One of the biggest struggles in the life of a freelance web designer or developer is figuring out how to get web design clients – especially at the beginning of your career. It can be frustrating when you’ve spent a lot of time honing your skill set, educating yourself, and staying on top of the latest trends, and yet your client roster stays empty.
Failing to find clients can be very disconcerting. Not only do you not know where your next paycheck will come from, it can also introduce self-doubt. You might start questioning whether striking out on your own was the right choice after all and if you have what it takes.
Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to build a clientele for your services, and in this post, we’ll share them in detail. Below, you’ll learn 12 ways to get web design clients that will want to work with you (along with tips on how to implement each idea). From understanding business basics, to reaching out to prospects, to closing deals, you’ll find everything you need to start landing clients here.
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1) Determine your web design niche
There is an old marketing adage that says, “if you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one”. In this case, it means that simply providing “web design” is too broad an offer. Most of the time, it’s more effective and lucrative to cater to a specific clientele who you create websites for.
Why?
For one, doing so allows you to target your marketing much more specifically. You can address the needs of a certain target group and speak to their pain points directly instead of very generally.
Imagine you are a mental health provider. Which web design offer would you rather go for?
“High-Quality Web Design Services: We Build Your Website Fast!”
“Mental Health Website Design – Let Us Help You Help Your Patients”
It’s most likely the second one, right? That’s because it is a lot more targeted.
Focusing your offer increases your credibility and the perception of the value you can provide. It allows you to position yourself as an expert and charge accordingly.
In addition, niching down means you compete with fewer people. Instead of all “web designers,” now you only contend with “web designers for industry X.” That group, by definition, is much smaller.
How to decide on a niche
However, what target group should you go for? The best niche is one that is made up of both something that you enjoy and in which there is a clientele willing and able to pay.
To figure it out more specifically, it’s a good idea to look at both your past work and what you do in your free time. First, consult your portfolio. Think about what projects you enjoyed doing the most.
In addition, consider which hobbies or personal passions you indulge in and the industries you interact with in those endeavors. For example, you might have built a website for a dental lab in the past, and you also like to knit, surf, and do CrossFit.
Now it’s time to see if any of these industries offer enough earning potential to become your niche. In this case, knitting is probably not a good fit. However, dentistry, surfing, and CrossFit are all niches with members who likely have a large enough marketing budget to be profitable.
Once you have decided on your niche, what’s left is to research it extensively. Get to the point where you really understand your clientele and their needs. Become the expert they need you to be to help them achieve their website goals.
2) Establish your pricing for web design projects
The next step is deciding on your pricing. It’s much easier to negotiate for a new project when you have thought about what you want to offer and how much you will charge for it beforehand. Otherwise, when put on the spot, you might not know what to say. Plus, you need to make sure you get paid what your services are worth.
The web design process has become more complex over time. A lot goes into creating a user-friendly, mobile-responsive, accessible, search-engine-optimized, and fast-loading website – which is what it takes to compete in today’s online environment. It also involves several stages, from setting up the site architecture over wireframing to testing.
In addition, a website is one of the main considerations for most businesses these days and one of the main ways of presenting themselves. Therefore, you are not simply providing a website; you are building a business asset for them.
Plus, it’s not just the design and programming work; you also offer strategic advice for marketing their business online (at least, if you have done your homework earlier in step one). This might include creating the branding, writing copy, and helping with a content strategy.
You can determine your pricing for a project by following this process:
List all the steps required for to complete the project (ex: research, wireframing, design, copywriting, etc.).
Estimate how much time you anticipate each step will take. ProjectManager has a great guide on how to do this.
Determine the hourly rate for your labor.
So, how much should you charge?
In the end, your pricing depends a lot on how you position yourself. If you go the “I am a freelance web designer” route, you can ask for anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 for a simple website and $10,000 to $20,000 for a complex site with a variety of templates, features, and intricate functionality.
On the other hand, if you niche down enough and acquire the necessary expertise for your industry, you get to position yourself as an agency that builds bespoke web presences for an exclusive client pool. In that case, your pricing can be higher, starting at $10,000 for simpler sites and ending at $75,000+ for more complex projects.
Be sure, however, that you can back up what your price tag promises and are able to achieve the requisite results for your clients.
3) Build a strong web design business website and portfolio
Once you have settled on both your niche and price points, it’s time to build your own web presence. As a web designer, that shouldn’t be too big a challenge. However, make sure it looks the part since potential clients will likely judge your skills on your own website design.
