Web agency growth

[getsetgonline]

I am looking for a little advice.

We run a small web design agency which employs just 3 of us and has run on word of mouth/repeat for the last 4 years. However, over the last 6 months we have seen a real drop off in projects. Networking events have become more competitive with an increasing number of other agencies coming along offering lower costs.
We have never tended to compete on the lower end as it's just not worth competing in that market as it is also against the likes of Wix etc. I've been working on our own dog personalised gift e-commerce business whilst it's been slow but that is going to take time to generate the revenue we need, but it's an excellent portfolio project. It's also spawned another print on demand platform for creators which can scale but need to build some cash to market it - so that's a pipe dream at the moment.

I've considered offering PPC/Social management services but we aren't experts so much in this and can get by managing our own campaigns. This is best left to the very many competitors out there.
We are looking at niche opportunities for the agency to target markets such as dentists, chiropractors etc as the marketing costs are lower than that of the general web design (which is out of our budget). I'm confident that we can close once we get an email/phone enquiry but will also undertake some outreach direct marketing.

But this whole situation is causing me real stress and I fear I've procrastinated too long and hoped things would turn. The local design market has always been tough but never as much as recently.

I had another travel co which I lost at start of COVID and that experience causes me to now be very hesitant.

Are my plans realistic???

 

[Mark T Jones]

As the saying goes 'you are where you are'. There's absolutely no point in fretting about what you could/should have done. If we had the gift of hindsight we'd all be millionaires

Your observations are spot on.

Find a niche and become the 'go to' expert.

To an extent, which niche is immateial, but pick one that is well paid and recession-resistance

Embed yourself in their business and professional communities.

It will take time, but it's definitely the way to go

 

[fisicx]

I know a chap in the USA who builds and hosts websites for Baptist churches. That’s all he does. Took him about 5 years to build up his reputation but now everyone uses him. If he adds a feature to one site before you know it all his clients want the same thing.

Also consider themes and plugins for Wordpress. Find a niche and they can be very lucrative. I developed a plugin for the bloke above and it generates a very nice monthly income.

 

[getsetgonline]

As the saying goes 'you are where you are'. There's absolutely no point in fretting about what you could/should have done. If we had the gift of hindsight we'd all be millionaires

Your observations are spot on.

Find a niche and become the 'go to' expert.

To an extent, which niche is immateial, but pick one that is well paid and recession-resistance

Embed yourself in their business and professional communities.

It will take time, but it's definitely the way to go

Thanks and you are right. I have spent time hoping our core, local networking will improve but it's just now saturated.
Niche does present great opportunities which is one of the reason we developed the dog personalisation project.

I know a chap in the USA who builds and hosts websites for Baptist churches. That’s all he does. Took him about 5 years to build up his reputation but now everyone uses him. If he adds a feature to one site before you know it all his clients want the same thing.

Also consider themes and plugins for Wordpress. Find a niche and they can be very lucrative. I developed a plugin for the bloke above and it generates a very nice monthly income.

That is very niche but clearly a great avenue.

Wordpress themes and plugins are something I have considered too - thanks for the heads up on that one. I have become far too complacent and reliant on the local market and been a generalist for too long.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Networking events have become more competitive with an increasing number of other agencies coming along offering lower costs.

So why would someone pay you more for a website...?

If your websites are to be of use to a business, they need to bring in more customers, not just be a vanity project. Do you have case studies where you have bought in significantly more customers via a website you've designed...?

What about your website? Why Is it not bringing in more customers...?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks and you are right. I have spent time hoping our core, local networking will improve but it's just now saturated.
Niche does present great opportunities which is one of the reason we developed the dog personalisation project.


That is very niche but clearly a great avenue.

Wordpress themes and plugins are something I have considered too - thanks for the heads up on that one. I have become far too complacent and reliant on the local market and been a generalist for too long.

There is a thought that no niche is too small - whilst I'm sure it can be proved wrong, most people will give up well before they get anywhere near finding the scale of the market. (The first time I ever had this conversation was about 20 years ago, with someone who had made his millions financing garden sheds)

Local networks will mostly generate low-value 'shopping around' or hobbyist type of business.

Dedicated communities in their own sector will be very different.

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

I am looking for a little advice.

