Are you trying to get a new web design business off the ground or take an existing one to new heights?
Awesome! We’re big on web design — and we’re happy to hear you are, too.
And guess what? We aren’t alone.
It turns out that users appreciate great web design as well. A recent study suggested that almost 50% of consumers determine how credible companies are based on the quality of their websites, including their attractiveness and ease of navigation.
These companies could use your web design company’s help. But before providing it, you must know how to get web design clients — and keep them.
Ready to get started? Let’s take a look at how it’s done!
How to get web design clients
First things first: Figuring out how to get web design clients for your company won’t happen overnight. With almost 200,000 web design companies in the U.S. today — and countless web design companies scattered throughout the rest of the world — your company will face stiff competition.
But don’t let this deter you. Part of the fun of owning a business in this industry is learning how to get web design clients. Look at it as an opportunity to show the world what makes your web design business, complete with its own unique set of core values, so special.
Take these steps to improve your web design company’s online presence — and have new clients setting up shop in your email inbox in no time.
Put together a portfolio website
Attempting to land web design clients without a portfolio website is like trying to land a modeling contract without headshots.
A portfolio website is the single most important marketing tool for your web design company. If you don’t have one already, get to work on it right away. Use it to highlight your web design company’s experience and expertise.
Just make sure your portfolio website includes the following key elements.
Show examples of work
Would you hire a home remodeling company to gut your kitchen and build a new one without looking at photographs of a few kitchens they’ve renovated? We didn’t think so.
So, why would you expect potential web design clients to hire your business to put together websites without first seeing the professional sites you’ve designed in the past?
Your portfolio page should prominently display examples of your work. Check out the portfolio pages on competitors’ websites to get ideas on how to showcase your work in the best possible light.
Include case studies
You might think your web design work speaks for itself. However, prospective clients might also want to know the stories behind the web design projects you’re most proud of, so don’t be afraid to work case studies into the mix.
An effective web design case study can show your company’s commitment to creating high-quality custom websites by revealing:
- What a client requested when they first turned to your web design company for assistance
- Which problems a client was trying to solve with its newly designed website
- How your company helped a client by implementing proven web design solutions
- The specific web design elements used to customize a client’s website
- The results a client enjoyed thanks to your web design services
Case studies can give your company the chance to tell success stories. It can also create connections with new clients who share your values.
Provide informational content to show thought leadership
You don’t look at your business as “just another web design company,” do you? Of course not! You don’t want to give possible clients this impression, either.
Avoid this pitfall by putting your web design company’s expertise on full display. One simple way to do this is by providing informative content on your portfolio website that shows thought leadership.
Rather than posting the same kinds of content found on other web design company websites, create one-of-a-kind thought leadership content. Do it by:
- Adding informational subpages to your site filled with educational and engaging long-form content
- Stay up on the latest web design trends and create opinionated content about them
- Make predictions about the future of web design and express your deep-rooted passion for the industry
Host webinars and share other video content
The number of webinars hosted increased by over 150% in 2020 (we all remember why).
You might guess that number would have dropped dramatically since then. But it hasn’t, and there’s a simple reason why: Webinars work.
One 2023 survey found nearly 90% of business owners report a bump in lead generation after incorporating webinars into their marketing efforts.
When done right, webinars can:
- Expand audience reach
- Give brand awareness a boost and improve credibility
- Educate potential clients on products and services
- Position your company as an expert in the field
- Offer a cost-effective marketing strategy
You can also repurpose webinars to create video content that you can share on YouTube and other online video-sharing platforms. Couple this repurposed content with other video content you create separately, and you could have a winning video marketing strategy on your hands.
About 90% of marketing experts say strong video marketing strategies result in successful lead generation. Take full advantage of this.
Write and distribute eBooks
Video content is king in 2024 — but don’t allow this to stop your web design company from relying on the written word to spread the news about your business. Despite the increasing popularity of video content, eBooks are still effective.
A recent YouGov survey on Americans’ reading habits revealed that about 20% of people have read eBooks over the last year. Cater to this audience with eBooks while demonstrating your expertise in web design.
Create blogs
When you first set up a portfolio website for your web design business, everything will look new and shiny. But it may not take long for possible web design clients to exhaust everything it offers.
Keeping your portfolio website updated is extremely important. Creating blog content can help you achieve this goal, working wonders for your site’s search engine optimization (more on SEO later).
