How to Attract Customers to Your Web Design Business

“The client may be king, but he’s not the web designer.“ (inspired by Von R. Glitschka)

Attracting customers is difficult for any web design business regardless of how well-established it may be. The sheer number of web design companies along with freelancers has saturated the market to such an extent that customers have ten choices at the very least to pick from. Unless you manage to stand out from the crowd, there is little chance that you are going to get new customers.

Yet, even in the face of competition, there are certain tips you can follow to attract customers to your web design business. Here are six of the best points you should keep in mind:

1. Offer Fixed Prices

One of the biggest dilemmas featuring modern web designers is customers’ reluctance to differentiate between service and product. Since they know the web designer is going to provide a service, they assume the price being charged is beyond a reasonable level even if that is not the case. Rather than setting a flexible price that varies according to the amount of work done, you should specify fixed prices for all your services.

Image source: Flickr. Author: iHumanMedia

This way, you can present your services as products and make it easier for your customers to make a decision regarding whether they want to do business with you or not. In other words, you effectively handle customers’ apprehension regarding the price you are charging them for your services. The best thing is that it’s not hard to do; all you need to do is categorize what design resources you offer, such as logo design, themes, templates and so on.

2. Become a Specialist

Instead of targeting the broad market, you can become a specialist in web designing for a particular industry or niche. The current scenario is such that web design service can be tailored to serve more than one type of client; so the same design can be used by a real estate company as well as a model having her website made. Though the basics remain the same, specializing helps you stay focused on one industry. This will set you apart from the rest of the web designers in the market. For example, you have Michael Martin, a designer who made a name for himself by specializing in blog designs. He writes a blog on the subject at Pro Blog Design.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about this for a moment. Let’s say you have a clothing business and you want to create a website for it. After conducting an online search, you may come across a range of web design businesses, all of which are offering the same thing. However, if you spot a firm that is dedicated to web design for clothing businesses, you would be inclined to select that service, wouldn’t you?

3. Present Yourself as an Expert

Before hiring you for your services, clients will want to determine whether or not you are an expert in web designing. This is where you can be proactive and ensure that they don’t have to think twice about getting you to work on their project. There are many ways in which you can present yourself as an expert, but the best one is sharing industry-related content that you create on your own. Offer insight, helpful tips and solutions to common problems people face when looking for a web designer. You can do this by starting a blog on your website or portfolio. This blog will help drive traffic while also boosting your credibility.

Image source: Flickr. Author: wistechcolleges

For instance, your website could feature an article about the ‘top 5 things to look for in a web designing service’. Then, you can link the content of your article to your own business to show how you have all the qualities your potential client would need. This is one of the reasons why the number of explainer videos as well as informational content are increasing on the websites and blogs of web designers. YouTube is the foremost platform for explainer videos, and being a social media website, it helps you become more active in the social sphere.

4. Follow Up on Existing Clients

Just because you completed work for a client doesn’t mean that your relationship with them has ended. This is a mistake web designers often make. You yourself may have avoided following up on existing clients and tried everything possible to attract new customers. If your current clientele can provide you with a steady stream of work, you don’t even need to go through the hassle of attracting new customers.

So, to keep connected with your existing clients, you first should create a database containing all their details. Next, send them all a friendly email asking about their health and how their business is doing. You can also send them greetings for different occasions throughout the year so that you can show you care while reminding them that you’re around. Receiving an email from you will refresh their memory about you and the service you provided. You can also benefit from this by asking customers for testimonials or a short review of your work once the job is completed. You can post their replies on your website and attract more customers.

5. Target Local Businesses

There is no doubt that most of the work web designers find is online. However, that doesn’t mean you should put all your eggs in one basket. You cannot ignore the multitude of local businesses looking to make their mark online. Usually, they have to be asked if they want to go online before they respond in the affirmative. Although the volume of work and even the money you make through local clients will pale in comparison to the other customers you have on board, you shouldn’t miss out on any new client.

Simply handing out flyers in your neighborhood or giving your business card to businesses in the area can create a buzz about your business. Also, you can use the age-old trick of special offers and rewards for customers. With these published in your local newspaper or in press releases, people who need quality web design at affordable prices will come running to you.

6. Go Mobile

Lastly but most importantly, you need to learn about web designing for mobile devices. The reason for this is the rampant growth in the usage of tablets and smartphones. Because people use the internet on their handheld gadgets, their 4-inch screen cannot perfectly show a website designed for 20-inch monitors. This is why clients seek to have their website made compatible for mobile devices else they miss out on potential customers.

Image source: Flickr. Author: Luc Legay

Same is the case with web designers. If they don’t provide mobile web design services, they are most likely to miss out on several potential clients. Since the principles to be applied remain the same, it is not too difficult for you to get started with mobile web design. If you are already familiar with it, that’s even better for you!

Just last year, nearly 140,000 websites were created every day on average. However, all those websites needed a skilled web designer to see the light of day.

Which of these pieces of advice do you think are most effective?