One of the fastest growing industries in the United States and, indeed, the world, is web design and website development services. According to IBIS World, there are upwards of 116,000 website design and development companies in the U.S., generating more than $20 billion in revenue per year. If you’re a website designer, how can you hope to beat out the competition and earn a living in such a saturated market? By writing a killer proposal for website development.
What Are You Trying to Accomplish with a Proposal for Website Development?
When you write a proposal for website development, you’re trying to demonstrate your value and your expertise to your potential clients. Remember, not only is web design the source of your income, it’s crucial to your clients’ success online. If the website they use is designed poorly, they will lose out on attracting two billion web users and the $1.25 trillion spent online every year, according to Internet Retailer. Your proposal should show them why you’re the developer to bring them success.
Three Tips for Writing a Great Proposal for Website Development
- Evaluate Instead of Pitching
- Demonstrate Your Knowledge of the Client’s Business
- Explain Your Hosting Plan
Smashing Magazine, a web publication devoted to website development, recommends shifting your focus away from writing a pitch-style proposal toward a more evaluative approach. Explain every detail of how you can help the business in a succinct way, detailing what you can do, how you can do it, and the price you can do it for.
When you write a proposal, you should show that you’ve taken the time to understand your potential client’s business and what they need or want from their website. Not only does this put you at more of a personal level with your client, it also allows you to speak to each point specifically as you write your proposal. Say, for example, your client runs an eCommerce website, but they also need help with social media. Speak to those points specifically, showing how you can improve their eCommerce solution and their social media tools.
About.com rightly suggests that you can’t just discuss your plans for building a great website in your proposal for website development. You also have to explain what you’re going to do after the website is finished. How will the website be hosted? Do you recommend a shared server or a dedicated solution? What is the necessary storage capacity and access speed? Show your potential customers that you’ve thought about everything to improve your chances of success.
Writing a great proposal for website development is key to you finding success in the industry. That being said, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Keep these tips in mind when writing your next proposal, and watch clients start to line up.
