Web designers can often find it hard to get their name out there and begin getting clients. Don’t fret! Promotion doesn’t always have to cost money!
We compiled a list of ways web designers can promote themselves, and get their name out there. Some of the ways require little to no effort, whilst others require an investment of time. Either way, these tips work and you will start getting more clients in no time!
If you would like to share any other tips and tricks on how to promote yourself as a web designer, drop a comment below.
Maintain a Website
If you maintain someone else’s website, the owner may spread the word about your services. You could maybe ask for a small link at the footer of their site, linking back to your site, which will help you gain some exposure.
Create a Blog
Creating a blog can bring in loads of traffic, and maybe even clients. If you write great content, other people will link back to it, and it will rank higher in search engines, so it’s a win-win situation.
Social Networking
Use online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg to promote your blog articles, design work, and do online networking with other designers.
Need some help? Check out these social media marketing guides.
Create An Email Signature
Putting a signature in all your outgoing emails can generate a lot of traffic to your online portfolio and social media accounts, especially if you send a lot of emails.
Purchase And Design Business Cards
Business cards help you present yourself in a professional way to your possible future clients. If you have a nice eye catching design, and something that is unique, there will be more chance of people looking into your services.
Create a Portfolio
If you put up all your work into a nice online portfolio, clients will be able to see your work, and websites will link to your work if it’s of amazing quality.
Participate In Forum Discussions
Participating in forum discussions can generate buzz. If you have a clear standing opinion to many forum threads, people will begin to look into who you are, what websites you have etc. The forum threads will be in search engines, thus giving you long term promotion.
Get Personal
If you are personal and unique with your designs, people will see you as unique. Show your personality through your work!
Volunteer
Contribute to open source projects / non-profit online organizations. It looks great on your portfolio.
Create A Forum Signature
If you put your website link or even an image in your forum signature, and it looks eye catching, people will click it. Then you just have to post more threads and reply to them, and it will get your link all over the forum.
Buddy Up
Get another web designer as your buddy. You can work together, give each other work and help each other out. Win win situation.
Blog Comments
Participating in blog discussions, by commenting on other peoples blog entries can give you traffic back to your blog. If you post a good comment that many people are likely to read, then you will get clicks.
Guest Post
The Internet is full of opportunity. Many bloggers big and small go on holiday, and love to take breaks. They might like you to guest post on their blog, and this means you can post link backs to your own site when it says article written by. Especially if it’s a big blog you are guest posting on, you will gain loads of exposure.
Participate In Design Competitions
Don’t be shy. There are many websites such as 99designs and digital point forums that hold design competitions. This can give you the opportunity to showcase your work and show people what your design skills are like.
Word Of Mouth
Tell people about your website and the services you offer. Your friends and family are sure to tell other people about you.
Get Yourself / Your Website In The News
Do something to get your website or yourself in the news / talked about over the blogosphere. Sponsor a charity event, turn your website upside down, it will work!
Trade Ads / Link Swap
Web Designers can help each other out. You can trade links and add them to each other’s blogroll, or even trade image ads such as 125 x 125px.
Develop A Relationship With All Your Clients
If you develop a personal relationship on a one to one base with all your clients, they will respect you and maybe even come back for more work or better yet, refer you to their friends.
Submit Your Work To Web Galleries
Web galleries love great design work. Some web galleries online are immensely popular, so if your work gets on the front page of them, you will receive thousands of clicks back to your work, which means more clients.
Hold Contests On Your Website
If you hold contests on your websites, people will tell other people about the contests if it has a great prize, and it will generate a lot of online buzz.
Great written.Very helpful.This will defiantly help me to promote business
All good information, but avoid 99designs and the rest like the plague.
Everyone needs projects. Find a local business and barter or a nonprofit.
Crowdsourcing websites has furthered the assumption that clients can get free work before deciding to pay and has devalued our profession.
Never, ever give your work away.
Awesome advice! Thank you! Any designers out there want to network and brainstorm?
I guess it is important for every web designer out there to learn SEO as well. It will be a gross misunderstanding if we label blog and forum posting as SEO. Other web marketing techniques need to be adopted for a successful promotion. And above everything else, learn what you are doing and learn it good.
Thank you – excellent information – will be implementing some 😉
Great advice.Some of those tips are invaluable as a freelancer but I find many of my enquiries also come direct from search engines. I have previously overlooked SEO when creating my portfolio but a more considered approach seems to have paid off this time.
Thanks for tips!
Still a very relevant post even after 2 years.
