What Do Web Designers Earn? Income, Hours Worked, and Future
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| Photo by Eftakher Alam on Unsplash |
Hanifmr.com - Even if I no longer work as a web designer for customers myself, I am closely following what is happening in this branch of the profession. In addition, now and then I get inquiries from readers about what a web designer can earn today.
Is it still worth doing as a freelance web designer?
To answer this question, I looked at two current studies that deal with this very question and offer interesting insights. In the following, you will learn, among other things, how much web designers earn, what the working hours are like, and how satisfied they are.
What Do Web Designers Earn?
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| What Do Web Designers Earn? Income, Hours Worked, and Future |
15 or 20 years ago it was usually a lucrative idea to become self-employed as a web designer. Before the big social networks and the many website builders out there today. There was no great alternative to having a web designer create a website for you. A corresponding amount of money was charged at the time.
But times have changed and so your websites are no longer necessary to be active online. And besides automated possibilities to get your website, there is above all a lot of competition from other web designers.
Of course, that has also had an impact on what web designers earn. According to a study by HostEurope this year, web designer incomes were as follows:
| Less than 20,000 euros a year | 23.5% |
| 20,000 to 40,000 euros per year | 37.9% |
| 40,000 to 60,000 euros a year | 22.7% |
| 60,000 to 80,000 euros per year | 7.5% |
| Over 80,000 euros a year | 8.4% |
So the majority earn relatively little. On the other hand, only a small part was able to build up a really good annual income.
This is also reflected in the hourly rates. 18.8% of web designers charge less than 40 euros an hour. At only 12.4%, the hourly rate is higher than 80 euros per hour. An important reason for this is a great competition. That breaks prices in many areas.
Especially with small customers, who make up a large part of the clients for web designers, high hourly rates cannot be enforced. I also had the problem many years ago when I was still working as a web designer. The orders were not large here in the region and the hourly rates suffered more and more.
According to Moz.com, web design is one of the worst-paying jobs in the online business anyway. If you look at this distribution, even if it is data from the USA, then it is sobering.
But it has to be said that there are strong fluctuations according to age and experience. Those who have been with us for a long time can also build up a better income.
Web Designers Don't Earn the Same Amount Everywhere
But you cannot lump all regions together. There are strong regional differences.
On gehaltsvergleich.com you can look at the salaries of web designers. This is about employees, but that certainly also reflects the potential for independent web designers in the region.
While the salary for web designers in Bavaria is between 23,808 - 47,343 euros per year, it is significantly lower in Brandenburg at 17,372 - 36,369 euros per year.
So it depends a lot on where you work. In Munich, for example, according to this portal, the income of web designers is 25,953 - 75,466 euros per year.
Working Hours and Satisfaction
A good salary is therefore quite possible for web designers, but it certainly does not look rosy for everyone. But money alone is not a sufficient basis for valuation. That is why the HostEurope study also evaluated working hours. The result is the following values.
| Up to 35 hours | 32.4% |
| Between 36 and 45 hours | 45.6% |
| More than 46 hours a week | 22% |
On the one hand, that's significantly less over time than I would have thought. Of course, overtime is often unavoidable, especially for founders, and this is sometimes necessary later, depending on the current project. Contrary to other slogans such as “self and constant”, permanent overtime is neither useful nor a sign of successful self-employment. Instead, it's the other way around. If you are self-employed, you no longer have to work overtime all the time, but have reasonably normal working hours.
Another insight from these numbers could also be that some only work part-time as web designers. That is of course also interesting and then the sometimes low income may have to be assessed differently.
The high percentage of web designers who are fairly satisfied or very satisfied with their work is astonishing and also gratifying. 71 percent stated this. Money isn't everything to be happy. In contrast, only 5.9% are less or not at all satisfied. That is a relatively small percentage if you look at the dissatisfaction of many employees.
According to a GoDaddy study from this year, 57% of web developers worldwide work from home. Apparently, there are fewer in Germany, but my survey is in an even higher range:
Do you have an external office?
- No (71%, 239 votes)
- Yes (15%, 51 votes)
- No, but I am planning to move to an external office. (14%, 48 votes)
Number of participants: 338 (1 vote)
Web designers can work from their home office relatively easily. I did that for many years and it worked wonderfully.
The Future of Web Designers
I've already dealt with the question of what the future looks like for web designers.
The data I have compiled above shows that there is no such thing as THE web designer. Instead, all possible facets are available and therefore you cannot give a general answer to this question.
Website builders, apps, and social networks are gnawing at classic web design. You don't need a web design service provider for that. In return, more and more companies are foregoing their website or are at least using construction kits or templates.
Nevertheless, web designers will continue to be needed in many areas in the future. It's just moving away from the classic static company websites and towards more differentiated and integrated solutions. That is why specialization is very important.
But hard work is also important for success for web designers in the future, because new customer acquisition, keeping up with technical developments, pricing and many other points are part of the daily tasks. In general, many web designers struggle with having to do a lot of different tasks. Web design is just one of them.
According to a survey I conducted on my blog a while ago, you see it similarly. Web design can still be a lucrative business model, but it's not easy.
Is web design still a sensible business model?
- If you do it right, you can very well be successful as a web designer. (56%, 409 votes)
- Most certainly. Companies today need really good web designers. (21%, 154 votes)
- No, the market is broken. There are too many low-cost providers on the way. (17%, 124 votes)
- I don't want to talk about that. ;-) (5%, 39 votes)
Number of participants: 727 (1 vote)
You can find more information in this clear infographic.
What is Your Opinion or Experience?
At the end of this article, I would of course be interested in your experiences as a web designer.
Can you make a good living from it? How about your working hours? What do you expect from the future?
I am happy about your feedback.
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