How To Start A Web Design Business

Hi everyone, hope your new year is going well!

One of my goals for this year is to blog regularly, I'm planning on uploading a post once every two weeks. I got input from followers of my Instagram (@ashhcodes) and 60% of you said you wanted to read about how to start a web design business, so here is the story of how I set up my own web design business!

I founded my own web design business - A Llewellyn Designs - back in 2017 when I did my first website redesign for a student newspaper at my University. I have always enjoyed web design, ever since I was 13 and designing Tumblr themes using HTML and CSS! Since the student newspaper work, I have completed 5 website and logo designs for a range of companies, including an investment management company, and a local deli.

First things first, you need to know exactly what services you can provide well. For me, I offer website creation and re-design, logo creation and re-design, and website maintenance.

Set your prices depending on your experience but be sure not to undersell yourself. You have valuable skills, so capitalize on them!

For example, since I'm a Computer Science student, and know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript I can provide expert customization to clients who are looking for a professional, yet personalized website.

Now that you know where your strengths are, start emailing. This is one of the parts of my business that isn't very thrilling, but it's necessary to reach new clients and find new design jobs. Start local in your hometown and look at all the websites of shops around your area. If there are any places that need website re-design, or don't have a website and you think would benefit from having one - reach out. These can be compared to cold calls - but don't be cold in your emails! Be sure to personalize each email to the client and don't just copy paste for each email and change the name, because they probably won't respond at all.

I would also recommend making a LinkedIn Page for your business, you can make posts about updates to your pricing schemes and gain new clients. It's also a good idea to have a portfolio of all of your existing work so that clients can see if your previous work matches what they're looking for in terms of design. Keep the design clean so that it's easy for clients to navigate through your projects, but also compelling.

Once you get a few steady clients, you can offer yearly website maintenance services where you maintain the website you just created / re-designed, making updates throughout the year when the client needs them. This is a good way to have a steady income, and maintain a good relationship with the client after you've completed the work!

Those are a few of my top tips for starting your own successful web design business, comment below if these were helpful for you, or share your own top tips! Thank you for reading!

P.S. I'm offering a special discount for students, since I know how expensive it is to be one! I'll help you create a professional portfolio on WordPress that you can provide to potential employers to display your work. For more details click this link! Get in touch by emailing me at allewellyndesigns@gmail.com if you're interested!