Coding and programming languages are not for everyone of course. This may sound the idea of a nightmare, even with a £50 an hour freelancing cost range, but if you’d rather sit in a bath of baked beans than learn coding, then there are a lot of other ideas on Money Boost.
The idea around the ability to code has become very mainstream. It’s being encouraged in school’s and for after school activities. There are now a growing number of ‘Coding for Kids’ books available, plus Barclays have even introduced a free kids coding course with Code Playground.
This recent push just shows the direction computer software is going and how important it will be for the next generation. I feel it’s really important to start children early and learn as an additional language to foreign languages.
Technology is growing at an alarming rate. The internet is now available to more people than ever. More businesses are moving online, and to online technology and with the myriad of opportunities of creating an income from home and passively – it’s all made possible with coding languages.
Many people consider coding to be too complicated and complex. It does require the right mindset but coding is just logic and routines. It can be as simple as telling a computer to follow step 1 and then move on to step 2 before the programme ends.
Believe it or not but the following code is an actual full and complete webpage:
<html>
<header><title>This is title</title></header>
<body>
Hello world
</body>
</html>
Ok the webpage simply says ‘Hello World’ but if you copied this text to Notepad, saved the file as ‘index.html’ and uploaded it to a web server – you could open this file using Chrome or any other web browser and you would see ‘Hello World’.
There – you’ve just passed your very first coding lesson!
Coding can be simple or very complex and there are a lot of programming languages out there, which all do different things.
What coding language should I learn?
With the number of coding languages out there what should you chose to spend the time to learn. Your decision should be based on two factors:
What type of coding are you interested in?
What coding is in demand?
What type of coding are you interested in
There are programming languages such as HTML and PHP which are primarily used for creating and designing websites. Knowing HTML and PHP are not mandatory though for designing websites as free web building tools such as WordPress and Wix are increasing in numbers – but knowing these languages is helpful to make specific changes to your website, or fix issues when they arise.
Other programming languages such as C++ or Python are useful if you want to build games or software applications. For software and to build programmes to help automate things then Python is a good place to start.
What coding language is most in demand
The focus on HTML and PHP learning is dwindling due to the website builders and the variety of plugins available. It still has it’s place, especially when coincided with other online applications like Woocommerce or Shopify which are both WordPress plugins.
Millions of people use this software but configuring them is very difficult. By spending even a week learning WordPress, Woocommerce and Shopify you could build a small freelance business helping others with their issues (and lots of people have a lot of issues and customisation requests!).
This being said, software and applications to help people automate manual tasks are also high in demand. Python is a great place to start for this
Where can I find learn to code courses for free?
There are a large number of courses to be found online in a bid to help you learn to code. Some are free, some cost just a few pounds but some are expensive at over £300 a course.
To start I would recommend you follow a free or low cost course. These are often great introductions to help you get started. Once you start you can begin writing small codes and programmes to test what you learn. This is where the real fun begins – and the best way to learn through trial and error.
Free Courses
Here are some suggested free tutorials and free coding courses available on YouTube:
HTML Full Course – Build a Website Tutorial – 2 hours
Learn HTML5 and CSS3 from Scratch Full Course – 11 hours
Python Tutorial for Beginners Full Course – 6 hours
Low Cost Courses
Here are links to some high rated courses on Udemy – BUT remember sales on Udemy are frequent, if these courses are not available for around £10 then sign up to the Udemy newsletter and wait for the next sale (which usually occur at least once per week):
Build Responsive Real World Websites – 12 hours of videos over 11 Course Lessons
Web Design for Beginners – 9 hours of videos
Complete Python Bootcamp – 24 Hours of videos
Where can I find freelance coding clients?
Once you have spent some time learning how to code, you may find yourself in a position to either create a website, a plugin or even software.
You may even be able to position your freelance or side hustle skills to solving other people’s coding issues or software problems.
Visit our Top 4 Freelance Websites to find clients and customers – for a review of the best online marketplaces to find freelance clients who need coding and programming help
How much can I earn as a freelance coder?
Freelance coding can be one of the more lucrative freelance jobs out there. It’s not uncommon for freelancers to charge between £50 and £70 per hour for their coding and programming services.
If you are getting started, and have just set up your marketplace profile on sites like Fiverr or Upwork, you may need to keep your costs low to build up clients and also reviews and ratings.
You need to be competitive at each stage of your freelance journey. You can’t charge the highest hourly rates with no ratings or reviews as potential clients will look for similar charging providers who have a lot of 5 star reviews.
Keep your costs down at the beginning, build your reputation with great work and excellent customer service, and you could start increasing your rates in just a couple of months.
