I wouldn't say I have vast amounts of knowledge and experience with independent website building, but I do have some, and I have designed and made websites for people in the past.

If you're asking how I personally build a website, I love the graphic design aspect and I design all the GUI for my sites. However, I can see that for some developers (a lot really) they prefer the coding/building aspect and not so much the design.

I think really if you want to use things like bootstrap that's perfectly fine. I think for some websites the look doesn't need to be OVERLY complicated, I personally like clean looking websites anyway!

I would make sure you have sort of a portfolio of things to show a potential client, and from there they can base whether they think you're right for the job.

Well i may not be a expert but you can use websites to make websites

Vane wrote I wouldn't say I have vast amounts of knowledge and experience with independent website building, but I do have some, and I have designed and made websites for people in the past.

If you're asking how I personally build a website, I love the graphic design aspect and I design all the GUI for my sites. However, I can see that for some developers (a lot really) they prefer the coding/building aspect and not so much the design.

I think really if you want to use things like bootstrap that's perfectly fine. I think for some websites the look doesn't need to be OVERLY complicated, I personally like clean looking websites anyway!

I would make sure you have sort of a portfolio of things to show a potential client, and from there they can base whether they think you're right for the job.

I really appreciate the reply. This has helped me out a lot.
Thank you.

I recommend you learn a bit of design. A freelance web developer should be, in my opinion, well knowledgeable in both design, and at minimal, front-end development. Why? Because a lot of your competition will be.

In regards to Bootstrap, I consider it a crutch for CSS. Bootstrap may create some classes for presentation for you, but just because you have them pre-made doesn't mean you layout them in a pleasing way. An understanding of UI and UX principles can go a long way; especially for a freelancer. Also, if you plan to use the sites you build as a portfolio for a job position later in life, some hiring managers may look down upon on you for using Bootstrap as the primary presentation creation on all of your projects. If I see Bootatrap, I usually assume a developer doesn't understand CSS as well as he/she should. Personally, I believe if you absolutely must use Bootstrap, use it in moderation. In other words, only use it in places that you need it, where it can stop you from "reinventing the wheel". For the rest of the site, create your own CSS.

Cuckoo wrote I recommend you learn a bit of design. A freelance web developer should be, in my opinion, well knowledgeable in both design, and at minimal, front-end development. Why? Because a lot of your competition will be.

In regards to Bootstrap, I consider it a crutch for CSS. Bootstrap may create some classes for presentation for you, but just because you have them pre-made doesn't mean you layout them in a pleasing way. An understanding of UI and UX principles can go a long way; especially for a freelancer. Also, if you plan to use the sites you build as a portfolio for a job position later in life, some hiring managers may look down upon on you for using Bootstrap as the primary presentation creation on all of your projects. If I see Bootatrap, I usually assume a developer doesn't understand CSS as well as he/she should. Personally, I believe if you absolutely must use Bootstrap, use it in moderation. In other words, only use it in places that you need it, where it can stop you from "reinventing the wheel". For the rest of the site, create your own CSS.

Thanks for the response. I'm ok with the design, but I tend to use bootstrap for the grid layout only. Would that be ok?

RapidzMoose wrote

Cuckoo wrote I recommend you learn a bit of design. A freelance web developer should be, in my opinion, well knowledgeable in both design, and at minimal, front-end development. Why? Because a lot of your competition will be.

In regards to Bootstrap, I consider it a crutch for CSS. Bootstrap may create some classes for presentation for you, but just because you have them pre-made doesn't mean you layout them in a pleasing way. An understanding of UI and UX principles can go a long way; especially for a freelancer. Also, if you plan to use the sites you build as a portfolio for a job position later in life, some hiring managers may look down upon on you for using Bootstrap as the primary presentation creation on all of your projects. If I see Bootatrap, I usually assume a developer doesn't understand CSS as well as he/she should. Personally, I believe if you absolutely must use Bootstrap, use it in moderation. In other words, only use it in places that you need it, where it can stop you from "reinventing the wheel". For the rest of the site, create your own CSS.

Thanks for the response. I'm ok with the design, but I tend to use bootstrap for the grid layout only. Would that be ok?

The problem, if you're only going to use it for grid systems, then there's no need to have Bootstrap taking up space. There are plenty of grid systems out there available to use. You have to remember, even though you're only using grids, Bootstrap still has all that extra bloated code laying in there. There's also the fact that if you do enjoy designing, Bootstrap certainly limits what you can do on the design aspect. I would only use Bootstrap if I needed to create a quick mock up for a client, or creating the initial layout for a start up project. If you are going to choose a full blown framework for primarily grid system, I would recommend Foundation. it's grid systems are a bit more robust, and overall it allows you to customize your layout more. Sites built with Bootstrap are usually easy to identify that it was built with Bootstrap.

Here's some blog posts that should help you use Bootstrap most effectively; if you do choose to use it:

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