Excellent tips. I would add cold calling or hire a freelance salesperson. If you hire a freelance salesperson be prepared to pay about 20 to 35% commission.
Managing time is essential if you’re attempting to accomplish many of these tasks, but their all necessary in order for you to grow as an artist. As long as you keep on top of your marketing, social media and work great things will definitely happen.
I have begun to really focus on implementing a lot of these tips and have received great results so far. Onward and upward is the only way to go!
Thanks for the refreshing tips
Hmmmm, very interesting. Only question is where you’d get time to do any actual work if your networking the whole time. Something’s gotta pay the bills. I guess you need to find a balance.
Great post! Thanks for posting it. I definitely plan to use the tips as much as I possibly can.
Appreciate it!
You almost created your list in sequential order like a to-do list!
Great stuff.
Thank you very much.
Helpful points, thanks for the useful article !
wow!! Thank you for your content. It’s help me lot.
thank you so much. it really helps to have someone like you, helping noobie web designers like me 😛 thanks heaps 🙂
Thanks for the tips. Can u give a list of good Web Galleries?
Wau. Thanks a lot! I’m a rookie that wnts to be profesional.. some day.. Thanks for tips.
Most of these seem like a good idea. I am not sold on the #2 and #3 however. If I am tweeting and maintaining a blog then that is less time for me to be designing and coding. It seems like an inefficient advertising. Anyhow back to work..
wow great… Thanks alot.
Another great tips here. Thanks a lot!
Something that is not mentioned, SEO, get a domain name that works for you, and optimize the site properly. If you search on “Flash designer” you may see how i rank, with hardly any special SEO effort, such as link building, articles submissions, etc
Very nice amount of information. Will have to try some of these ideas.
Great post. Will definitely be looking into these
Good post. Golden words for a aspiring designer
Great article….keeping coming…
This was great reading. I hope that somebody notices my hard work once I start building a larger online presence.
Check me out!!! …lol : )
Great list – also add writing articles. If you can create well researched articles and post them on relevant sites, that really brings good street cred to you
Great article, thanks so much
Great list!
I would also add that people should use classifieds. There is tons of work in classifieds. oh, and tweet tweet!
Thanks!
Thanks, I love it 🙂 Mabuhay
“I want to change the world but I dont have a password”
That was a great article. Have to admit, I was expecting another useless article with a bunch of “Tips” leading to this big “If you pay now” ending, like the rest of them, but this actually helped me! And I have to agree with e11world , one of my problems is the blog too. But practice makes perfect.
Thanks again for the great article. I will be sure to bookmark and ReTweet this one.
Thanks!
Fantastic Article.
I have recently purchased a new domain.
Have to get users for my Site.
Really helpful article.
Fantastic artwork Raja on the behance network 🙂
Tweet Tweet!
Awesome article, Thanks for sharing this post.
Thanks for the wonderful tips. Much appreciated 💡
very nice artical
Aha, so commenting also helps? Well, in that case… 🙂
No seriously, this is a good list..but almost a dayjob to do correctly right? My question is..how much time should you put into promoting yourself..
As much time as you think is necessary. If you are promoting yourself, and still don’t see an increase in clients, you need to try new ways, and put more time in. If you put the time are effort in, you will see a rise in traffic to your website, and possibly clients.
🙂
This is great advice. It’s neat that you are giving such precious information. Congratulations for the great work you’ve been doing so far. 🙂
This is a must read for any website designer! Thanks for the great list!
I gotta say, I feel pretty good about the way I do this. I bascially do all of the above without even noticing. My only problem is not having enough time to complete things (such as my blog).. Nice article!
liked the article and retweeted it too
Indeed a great article! It contains very useful advice. Especially using forums is a good method.
Great tips, thanks for sharing
The article is great,
great tips.
tnx
Excellnt article. Ive used 90% of the above, with great results.
These are all great tips, especially volunteering as a way of building a portfolio. It’s a great way to help your career and your community. Thanks!
Hai, thanks for nice tips, and the one I more like is about be “unique” in the good thing…
Some good tips, I think new and initiative business cards are a great way to become noticed if you work face to face with people!
Wuhu thats really an amazing tip collection 😀 instant bookmark… keep on
Thanks for the tips are so nice.
Im looking for promote my services and meet people, im begin in webdesigner world.
woow. thanks a lot for this excellent tips.
I think its not fit only for web designers,
as a remote network admin, i can also do many of ur ideas.
just we can make ur ideas to fit our niche.
great article
thanks bro
Huh hooooo, its a nice tip, i am doing some and not doing some!, hope to all what mention in the post!
Thanks, very useful points,that’s good support.