How to get clients for website development in India

Where do website clients come from?

Four places, each with a trade-off.

• People you know. Friends and family who run a business are the easiest first yes, but the list runs out fast.
• Local businesses with no website or a weak one. There are many near you, and you can see what each one is missing before you message. Finding and tracking them by hand takes time.
• Freelance marketplaces such as Upwork and Fiverr. The client is already looking, often from another country, but every job gets bids from other freelancers.
• Agencies and other freelancers. Some pass on work they can’t take. It helps once you have a few sites to show.

The rest of this guide is about local businesses, because that’s where you can start today.

Which local businesses need a website?

Ones that depend on people nearby finding them: clinics, salons, coaching classes, gyms, CA offices, caterers and the like. On their Google Maps listing, look for these signs:

• No website link at all.
• Only a Facebook, Instagram, Justdial, IndiaMART or Practo link where the website should be. That isn’t a website.
• Plenty of reviews and a good rating, a sign the business is busy.
• A phone number, so you can reach the owner.

Signboard scores every business out of 100 on exactly these signs. No website adds the most points. How to find businesses without a website covers the search step by step, by hand or with Signboard.

What if the business already has a website?

It can still be a client if the site has problems the owner can understand. Open it on your phone and check:

• Does it open at all, without an error?
• Does it fit a phone screen, or do you have to pinch and zoom?
• Does the browser mark it “Not secure” because it has no HTTPS?
• Is it slow to load?
• Does the footer still say a copyright year from years ago?

One or two of these, named in your message, beat a general offer to “improve your website”. Signboard runs these checks with one click and puts the problems into the message for you.

What do you say in the first message?

Keep it short enough to read on a phone in one go:

• Who you are and where you work.
• How you found the business, and the one thing it’s missing.
• Why that matters to them, in one sentence.
• One small next step, such as a free sample, and a question they can answer.

Here is the English message Signboard writes for a physiotherapy clinic that only has an Instagram page:

Hi, I'm Riya, a web developer in Pune. I found Sai Physio Care on Google Maps and noticed your business is only on Instagram right now. A website of your own shows up in Google searches and builds trust with new customers. I'd be happy to show you a free sample. Would you have a few minutes to talk?

You can edit it before you send, and switch it to Hindi or Marathi. If you add a portfolio link to your profile, it goes at the end of every message.

Should you message on WhatsApp, call or walk in?

WhatsApp first, for most owners. They can read it when the shop is quiet, and the message stays there with your name and number. Send it from your own number, one business at a time. If the listing has a landline, call instead. If the business is down your street, walking in with a sample on your phone works too.

Signboard opens WhatsApp with the message filled in for Indian mobile numbers, and shows a Call button for landlines. It never sends messages for you.

How often should you follow up?

Owners are busy and miss messages, so a reminder or two is normal. A simple schedule: follow up 3 days after the first message, once more 7 days after that, then stop. That’s 2 follow-ups, which is what Signboard reminds you to send. The first one can be this short:

Hi, just following up on my message about a website for Sai Physio Care. I'd be happy to send a free sample whenever it suits you. — Riya

What can you show before you have clients?

• Two or three sample sites for the kind of business you’re messaging, such as a clinic or a salon.
• A free sample for the business itself: a homepage with its name, services and phone number.
• For a business that has a site, a short list of what’s wrong with it and how you’d fix it.

On Pro, Signboard makes a website report you can send the owner, with speed scores and what to fix. If your profile has a portfolio link, the report shows your name and links to it.

What mistakes cost you clients?

• Sending the same message to hundreds of numbers. It reads as spam, and people block numbers that send it.
• Losing track and messaging the same business twice, or never following up.
• Pitching a business that already has a good website instead of one that has none.
• Long messages about your skills instead of the business’s problem.

Signboard keeps a list of everyone you’ve contacted and what happened. A business stops showing to other users once 3 freelancers have contacted it in 30 days, so owners don’t get the same pitch over and over.

Common questions

Find your first leads

Try 2 searches a day without an account, or 20 a month on the free plan. Pick an area and a business type and see which ones need a website. More on finding a first client.