Also, use your earlier research to gear it clearly toward your target group. That means you should consider that group’s needs for your site’s aesthetics and, most importantly, copy. Your written content will be the most persuasive tool to show them that you offer what they need. So, be sure to address their needs and pain points in your website copy.
Another crucial tool here is your portfolio. It not only allows you to stress your expertise, but it also acts as a filter for the kind of work you want to do more of. For that reason, a) show off your strongest work, b) choose examples that are relevant to your chosen niche, and c) and focus on the kind of projects you want to do.
However, what if you haven’t done any projects in your niche yet? In that case, do the best you can and try to look for portfolio items that represent the principles you are trying to sell. In short, focus all your appearance and marketing on your ideal client and work.
4) Be active on social media
Social media has become a ubiquitous tool to advertise your products and services. Everyone and your mom is on it by now (seriously, my mom is on more platforms than I am). It’s also an ideal environment to talk and listen to your target audience as well as work on your personal brand. Therefore, it should definitely be part of how you try to get web design clients.
A short caveat beforehand: Remember that you are not trying to close a deal with every message you put out there. Social media is about visibility, getting-the-word-out, top-of-funnel kind of stuff. So adjust your strategy and expectations accordingly.
5) Be active in web design communities
However, where to start? Well, an obvious choice is to go where people talk about web design. That means Facebook groups, Slack communities, subreddits, and forums.
These are good places to take part in discussions, share your expertise, and ask for feedback.
Why should you do that in front of other web designers? Aren’t these not the kind of people who want to hire you?
Well, maybe not directly. However, being active in the web design sphere allows you to build connections and present your work. And who knows? Someone might hire you for a project they are working on.
In addition, where would you go as a potential client who is looking for a web designer? Probably a place where web designers are known to hang out, right? Therefore, taking part in those communities is also a way to get noticed for potential work.
At the very least, you can network, learn from others, and get some critique for your work.
Join communities and platforms frequented by your ideal clients
Of course, if you want to connect with people who might want to hire you, the best way is to go directly where they are. For that reason, a second step is to look for similar resources as above but for your niche and target group.
That might not always seem super easy. After all, is there an online forum for dentists? A Twitter group for accountants? A subreddit where organic grocers hang out?
The funny thing is, the answer often is – yes.
That’s one of the best parts of the Internet. It connects people with similar interests from across the world, meaning there are groups for almost any profession online. You can find them on LinkedIn and Facebook, you can search for “[your target group] + forum” on Google, subscribe to relevant hashtags, and all the other ways you would use to find members of your own profession.
Offer value, be authentic, and have a unique point of view
The challenge in trying to get web design clients via social media is that you need to find a good balance between selling your services and simply being a pleasant and helpful person to talk to. Too much of the first, and you’ll annoy people with being too salesy, too much of the latter, and you’ll have a hard time closing deals.
The best way here is to simply be friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in helping others. Seriously, that’s what it usually comes down to.
Think about how you can create value for your target group in the easiest way. How can you help them with their problems and make their life easier? Then, do that.
Be generous with advice and input, share your opinions, be polite, and genuinely try to contribute to other people’s success. You’d be surprised at how many clients would be willing to continue a conversation about working together with a person like that.
6) Publish helpful content about web design on your blog
You have probably heard that content has been elevated to royalty. While this notion is a bit overdone, the fact is that content is a staple of inbound marketing. Consequently, if you want web design clients to come to you instead of chasing them down, you would do well to start producing content as well. That also gives you material for your social outlets.
Publish on your own blog
In most cases, blogging will be a part of content marketing. A blog is easy to add to your website, and it’s one of the cheapest marketing tools out there as it mainly costs time.
However, the most decisive part here is what to write about. Reflexively, you might want to publish articles that show what a good web designer you are. In a way, that’s what you’ll do.
However, this is not about demonstrating your skills to your peers. Instead, you need to think about problems that your target group has and provide solutions for them. This shows off your expertise, allows you to target keywords that clients will type into Google, and builds trust in your skills.
This is why settling on a niche and doing extensive research on it is so important. Instead of very general content that likely has a lot more competition, you can create articles that are hyper-focused on your defined target group. Those are usually much easier to rank for and speak directly to the people you want to attract.
