I have been developing web sites for a number of years now and although I still have a lot to learn I feel that I know enough to get along quite smoothly in the web design industry. After realizing this a couple of years ago I decided to give commercial web development a go and therefore devoted more of my time to working on client projects. Because of this transition from being a freelancer to doing everything through my company I have picked up a few tips along the way. Hopefully this post will inspire those of you who may be interested in starting up a company in web site development or perhaps even for those who simply wish to improve on their skills and tactics as a freelancer.

Here, I have compiled a short list of some of the things which I think are vital to being successful when it comes to being a web site designer especially if you want to do it for a living. These are in no particular order and if you have anything to add to any of my points don’t hesitate to let me know.

1. Can you do it?

This would seem like quite an obvious point to consider if you plan on being serious with your web design work however, it is very often ignored. Yes you can create web pages, yes you know how to get them online – but is that all the client wants? Its quite a common thing to browse through various webmaster forums and see a huge amount of topics made by people who claim to be professionals. Yet when they showcase some of their previous work it doesn’t quite stand up to their claims. If you want to make it big in the web design industry you must make sure that you know what you are doing and that you have the right skills. I would recommend that you are at a minimum proficient with XHTML and CSS and know at least one server side language. Additionally you will need to have reasonable graphic design skills as well as a fairly good understanding of web design in general.

If you feel that you are lacking in any of these areas then take a step backwards, put your company on hold for a couple of weeks and improve on your skills. I’m not saying that if you don’t have these skills you haven’t got a chance, but just that if you evaluate yourself and not rush into things you might be able to improve your skills and become a better web developer overall. Everyone has to start somewhere – its just important that you are building your company on a solid foundation of skills end experience.

2. Experience

Developing a complete web site with a whole bunch of fancy features is one thing but making it work how the client wants it is another. You may have the right skills for the job but what experience do you have? Luckily for me I started out at web design at quite a young age so I have been steadily building up experience over the past few years. I will admit that I am not the worlds most experienced designer but I do have enough so I know what I’m doing. The point I’m trying to make here is that although you may have the skills, previous experience is a vital element of your success as a commercial web designer. To begin with you would be very lucky to be taken on for any large projects if you don’t show at least some examples of your previous work. Then of course there are the business side of things – do you know how to communicate with your clients properly? Are you able to stick to deadlines and work with the client to resolve any issues he/she may have? In the majority of commercial web projects you will be tested against all of these questions and it is down to your experience with customers and people in general which will decide how well the process goes.

My advice to build up your experience is to work on smaller projects at the start. The best place to begin would be in your local community – is there anyone living nearby who may be interested in a web site or perhaps even someone in your family. Another great way to build up your development experience is to work on your own personal projects. Over the last few years I have worked on quite a few projects of my own and I will admit, without them I wouldn’t know half as much as I do now.

3. Identity

So you’ve got the skills as well as plenty of experience to go behind you. What next? Well if you’ve been thinking about setting up your own web development company for quite a while then no doubt you will have at least some ideas for a company name. You could either go for an actual name (for example mine is Python Designs) or you can use your real name. Which you choose is up to you however I would like to point out some differences between the two and how they can affect your business. If you decide to use your real name as the name of your company then this can be very rewarding personally. If your company becomes successful then not only will you be in charge of a great business but you will also receive the credit for it directly. By this I mean that it would make your company seem a lot more personal because instead of your clients saying “Design Company Ltd. is a great company” they would be saying “Joe Bloggs is a great person”. Your clients would know who they are speaking to and I don’t quite know why but it can actually make them have more trust in you. The other option is to use something else as the name of your company. Doing this gives your company more of an organization feel to it. It will appear to your clients and potential customers that you are serious about what you are doing and that your services/products follow suite.

Whichever you choose there are some important identity things which you need to consider. Take a look at Microsoft for example. Anyone who knows a decent amount of computers will no doubt know about Microsoft and will most probably have seen their logo. This logo is a world famous identity or company image which virtually all of their clients get to see. You too will need some sort of company image. This usually consists of a logo and a general style or colour theme. Once you have decided on these make sure that you stick to them – the more times that people see your logo in different places the more they believe that you are an established and solid company. I would recommend getting a few things printed including letter heads, business cards and perhaps even stationery. Make sure though that these contain your companies name and logo and that they are making use of your chosen colour scheme.

4. Marketing

A key element to any company is promotion. How you are able to get your name out there is a vital part to any companies success and yours will be no different. Before starting your company make sure that you have a good idea as to how you are going to promote it. As mentioned above things like business cards can be printed which is a good way of face to face promotion. There are however a number of other ways in which you can promote your business and if you want to succeed you will most likely need to consider them.

Consider purchasing advertising on other web sites and even placing adverts off line in places like newspapers and business listings. The amount you can expect to pay for these depends entirely on where you go and what sort of advertisements you are interested in. Another method for company promotion is word of mouth. It could perhaps be considered one of, if not the most powerful method of promotion currently available. Start out with your friends and family – let them know that you are offering web design services and they may know someone who might be interested. It might also be a good idea to get in touch with local businesses and ask if you can get some sort of support from them (putting your business cards in their shop/office, putting up an advert or two in their area of work, etc.).

5. Stay strong

Its pointless investing hours and hours of your time and large sums of money into your company at the start if 6 months down the line your going to give it all up. Your initial launch should be strong and so should every other day of your companies operation. Make sure that you keep on top of things (in your company and personal life) at all times to ensure that your clients are getting what they want. It is also very important that you keep a close relationship with your customers. Don’t be scared to give them a phone call two weeks after you have completed their project to see how its going for them. These types of customer relationships can often lead to further work in the future.

I hope this post has given you some tips on what you may need to consider if you are interested in starting up a web site design company. There are of course a lot more things to be considered however, this post is only intended to give a brief cover of some of the things which I have learned over the past few years. All the best and good luck!

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