How to market & promote your web development business

Marketing methods to improve your web development business

For a web development business, its own website is a showcase for its services. It is the centrepiece but not the only element in a marketing strategy. If you want your business to grow, you need to employ the best techniques to build and reinforce relationships with clients and prospects. Your website will not sell itself. Discover the best tips and tricks for web development marketing in our guide.

Key to success

In terms of promotion, web development is similar to any other service segment. To set yourself apart from the competition and attract new leads, you need consistency, high-quality content, and an open mind. Aside from touting your services, you should be ready to give away some of your knowledge for free, engage in networking, polish your content and collect feedback. Discover what each of these stages implies.

1. Share knowledge free of charge

All customers love freebies, particularly if they provide real value. A web development guru has to prove their competence to find new prospects for business. One of the ways to do this is by placing guest posts on blogs your audience frequents. Contact the website owners by email and explain how your contribution can benefit their readers. High-quality content will be a win-win for your company and the blogs.

2. Build connections

Networking events are still restricted due to the pandemic, but this does not mean you should ignore these opportunities in the future. Even though you will reach a larger audience online, local in-person efforts can bring big wins with long-term benefits. Assess the local competitors and highlight your biggest strengths. For example, you could focus on prospects interested in e-commerce websites or mobile web design.

Meet face to face with potential customers or other web developers and designers. Form the connections that can bring you value for years to come. For example, you could partner up with marketing consultancies, advertising agencies, or graphic designers that offer web services, but have a lack of development capability.

Reach out to like-minded people online through websites like Meetup. Organize a group like “DIY Web Development for Dummies” to generate interest and attract more leads. On the other hand, guides for developers will appeal to your peers.

Teach a class. Arranging a workshop is a nice idea for a side hustle, but it will also make your company more recognizable. Remember that profit from the fees is just the tip of the iceberg. Your primary goal is to connect to the community and promote your business.

3. Engage social media

Social media is one of the biggest digital marketing channels. Get active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other platforms. Show off your brand’s personality and achievements. Follow the steps below.

• Polish your profile

The attractiveness of your profile does not only depend on the posts. While the need to provide useful and valuable information is undeniable, it is also crucial to ensure consistency and use special features that build trust. 

For example, Facebook lets you earn the “very responsive to messages” badge. Let users see your milestones and upload photos that match your visual branding. Explore the features of your Facebook Business Page to boost conversions. Use Facebook Pixel to track them and improve your strategy if necessary. 

• Create an editorial calendar

You cannot post content on a hunch; an editorial calendar will give your activity consistency. Every post must contribute to your promotional goals. To create a schedule, identify the times when your target audience is most active on social media. 

• Experiment with ads

Ads and promoted posts will allow you to reach a wider audience and impress users who are not following you yet. Before launching an ad campaign, analyze your target demographics and do not expect miracles. Take advantage of the A/B testing, which lets you launch two versions of the same ad and compare efficiency. 

Effective social media ads must captivate the audience from the first second. To stop the users from scrolling their feeds, you need to offer something unique and eye-catching. In addition, remember that your audience is more likely to pay attention if the posts are not explicitly sales-y. Highlight the value that your services bring. Show users how their companies can thrive in the digital space with a high-quality website built by your team.

4. Earn positive feedback

Your company needs positive reviews to boost trustworthiness. Potential customers will want to see testimonials from the businesses you have worked with. Ask your existing client base to leave reviews or testimonials on Facebook, Google, Better Business Review, etc. Acquire positive feedback you can post on your own website.

Positive reviews will allow you to leverage social proof. The opinions of other customers always carry more weight than any marketing materials. Collect and publish feedback continuously to attract more clients.

Keep in touch with your existing clients and inform them about new developments in web technology and new services that benefit their niche. Suggest upgrades to their websites that will help them grow their business. Launch an online newsletter with client success stories. 

5. Create content for SEO

Produce useful, well-written, and cleverly optimized content to make your website visible in organic search. Use industry-specific keywords to drive traffic, and develop a solid SEO strategy to rise in the almighty Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Steer clear of black-hat methods and play by the rules. 

To attract local clients, include words about your location and the description of the site (e.g., “Website Development Services in Denver, Colorado”). You could also focus on specific niches, such as web development for nonprofits or e-commerce websites for food retailers.

Contact an SEO agency to develop an effective link-building campaign. Links from other websites with high domain authority will help you climb up in the rankings. Consider all crucial ranking factors, from the quality of content to security to page load speed. The more visible you are in organic search, the more clients you will get!