlimited access and new courses weekly. Premium members also receive project files to download and Premium annual membership also includes offline viewing by downloading courses on mobile devices. They also offer group memberships for companies that want to purchase memberships for 5+ people. Basic and Premium memberships are offered by the month or discounted for annual purchases. Basic is $25/month, $250/year. Premium is $37.50/month, $375/year. This may seem a bit high considering other sites are less costly or even free, but when you browse the library of courses available, you’ll quickly see how much you could learn in a year – even going far beyond website design! For example, learn about online marketing, data analysis, social media marketing, Microsoft Office products such as Excel and Access, CAD software and topics, developing databases, games or mobile apps, education software, photography, filmmaking and so much more! All the courses are listed so you can view them to see how many you would like to learn.
3. Treehouse: http://teamtreehouse.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 3,181
Treehouse offers a structured way in which to learn by providing guided pathways through the content they offer. This may be an ideal way for some people to learn, especially if they need a little nudge now and then to stay on track. They will get you started on a “track” by giving an outline of topics to cover and in which order they recommend you learn them. This doesn’t mean you can’t jump around if you wish, however, so you are always free to learn in the way you do best. There are hundreds of hours of content and you can select them by filtering by topic, search by keyword or simply browse around till something appeals to you. It is video-based teaching that is refreshed whenever content gets out of date. This site makes learning fun with the ability to earn points and achievement badges. They offer two levels of membership which both offer a 14-day free trial. Basic is $25/month and Pro is $49/month. Both offer the ability to learn projects with access to 1,000+ videos, practice live with their Code Challenge Engine and get help with their members-only forum. Pro also offers the ability to watch talks from industry professionals and experience exclusive workshops and interviews. You can also feel good about the fact that for every new Gold account they will donate one to a public school student. It is a good idea to take advantage of the free trial to see all that is offered since there doesn’t seem to be a complete listing available on the website other than a few topics and tracks listed at the bottom of the homepage which you can click to see trailers.
4. ExpertRating: http://www.expertrating.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 14,067
ExpertRating is a trusted source for employee testing used by corporations making it an excellent choice for individuals that want to be sure they have the skills necessary to qualify for the dream job or that promotion they have their eye on. Each course has its own cost to purchase ranging from $29.99 to $2,199.99 – now don’t panic, this high end one is for pharmacy technician certification which you probably aren’t looking to do! The various web page design courses are each $129.99. They offer 9 courses: Dreamweaver (4 courses), Web Page Design (4 courses) and SEO training. When you select a course you are taken to a page that fully describes the course including information about the final exam, course instructor and certificate earned. There is also a full layout of what will be taught in each week. The courses are timed so be sure to only purchase them as you go. When you click ‘enroll now’ you will see the upcoming start dates. These courses are more regimented than other online courses as you are learning as you would in a classroom. This may be a great way for some people to learn. You might even find this a great source for learning an entirely new career (or secondary one!) that you might not have thought about. Take some time to browse through the available courses – you might be surprised! There is also a section of free online tutorials which include many web design language tutorials – in fact, this might be the best place to start.
5. Develop PHP: http://www.developphp.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 18,453
Develop PHP will amuse you right from your first entry into the website with its cute graphics and fun layout. A cartoon penguin in a graduate cap greets you, for example. If you fall in love with the graphics, check out their T-Shirt shop. The main page is a list of the most recent additions to their tutorial offerings. Along the left side are links to the various libraries, videos and resources. If you want to kill a few minutes and test your memory, there is a fun little memory exercise on the main page also. The focus on this site is HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL. They offer both high quality video tutorials and code libraries. The site is completely free although they do accept donations. Libraries include HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Videos include PHL and MySQL, JavaScripts, HTML and CSS, Vector and 3D, Flash Actionscript, Android Dev and Miscellaneous. Resources includes Website Hosting information and Developer Q&A.
Global Alexa Rating: 43,540
VTC offers a single user online account, multi user online account and physical copies (CD/DVD-ROM, USB) options. Their online accounts are offered in monthly, 3-month, 6-month and yearly for single users and monthly or yearly for multi user accounts. The online accounts include free version updates when released, certificates when completed and are mobile device compatible. They offer over 1,000 courses. Their course list is available on the website and can be viewed in alphabetical order or by release date. You can also pull up courses in a particular category and view courses that are currently being developed so you can plan ahead. You can also make suggestions for a course you would like them to produce and vote on suggestions other people have made. Reasonably priced for single user: $30/month (same rate per month for 3 or 6 months) or $250/year which works out to be $20.83/month. Multi user is $20/mon/user or $200/year/user with a minimum of 5 users and must be purchased in 5 user increments. The website also offers live support online should you have any questions and the help section is very useful as well.
