Web Development Basics - Build your own Website Course by Pranav Aggarwal

The Web Development Basics course is a beginner-friendly online program designed to help students create their own fully functional websites from scratch. This hands-on course teaches HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a structured way, enabling learners to build, style, and add interactivity to web pages. By the end of the course, students will have a portfolio-ready personal website that they can deploy online.

Ideal for beginners, hobbyists, students, and aspiring web developers, this course focuses on practical learning, interactive exercises, and project-based outcomes. Students will gain both theoretical understanding and real-world experience in front-end web development, while also learning the basics of responsive design, accessibility, and SEO-friendly practices.

What Students Will Learn

Module 1: The Skeleton (HTML)

Goal: Build the unstyled structure of a full landing page.

• Setup & Syntax

  • VS Code setup & Live Server extension.

  • The DOM Tree structure (html, head, body).

  • Headings (h1-h6) and Paragraphs (p).

• Content Essentials

  • Lists (ul, ol, li).

  • Links (a tags, absolute vs relative paths).

  • Images (img src, alt text).

• Containers & Semantics

  • div vs. Semantic Tags (header, nav, section, footer).

  • Why structure matters for Google (SEO) and Screen Readers (Accessibility).

• Forms & Input

  • Building a "Contact Me" form (input, textarea, button).

  • Mini-Project: Build a raw, unstyled "Resume" page.

Module 2: The Style (CSS)

Goal: Take that raw HTML and make it look professional and mobile-ready.

• The Basics

  • Classes vs. IDs.

  • Colors (Hex/RGB), Backgrounds.

  • Typography (Fonts, weights, alignment).

• The Box Model

  • The Big 3: Margins, Padding, Borders.

  • Understanding width, height, and box-sizing: border-box.

  • Practice: Spacing out the Resume page content properly.

• Flexbox

  • display: flex.

  • justify-content (aligning horizontally).

  • align-items (aligning vertically).

  • Practice: Build a Navigation Bar.

• The "Card" Design

  • Building a "Service Card" or "Profile Card" component.

  • Using border-radius and box-shadow for polish.

• Responsive Design

  • Media Queries (@media).

  • Mobile-first thinking.

  • Making the Nav Bar stack vertically on phones.

Module 3: The Logic (JavaScript)

Goal: Add interactivity. No complex algorithms, just DOM manipulation.

• Data & Variables

  • console.log (Your best friend).

  • let and const.

  • Strings, Numbers, and Booleans.

• Functions & Logic

  • Writing a basic Function.

  • if / else statements.

  • Practice: A simple "Age Checker" or "To-Do-List" in the console.

• DOM Manipulation

  • document.querySelector.

  • Changing content: .innerText and .innerHTML.

  • Changing style: .style.backgroundColor.

• Events

  • addEventListener ('click').

  • Toggling Classes (e.g. adding a .dark-mode class on click).

  • Practice: Create a button that changes the background color.

Module 4: The Capstone Project

Goal: Build and deploy the Final Portfolio Website from scratch.

• Project Setup & Header

  • Folder structure setup.

  • Coding the HTML/CSS for the Hero Section (Image + Headline).

• Main Content Sections

  • Building the "About Me" and "Projects" grid using Flexbox.

  • Ensuring it looks good on mobile.

• Interactivity

  • Adding a JavaScript feature (e.g. Dark Mode switch).

• Polish

  • Hover effects on buttons.

  • Smooth scrolling (html { scroll-behavior: smooth; }).

• Code Review & Refactoring

  • Cleaning up messy code.

  • Fixing indentation and comments.

• Deployment

  • Intro to GitHub (Drag and drop or basic commands).

  • Hosting on Netlify or Vercel (Free & Fast).

  • The "Celebration": Opening their link on their phone to show friends and family!

Teaching Method

This course is delivered through live online sessions with a focus on practical, project-based learning. Teaching methods include:

• Step-by-step coding demonstrations
• Hands-on exercises and mini-projects
• Interactive guidance for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Personalized support and doubt-clearing sessions
• Capstone project to apply learned skills in a real-world scenario

Students actively code along with the instructor, ensuring immediate application and retention of concepts.

Why This Course

This course focuses on learning by doing, allowing beginners to gain confidence in building real websites. The structured approach, from HTML skeleton to CSS styling and JavaScript interactivity, ensures learners understand the full front-end development workflow. The capstone project and deployment steps give students practical experience and a tangible outcome to showcase.

Benefits and Outcomes

By completing this course, students will:

• Build a fully functional, responsive, and interactive website
• Gain hands-on experience in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Understand front-end web development workflow from scratch
• Learn responsive design, accessibility, and SEO basics
• Deploy websites online using GitHub, Netlify, or Vercel
• Develop problem-solving and logical thinking skills for coding

This course equips learners with the essential skills to start their journey as front-end web developers.