Aside from that, there are other types of content you can produce:
podcasts
case studies
a newsletter
guest posts
ebooks
Finally, start collecting email addresses on your blog from the very beginning. Having a good list of subscribers is one of the most effective ways to sell your services. For WordPress.com users, there are several tools and methods you can use to add email subscribers to your blog.
Syndicate your posts on Medium and LinkedIn
Once you are in the habit of creating content (on your WordPress website), it’s a great tactic to repurpose and republish it in other places. Two great candidates for that are Medium and LinkedIn.
Why is that?
Because those two platforms have readership automatically built in. They have an existing user base who spend a lot of time consuming content specifically on there. For that reason, if you also post your content on these platforms (under your name, with a link back to your own website), you can reach additional readers and members of your clientele. That helps further spread your expertise and brand.
By the way, you can take this even further by repurposing your blog content into social media updates, YouTube videos, infographics, or downloadable content. You have already done the bulk of the research, now you simply need to bring it into a different format.
7) Search job boards for clients and contract work
Another classic way to get web design clients is to use job boards. They offer the advantage that you find a lot of warm leads there, meaning people actively looking for help with their web design. The disadvantage is that they can have a lot of competition. You also want to stay away from those sites that purely compete on price (think Fiverr or Guru).
Instead, here are a few resources where you can get started:
Remote OK
We Work Remotely
Media Bistro
Krop
Smashing Magazine Jobs
PeoplePerHour
Toptal
AwesomeWeb
Here, too, it pays to do a bit of legwork beforehand. Research potential clients and tailor your offer towards them. Demonstrate the value you can create for them and make it easy for them to say yes.
8) Go to conferences and industry events
In-person meetings are another way to find client work. They are especially suited if you are more of an extrovert who thrives on interacting with others. Talking to clients directly also makes it easier to find out their pain points and discuss their needs in detail without a lot of back-and-forth emailing. If you want to take this to the next level, consider speaking at events, it’s a great way to get more visibility.
Consider business events
Most places have business associations, such as local Chambers of Commerce, that regularly run networking events. They can be general or more specific in nature. What they have in common is that they bring people together in a business setting.
The advantage here is the same as for job boards: attendees come specifically to make business connections, so you don’t have to prime the pump too much so to speak. Everyone is on the same page, making it much easier to speak about commercial issues including offering your services.
The disadvantage is that at general business meetings, it’s harder to meet someone who actually belongs to your target group. You don’t know who exactly is going to be there, so it can be a bit of a gamble.
As usual, it’s always a good idea to be prepared. Have your business cards with you, practice your elevator pitch, and dress professionally. That makes it much easier to make a good impression.
Besides in-person meetings, there are also virtual networking events. For example, you can find them on Eventbrite.
Attend the same networking events as your ideal customers
In order to eliminate the element of randomness, attending occasions that are specifically for members of your target group is a better idea. Doing so makes it much more likely to run into someone who needs what you are offering.
This can be a bit challenging as you are specifically there to hawk your services. However, remember what we talked about before. Don’t be too salesy. Listen to what the other person is talking about, try to uncover issues they are having with their website, and offer insights for what could be helpful. If they like what they hear, it could possibly turn into a job.
You can even think outside the box a bit. Bring your laptop and a sign offering free website reviews. Let people come to you, go over their sites together, offer your insight, and point out how you would improve their current website. It should be easy to make connections that way.
9) Consider WordCamps and WordPress conferences
It’s no secret that WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and that it powers a large part of the web. For that reason, WordPress in-person events are a hotbed for people interested in web design and companies working with WordPress.
That also makes them a good place to make connections with like-minded people (again, for potential collaboration) as well as companies looking for expertise. This is especially true if you have made building websites with WordPress part of your niche.
In addition, WordCamps are simply a great place to meet people. You automatically have something in common with everyone there, so it’s easy to get a conversation going.
10) Email businesses you’d like to work with (that have websites that look like they need a redesign)
Another way to get web design clients is to directly contact companies in your niche who obviously have needs in that area. Use business directories to find them and check out their sites.
As usual, tailor your offers to each particular case. Spend some time analyzing the websites, point out concrete things that could use improvement, then add a solution.
You can even do so in the form of a prototype or wireframe or a quick video in which you talk about their site live on screen. That’s much better than sending the same form email to everyone and, again, makes it much easier for them to say yes.