We run a small web design agency which employs just 3 of us and has run on word of mouth/repeat for the last 4 years. However, over the last 6 months we have seen a real drop off in projects. Networking events have become more competitive with an increasing number of other agencies coming along offering lower costs.
We have never tended to compete on the lower end as it's just not worth competing in that market as it is also against the likes of Wix etc. I've been working on our own dog personalised gift e-commerce business whilst it's been slow but that is going to take time to generate the revenue we need, but it's an excellent portfolio project. It's also spawned another print on demand platform for creators which can scale but need to build some cash to market it - so that's a pipe dream at the moment.

I've considered offering PPC/Social management services but we aren't experts so much in this and can get by managing our own campaigns. This is best left to the very many competitors out there.
We are looking at niche opportunities for the agency to target markets such as dentists, chiropractors etc as the marketing costs are lower than that of the general web design (which is out of our budget). I'm confident that we can close once we get an email/phone enquiry but will also undertake some outreach direct marketing.

But this whole situation is causing me real stress and I fear I've procrastinated too long and hoped things would turn. The local design market has always been tough but never as much as recently.

I had another travel co which I lost at start of COVID and that experience causes me to now be very hesitant.

Are my plans realistic???

I completely get you and have been there myself in the past.

At my company BlogHandy, we launched an agency reseller program at the end of last year, which made me do a deep-dive into the web development agency space. I've had calls with dozens of agency owners and connected with close to a hundred via LinkedIn messages.

I mainly focused on web development agencies in the Webflow and Wix space, though. You mentioned Wix as the lower end of the market, and I would have agreed with you a few months back, but not any longer. It turns out that Wix (and EditorX) are extremely powerful and customisable nowadays.

Apparently, the price for Webflow projects is actually going up rather than down.

So to my "disappointment", I seemed to have picked the wrong niche, timing or agencies to talk to, since many didn't have any interest and time to increase their revenue by reselling our blogging platform to their clients.

In your case, I'd recommend one to two options:

a) go for another niche/tool – e.g. specialise in Wix/EditorX, Webflow or any other no-code tool and increase prices

b) add expansion revenue to your agency – e.g. cross-sell/resell domains, maintenance packages, hosting, blogging, content creation, Google Ad management, etc.

If you go with option b) I wouldn't do those things in-house, as Google/Facebook ads management is a whole different game. Better to outsource and get a cut of the revenue, in my opinion.

Hope this helps, and feel free to reach out if you're interested in the reselling idea.

 

[Nighthawk Software]

What makes you different to all the other web design companies? What is your USP?

You've decided to avoid making price your USP - that is probably a good move, it ends up being a race to the bottom. But you need to find something else.

If you're not the cheapest, then you need to be the best.

That can be hard.. but if you narrow your focus down enough you can become the best. Best web designer in the UK? No chance. Best web designer in Carlisle? Slightly more achievable. Or what about niching by industry - best designer of beauty salon websites. etc.

When I started out, i was given the advise that we should be aiming to be able to say that we are the "number one company ... ". You complete that statement by selecting a niche until it becoems true.

You then focus your marketing around that aim.

 

[sweans]

I am looking for a little advice.

We run a small web design agency which employs just 3 of us and has run on word of mouth/repeat for the last 4 years. However, over the last 6 months we have seen a real drop off in projects. Networking events have become more competitive with an increasing number of other agencies coming along offering lower costs.
We have never tended to compete on the lower end as it's just not worth competing in that market as it is also against the likes of Wix etc. I've been working on our own dog personalised gift e-commerce business whilst it's been slow but that is going to take time to generate the revenue we need, but it's an excellent portfolio project. It's also spawned another print on demand platform for creators which can scale but need to build some cash to market it - so that's a pipe dream at the moment.

I've considered offering PPC/Social management services but we aren't experts so much in this and can get by managing our own campaigns. This is best left to the very many competitors out there.
We are looking at niche opportunities for the agency to target markets such as dentists, chiropractors etc as the marketing costs are lower than that of the general web design (which is out of our budget). I'm confident that we can close once we get an email/phone enquiry but will also undertake some outreach direct marketing.

But this whole situation is causing me real stress and I fear I've procrastinated too long and hoped things would turn. The local design market has always been tough but never as much as recently.

I had another travel co which I lost at start of COVID and that experience causes me to now be very hesitant.

Are my plans realistic???

From my 16 years in web design, I've learned the importance of offering services that enable recurring charges. Constantly acquiring new clients each month is a real challenge and can be detrimental to any business. Your niche-focused approach is excellent and can lead to many referrals. Aim for services that generate consistent, monthly revenue based on real needs. Even if the amount seems small, it adds long-term value and becomes an asset.