If you're a web developer, you know building projects is one of the best ways to level up your skills. But let's be honest, figuring out what to build can be difficult sometimes. You don't want to just copy a tutorial or build the same old "To-Do List" app. So what can you build?
I'll share some solid web development projects you can work on, and give you tips on how to come with your own project ideas.
Why Building Projects Is So Important
Before diving into the ideas, let's clearly define why building projects is such a game-changer for developers.
- It Shows You're Actually Doing It: Tutorials are great for learning, but there is a different feeling you get that nothing can beat having something real to show for your time. It proves you know how to take a concept and apply it.
- You'll Learn More Than You Think: Overcoming obstacles from your own idea without following a guide will further your skills as a developer. These projects make you go deeper into the tech.
- It Helps You Stand Out: When you are job hunting, having a resume and portfolio showcasing projects that are niche to you and solved a problem you can go greater into detail about you will impress more.
Web Development Project Ideas That'll Help You Grow
These are by no means necessary, these are just the first steps many web developers take to building a project without a tutorial.
1. Portfolio Website:
I know - this one sounds very obvious, but hear me out. Your portfolio isn't just an online resume; it's a chance to showcase your skills in a way that stands out. Go the extra mile and add:
- A blog - Share tips, tutorials, or detail your developer journey; show that you are invested in your career.
- Interactive elements - Think about adding some unique animations, everyone enjoys a clean animation that doesn't take away or affect their experience on your portoflio. You can take it a step further by adding 3D elements using Spline or Three.js.
- Custom Domain - Take your portfolio a step further by having your website linked to your own domain like
yourname.dev, make it personal.
Not only is this a solid way to showcase your work, it also forces you to start thinking about UI/UX. This is a great way to slowly shift from web developer, to potentially becoming a front end developer - or at least getting comfortable with front end concepts.
Don't know how to design an effective developer portfolio? Take a few minutes to read How To Design an Effective Developer Portfolio
2. E-Commerce Store
If you want to understand how web apps handle user interactions and data, build an e-commerce store by starting off with the basics:
- Product pages with images, descriptions, and prices; don't forget metadata!
- A shopping cart where users can add and remove items.
- (Optional) Payment integration with something like Stripe
To showcase better data handling skills, implement an intuitive filter system for searching products.
3. Dashboard
Dashboards are a great way to get into data visualization. You could build a dashboard that tracks personal things like:
- Personal Fitness
- Project Management
- Finances
Use libraries like D3.js or Chart.js to show graphs and data. Implement a user authentication system to allow users to save their data.
4. AI Integration
AI is a rapidly growing industry, starting by building one of these examples is a great way to get a feel for AI.
- Chatbot for your portfolio site
- Text summarizer, that shortens articles, or given recommendations from a product page will provide you with the pros and cons of purchasing the product.
- Recommendation system for music, let users create an account and describe what kind of music they like, have AI recommend songs based on their interests.
5. Full Stack Application
A full stack application on your portfolio whether you are a front end developer, web developer, back end developer is a great way to showcase your ability to adapt to project needs. A full stack app includes
- Front end (Next.js, React.js, Vue, or plain HTML/CSS)
- Back end (Node.js / Express, Django)
- Database (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Firebase)
Create anyting you can think of with these three things and you'll be ahead of the competition with whatever specific field you are in.
How to Come Up With Your Own Project Ideas
Now how do you come up with your own idea? Here are some tips to help you brainstorm:
1. Build something you need
Start with something that you want or need. Is there a tool you wish existed to make development easier? The best projects are the ones that are personalized to you and you can talk in depth about what the problem was and how you solved it.
2. Make your own twist on an existing idea
Do you like Instagram? Love dogs/cats? Build your own dog/cat instagram-clone with a feature you'd think would be fun like a voting system on the weekly best meme uploaded.
3. Combine Ideas
Merge two existing ideas into one, make sure the combination make sense; maybe an alarm clock app that doubles as a to-do list so users just waking up can get their day started effectively.
4. Follow Tech Trends
Lots of emerging ideas revolve around the current trends. Take Claude, they followed the AI trend that ChatGPT set.
Show Off Your Projects
Now that you have built your project, make sure to display it effectively. Here are some examples:
- Resume: Include your project in your resume, make sure to effectively portray the value of the project by what problem it solves and how it solves it.
- Portfolio: Add your projects to your web developer portfolio. Include links to the live website and to the github code.
- GitHub: Make sure your code is in a public repository, lots of recruiters like to see how you developed certain features of your projects.
- Social Media: Share your project! It may seem silly but you'd be surprised how many people's first few projects that seemed simple took off, think of Facebook!
Conclusion
Web projects that challenge you to build are what make you grow as a developer. Whether it's a simple portfolio or full-stack app, every project teaches you something new for the next portfolio. Pick an idea, and start building - but make sure to have fun with it! Having real live projects to show off when you are ready to land your first/next job takes your skills to the next level.