If you want to become a web designer, look no further because you’ve found that one post that will teach you what you should be doing every month inside building and launching your web design business. Hi, I’m Zach, and I’m going to break this down for you so simply. What’s happening, the reality is, when you’re becoming a website designer, you only need to answer three questions: what am I offering, to whom, and how will I reach that person? And when you answer those three questions, you actually finish the Venn diagram of any business. Circle one is your offer, circle two is your ideal client, and circle three is your marketing strategy.
Because you clicked on this video, I already know what you’ve decided that you’re going to offer: Web Design Services. But what you may not have is the actual skill of website design. If you’re like me, you never went to college or university for computer science, tech, or graphic design-so you have valid fears about what happens when a client asks about your degree or where you went to school. I’m happy to report that this is a fear many aspiring website designers have, and the truth is, I’ve been asked those questions a grand total of zero times by my clients. Since then I have gone on to teach over 5,000 people how to become website designers. It’s common for new students to stress about how to handle that question, but after talking to many past students, they all say the same thing: no one ever asked them. While very common, it isn’t something rooted in reality.
If you are learning web design, perhaps you already began experimenting with the websites at a previous job. Most people who get into the website industry start by being given a task at their work of, “go edit this website,” and from then on find they love designing websites. So, you might have a lot more experience than you think if you’re that kind of person.
But if you don’t have the budget to enroll in a course, that’s totally cool. There are some great tutorials on YouTube and you can pretty much just start practicing, building demo websites on a platform of your choice. It’s a totally valid way to learn, and that’s exactly how I started back in the day. Even though you might be going budget-friendly with tutorials and practice, I would still recommend that you take a course at some point in the future. This is because tutorials will teach you loads about the tech, but they will not talk about website strategy, conversion best practices, and design principles, which are more often than not omitted if one does not take a course. So, when it does come down to budget, I highly recommend it.
Let’s say you have gone through the course or binge-watched YouTube tutorials and have done some practice by building mock websites. The next step in your very first month is to answer the question of who you want to serve with your services. Not that I am asking you to choose a niche from day one, but my recommendation will be to start thinking in the direction of one. Think of it this way: just consider other website designers or web design agencies you admire, and imagine applying to work for them. Who would you want to work for? Take note of the projects and clients they work with and you get an inkling of a niche direction you might want to head in. You don’t have to choose something super specific right now, but there is a huge difference between designing websites for the construction industry and designing for natural wellness businesses. Choosing some sort of niche direction is going to help steer your work in months two and three.
In month two, let’s get you some real projects to work on. The easiest way to do this is by reaching out to friends, family, and acquaintances and letting them know that you’re offering web design services. If at all possible, you’ll want to find someone whose project is a good fit with the kind of client or industry you’d like to work with. Why? Because this project will be a portfolio piece for you. The thing is, if you want to work with fun, colorful brands like Drunk Elephant and you have a family member who wants a website with that style, it’s the perfect project to take on. If you are more into rustic and natural designs, then maybe Uncle Gary’s woodworking business could be a better fit. A good starting portfolio for a web designer should include about three pieces.
As you develop these sites, make a note of what you enjoyed and didn’t enjoy about each project. This will further refine your niche direction. It’s normal to be apprehensive about reaching out to people, but you’ll be surprised at how many people need a website and will appreciate your help. Whether you do the projects for free, for a discount, or for full price, the important things are getting a testimonial, a portfolio piece and building your confidence. By the end of month two you should have a solid portfolio.
Now let’s go to month three—how will you reach new clients? You need to pick a marketing strategy. Depending on your social connections, you get a few projects through friends and family, but that is not sustainable long-term. Based on the responses from 770 website designers in the questionnaire, some of the methods used for marketing included the following: 10% used Facebook, 16% Instagram, 3% LinkedIn, 3% freelancer websites, 34% referrals, 6% networking events, 3% cold pitching, 12% SEO, blogging, and content marketing, 2% Pinterest, and 5% through other means such as speaking and business networking groups.
Once you have decided on a strategy, now it is the time to learn how to implement it. If your budget allows, I recommend finding an expert in that particular marketing method who has created some course on blogging, Instagram, or referral networking. If on a tighter budget, there are heaps of free pieces of content online that will help get you up and running, though do make sure you devote some real quality time to practicing the chosen strategy.
It’s also very important to set a regular cadence for executing your marketing strategy. Decide how often you can commit to realistic marketing-whether it’s daily, weekly, or biweekly-and do it. If you aren’t seeing the results you want, change something about your strategy.
With that three-month roadmap in hand, you can start to finalize your offerings, determine your pricing and decide whether or not you want to offer services in addition to custom website builds.