Hate to be so serious, but with so many web designers on the forum I wanted to hear some other perspectives.
I've been contemplating this for well over 2 years now. If you've followed any other threads that I've commented on, I frequently tell people that getting into business doing JUST web design is a losing battle these days.
With so many DIY options now, the average boot strapping small business who once saw hiring a web designer as a necessity now seem to be perfectly happy throwing up a Wix, Go Daddy Site Builder, or Squarespace site and never looking back till years later if/when their endeavor takes off and they need something a little more custom.
I personally think this is backwards thinking, especially if your entire business is web based, however, I can't deny that some of the DIY solutions are good enough for many people who just want a presence up and don't expect much from it ( even though everyone has delusions that their website will be insanely popular for some reason).
I kind of saw this coming a few years back when Squarespace started, and then Intuit, Web.com, Wix, and Go Daddy started getting into the game offering introductory offers that were insanely cheap. They aren't selling awesome websites, they're selling "good enough" and it's eaten into a market that we used to control alone. I knew then that not enough people understood anything more than putting some pictures and words together, and that these services would kill us with the average user who knows nothing...which is most of them.
Over the past 2 years I've pivoted to offering more marketing type services and repairs, which are now 90% of my business (thank God for crap hosting and user error). But how much longer will that last? I've done well specializing in WordPress since so many people use it, and are loyal to it, but even that's getting a little weaker now that WordPress is almost bug free.
Most of my work today are hack repairs/recovery, updates, redesigns, and customization. I do still get the older business who now wants something more custom and robust, but I rarely get the small business, new website start up anymore. 7 years ago THAT was 90% of my business.
The amount of people that now call me who are doing it themselves and just want a few hours technical support has grown. It used to be non existent, now it's most of my design related calls. And of course there's always going to be the "Just take care of it and send an invoice" customer. My favorite :).
The big gold rush of getting sites online is over. The big push to mobile ready is kind of over. The big SEO rush is kind of over since Google has matured, and that is combined with small businesses are seemingly less and less interested in doing more than the basics. More people are interested in doing well on Social Media than they are in the SERP's.
The amount of small business owners who care about design is shrinking. Mainly since most figure they've "done it once" and either got burned or since it wasn't wildly successful that it's not worth it anymore. That good enough is good enough. Consequently the amount of crap DIY or old websites is growing, and it doesn't seem to be as urgent as it used to be for many people.
So what's the answer for a small web design firm? Even if you pivot to a more advanced market, with more complicated, higher dollar sites, I gotta say things are a lot less maintenance than they used to be, and larger firms that need continuing support are hiring in house with all of the old freelance web designers now looking for jobs.
That's not to say the business is dead. There's always going to be a need, it's just smaller now, cheaper now, and more people than ever in the market.
How does a small design or support shop compete with a corporate call center who pays people $12 to answer phones and fix basic issues? Or overseas freelancers that have now gotten the hang of this market and work for cheap? The answer? You can't.
Keeping loyal long term customers is more important than ever, but you also have to offer them more. Be their go to person for everything web and marketing. I see it as the only way.
I've also started learning new skills so that I can develop my own products. Just seems like the natural progression.
So what do you guys think? If you've been in this for a few years, you had to have noticed the change in the market.
Where do you think it will go? Do you have plans to evolve, change, or get out completely?
I've been contemplating this for well over 2 years now. If you've followed any other threads that I've commented on, I frequently tell people that getting into business doing JUST web design is a losing battle these days.
With so many DIY options now, the average boot strapping small business who once saw hiring a web designer as a necessity now seem to be perfectly happy throwing up a Wix, Go Daddy Site Builder, or Squarespace site and never looking back till years later if/when their endeavor takes off and they need something a little more custom.
I personally think this is backwards thinking, especially if your entire business is web based, however, I can't deny that some of the DIY solutions are good enough for many people who just want a presence up and don't expect much from it ( even though everyone has delusions that their website will be insanely popular for some reason).
I kind of saw this coming a few years back when Squarespace started, and then Intuit, Web.com, Wix, and Go Daddy started getting into the game offering introductory offers that were insanely cheap. They aren't selling awesome websites, they're selling "good enough" and it's eaten into a market that we used to control alone. I knew then that not enough people understood anything more than putting some pictures and words together, and that these services would kill us with the average user who knows nothing...which is most of them.
Over the past 2 years I've pivoted to offering more marketing type services and repairs, which are now 90% of my business (thank God for crap hosting and user error). But how much longer will that last? I've done well specializing in WordPress since so many people use it, and are loyal to it, but even that's getting a little weaker now that WordPress is almost bug free.
Most of my work today are hack repairs/recovery, updates, redesigns, and customization. I do still get the older business who now wants something more custom and robust, but I rarely get the small business, new website start up anymore. 7 years ago THAT was 90% of my business.
The amount of people that now call me who are doing it themselves and just want a few hours technical support has grown. It used to be non existent, now it's most of my design related calls. And of course there's always going to be the "Just take care of it and send an invoice" customer. My favorite :).
The big gold rush of getting sites online is over. The big push to mobile ready is kind of over. The big SEO rush is kind of over since Google has matured, and that is combined with small businesses are seemingly less and less interested in doing more than the basics. More people are interested in doing well on Social Media than they are in the SERP's.
The amount of small business owners who care about design is shrinking. Mainly since most figure they've "done it once" and either got burned or since it wasn't wildly successful that it's not worth it anymore. That good enough is good enough. Consequently the amount of crap DIY or old websites is growing, and it doesn't seem to be as urgent as it used to be for many people.
So what's the answer for a small web design firm? Even if you pivot to a more advanced market, with more complicated, higher dollar sites, I gotta say things are a lot less maintenance than they used to be, and larger firms that need continuing support are hiring in house with all of the old freelance web designers now looking for jobs.
That's not to say the business is dead. There's always going to be a need, it's just smaller now, cheaper now, and more people than ever in the market.
How does a small design or support shop compete with a corporate call center who pays people $12 to answer phones and fix basic issues? Or overseas freelancers that have now gotten the hang of this market and work for cheap? The answer? You can't.
Keeping loyal long term customers is more important than ever, but you also have to offer them more. Be their go to person for everything web and marketing. I see it as the only way.
I've also started learning new skills so that I can develop my own products. Just seems like the natural progression.
So what do you guys think? If you've been in this for a few years, you had to have noticed the change in the market.
Where do you think it will go? Do you have plans to evolve, change, or get out completely?
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