7. New Horizons: http://www.newhorizons.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 85,130
New Horizons offers a multitude of ways in which to learn various computer skills. It is easy to browse their courses as they are filtered by type of technology, vendor, certification and roles. They offer instructor-led training, mentored learning, on-site training, online live and online anytime. Simply choose the type you desire to see what courses are offered. You might find this website a bit overwhelming and difficult to navigate, but once you spend some time on it you will find yourself enthralled with all they have to offer. One thing to keep an eye on is upcoming free training webinars with new topics every month. Overall the website deals mainly with Microsoft products and not a lot in the way of website design, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking it out as there are plenty of other technology topics that can be helpful for those looking toward a career in website design. For 30 years they have provided more than 30 million students with industry-leading technical training and they have 300 training centers in 70 countries so they could be ideal for those that prefer learning in a true classroom rather than online. Select the “find a location” button to see if there is a center near you. Also check out the Tips and Tricks section to sign up for a weekly email.
8. KillerSites: http://www.killersites.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 87,571
KillerSites offers a Complete Web Designer training package with nearly 30 hours of training video tutorials spanning nearly 200 video lessons. It is designed for beginner to intermediate skill level students. It can be downloaded for just $99.99 or you can order a DVD for $129.99. The website includes a complete table of contents so you can see exactly what you will be learning. A number of the lessons include links to view the videos so you can get an idea what they look like. This is a great option for those that want to learn web design without paying a monthly fee. One advantage of this offering is that it begins at the very beginning so it doesn’t assume you know anything at all – in fact, it starts with “What is a web page?” which you have to agree is pretty basic! There are 8 different modules with hands-on practical training to take you step by step through the process of website design. Learn HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, Dreamweaver CS6, CSS layouts, CSS lists, Photoshop for the web, HTML forms and horizontal lists with CSS Sprites. They also offer more courses including Complete Web Programmer ($99.99/$119.99), Web Design for Small Business ($149.99/$169.99) and Complete Adobe Web Training ($99.99/$119.99). There are others as well and they offer 10% to 15% off when combining two or more video courses or packages. There are also some mini-courses. Choose a beginner course or more advanced options.
9. Total Training: http://totaltraining.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 135,344
Total Training offers Individual, Business, Education and Government memberships all with unlimited download and streaming access to more than 230 courses (1,250+ hours) to choose from. Individual memberships are priced at $24.99/month, $137.94/semi-annually, $239.88/annually or $399.99/bi-annually. Membership includes access to courses any time you want, online or offline, free project files that allow you to follow along to reinforce how it’s done, player features such as bookmarking a lesson or tracking your progress, new content as it is added and mobile access. It is easy to view the courses offered – filter by instructor, level, publisher, software, software maker or subject. They also offer DVD-based training. They were founded in 1996 and are based in Oceanside, California. The blog section has some interesting content as well. There is an email address, leave a message feature and 800 telephone number should you have any questions.
10. Webucator: http://www.webucator.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 142,453
Webucator provides on-site and online training on technologies such as Microsoft ASP.NET, XML, Windows, Java, Adobe Flash, HTML5, JavaScript, Dreamweaver and more. They have provided training for more than 45,000 people thus far. They offer a free demo that is schedule each day so you can see what they are about. There is a drop down window so you can choose which day/time you want to experience their webinar which uses WebEx web conferencing software. The demo runs for 15 minutes. You can also view a recorded webinar or a free trial when offered. Webucator offers live eLearning, customized on-site training, self-paced courses and at-your-own-pace eLearning. Their self-paced courses allow you a free trial option but does not include any of the plus or premium features. Purchasing a course can be done individually or you can purchase vouchers to be used for whatever course you apply them to. The more vouchers you buy at one time, the less you pay for each voucher. For example, one course may cost $99.90 individually or two vouchers. The vouchers start at 10 for $45, so if you bought 10 vouchers, the course would cost you $90 instead of $99.90. If you plan to do more than 5 courses, then getting the vouchers is the way to go. Look over the courses to decide what you want to take and it should be easy to decide which route to go.
It can be a very convenient to learn web design through an online training website, especially when they allow access whenever you choose. Whether you do better with a more structured environment or not will dictate which of these to go with. Your budget will be part of it also since some are more expensive than others. Take the time to make an informed decision before choosing an expensive one, or go with one of the free or free trial options to get your feet wet. The important thing is getting started – don’t wait, there is a world of education waiting for you!
