When you’re looking for complementary skills in web development, the sky's the limit since there’s an enormous amount of skills that relate to it. No skill exists in isolation since there’s always more to learn. Although, it may not be clear which next steps you should take. People who learn web development find that web design, WordPress, and mobile development complement the coding skills you learn in web development courses. This guide will briefly review each to help you decide which one to try first.

What is Web Development?

Web development is the art of creating a website and ensuring it’s consistently usable. Web Developers use various coding languages to achieve this goal, and it’s common for coding teams to have a person—or multiple people—entirely dedicated to web development. It’s commonly broken down into three types: front end, back end, and full stack development. Each type has a unique role that contributes to the website’s operations. 

Front end web development works with the website's client-side, referred to as the “front end.” This part of the website contains the sections people can see, such as sliders, banners, text, and other visual information. On the opposite side, back end web development works on the website's server-side, or “back end.” This part of web development controls the website's functionality and is where all its data resides. 

Full stack web development is a fusion of the two and takes on their best qualities. A Full Stack Developer will have skills in each category and can seamlessly maneuver between the front and back end. Teams will often have at least one Front End Developer, Back End Developer, and Full Stack Developer readily working on the website regularly. 

Read more about what web development is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Web Development Skills?

Web development can bolster your career, highlight your hobby, and possibly evolve into a small business of its own. Every industry, from medicine to finance to education, has adapted to the world’s changes and is relying on the internet to complete its work. This list only scratches the surface—nearly every business has shifted online because they value the easy access the internet brings them and their clients. 

You’ll increase your professional value by having web development skills and helping build your company’s website. You can also shift career tracks by using web development as a bridge. Are you in medicine but want to switch to art? First, you can start web development for hospitals and then pivot to creating websites for artists. The internet’s importance to all industries means you can easily change companies as you progress. 

While you can showcase your passions on social media, having a website increases your credibility, helps you connect with others without vying for their attention, and creates a centralized location for your work. Most importantly, it allows you to operate on your own terms without worrying about sudden changes to a social media platform’s algorithms or policies. And, if you want to build a network on social media, why not have both? 

Skills Related to Web Development

You’re likely planning to learn more than web development if you’re learning to code, and you might be unsure which topic to explore next. The following sections cover how web design, WordPress, and mobile development relate to web development and how you can use them in cohesion. 

Web Design

Web design takes aspects of graphic design, user interface (UI) design, and user experience (UX) design and applies them specifically to the context of a website or app. Although it may sound daunting to learn each of those skills individually, web design has quirks and nuances that make it simpler to understand. While coding experience isn’t completely necessary to join a web design course, the more you know, the more you’ll get out of the class. 

Web Design Certificate programs will give you insight into how to use your web development knowledge and use it to make your website more appealing. Taking a User Interface (UI) Design Certificate program is also an excellent step, especially if you plan to move into user experience (UX) & UI design as a profession. If you’re planning to gain more expertise on this side of web design, you may want to try a UX & UI Design Certificate program and dive directly into these topics in one go. 

WordPress

WordPress and web development go hand-in-hand, mostly because it’s extremely accessible for newcomers. WordPress takes the elements of web design that programmers don’t have time to learn right away and allows them to use WordPress’s templates to do the work for them. Or, if you already have artistic abilities but aren’t comfortable programming yet, WordPress allows you to start building your website before you learn to type your first line of code. It’s also useful for advanced programmers because it can serve both the hosting and domain name site as an all-in-one service without jumping between two different platforms to keep your website online. 

Over 40% of all websites use WordPress as their hosting or domain main site, making it a very reliable option compared to their competition. If you’re making a website for the first time, it’s highly recommended that you use WordPress in some capacity. After all, if you choose, you can always branch out for your next one. Try taking a WordPress Bootcamp and see how easily you can take your web development skills to the next level. 

Mobile Development

More than half of all internet users access it through a mobile device, most commonly a phone or tablet. Mobile development is becoming an increasingly important area of study for that reason. Websites need to optimize for different screen sizes and touchscreen features to ensure that users can easily access the information or service they need each time they enter your site. Your web development skills will serve as a solid base to help you adapt your websites to a mobile device and enable you to focus on making small changes or additions as needed. 

The increase in mobile device usage also means an increase in mobile apps. An iOS App Development Bootcamp will show you everything you need to know to create and set up apps on an app store. Most iOS App Development classes review this part of the app design process. You'll be ready for the challenge no matter how you approach this part of web development. 

Learn Web Development Skills with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers high-quality web development classes and bootcamps that are flexible to your learning needs. These courses, taught by experts in web development, are available in-person at their training center in Manhattan and live online internationally. Noble ensures that you will work in small groups with your instructors to help you receive individualized attention, support, and career mentorship. All Noble courses are also available for a free retake up to one year after completion. 

Beginners might be interested in the Front End Web Development certificate program because it gives them the practical knowledge needed to become Web Developers. This program has two tracks depending on how quickly you want to learn: the full-time option takes four weeks to complete, while part-time students will complete the course in four months. 

For those that are interested in learning more about web development as a whole, the Full Stack Web Development Certificate will show you all of the significant concepts associated with client-side and server-side web development. This course is another excellent option for beginners since you can take it with no prior experience. Noble’s courses come with certificates that you can proudly display on LinkedIn or send to employers alongside your resume.

Key Takeaway

• Web development pairs well with web design, WordPress, and mobile development, which are excellent skills to learn next.
• Web design is helpful if you have more artistic abilities but are new to coding—or vice versa.
• WordPress is one of the most popular hosting and domain name platforms online.
• Mobile development is increasingly relevant because half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. 
• You can receive comprehensive training in web development, web design, WordPress, and mobile development through an in-person or online course with Noble Desktop.