Anyone can make a website now. Most basic websites are already built by A.I., requiring very little technical knowledge.
As web designers and developers, we have to grow to stay alive in this business. We need to keep our value ahead of the evolution of technology. Gone are the days of coding HTML for a static landing page. Creating websites alone as a skill is not good enough anymore.
Which leads to the question – how can we evolve to keep our relevance?
The value that you create for your client is your expertise, problem-solving, and client management skills. People hire you not just for what you build. They hire you because they trust you to solve their business problems. They choose you over other vendors because they believe you will make their life easier.
They could build a website by themselves. (Unfortunately, most cheap clients actually do.) But if they are looking to spend money, they are looking for real problems to be solved as painlessly as possible. You need to find ways to make everything about the process better.
Keep in mind, people will pay for:
- “Done for you” Services – getting something professionally made, but this is where most web developers stop.
- Saving time – the clients don’t want to waste time doing it themselves.
- Reducing pain – because they know cheap vendors or doing it by themselves can be an unpleasant experience.
- Removing guesswork – They want to improve, but they don’t know how to make real transformation happen.
- Accessing insight – when they know that their knowledge is not enough to solve their problems, so they will hire you to be an expert who helps to guide them.
Regardless of whether you work alone or manage a team, it is your responsibility to make sure your clients are cared for at every step. The better the client management process, the better the reviews. The better the reviews, the more you can increase your pricing. With higher pricing, you get better clients and create a more stable business model.