10 Tips to Finding and Attracting Web Design Clients
The path to earning new business looks different for every creative solopreneur and agency. In fact, there’s no “right way” to market your web design services, rather a tactful mixing and matching of strategies that best showcase your personality, expertise, and work ethic.
We asked Circle members Chris Schwartz-Edmisten, Kerstin Martin, and Sophia Ojha to share the most effective ways they’ve acquired clients, marketed their services, and managed their businesses using Squarespace. In addition to sharing personal anecdotes and tactics that have led them to success, they offered some advice to anyone who’s looking to refine their approach to finding and attracting new clients.
The following are 10 tips to implement in your client acquisition strategy.
1. Set up your own website
In addition to reflecting your skills and design aesthetic, your website should tell your story and brand identity. It’s also an ideal place to share your passions, mission, values, and voice, while giving potential clients the opportunity to connect with you.
Kerstin Martin: Keep it up-to-date, show off your Squarespace skills, and develop your signature style.
2. Find a niche
The practice of finding a niche can help you focus on an audience, skill, or industry so you can become the expert in your desired field. Identify your areas of expertise, passions, and goals—use those to find a niche that you’ll enjoy serving. The best part? You can always expand or change your offerings later on.
Chris Schwartz-Edmisten: If you enjoy designing, you could partner with Squarespace website builders and only do the design portion of their projects. If you love marketing, you could sell Squarespace templates. If you love coding, you could sell Squarespace plugins. If you love teaching, you could sell Squarespace courses. If you love project management, you could help Squarespace web designers set up their systems and processes. There are so many ways to niche down.
3. Get involved
Whether you join a global community like Circle, become part of your local business community, or participate in social media groups, find ways to get involved and expand your professional networks online or in person. You may even find yourself in the same spaces as potential clients, so be present and ready to engage.
Sophia Ojha: I suggest getting involved in an in-person group; not a networking group, but rather a group that meets to talk about a certain shared interest. For instance, when I was first starting out, I joined the local writer’s club… I showed up every week and introduced myself as “the Squarespace Web Designer.” This was well before I had a single paying client! Soon people saw me as a web designer and the club president reached out to me to rebuild their website on Squarespace. It was a pro bono project but this gave me my first portfolio piece. Plus, she spoke about the site to everyone.
4. Work on your own search engine optimization (SEO)
As you establish your presence, you’ll want to invest time into working on your website’s SEO ranking. This ensures that you are discoverable online for anyone who may be interested in your services.
Kerstin: Make sure your website is optimized, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console, create a Google Business Profile, add high quality inbound links, and start blogging. I did all these things and after about a year, Google became my #1 source of leads. It’s definitely worth putting in the effort.
5. Provide value
Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned pro, find ways to share your expertise with potential clients. You can do this through blog posts, video tutorials, and webinars. All of these add to your value as your client’s trusted resource.
Chris: Have a free, education-based component to your business. For example, how-to content marketing is a great way to build trust with potential clients and show that you know your stuff. When you provide value, you get value in return.
6. Start without obligations
If you’re just starting out and looking to build your profile, consider offering your services for free to friends, family, colleagues, or local businesses. In addition to creating samples for potential clients to reference, you can also build skills and refine your craft.
Chris: In the beginning, people won’t know you are good at what you do. Helping them in exchange for a no-obligation donation may result in a return customer and can help build your confidence in providing that service.
Kerstin: Build a free website for someone you really like and who’d be a good fit for your design aesthetic.
7. Lean on friends and family
Whether you offer to build websites for free or request referrals, your friends and family are a great resource for expanding your professional network. Explain your new career goals and ask if they’re willing to help you meet them.
Kerstin: Do this once: email all your friends and family and tell them about your new business and ask them to share your info with anyone they think would benefit from your services.
Sophia: Write them a heart-felt letter describing how you have a dream of going out on your own as a freelance web designer and want to build a business serving clients with a Squarespace website. Let them know that to make this dream a reality, you need their help and would love it if they can recommend you to their friends or colleagues who may need an online presence.
8. Hone your skills
Regardless if this is your first day building websites or your 1000th, it’s important to continue refining your craft so that you can deliver the best service to your clients. In addition to staying up-to-date on product updates and new features, you may want to take classes on client management, read relevant articles about new trends, find a mentor, participate in online forums, or collaborate with peers. Circle members have access to an array of free resources and learning opportunities to expand their knowledge and hone their skills.
Kerstin: Learn Squarespace and keep up-to-date with technology and trends. This will not only make you a better designer but grow your confidence.
Sophia: My advice is that you learn to master the consult call. This is something I teach my students in my course for web designers. I find that if this skill is not refined, then no matter how many clients find you, you will not be able to get booked. Learn how to understand your client’s needs over a 30-minute consultation call, do consultative sales, and then get hired.
9. Establish your tool kit
As you dive further into your career, you’ll find the tools that work best for you. Squarespace has a robust collection of integrations and extensions to support your business in managing and communicating with clients, selling courses and physical products, and more.
Kerstin: I use Acuity Scheduling for discovery calls; Campaigns for my newsletter, nurture sequences, and upsell automations; Member Sites for my online courses; and Commerce for a physical planner that I sell. I am a solopreneur by design and Squarespace is an integral part of running my business calmly and effectively.
10. Have fun
Regardless of your experience level, let your passion for web design, branding, and storytelling through a unique visual medium radiate through your work and whenever you interact with clients.
Kerstin: Remember to have some fun! If you love design and enjoy working with people, then your passion will come through and you’ll soon get your first client.
A special thanks to Chris Schwartz-Edmisten, Kerstin Martin, and Sophia Ojha. In addition to being Circle members, each serves as a Community Leader, a dedicated program for those who have greatly impacted the community. Read more about their first-hand experiences with finding clients.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from all across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
