Get More Clients for Your Web Design Business with These 7 Surefire Strategies

As if the daily tasks of your web design and development business aren’t enough, you always need to get more clients!  Without a consistent influx of client work, you’ll have a tough time meeting your revenue goals. Having your eye on the prize keeps your client pipeline full. 

The problem is that finding new clients isn’t always easy. Maybe you’ve attended local networking events and handed out hundreds of business cards to no avail. Perhaps you’ve tapped every colleague for referrals.

If you’ve exhausted the typical avenues that have worked in the past, don’t worry!  You just need some new ideas for how to get more clients. And that’s what we’re covering in this article. These strategies attract more leads and help you to convert them into paying clients.

Sound good? Let’s get started.

1. Expand Your Universe with Other People’s Communities

If you’ve been marketing to a specific audience for a while, it’s time to branch out. Getting in front of other people’s communities and their audiences introduce you to a whole new crowd. 

There’s a huge advantage to new people discovering you in this way.  When a trusted leader of a community connects you to their peeps, doors open more easily for you since some of that leader’s trust rubs off on you.

Amy Porterfield familiarizes her community with Marie Forleo’s B-School, which increases Forleo’s reach and visibility.

Typically, when you’re meeting someone for the first time you’re building trust from scratch. However, tapping into another person’s tribe instantly boosts the trust factor. You’ll benefit from the social proof that transfers to you through association.

To leverage other people’s communities, you’ll need to reach out to your existing connections. Find people who have engaged fans, a highly visited website, or an active email list. Then see if they are willing to help you in exchange for you helping them. You could even do some type of affiliate marketing relationship.

Consider the different ways you can reach other people’s audiences:

• Write a guest blog post
• Speak at their event (offline or online)
• Be a guest on their podcast (and provide the audience with a freebie)
• Make an appearance on their webinar or interview show
• Be the subject of one of their emails get creative! No guest opportunity is too small. Just make sure that the other person’s audience is a good fit for your services and offers.

Get creative! No guest opportunity is too small. Just make sure that the other person’s audience is a good fit for your services and offers.

2. Write a Book

Writing a book may sound overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. You can use existing content from your blog, presentations, emails, and videos to create a book around one theme.

Why write a book? It’s an excellent way to reach more people and increase your visibility in a niche. Think about all of the book searches on Amazon every day. If you write a book on a topic that appeals to your ideal target market, imagine how many new people could potentially discover you.

Digital marketing expert Mark Schaefer has written many books related to his industry, which helps to position him as an expert and attract consulting clients.

Writing a book is an excellent marketing tool. With today’s modern eBooks, you don’t even need a big publisher to back you. You can publish your own book in a digital format. And, you can easily and affordably order printed copies to hand out instead of business cards.

Also, a book sets you apart from your competition. Authorship raises your perceived value, expertise, and authority. 

Publishing a book – whether it’s print or digital – helps you:

• Attain expert status in your field
• Show you’re a thought leader
• Attract new prospects and clients
• Build a following and grow your email list
• Educate your prospects to move them along the buying journey
• Introduce people to your products and services

3. Host a Live Webinar

One of the very best, most effective strategies for attracting prospects and converting them into clients is to host a live webinar.

Getting in front of your ideal client to teach them the why, what, and how of a specific pain point or topic builds trust. A webinar illustrates your knowledge, expertise, and experience. The live component provides a level of authenticity and energy that people desire in today’s crowded marketplace.

So, how do you get clients from hosting a live webinar?

There are several ways you can convert prospects into clients through webinars.

Teach for the majority of your live webinar then make an offer at the end.

This is a non-spammy method to promote your services without coming across as overly promotional or aggressive. 

Build a targeted email list using live webinars.

Over time, nurture your prospects through content marketing. When someone signs up for a webinar, they are willing to spend an hour or so of their precious time to learn about the topic. If they show up, you know that they are very interested. So, webinars are more effective for gauging interest levels and qualifying your leads.

Record and re-purpose your webinar to use in an evergreen sales funnel.

If your webinar is “evergreen” – meaning that the information doesn’t expire right away – you can turn your webinar into a video in a marketing funnel. Although the webinar is no longer live, you can still ask people for an email address in exchange for access to the webinar video. Then you can make an offer via an email sequence. This setup – email opt-in/webinar/offer – can be an ongoing process to attract and convert leads. You can learn about webinars and get help from a webinar coach or consultant. 

4. Hold a Challenge

The proof is in the pudding, as they say!  That’s why 3-7 day challenges are so effective.  If you can transform and positively impact someone’s life in a short time, they’ll be convinced your paid offer is well worth it.

A challenge is a short-term event in which you offer to help prospects get from Point A to Point B.  This type of interaction is more of a personal experience, which makes it ideal.

Andrew Lane of Design Hacker hosts a free 5 Day Brand Makeover via a Facebook Group and email to help participants DIY a professional brand. It’s an effective lead to his other offers, including a monthly membership and services.

