How to Get Clients for Web Development [Top 13 Strategies]

If you are a freelance web designer, getting clients for your web development business can be a pressing concern. However it does not need to be; you see, just like codes there is syntax to marketing as well. Getting qualified leads requires a little bit of strategy and then sticking to a schedule and voila – you will be able to create your own lead-generation machine. 

Check out this comprehensive guide from us to crack the right marketing strategy that works for your industry. You can save this article to refer to this later when you actually start with it. 

So, without further ado, let’s go ahead!

Click below and reach out to us to learn about our content driven client acquisition strategy.

Top 13 Tried and Tested Methods to Get Clients as a Web Developer

When you are on the quest to find web design clients, securing the basics is paramount. Fundamentals like the UI & UX of your site, and the quality of content – these all contribute to creating a uniform experience which ultimately helps to get more client. 

So, go ahead and use the pointers mentioned below as a checklist. For client acquisition, the effective strategy is to first solidify your basics and then take care of the additional factors. 

1. Reach Out to Potential Clients

Reaching out to your existing audience is one of the proven ways to convert your web development clients. This includes your website traffic, existing LinkedIn network and other places. 

By leveraging email lists, you can perform cold outreach to clients. Alternatively, you can guide their journey through the marketing funnel as well. With high-quality informational content that contributes value to the audience, you can create your newsletters that aside from encouraging conversions boost your brand value as well.

2. Optimize your Online Presence 

Whether you are an individual or a company, in order to get clients for web development, a robust online presence is imperative. It makes your services easily discoverable to prospective clients, Thereby generating leads and enquiries for your business.

You may use specific keywords in your profile related to your industry. It creates the opportunity to distribute a uniform message across different platforms to reinforce your online identity.

Leveraging social media for client acquisition can be a potent strategy especially when you want to target B2B customers. 3 engaging posts and 1 informative article in a week on your social profiles – follow this golden rule for a month and that’s all it takes to begin to amp up your social media game and turn it into a lead generation magnet for client acquisition.   

3. Make Use of Local SEO Techniques

As per a popular study published by Safar Digital, 46% of Google searches look for local businesses. It’s no surprise – people love and prefer local businesses more than others. That helps us chalk the next tip which is to implement location-based keywords in your content and blogs. 

Here’s the classic local SEO keyword for you – web development services near me. By implementing similar location-based keywords you can secure SERP positions against targeted keywords and generate better leads. 

4. Spread the Word with Content

It is no longer a secret that content marketing is used by almost all businesses today to drive organic traffic and enhance their online position. Content gives you the opportunity to interact directly with your audience and convert them by highlighting your unique value proposition.

With a sea of competition in every industry, offering or selling essentially the same things, content marketing helps you distinguish yourself by pointing out the unique value of your company. 

Informational and engaging articles optimized with keywords from your area of specialization allow you to target a specialized audience and boost your position in the market. 

5. Create an Awesome Work Portfolio  

A robust work portfolio is crucial to establish the trust factor with your clientele. As a vital service, web development is popular with both B2B as well as B2C businesses – that means, there is no dearth of clients. All you need is to showcase your ability by featuring a diverse portfolio of your jobs.

By balancing out your creative and professional works in the portfolio, you can attract a solid base of prospective clients from across the spectrum. It can help you receive different types of leads and projects, giving you the freedom to sort and choose.

6. Post on RFP Websites 

To get quality leads you cannot leave out any chances. Many government and non-government organizations list their requirements on RFP websites to request quotes from different companies.

Bagging an RFP is a good way to secure high-volume as well as high-paying projects.  However, maintaining caution is vital due to scammers on most platforms – a good idea is to perform a thorough background check of unfamiliar companies and organizations. 

Some useful RFP websites are – RFPMART, RFPdb, FindRFP, BidPrime, OpenGov etc. You may use these websites to get clients for web development. 

7. Showcase Profile in Marketplace Platforms

Having an impressionable business profile goes a long way when you are looking to get clients for web development. Leave no stone unturned in submitting your profile across multiple marketplace platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. 

