There’s a big misconception out there that learning how to code is just for people looking to build a career in programming. The reality? Every single professional could benefit from knowing some coding basics — particularly marketers. As digital marketing tactics become more prominent, the required skillsets of marketing pros are changing and require knowledge of tactics utilizing HTML, CSS, and other front-end development technologies.
Let’s take a look at just a few of the ways that adding coding skills to your tool belt can help make you an even more valuable asset to your organization!
Why You Should Learn HTML and CSS
#1 Rock Your Company Website
First, a brief primer: HTML provides the structure of the page, outlining the elements each webpage will contain, while CSS provides the layout and design. HTML might, for example, specify that a webpage contain a site title, a navigation bar, a sidebar and content in the form of page copy or a blogroll. CSS dictates where on the page they appear and what they look like.
It’s no surprise then, that if you understand both HTML and CSS, you can do much to help spruce up your company website. Tweaking colors to match your brand scheme, inserting new content when needed, and integrating social media buttons and links to important content all become possible when you can code. Suddenly, your website becomes more interactive, user-friendly and attractive.
#2 Jazz Up Your Newsletter
Similar to a website, email newsletters are often built on a backbone of HTML, with a styling of CSS. Once you know how to adjust both, your newsletter will really start to shine. Newsletters that look good in email windows, catch the eye and compel recipients to click do a lot to increase marketing effectiveness and dramatically improve the ROI of email campaigns.
#3 Make Good with the Development Team
A common point of friction between marketers and developers is that marketers don’t know what’s possible with code and what’s not. By understanding what goes into coding various types of marketing collateral, your asks will become a lot more realistic and you’ll be able to better understand the scope of technical projects. Even if you’re working with in-house developers, understanding what you’re asking for can significantly reduce misunderstanding, ease interdepartmental friction and create a better overall team.
#4 Bring Outsourced Work Back In-House
One of the great things about learning HTML and CSS is you can make updates in-house instead of relying on an outsourced developer. This saves time and speeds up the process, which in turn saves your company money. You no longer need to wait for a developer to tweak an email template, format your landing page or make an important update on your website. Quite simply, no time is wasted and can you avoid the frustration of needing to track down an external developer — especially if a quick fix is needed.
#5 HTML and CSS Are Foundations of Marketing Tools
Even though marketers may not need to code everyday, they are increasingly being expected to know some HTML, CSS and event JavaScript since they’re the foundation that many digital marketing tools run. For instance, Hubspot, Google Analytics, HootSuite and WordPress all require some sort of combination of these three languages to customize and leverage them effectively. This includes integrating tracking codes, customizing layouts and reporting user behavior on a website to gauge performance.
#6 Make Strategic SEO Updates
For the majority of companies, their primary source of new customer leads is organic search. While most marketers know how important SEO is in showing up in search results, they also need to be able to read a page’s skeleton to evaluate and update meta descriptions, title tags, ALT tags and keywords.
How To Learn HTML and CSS?
Best of all, mastering the basics of these coding languages just isn’t that hard. If you’re interested in getting a crash course on HTML and CSS, check out Coding Dojo’s Intro to Code Workshops hosted in LA, Seattle and San Jose. Instead of spending hours sifting through online tutorials, we’ll teach you everything you need to know to use HTML and CSS effectively.