Why Most Web Designers Struggle to Get Clients (and How to Stop Refreshing Your Inbox)

Last Updated:
July 24, 2025

Learn how to build lasting client relationships and position your web design business for success by focusing on value, outreach, and ongoing support.

Selling Web Design Services: Strategies for Success

Why This Matters

You can be the cleverest web designer in the room, but unless you can sell your services, you’ll wind up tinkering with personal projects and wondering who stole your lunch. The uncomfortable truth? Most designers don’t have a sales problem. Most are missing “finding customers who’ll pay.”

With businesses fighting for customers online, web design should be a shoo-in. But the sheer volume of competition means most designers spend more time refreshing their inbox than actually working on client websites. Every hour faffing about with emails or second-guessing your approach costs you money, and those chances to gain experience (and actual testimonials) vanish.

The real waste is the frustration of knowing you’ve got the skills, but watching less-talented competitors snap up projects because they know how to pitch, position, and follow through.

Here’s how to flip the script and put yourself in the driving seat.

Common Pitfalls

Many people assume this is all about “being bad at sales.” Most new web designers (and some old hands, if we’re honest) stumble into the same handful of traps:

Treating websites as one-off jobs. You scramble for a client, pour your soul into the site… then start from scratch for the next.
Relying on passive hope. You quietly update your portfolio, tinker with LinkedIn, and imagine the ideal client finding you. Spoiler: they won’t.
Avoiding real outreach. Because it feels awkward, desperate, or “not what creative people do.”
Trying to compete on price. There’s always someone cheaper on Fiverr. Chasing the bottom drags your work and reputation down the plughole.
Pitching features, not outcomes. Clients want results, not just a swipe file of funky layouts.
Ignoring ongoing relationships. The “get in, get paid, get out” mentality kills growth. Successful designers play the long game.

Being honest about these habits is the first step. Now let’s get practical.

Step-by-Step Fix

1. Nail Down Your Own Value Proposition

If you mumble when someone asks, “What do you actually do?” you’re dead before you start. Instead, get clear on who you help and what specific problem you solve. Don’t list “websites.” Talk about getting more bookings for local businesses or freeing up owner’s time through online sales, or making an over-complex website uncluttered and easy to use.

Example:
Instead of: “I build great websites for anyone!”
Try: “I help Bristol café owners double their footfall with easy online menus and bookings.”

Pixelhaze Tip: Write your offer on a single sticky note. If you can’t read it aloud without cringing, it’s too vague or overblown.

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2. Specialise (Yes, Really)

Here’s the trick most people dodge: narrowing your focus actually gets you more work. Find a target industry (florists, builders, local charities—whatever you genuinely care about) and learn exactly what winds them up about their websites. Talk to people. Join their Facebook groups. Attend their events (even the bad coffee ones).

When you “get” their pain, you can offer real solutions, not generic fluff. Over time, you’ll be known as the go-to person for that niche, and your name gets passed around like a secret weapon.

Pixelhaze Tip: Instead of trying to sound clever, put niche testimonials in your portfolio. Nothing convinces like a grateful client saying, “She sorted our mess in two days flat.”

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3. Build a Working Demo (Not a Static Portfolio)

Stock portfolios are like showing a garage full of tools but no finished furniture. Build quick, live demo sites tailored to your chosen niche. Make sure you can walk a potential client through a typical homepage, client journey, or booking flow. Real businesses want to see real results, not just a pretty gallery.

If possible, show before-and-after shots, traffic stats, or the impact on sales/bookings. “See what changed” is always more believable than “trust me.”

Pixelhaze Tip: Find three real businesses with nightmare websites (they’re everywhere) and offer a quick homepage redesign in exchange for a testimonial or small fee. Nothing sharpens your sales pitch like proving you can fix real problems.

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4. Do Targeted Cold Outreach the Right Way

Most people “hate marketing” because spammy coaches ruined it. But genuine, research-driven cold outreach (email or even a phone call) still works if you do the heavy lifting first.

Pick businesses who:

Clearly have an outdated, broken, or hard-to-use site.
Are spending money elsewhere (ads, marketing) but losing conversions due to website issues.
Have a presence on social media but link to an embarrassing web relic.

Write a short, specific message:

Mention what you noticed about their site.
Suggest how you’d fix their problem (“Could we save you losing bookings on mobile?” beats “I make websites!”).
Avoid generic greetings (“To whom it may concern” isn’t getting you anywhere).

Pixelhaze Tip: Don’t take silence or “not for us” personally. Send a polite follow-up after a week. I once landed a client on the fourth try (they later admitted my email was the only one not binned instantly).

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5. Respond Fast and Professionally

When you finally get a bite, don’t dawdle. Reply within hours if you can. Most prospects don’t wait. If you’re slow, someone else will get there first.

Set up email notifications or use a basic CRM like Zoho or HubSpot to track leads.
Be gracious, even in your first reply. Answer questions, offer clarity, and ask about their goals.
If possible, get on a video call. It makes trust-building easier and helps you read between the lines about what they’re really struggling with.

Pixelhaze Tip: Keep a library of email templates for follow-ups, proposals, and handover details. You’ll avoid faffing and come across as a pro, not an amateur winging it.

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6. Sell Ongoing Value, Not Just a One-Off Build

Most web designers lose a fortune by treating websites like flat-pack furniture. Your clients’ needs change, software evolves, Google rules shift, and what worked last year might hold them back now.

Offer clear packages:

Maintenance (updates, backups, new features).
Content improvements (seasonal offers, new blog posts).
Design refreshes every year or two.

You help clients sleep better. You also keep money flowing in without endless “hunt and hope” cycles.

Pixelhaze Tip: Frame ongoing support as insurance. “You wouldn’t drive a car without MOT and servicing. Your website needs the same to keep working for your business.”

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What Most People Miss

The best designers quietly become trusted partners, not mere suppliers. Let go of the idea that you just hand over a site, get paid, and move on. Keep your clients looped in with:

Routine check-ins (“Are you still happy? Anything not working as you’d hoped?”)
Proactive fixes (spot down trends in traffic or slow loading times and raise them before the client does)
Industry tips (“Did you see what’s changing with Google this month?”)

Become the person they email first when something breaks, or they want to try a new idea. Repeat business comes naturally, and so do word-of-mouth referrals.

The Bigger Picture

Get the sales bit right, and web design stops being a grind of small, unpredictable jobs. Specialist designers with a reputation for real-world results land bigger projects (often with fewer proposals), longer relationships, and higher rates.

Your time gets spent actually designing, not desperately searching for work. You can train up others, scale your business, or simply choose only the jobs you enjoy.

Most importantly, you stop feeling like an imposter and start getting treated as a professional. This resets your entire career track from “just another freelancer” to trusted expert.

Wrap-Up

Selling web design services isn’t about outsmarting the algorithm or undercutting the next cheap offer. The focus is understanding people, being honest about your value, solving business headaches, and following up with speed and care.

If you focus on what helps your clients thrive (rather than just your latest gradients), you’ll stand out without shouting. Nail your pitch, specialise, show your wins, and keep the relationship going after payday.

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.