Because let’s face it, better visibility translates to an increased number of leads. It’s not a real secret when we say increased leads directly create more customers. 

Create a stunning profile and portfolio first and then go ahead and search out the internet for relevant platforms. Here are a few to get our company profile writing services:

• Dribble
• SolidGigs
• Stack Overflow Jobs
• Hubstaff Talent Jobs
• Toptal
• FlexJobs

These are some of the popular websites for developers to meet prospective coders. And if you need a professionally written profile, help us help you – reach out to us.

8. Ask Present and Past Clients for Referrals 

When you are new to the web development industry without many connections, always doing your best job is the key. Offering a thoroughly satisfying experience to the clients allows you to establish a good rapport with them. 

After having done a commendable job, bank on that work to ask for recommendations and referrals from them. If you can make the client happy, in most cases they help you with more gigs. If not anything else, ask for a detailed review about what they liked about you and what did not. Add it to your company profile to increase its relevance and reputation.   

9. Create High-Quality Website Content

On the internet, your website is nothing but your office – a place where you display your authority, creativity, and individual taste that sets you apart. And first impressions do matter in this case. Having a ton of shabby and generic content on the website is as good as not having any. Because in the end, generic content fails to leave a mark. 

With personalized and tailored content that resonates with your brand identity, the website can truly stand out from the crowd to leave a distinctive mark on the audience. If you are looking to attract creative projects, you may opt for a trendy, ornate language and complement it with a bold and vibrant UI. We would suggest using a neutral tone with occasional usage of casual idioms to balance it out to make it appealing to everyone.

You can contact us, at Das Writing Services to outsource quality content for the web development niche. We have technical experts cum professional writers to write tailored content for your brand.

10. Create Clients Out of Personal Connections

This option is so obvious that people often ignore this. And working for people you are close to may invite a lot of scepticism. But hey, in an attempt to attract new clients, helping out an old friend is not such a bad idea. As long as you define professional boundaries and expectations about your services and payments with them – you should be good. 

The good news is, that promoting your web design services to friends and family is as easy in the age of social media. Just circulate a poster mentioning your services on social media handles like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. 

11. Solidify your Networking Game

Irrespective of whether you are a company or an independent freelancer, networking is essential to create a good reputation in the industry and get qualified leads. For any web development business, networking with entrepreneurs from different walks of the industry proves useful. 

If you are a freelancer, we would suggest creating a network of peers who also offer similar services around you. Talk to them, share insights, collaborate on important projects, learn from them and grow together. A fraternal bond with your competitors often helps you get valuable leads that you may then convert. Don’t jump the gun to make rivals out of them. We are in this together!

12. Connect with Leading Developers on GitHub

For all web developers out there, having an updated GitHub repository of your own is arguably the best way to showcase your authority and command over your skills. It helps you build a reputation among your peers – thus enhancing your professional network. 

Also with Github’s collaboration tools, you can work with peers and friends in the industry to work on a joint venture together.

With a huge collection of open-source codes available in the repository, you can not only get help with the tricky parts but also learn from the professionals in the industry. Given the reputation of GitHub, it is a good place to find quality clients so watch out for that as well. 

13. Attend Events & Conference

Sure, bonding over a brief chat on LinkedIn might be good, but virtual networking is not as effective as real live events. Participating and hosting important events like Hackathons are great to interact with new talents and strengthen your connection with industry leaders. 

Watch out for some of the top events for web developers such as Google’s Webmaster Conference, PyCon India conference for Python developers, and AWS Cloud Day to get hosting-related information and insights which further fine-tune your craft. Not to mention, these events are swamped by entrepreneurs. 

So you may leverage that opportunity to book a potential client or two here as well. 

Takeaway

Having considered some of the most useful strategies to get clients for web development, this blog should help you frame the strategy for effective lead generation. However, doing everything everywhere all at once can potentially yield a mediocre result. 

To ensure, your lead generation strategy is useful enough for you, measure the number of leads or impressions you are receiving. It helps you prevent waste of time and resources.