Additionally, a blog is a wonderful place to house some of the thought leadership content we referred to earlier. This content can provide your web design business with a clear voice.
Give away free content
In 2010, roughly two-thirds of Americans paid for online content. Companies could get away with charging people for content back then.
Not so today. Only about 17% of people pay for online news in 2024, let alone other types of content. There is simply too much free content available for people to justify paying for it.
The lesson here? Even though you’ll likely spend a lot of time, energy, and money creating content for your company’s website, keep it free. This will give the content a chance to reach more people.
Create a landing page for lead generation
Got your web design company’s portfolio website all set up? Great! It should start generating traffic before long and begin getting extra eyes on your business and its web design services.
Now, keep adding to it!
For example, your website should have a dedicated landing page for lead generation. This is the page prospective clients will land on when they click on a link in an email or an online advertisement.
Your landing page should serve two purposes:
- Ask website visitors to provide their contact information.
- Provide website visitors with an enticing offer to make it worth their while.
To accomplish these goals, a landing page must contain the following elements:
- Headline
- Unique selling proposition
- Hero image
- Social proof
- Call to action (CTA)
Create short, snappy content for a landing page that captures people’s attention without taking up too much of their time. This can help your company convert more leads, make more sales, and rake in more profits.
Take advantage of SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a practice that involves optimizing a website to ensure Google and the other search engines notice it. If you launch a portfolio website for your business and it doesn’t start rising in the search engine results pages (SERPs), it likely lacks a strong enough SEO strategy.
Improving your website’s SEO requires:
- Getting your site to load faster
- Filling your site with quality content
- Adding the right keywords to your site’s content
- Earning backlinks to your site on other sites
- Making your site mobile friendly
You can try tackling SEO on your own with these do-it-yourself strategies or hire a company specializing in SEO to help. We recommend reading Paul Roetzer’s The Marketing Agency Blueprint: The Handbook for Building Hybrid PR, SEO, Content, Advertising, and Web Firms for more information on the importance of SEO.
Invest in paid ads
Does the idea of buying paid ads online scare you? Don’t let it!
Once upon a time, it was challenging for companies to decide where, where, and how to advertise their businesses online. Pay-per-click digital marketing platforms make it so simple to invest in paid ads that pay off.
About 80% of global businesses trust Google Ads, in particular, to help them beef up their lead generation efforts and online sales. Studies suggest businesses make about $8 for every $1 spent on Google Ads.
That alone makes it worth putting Google Ads to the test.
Establish a social media presence
There’s nothing new about companies using social media to put their businesses on the map. Recent surveys show that almost all companies have accounts on at least one social media platform.
These are the leading social media platforms utilized by marketers in 2024:
- Facebook (86%)
- Instagram (79%)
- LinkedIn (65%)
- YouTube (51%)
- X (31%)
- TikTok (28%)
Your web design business can use any combination of these social media platforms since they each appeal to different audiences. You can utilize:
- Facebook to create a business page and join web design-related groups
- Instagram to show off your latest web design creations
- LinkedIn to connect with others in the web design industry and potential web design clients
- YouTube to repurpose webinar content and offer fresh content to web design enthusiasts
- X to gain inspiration from other web designers and link up with businesses that could benefit from your services
- TikTok to showcase your web design process and your company’s personality
Discover more about how different forms of social media marketing stack up.
Post on job boards and online marketplaces
The web design industry is filled with job boards — Dribble, Behance, and DesignCrowd come to mind — you may have used to look for work in the past. Why not turn the tables by returning to these job boards and using them to market your services?
You can also sign up for accounts on web design-specific online marketplaces, such as 99designs, to extend your services to a wider audience. You never know who might stumble upon your work and love it enough to visit your website.
Become a part of online communities
Try not to spend so much time figuring out how to get web design clients for your company that you forget why you’re trying to drum up interest in your business in the first place. You want to show potential clients you can do a fantastic job while creating websites for them.
Stay on the cutting edge of the industry by participating in the many web design online communities that have popped up over time. You can find them on Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Slack, which routinely hosts invite-only online communities featuring web designers from across the world.
Try targeted cold outreach
Yes, we know that most people hate cold calling — and cold emailing, for that matter — but hear us out. Have you considered trying targeted cold outreach instead?
This involves reaching out only to individuals and businesses you truly believe would be interested in working with a web design company.
