with all the website builders that are available, is there any money in doing web design for small businesses?
I had a prospective customer whom I was offering website design and maintenance service. He ended up doing it all by himself using an online website builder. I suddenly felt like I don't have anything to offer that business. I feel so discouraged. I'm a decent programmer but it seems everything small businesses need is already built and is way polished that I could build. What should I do?
Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
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Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#2Do not sell yourself as a technician, but as a web expert and a professional
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#3If you're a decent programmer, then use those strengths. As you say, web designers are ten a penny now and there are even drag-and-drop website builders like Squarespace and Wix.
You need to go upmarket in terms of delivering value and consequently charging more for this extra value. Sit down with your prospective customer and learn more about his business. What are his pain points? Where and when does he earn most of his revenue, and from what type of clients? Can some of his processes be automated to save him money and bring in more revenue? That's where I think your focus should be.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#4I would assume the money is in the customization. Every business is unique and the cookie cutter website builders get them 80% of the way but there is usually something they really want that needs to be customized. All of the players have plugin systems and raw editors to tweak as needed.
The website presence itself is commoditized. The processes that accelerate business usually require customization, even if it’s using an off-the-shelf product and then integrating, configuring, and training. You could even become a sales channel and get a cut of the product revenue for making the sale.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#5No
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#6I would assume the money is in the customization. Every business is unique and the cookie cutter website builders get them 80% of the way but there is usually something they really want that needs to be customized. All of the players have plugin systems and raw editors to tweak as needed. The website presence itself is commoditized. The processes that accelerate business usually require customization, even if it’s us…
The other factor is website quality. When all the competition uses a Squarespace or Wix site for their marketing pages, your site can stand out using something like Gatsby JS to be ungodly fast. But this involves writing the whole thing from scratch specific to the customer.
I’ve had very good success with this marketing pitch. Customers love to see how their sites are faster and better looking than their dime-a-dozen competitors.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#7I work at an eCommerce firm with a design/dev arm. It's absolutely integral for us to be able to provide the full package for clients for a number of reasons.
Sure, straight-up "let me build your website" style sales may be an industry that's slowing down, but it certainly isn't for online sales or integrating any other services, so ymmv.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#8with all the website builders that are available, is there any money in doing web design for small businesses?
If you’re willing to be the person configuring a website with one of these builders, yes. As other commenters have mentioned, these builders only get clients so far (pretty far in fact) but eventually they’ll need something else. Being a web “guy” or “expert” to them is what you want.
Clients want a convenient solution to this problem. That’s why website builders are so successful. Once they’re busy enough, they don’t want to think about this at all and that’s what they’ll pay for. Be that person.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#9I would ditch website design and move into marketing.
Leads are what any business wants the most:
- How to drive free traffic to sales funnels.
- How to connect with a potential customers.
- How to build the right audience for the product.
- How to craft the sales message that resonates.
- How to understand A/B/N metrics and speak in plain english to the business owner.
I know of companies which do the entire process for big companies:-
1) Manage the ad spend for campaigns
2) Build the websites to convert, the sales funnels to sell
3) Some even offer the customer support for the website.
Some even charge a fee for the building of said materials and even a % of each product sold.
I would be careful though. These systems for online businesses are becoming better and better and some aren't just 1 products, but multiple products now.
Give it another 5-10 years and even what I'm talking about will be fully automated!
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#10Mind if I take a look at your portfolio?