How you deliver your challenge is entirely up to you.  There’s email, video, Facebook group, or even an in-person meeting. You can run an ongoing, evergreen challenge. Or, you can hold a live challenge that has a beginning and an end date. It’s your choice, so select a method you’re comfortable with. 

Evaluate your ideal client’s pain points and your offers/services to come up with challenge ideas. Hone in on what your prospects want versus what they need. Here are some examples:

• Redesign Your Home Page in 5 Days
• 7 Day Launch: How to Create Your Own Website in a Week
• The 3-Day Website Makeover Challenge 

The key is to avoid giving your prospects everything they want to know. Focus your challenge on one small transformation. At the end of the challenge, you promote an offer for your services or even a product (like an online course).

A challenge is another great tool for building your email list! Just like a webinar, you’re targeting specific prospects based on topics, which makes it easier to qualify and segment your leads.

5. Transform Your Website into a Persuasion Powerhouse

You’re a pro at designing websites, but how much time and energy have you invested in your own site? Maybe it’s time to look at the changes you can make to improve your website conversions. 

Sometimes it is difficult or uncomfortable to market yourself. But there are plenty of techniques that avoid aggressive selling while still convincing people to choose you for their web design needs.

Digital marketing agency Imagine highlights their clients’ results through case studies.

Once a website visitor is on your site, it’s up to you to bust their objections. People typically are skeptical and look for reasons to either buy or not buy.  However, it’s not logic that makes the ultimate decision – it’s emotion!

So, your goal is to use your website’s images and text to appeal to people’s logic and their emotions.  Many people find this to be a daunting task. Here are suggestions for what to include on your site so that it’s working to sell your services:

• Highlight testimonials and case studies
• Show “before and after” transformations
• Share your personal story – and how it relates to your ideal client
• List your qualifications (expertise, certifications, education, awards)
• Display branded client logos for social proof
• Explain your process
• Offer a freebie to turn visitors into subscribers 

Recall the reasons people have used to not hire you in the past. Then find ways to slay those beliefs, objections, and barriers with your website content. 

Over 75% of website visitors never return! So, use these tips to capture their interest and persuade them to give you their email address before you lose them forever.

6. Incorporate Video into Your Marketing

We just talked about how people base their buying decisions on emotion – not on logic.  That’s why video marketing is so powerful.  

Video appeals to the emotional side of our brain. There’s something very personal about video since people can see your facial expressions, hear your voice, and experience your mannerisms. Video is second best to being with another person live and in person.

So, another way to get more clients is to start using video in your marketing and in your business. We talked about webinars – they are one type of video – but there are many options! Consider adding video into your existing processes, such as free consultations or audits. And, incorporate video into your content marketing.

It can be easier to edit your webinar teaser video using the fully customizable FlexClip templates if you have no experience in graphic and video design.

Jennifer Bourn, a founding partner at the design and development company Bourn Creative, uses video in her content marketing.

Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• Consultation calls – use Zoom or Skype rather than phone
• Audit – add a video response with your results
• Follow up email – add a personal video
• Social media – post more live or recorded video
• Start a vlog (aka video blog) or YouTube channel

Video accelerates the know, like, and trust factor, which will help you convert your leads into prospects much faster!

7. Follow Up with Leads and Past Clients 

Not every person that interacts with you or your business will be ready to buy on the spot.  Just because someone downloads your freebie, contacts you on social media, or meets with you doesn’t mean they will become a client immediately. Selling requires multiple touchpoints with your prospects! That’s why following up is a critical step in getting more clients.

Each person that comes to your website or contacts you is in a different stage of the buying journey. They may be just starting to research web design. Or, they may have been looking for website help for a while.  

It’s up to you to create content for each stage of the buying journey. This includes:

• Email sequences
• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• Videos
• Free downloads

You are a sherpa who guides each prospect to make an informed decision about the next steps in web design. Through your content marketing, you help convert a prospect into a client. 

That’s why it’s so important to build an email list and communicate regularly with your subscribers. They may not be ready to buy now, but your consistent communications and touchpoints will make you top of mind when they decide to choose a web designer.

And, don’t forget to reach out to past clients. They may need additional services. If they had a positive experience with you previously, this could be an easy win for you!

Getting More Web Design Clients is Rarely Accidental 

For the most part, it takes effort, time, and planning to get more clients for your web design business. Prospects need nurturing and convincing before they say yes to your offers. Be prepared for the long haul!

Also, amidst the chaos of managing your to-do list, it’s tough to focus on marketing. For this reason, don’t take on too many client attraction strategies at one time. Incorporate one or two into your routine before adding other strategies. 

The secret is to make acquiring clients an ongoing, intentional effort in your business. Doing this will help you avoid the “feast or famine” situation when it comes to bringing money in consistently. We hope these suggestions to get more clients have helped with that effort!

Which one of these client attraction strategies will you be trying?

About Meghan Monaghan

Meghan is a Content Director on Kim Garst’s team and the Founder of Smart Bird Social. She helps small businesses get discovered online, generate more leads, and create residual income through content marketing.