You can engage in targeted cold outreach by visiting the business websites of companies in your area and evaluating them from every angle. Use your expertise to pinpoint the improvements you think these sites could benefit from — and come up with strategies for making changes to them.
From there, you can contact business owners with proposals showing you’ve done your homework. This will make cold calls and emails feel much warmer than they would otherwise.
Attend networking events
Networking is important in any industry, but it’s especially important within the web design world. This explains why so many web design conferences are held each year, both online and in person.
Some of these conferences are general networking conferences designed to help those within the industry rub elbows. Others deal with specific web design topics, such as how artificial intelligence is impacting the web design world and beyond.
The more networking you do, the greater your chances of connecting with those who can provide you with business or recommend you to others.
Count on your existing network
It doesn’t matter if you just started doing web design last year or have decades of experience within the industry. You have developed a network, so use it.
If you have a newer company, rely on family members and friends to patronize it. Ask them to promote it through word of mouth and social media posts.
If your company is more established, check in with existing clients to see whether they need any additional web design services. See whether existing partners have any work they can send your way.
Welcome referrals
About two-thirds of Americans say they’re more likely to invest in a product or service when someone they know recommends it. Welcome referrals from family, friends, partners, clients, etc., and reward those who refer your web design business to others.
You might even want to go the extra mile by creating a web design referral program and featuring it on your website. It’s one more option for those trying to work out how to get web design clients for their businesses.
Tips on how to run a great web design business
Once you’ve figured out how to get web design clients, your business should start to experience success. Parlay this into even more success by knowing how to run a great web design business and get it to grow.
These tips can help make your web design company’s future even brighter than it already is.
Consider specializing in a niche
Over 33 million businesses exist in the U.S. — and they all need great websites to succeed. That’s the good news for web design business owners.
The bad news is that marketing web design services to all these businesses at once is a daunting task. To make marketing easier on your web design company, specialize in a specific niche.
For instance, you can commit to only working with, say, personal injury law firms. This may initially feel like it might limit your potential web design clients.
But it can actually allow you to gain experience and expertise in one particular industry, helping transform your company into the go-to web design business for all the other companies in that industry.
Pick up a copy of Blair Enns’s The Win Without Pitching Manifesto to learn more about how having a niche can help a business.
Employ client retention strategies
The easiest way to keep clients coming back to your web design business over and over again is by delivering best-in-class services. But this isn’t the only client retention strategy you can use to ensure clients return to your business repeatedly.
Other strategies to consider using include:
- Sending clients personalized cards or letters at the end of projects thanking them for their business
- Asking clients to provide feedback on their experiences with your business
- Inviting clients to join customer loyalty programs and offering them exclusive perks
- Providing clients with customized web design offers every so often
Give thought to investing in the best software for small businesses, too. It can keep clients happy by helping your business with everything from project management to billing.
All of these client retention strategies can generate recurring income. This will prevent your web design business from constantly having to market your services to new clients.
Come up with competitive pricing models
How do your web design company’s pricing models compare to the models used by your competitors?
Monitor the average web design costs. Adjust your prices accordingly to fall in line with the industry standards.
Offer an excellent customer experience
Would every single client you’ve ever worked with say they enjoyed a “great” customer experience? If so, keep doing what you’re doing.
If, however, you’ve received less-than-glowing reviews from some clients, use them to your advantage. Step back and evaluate the customer experience you’re delivering and improve it.
You can do this by:
- Creating a more seamless onboarding process for new clients
- Hanging on to information about existing clients and referring back to it when communicating with them
- Improving your communication skills and offering more communication options for clients
Deliver well-crafted proposals
Web designers understand you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression better than anyone else. Keep this in mind when creating website design proposals for new clients.
A well-crafted proposal should include:
- An overview of your web design plans for a client
- Goals for a client’s web design project
- Solutions for web design problems a client is experiencing
- The schedule for a client’s web design project
- A quote for a client’s web design project and payment terms
- A call to action and your contact information
By putting together a solid proposal for a client, you can show that your company knows how to get web design clients results.
Start bringing in more web design clients than ever before
At Connective, we feel confident in our ability to tell you how to get web design clients because we used all the strategies listed here to benefit our own business. Rest assured, you will find effective ways to bring in more web design clients if you take the right approach. Begin making a push to appeal to more potential clients today!
