From designing logos to print material, a business’s overall branding concept, marketing content, packaging, advertisements and so much more - there’s plenty of cool, creative stuff that rests on the desk of a graphic designer. But have you often wondered about the world of web design, and whether it’s something you should consider adding to your suite of services?
You might immediately think, point blank, no. Or you could be curious, but apprehensive. However, what we do know is that many designers (including plenty of our Rocketspark Partners) have made the move to web design and never looked back.
So it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?
You don’t have to know code
We now live in a world where a well-designed, functioning website is not a specialist operation. The tools to build a website are much more user-friendly and many aim to guide you towards success.
Often the biggest barrier for designers to make the leap into web design is a fear of the technology and misunderstanding of the process. But the ‘entry requirements’ to become a web designer is much easier than it was 10 years ago. You don’t need to know about codes, IP addresses and domains, because here at Rocketspark, that’s what we do for you. This means you can focus on producing a great creative outcome for your clients.
Add value to your customers (and your bottom line)
Most designers love the opportunity to work on branding for a business. You get the opportunity to be creative and develop a beautiful, cohesive design which really helps to refresh a business’s look and feel.
But of course they want a new website too, so you then have to hand your carefully curated designs over to a web developer and hope like hell that they can transfer your creation into the world of web. And this is unfortunate for two reasons.
- Sometimes they don’t get it right, which is disappointing (and frustrating) for you and your client.
- You are potentially handing over a very significant amount of revenue to someone else (average website $3-$5k each, so could be $10-$15k per month).
Essentially, it’s about lost value (and not just in monetary terms) when you are passing on web design to someone else. Because your client has to partner with a different person for their website, starting again with the process of their vision, values etc. And when you’re not providing a full, wraparound branding service, you may also be ‘forgotten’ when it comes to other work that you may be able to upsell or cross sell them on.
It can just make things a little disjointed*.
The story of Kaz Design
The story of Kaz Design is a great one. It’s an example of an agency who was primarily graphic design up until 2019, until they made a tentative move into web design (followed by a hefty push when Covid arrived at the start of 2020).
“We knew websites were the missing link in our business,” says Karen May, founder of Kaz Design.
“We would design a logo and build everything that went with a brand, then send them elsewhere for a website. And it was frustrating because it was another person’s interpretation of how it should look and feel. We’ve had websites come back that were totally off brand, with the wrong colours in there, alongside the fact that we lost a significant part of the journey with our clients.
“Then when Covid arrived, over 80% of our business was lost overnight.”
So Karen and her team realised it was now or never to grab web design with both hands, and they also discovered that it was not anywhere as difficult as they thought it would be.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. And sure, there is quite a bit to learn and understand. But with Rocketspark, the biggest plus was not having to type code. The drag and drop ability makes everything so easy to move things around, chopping and changing where need be. We were scared of the unknown, but found once we were fully committed, we were away.”
And now, Kaz Design is absolutely humming along with web design. It’s been the biggest growth area over their last financial year (2021/2022) and along with web design, they offer accompanying services such as Google My Business, Google Analytics and Gmail. Adding value to their clients, and revenue to their bottom line.
“In 12 months we brought in $100k in web design, which covered what we had lost in terms of our regular design services during Covid. And now that we are back to regular design programming, our web design income is on top of that.”
Karen says that there’s two things that she loves about web design. The first is that more people can see it - sometimes the world over - and you just don’t get that kind of wider audience with typical design work as it is usually for a very specific target market. And secondly, it’s being able to empower her clients to be in control of their website through the use of the Rocketspark platform.
“It’s actually why we chose Rocketspark in the first place. Because it is simple and easy to use, and that’s what most of our clients want - a website that looks great and one that they can control going forward.
“We still have some who ring us instead of going into the backend themselves, but others want to be able to edit prices or quickly change information that is no longer relevant - without having to ‘wait in line’ with other clients. And they really value being given that power and autonomy over something they have paid for.”
Karen’s 5 quick tips for moving into web design with Rocketspark:
- To try it out, have a go at building your own website first.
- Clients need to know that a website is an investment, not a cost. This is especially so when it comes to hiring professional copywriters and photographers. It’s great to have a stable of ones you can use/refer clients to.
- Rocketspark has a huge array of resources and training available to help support you - use it/them! You don’t have to do it alone.
- SEO is crucial for ensuring a website performs well, and analytics will help you see if you’ve got it right. And again, Rocketspark was amazing at helping us get well versed in this so we could then help our clients to understand the importance of an online presence.
- The Rocketspark community is just that - it’s a place where we all work together and provide support whenever it is needed. If I have any issues or can’t figure something out, I can either go to Rocketspark or to our Facebook group. Someone is always there to help and share their knowledge.
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Now that you have had a read of the above, it’s time to ponder whether this could be your jam. Ultimately, you need to want to do it. And what we’re here for is providing all the resources and tools to get you going (and to support you along the way).
So if you want to have a casual, no-strings-attached chat about how you could take the next step into web design - get in touch! Our friendly partnership team, Jason and Summer, would love to hear from you.
*Of course there are some awesome partnerships out there between graphic designers, web designers and businesses. We’re certainly not saying EVERY designer HAS to be a web designer. It’s more that if you think you could be interested, it comes with plenty of added value.
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