How to get web design clients
To get web design clients, choose one type of business, list the owners and marketing leads at small companies in it, and email each one about something specific on their website. A broken button on their own homepage is harder to ignore than your portfolio.
Who pays for a new website
| Buyer | What the site has to do | What triggers a redesign |
|---|---|---|
| Trades and home services | Make the phone ring from a mobile search | New service area, more vans |
| Dental and medical practices | Book new patients online | New location or partner |
| Law firms | Look credible, explain each practice area | New partner, merger or rename |
| Small manufacturers | Help buyers and distributors find specs | New product line |
| B2B software companies | Turn visits into demos | New positioning, first marketing hire |
Choose the niche you can already show
One past project in a niche beats ten in random ones. “I rebuilt a roofer's site around the call button” is a pitch. “Custom, responsive websites” is wallpaper.
Tip: No portfolio yet? Redesign the homepage of one real company in your niche. That mockup is your first sample.
Build the list of owners and marketing leads
Search ContactYard's 100M+ verified B2B prospects with one saved search per niche. The total updates as you filter, so you know the market size before you export.
| Niche | ContactYard filters | Employee Headcount |
|---|---|---|
| Trades | Services: Roofing Services, Plumbing Services, HVAC Services | 11 to 20, 21 to 100 |
| Dental and medical | Industry: Healthcare > Dentists, Medical Practices | 11 to 20, 21 to 100 |
| Law firms | Industry: Government and Legal > Law Practice | 11 to 20, 21 to 100 |
| Manufacturers | Industry: Manufacturing > Fabricated Metal Products, Machinery Manufacturing | 21 to 100, 101 to 250 |
| B2B software | Industry: Technology > Software Development | 11 to 20, 21 to 100 |
- Small companies: Owner, Co-Owner, Founder, President, Principal.
- 21 staff and up: Marketing Manager, Marketing Director, Head of Marketing, General Manager.
- Practices: Practice Manager, Practice Administrator.
- Law firms: Managing Partner, Marketing Director.
Exclude job titles Product Owner, Assistant and Intern. Under Services, exclude Website Development and Branding & Design so you don't email rival studios.
Turn on Email required, add your Location and export 200. One credit gets the verified work email and the mobile when available, where other tools charge 4 to 12.
Find one thing to point at
Take the Website column from your export and give each site two minutes on your phone. Paste what you find next to the row.
| Look for | How to spot it | The line it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Number you can't tap | Press it on your phone | “Your number doesn't dial when tapped.” |
| Broken mobile menu | Try each link | “The Services link does nothing on my phone.” |
| Buried quote or booking form | Count taps from the homepage | “It took me 4 taps to find your booking form.” |
| Old copyright year | Scroll to the footer | “Your footer still says {year}.” |
| “Not secure” warning | Check the address bar | “Chrome warns visitors before they read a word.” |
Nothing wrong after two minutes? Delete the row. A company with a fresh site isn't your buyer yet.
Write the email around that finding
Subject: {company}'s site on a phone Hi {first_name}, I opened {company}'s site on my phone. {finding} That's the moment a visitor calls someone else. I design sites for {niche} companies, and {client}'s went from {before} to {after} quote requests a month. Want a quick mockup of how your homepage could look? No cost. {Your name} {Your studio}, {link to one project}
Only build the mockup for people who reply. For wording and timing, see how to write a cold email and how to follow up on an email.
Where web design outreach goes wrong
- Calling the site ugly. The marketing manager you're emailing may have chosen it. Name one fixable thing.
- Selling only one-off projects. Income stops when the project ends. Offer a monthly care plan at handover.
- Stopping when you're busy. Projects start weeks after the first email, so rerun your saved search every month.
Worked example: Quillstack Studio
Quillstack Studio, fictional two-person studio in Austin
- Niche
- Dental practices in Texas, 11 to 100 staff
- List
- 500 owners and practice managers with Email required
- Site review
- Top 80 sites checked on a phone
- Offer
- Free homepage mockup for anyone who replies
- Project
- $6,000 redesign plus a $200 monthly care plan (illustrative)
- Data cost
- ContactYard Growth: $49 for 10,000 contacts; the rest roll over 2 months
- Same 500 contacts elsewhere
- 2,000 to 6,000 credits at 4 to 12 credits per contact
- Goal
- 2 signed projects in two months
Three other sources of work
| Source | How to use it | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| SEO freelancers | They meet clients with weak sites. Services: SEO; offer two-way referrals | Trust takes a few conversations |
| Accountants | They see new businesses first. Industry: Business Services > Accounting | Slow to start |
| Freelance marketplaces | Good for a first review or two | Buyers compare on price |
How to get SEO clients shows what your SEO partners sell. The CPA partner approach in how to get bookkeeping clients works just as well for designers.
FAQ
- How do I get web design clients?
- Pick one niche, export owners and marketing leads at companies with 11 to 100 staff, and email each one a finding from their own site.
- How do I get clients for website designing with no portfolio?
- Redesign one real company's homepage as a sample, then offer free mockups to people who reply.
- How do I get a client for website design quickly?
- Send 200 cold emails this week to one niche, each with one finding from the company's site.
- What is the best way of finding clients for web design?
- ContactYard: filter by industry or service, headcount, location and job title, then export verified emails with the Website column.
Start free, build one niche list and review your first 50 sites on your phone this week.
Keep reading
How to get SEO clients
Pick a niche, check each company's site for gaps, and email the owner one finding.
How to write a cold email
The parts of a cold email that gets replies, step by step, with a before and after rewrite.
How to get bookkeeping clients
Pick one niche, build a verified owner list, make one fixed-price offer and add CPA partners.