How to Become a Web Developer in Kenya

Web development as a career has become popular over the last decade due to the increase in Internet accessibility and increased demand for websites. From the side, one can think that it is an easy career path but that’s not entirely true.

Web developers have careers like any other professionals. I am going to walk you through the entire process of becoming a developer and perks for becoming one.

What is Web Development

As the name suggests, it is the creation of websites that are displayed on the Internet while browsing. Web development is a computing skill that gained popularity as more people gained access to the Internet.

What is a website

A website is a collection of pages and information about the same subject under one domain name. A website facilitates information sharing across the Internet. Any business or person can have a website and share their information through the Internet.

There are three categories of websites popularly known:

• Static website
• Dynamic sites
• E-commerce sites

Duties and Responsibilities of Web Developer

1. Building the website from scratch either by coding or using tools.
2. Ensuring the site is always in perfect condition. Some links tend to break and the loading speed could be affected by bugs.
3. Customize the front end of the site; visuals and text that people see when they visit the website.
4. Create regular content to display on the site and to keep the site active and relevant with updated content.
5. Optimize the website pages for search engine. This improves your site’s ranking and makes it able to compete with people offering the same services. We call this Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Now let’s look at the types of Web developer and see who does what.

Types of Web Developers

1. Front page Developer: They are responsible for everything visible when people visit the site; the visuals and texts. They ensure the site is appealing to the visitors and displays the intended message. They also carry out Web page optimization or SEO on content before publishing so as to improve the site’s ranking.
2. Back end Developer: They are responsible for putting together the whole system that would be the website before the front page developers can customize. They apply technical skills of programming and coding to build the website from scratch and ensure that it will be usable as intend by the client.
3. Full Stack Developer: They are responsible for the entire development process, building from scratch customisation and SEO. They basically have the skills of both the back end and front end developer.

There you go, you can decide which type of development you want to major in.

How to Become a Web Developer in Kenya (Step by Step)

Develop the Necessary Skills

Like any other profession, different skills are required to handle different tasks. In this line of duty, you will need both soft and technical skills discussed below.

Technical Skills:

• Coding language like HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Server Coding like Python, Java or C#

Soft Skills:

• Good Communication skills; If you want to work in a company or an agency, you will be in constant communication with your colleagues through projects.
• Great Team work; most websites take a team to develop so as to deliver within the set time frame, working together is crucial in an agency to achieve this.
• Good organisation; being organised will ensure efficiency in your service delivery.
• Time conscious; as we mentioned earlier, every Web development work has a time frame for completion, you should be able to work within the time frame.
• Attention to detail; any task that involves building, requires attention to detail. In this particular field, no detail should be overlooked. A tiny omission or inclusion could make the entire website not to run the way it is supposed to. This can end up frustrating you. Pay attention.

Attend a Bootcamp or College

You can learn everything you need to know about Web development in as little as 6 to 12 months in a college or 4 to 6 weeks at a bootcamp.

There has been an increase in the number of colleges offering this programme as well as Web design & development bootcamps. The choice is yours.

Get Certified

If you are alredy familiar with the skills or you already attended a bootcamp that didn’t offer certification, you should consider one. Being certified will make clients trust you more, meaning you will have a higher chance of securing gigs compared to an uncertified web designer.

If you took a college course, you should get certified at the end of it. There are several credible online certificates that you can consider too. Platforms like Google, Meta, Coursera, LinkedIn and SkillShare have short courses that you can take and get certified at the end of it.

Build a Portfolio

You’ve developed the skills needed and got certified, you are almost there. There are two options in this profession, either you work as a freelancer or seek employment at an agency or company. Whichever the choice, you’ll need a portfolio.

You can buy a domain and create a beautiful website for yourself, then go on creating websites for 2 or 3 of your friends. That’s 4 projects already on your portfolio.

You’ll notice how easier it is to create the 4th website compared to the first one. We learn better by doing things, putting our skills in practice and sharpening them.

Apply for A Gig or Employment at a Company/Agency

If you have reached here, you have come a long way. Congratulations!

You now have a portfolio which means it should be easier to apply for gigs or convince employers that you are the right guy for the job.

Most of you will choose freelancing option where you can create a profile on upwork, fivver or any other freelancing platform you know. While creating your profile, make sure you go an extra mile to convince clients that they should recruit you.

Those who prefer to work for agencies should reach out to the decision makers at the agencies and submit your proposal containing your portfolio. Well, that’s not how to apply for a job but we can argue that there is no right or wrong way. Just keep seeking.

Web Developer Salary in Kenya

According to Glassdoor, the median monthly salary for entry level developers is kes.30,000 mid level employees have a median salary of kes.45,000 while senior level developers can earn upto kes.125,000.