5 Web Design Projects to Kickstart the Year
The new year can be a busy time for many professional web designers. Even with the momentum of last year’s business, there’s a lot to think about as you chart the year ahead—on top of finding new clients. Perhaps you want to focus on a specific industry. Or maybe you’re ready to expand your offerings and scale your team. Regardless of how you envision success in 2026, there are website projects you can target to kickstart the year, diversify your portfolio, and develop your skills.
Build a personal portfolio
Every web designer needs a strong portfolio. Clients want evidence that you can build great websites and design beautiful digital experiences. They also need help finding you: by sharing your work online, you can market yourself to prospective web design clients.
The start of the new year is a perfect time to assess what past clients resonated with on your website and whether your portfolio clearly tells prospects your brand’s story. In doing so, you can identify—and address—any gaps to fill.
In your portfolio, demonstrate a clear brand identity and a compelling body of work. Draw inspiration from effective portfolios, explore Squarespace’s portfolio templates, or build a website from scratch. Select or upload and select custom fonts, colors, and site styles that communicate who you are. Then, showcase the best web design projects you’ve built.
It may be tempting to flaunt your fanciest web design skills, but keep the focus on the work. Highlight the range of website projects you can tackle, and ensure clients can quickly find everything they need.
Then, look for other ways to add value. Tell your story with a descriptive about page that lists your achievements and builds trust with clients. Add a contact page, social media icons, and other ways to stay in touch. Follow search engine optimization (SEO) and AI optimization (AEO) best practices, help clients schedule appointments online, and offer compelling web design packages.
This portfolio project is a great place to start the year, because it’s low on stress and high on feedback. Since you’re working for yourself, you have wiggle room if you make a mistake or miss a deadline. You can also clearly evaluate your website project’s success: has your portfolio helped you land clients, or do you need to keep working on it?
Redesign a local business website
Now that your portfolio is in great shape, try building a site for someone else. Consider what industries you have experience with (service, retail, etc.) or want to learn more about. Then, find a local business that could use a new website.
As you research the market, look for businesses that haven’t made the most of responsive design, SEO best practices, accessibility principles, automated scheduling, or email marketing. These are great opportunities to add real value.
Pitch your services to the business, stating how you can improve their website and why those improvements matter. How will your work impact their bottom line, and why are you the right designer with the right experience for the job? Once you land the client, ask them about their specific needs and goals. Then, write a clear proposal spelling out what you’ll do and when you’ll do it.
Communicate thoughtfully throughout the project. Check in, get approval, and ask for feedback along the way. As the project nears a close, establish a clear offboarding process.
Once you’ve finished the web design project, gather feedback—and get permission to use that feedback in your client testimonials. Ask the client what they’ve enjoyed, how you can improve, and whether they’d recommend you to other businesses. Couple these insights with analytics, such as growth in monthly traffic, to evaluate your success and strengthen your marketing materials.
Create a niche blog or content platform
Building a blog or content platform is a great way to diversify your portfolio and develop your skills. Consider what you’re interested in: is there a topic you’re passionate about or eager to explore? Then, decide whether to start your own blog or partner with an existing creator. Either way, you’ll get exposure to copywriting, content marketing, audience engagement, and more.
Though content platforms range from niche blogs to full-blown media brands, they’re composed of the same key elements. You need an effective layout that showcases the content and captures the brand. You need an about page that introduces the platform. And, if you’re starting from scratch, you need great content. Since content creators often publish on several platforms, you can also connect social accounts and add newsletter blocks and videos where relevant.
As you build, create a style guide to keep branding consistent across every touchpoint and use a content calendar to set deadlines and schedule content.
This web design project is particularly exciting, because it involves content marketing. Your content needs an audience, and you can use SEO, AEO, email marketing, and social media to reach them. You can also look for creative ways to generate revenue, like by marketing subscription products, offering online courses, enabling advertising, or selling custom merch.
Use analytics to track your progress, noting how traffic, engagement, and conversions have changed since the start. And pay attention to what happens when you make specific tweaks: how do different design, content, and marketing updates affect your numbers?
Collaborate on an open-source project
Collaboration gives you the chance to try new things, get feedback, and learn from others. It also helps you hone your communication skills and pushes you to build bigger and faster than you could on your own.
Start by connecting with other web designers and developers. Join web design communities like Circle, get active in web development forums, and attend relevant networking events. Other web designers can help you hone your craft, introduce you to collaborators, and recommend you to clients—helping you build skills and grow your network with every interaction.
Ask around about open-source projects you can work on, and keep an eye out for collaborative opportunities. If your search comes up dry, get proactive. Consider what open-source websites you already use and love, and suggest a few improvements. Or look for early-stage website projects that could use small edits or upgrades.
Your contributions don’t have to be big to make an impact. By correcting typos, fixing small bugs, or offering new feature ideas, you can add real value to web design projects while sharpening your open-source development skills.
Start with a smaller web design project
Don’t let perfection stand in the way of progress. If these website project ideas sound too big, look for approachable alternatives.
Instead of building an entire portfolio, design a one-page website—like an event landing page or a social-media-friendly Bio Site. If you don’t feel comfortable pitching your services to strangers, ask a friend if they need help updating their personal or business website.
You can also get web development practice by enhancing existing websites. Help businesses book more clients by enabling online appointment scheduling. Work with educators or content creators to launch online courses. Or create compelling Email Campaigns that help brands reach more people and drive more sales.
These upgrades offer approachable ways to help clients grow their businesses—and they’ll also help you qualify for a Circle membership. To sign up, you need to contribute to at least three active Squarespace projects. Those projects can be full-blown websites or subscription products, like Acuity Scheduling and Email Campaigns.
Tips for success
As you build up your portfolio for the new year, keep the following best practices in mind:
Carefully manage your time
Excellent designers don’t just make great work—they deliver that work by or before deadline. This requires effective prioritization and careful time management. Following the holidays, you may need to work your way back up to juggling a few projects at once. Be realistic about how long it takes to accomplish different tasks, and experiment with outsourcing when appropriate or most efficient.
Ask for feedback
Asking for feedback is hard but important. At the end of each project, ask clients to weigh in on what you did well and what you could do better. Incorporate positive feedback into your client testimonials, and use negative feedback to strengthen your business. Ask the Circle community for project feedback in the forum to ensure you’re delivering best-in-class work.
Stay up-to-date on trends, technologies, and best practices
The web design world is constantly changing. Stay at the top of your game by keeping up with design trends, mastering new technologies, and following updated guidelines and best practices. Work to create projects that are inclusive, accessible, and responsive. And take advantage of cutting-edge ways to help clients reach their goals.
Kickstart your best year yet
These web design projects are a great jumping off point to develop your skills, bolster your portfolio, and feel more confident working with clients and collaborators. Plus, as you complete more projects throughout the year, you’ll earn points toward your next Circle status, unlocking access to higher commissions and better benefits to reward you for your work on Squarespace.
But don’t stop there. Once you’ve tackled portfolios, blogs, and business websites, look for other ways to continue refining your web design abilities. Proactively search for new skills to build, projects to create, and ways to grow as a creative professional—this year, and beyond.
This article was originally published on December 15, 2023. It has since been updated.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers and web design agencies. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings experts together from across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