So, do your homework beforehand. In addition, be sure to follow up when you don’t hear back. Most people are very busy, so it helps to be a bit tenacious. Even if they end up saying no, at least then you know for sure.
11) Ask past clients and your network to refer you to their connections
Once you have the ball rolling a little bit, one of the best ways to extend your client pool is actually to ask existing clients for referrals. Word of mouth is a very powerful way to get new web design clients for two reasons:
First of all, you have instant social proof. If someone hears about you from a person they know and probably trust, that’s worth more than any third-party testimonial you can put on your website.
Secondly, it’s automatically a warm prospect. We are not talking about someone you found on the Internet who has no idea who you are and receives an email from you out of the blue. Instead, it’s someone you have a personal connection with through a middle-person. Possibly even someone who asked their network for recommendations. That instantly creates a better relationship.
So, make it part of your web design process to email clients after finishing a project and ask them for referrals. In fact, be sure to stay on friendly terms with them and check in now and again. That makes it more likely they will recommend you by themselves.
You can also reach out to other freelancers or people you know in the industry and ask them for referrals, even your friends and family. You can form beneficial partnerships with them and recommend clients to each other for your respective services.
12) Partner with web design agencies
A final way you can get more web design clients is to work with agencies. Many of them hire freelancers in order to increase their work pool when they have too many projects. It’s always worth getting on their list for when that happens.
When you pitch yourself to an agency, treat it with the same regard as when interacting with one-to-one clients. Make sure to send along your portfolio and tailor your application toward each agency you contact.
Plus, of course, do your best work and be as professional working for them as when doing your own projects. That way, you make it more likely that they will send more work your way.
That only leaves the question, where do you find web design agencies to pitch yourself to?
Use business directories to find agencies
Similar to what we talked about above, there are specific directories that you can look into to find web design agencies. Two online resources for that are Clutch and Dexigner.
Both list a large number of web design companies. It’s easy to find potential studios to collaborate with and their contact information is right there as well.
In addition, look into local business directories. Working with local design companies has the added benefit that it’s also possible to introduce yourself personally and take face-to-face meetings. That’s always good for relationship building.
Or conduct a simple Google search
Of course, there is always Google. You can use the search engine to look for web design agencies for potential collaboration and easily apply your own filters like location, industry, or any other categories.
Are you considering developing websites on WordPress.com?
A big factor in winning and keeping web design clients is the tools you work with. One primary consideration here is hosting, both for your personal website and portfolio as well as your client sites.
At this point, we want to humbly suggest considering WordPress.com for your web design projects. Here are just a few features that make us a great option for your new web design or development project:
You are free to use (custom) plugins and themes on any Business plan and above. You also get access to SFTP-SSH, WP-CLI, and Git tools.
The REST API, with its plethora of endpoints, allows you to fetch a wide range of information and build applications on top of WordPress. What’s more, you can test live JSON data and explore it with the Developer Console.
Use wpcom.js, the official JavaScript library for the WordPress.com REST API. It’s compatible with Node.js and all modern web browsers and allows you to easily build back ends for your web and mobile apps.
Photon is an image acceleration and modification service available on WordPress.com and via Jetpack. It automatically compresses and caches images as well as serves them from a distributed CDN.
For more information and additional features, check out our developer resources. If you run or work for an agency, you may also be interested in Automattic for Agencies.
Now, go land more web design clients
While it would be nice if being a freelance web designer or developer only consisted of being creative all the time, unfortunately, learning business skills, such as how to get web design clients, is a necessary part of the job. At the same time, however, it’s also not the insurmountable obstacle it can sometimes seem to be.
By being crystal clear about the industry you are targeting, figuring out your pricing, and building a strong web presence, you can create a solid basis for your business from which to start your acquisition efforts.
After that, there are many options to get on the radar of your clientele. From inbound measures like social media marketing and blogging to outbound marketing such as frequenting job boards, going to events, cold outreach via email, asking for client referrals, and partnering with design agencies, there is a lot you can do to get hired.
Pick what plays to your personal strengths and inclinations to get started. At the same time, don’t be afraid to experiment with what seems outside your comfort zone. Then, double down on what works and keep building your business. Also, don’t forget to have a strong hosting partner by your side who can support you in your efforts.
This article was originally published on wordpress.com/go on March 31, 2023. It was lightly updated by Ben Sailer and republished on Oct. 22, 2024.