I need some information for a school project and thought this would be a good place to post my questions. This may also help other people in the forum who are trying to become web designers. I need to find the following information:

What is the growth of te web design industry?
What is the failure rate of new web designers?

I also need articles if anyone can find any. Thanks

I did some searches and all I seem to have found is this

http://www.business.com/directory/in...line/index.asp

probably doesnt awnser your questions but its worth a look.

I couldn't give you any exact figures, but I can give you some rough information:
According to Google there are 4.9million sites relating to web design. If you do this search again next month you can probably estimate very roughly the rate of increase (but you might not have time for that and its not very accurate).
A better way of guessing it would be to think 'How many people learn how to make a website each month'. Then take about 1/3 of that and you'll get a rough figure. Practically everyone now wants to be a web designer!
Unfotunately because the barriers to entry of the industry are so low, there is nothing to stop anyone setting up their own web design 'company'.

As for the failure rate, I would say almost 0. Although the vast majority of web design firms don't get enough contracts to provide a stable income (in fact you'll find that only a few hundred actual full time web design firms can support themselves), but there are many thousands who make a few sales, so their owners keep them running, and many hundreds of thousands who have never made a sale (and probably never will, based on the quality of their sites) but just remain because the running costs are insignificant (its amazing how many of these hosts can publish prices of hundreds of dollars but can't even afford a proper paid webhost ). So although many sites arn't making any money, they don't really count as failures as they are still in business.

Probably doesn't help much... but unfortunately I haven't got any statistics for you.

Thanks, actually that is good information. I can put it as a quote from a real webmaster.

anyone can become a webmaster. you make a site, you say you're offering sites for sale, and instantly you're in business. no contracts to sign, no inland revenue to battle with, no business licensing, the internet, freedom of speech, freedom to make tax free cash.

anyone who wants to be a web designer can be. there's no gaurantee you'll ever make any money. no gaurantee you'll ever be seen by anyone. i wouldn't rate myself as a pro web designer, and as such, my site is currently changing from one offering web design services, to one that will be targetted more at the Search Engine Optimisation business, with tips and tutorials on how to optimise your site.

anyone can do it, few people can do it well. the failure rate...depends on what you count as a failure. if you count being able to support yourself as being success, then the failure rate will be 99%. if you count making a sale as a success, then it will be more like 60%. its up to you to define a success so that we can know when someone has failed.

there are too many poor web designers around offering inadequate services for large prices. to find a good designer is rare, to find an excellent one is worth its weight in gold.

Web design is the future of the world, it will not fade, it will flourish. Technology is letting the internet reach new heights. There is no need for post anymore, we have email. There is no need for books, we have a whole world of digital information at our fingertips.

The next few years you will see web development fly! New ideas and new products of technology are coming out onto the market every day, and what better place to sell and merchandise your product then the internet? More and more people are beginning to understand how this works and they're all wanting a piece of the pie.

the problem is with the advancement of the Internet, that scams become more frequent and easier.

people who make money for doing nothing, credit card number stealers, bogus shops etc. etc. are becomming more frequent on the internet. malicious code contained within websites etc. are beginning to spread.

personally, i do not have as much confidence in the web as perhaps i should have. people in shops on the highstreet are regulated by boards and authorities to ensure they are what they say they are, this isn't true of the internet. you can do what you want, when you want, and how you want.

you can say what you want about yourself, stats can be rigged, anything can be rigged, if you know how.

until the internet becomes "safer," bogus companies and all companies in general, are regulated somehow, many people will stay away and avoid online purchasing, with good reasoning.

although you can make a living from the internet, it is difficult. although you can make a large profit if you know how, it won't be as large as it should be, because people are still nervous and frightened. until the next generation, the generation for whom the internet will be a second home, who will live with T1 connections and never have the joy of waiting for a 56k modem to dial up, never expierience the thrill of seeing a page load image by image...until they are around, the internet will still be a nervy and untrusted place filled with holes.

until the internet becomes safer, it will be possible to survive, but never, never easy. things need to change, security must be tightened, and problems and bugs ruled out, before the internet takes over our lives