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12 Steps for Making Successful Web Design Business

12 Steps for Making Successful Web Design Business 1

Table of Contents

With increase in the number of internet users, Many business are going online. They need website for performing their business online or at least for making a space in online world. Website development has a good scope and high earning potential. You can start your online web designing business, if you have skills.
Nowadays, web development business are becoming competitive, specially in India. But it has lots of potential to grow, because of high demand of traditional businesses going online, specially mobile based websites. You can also start your web development business. For that you need some basic web development knowledge. But it’s not the only thing you need, You need a business plan to make it a true business.

Here are 12 steps to follow to start your own web development business

  1. Plan Goals.
  2. Find Your Niche.
  3. Make Your Brand.
  4. Register Domain, Social Media Handles.
  5. Ready Your Tools.
  6. Make Your Website with Portfolio.
  7. Choose Invoicing and Payment System.
  8. Promotion and Marketing.
  9. Find Clients, Make Network.
  10. Focus on Customer Experience.
  11. Implement Automation and Scaling.
  12. Expand with Additional Services.

Let’s talk about them in detail.

1. Plan Goals.

You should have clear goals which you will follow. There will be times when you get stuck in lines of codes or have to deal with customers who has no idea what they want. In those times your defined goals will keep you motivated and consistent. Make a vision, that what kind of business you want to make. Make small goals but with clear vision and be ready to work hard on it. You should have basic knowledge of Web designing and some knowledge about HTML, CSS, Jquery, Bootstrap, WordPress. These skills are required and will help you a lot.
Also, plan about what you want to be in beginning a Front-End developer or Backend Developer. You can also hire any other professional web developer, but knowing basics is the first requirement. Also you should understand that web development designs and software, keeps on changing with time, you have to keep learning about new trends in web development.

2. Find Your Niche.

Nowadays Web Designing Industry is so incredibly crowded that there is a fierce competition. Also there are lots of negative views of clients for web designing industry, because there are many low quality web developers out there. You have to find out in which section you are special. What are your power points which you can deliver to your clients, which no others can offer.

You can choose your niche based on many factors, best will be, target a particular section of people’s need like simple 5 page layouts or E-commerce specialist, or restaurants or any other. Focus and work in that area, you will get lots of business as you will be professional in that particular field. It will reduce competition as well as earn client’s confidence that you will be making their website great as you have thorough knowledge of that kind of websites.

3. Register Domain, Social Media Handles.

In today’s world making a social media presence is very important for businesses. Check domain names for your business and register all social media handle usernames as possible for your business. Its very important today, even if you are not going to use some social media handles, it’s better to register it’s username earlier, as you may not find it later if you decide to use it. There are lots of websites, where you can register your domain like Godaddy, Hostgator, Bigrock, Namecheap etc. Buy wherever you are getting it cheaper. Also check if you have to register for Tax Laws for your business name in your area.

4. Make Your Brand.

It is very important, if you are making a web development business. Your brand will help your clients remember your business. It will also add weight to your web development business by adding loyalty about your work. For making a brand 1st thing is, you have to make a good Logo. If you have funds, hire a professional graphic designer to make a logo for you, but if you are going short for money, Make your own logo. But make sure that your logo will look great wherever it is placed e.g., Social Media Handles. Make a slogan, simple but catchy like, Affordable Fast Web Design or Great e-Commerce development. It’s also important to make your business branding, considering your target audience.

5. Ready Your Tools.

There are many websites builder tools like Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify. But nowadays WordPress is the most recommended one, others options like shopify are great for e-commerce. Learn about them and choose what you like. You will also need A PC/Laptop , Internet Connection etc. Also you will need graphic tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD etc. You may also need to buy some theme builders like elementor or divi but it can be skipped in starting.

6. Make Your Website with Portfolio.

Don’t just say “I can build this” , Show what you’ve done.
Now, when you have setup your brand, it’s time to showcase some of your works to attract clients. You must make a beautiful and elegant looking website for your web development business. Also showcase your portfolio of websites you have created before. If you don’t have something to show in your portfolio, then make some demo websites first. Think from client’s perspective, clients will hire you only by checking your previous works. Showcase some of your best designs in your portfolio. Also give clear instructions how clients can contact you.
Make your web designs responsive, keeping in mind that most of the traffic nowadays comes from mobile users.

7. Choose Invoicing and Payment System.

You have set services to offer, now you should set a method of collection of payments. Signup for payment gateways and integrate them in your site. In India there are many payment gateways you can use like payumoney, instamojo, CCAvenue. For international payments you can use paypal, skrills.

Give your clients options to pay from wallets, credit cards etc. Also make a tax invoice system and keep track of it, there are many software for it in market nowadays. It will help you keeping record of your income and expenses.

8. Promotion and Marketing.

You have all setup now. Time for promoting your business, make some marketing plans.
Your business will not have clients unless it is promoted and marketed properly. There are many marketing strategies you can follow like video marketing, marketing through online ads, Social media marketing etc. Promote your business on all social media platforms. Show your creativity and works on social media.
You can also show your works by video, or from blog, these types of promotion get good amount of traffic and search engine attention. That will bring you many clients. You can also give some freebies or free consultation and make subscribers. Which you can use for email marketing.
You can also use cross promotion with other graphic designers and people who offer complementary services like printing, graphic designing etc.
Also participate in sites like stackoverflow, reddit. post your works on behance or other portfolio sites. In beginning, you can also post your works on freelancing sites like fiverr, upwork.

9. Find Clients, Make Network.

This is most important part, you have to work on. Finding clients is difficult in the beginning of your career. But as you keep making sites for some of your clients, it will become too easy for you to find new clients. In web development business, many clients come from referals from previous clients.
You should be clear what are good clients and bad clients. It will be easier if you have followed previous point “find your niche”. If you are focused on your niche, you can easily distinguish between clients that you can work for or clients you can’t work for.
In the beginning, find clients from your network, for e.g. clients from your relatives, friends, previous colleagues , from your social media friends etc.
Make new connections, join facebook groups for web designers, startups and business related people.

10. Focus on Customer Experience.

After you find clients, it is very important to make them happy with your work. Don’t forget that “Your clients are your most valuable Assets”. Clients bring customer loyalty, higher retention and increased revenues, so it is very important that you make your customer’s experience good from your works, invoicing system, notifications and prompt reply for their queries.

11. Implement Automation and Scaling.

After you have almost setup your business, and start getting clients, you will find it difficult to manage all the work, You should create automation systems to make your repetitive tasks easier.
By implementing automation, you will reduce your work load and also satisfy customers and, thus, increase your business’s competitiveness. You can automate tasks like, invoicing, Customer renewal alerts, Automated billing etc.
You should also hire some freelancers and designers to divide the work load, and complete more projects within time.

12. Expand with Additional Services.

Now when you have a successfully running business, Think what more services you can provide to your customers which are related to your business. A client who came to you for web designing, may also require brand promotion services, digital marketing services, SEO, Brand Building, Logo designing, brochure designing services or Mobile App Development

You should gradually expand your business, by adding more services to your business. But this should be done carefully, as too much expansion in early stage can result in over work load, which can result in incomplete or delayed work, thus impacting your client’s experience.

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Aryan Kapoor, a Mumbai-based finance enthusiast and budding author. Aryan's concise insights on freelancing, investments, and financial strategies provide valuable guidance for readers navigating the world of personal finance.

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