Pitching a website redesign is a tricky process. It can be hard to show why a redesign is needed without sounding as if you’re putting down the site’s current look. Plus, sometimes your potential client is the original designer, and insulting their skills or vision could ruin your relationship.

However, by treading carefully, it’s completely possible to successfully pitch a website redesign without overstepping any boundaries. Tactfully engaging leads and showing them objective reasons for redesigning their site can help you nail your pitch and turn them into paying clients.

In this article, we’ll discuss some reasons why working on redesigns can be beneficial to your career. Then we’ll share four tips on how to approach website redesign pitches to help you land the job. Let’s jump in!

The benefits of working on website redesigns as a freelancer

With the number of freelancers on the rise, the competition for clients is only getting more intense. Finding new avenues to pursue when it comes to sending out pitches and sourcing leads can massively help with maintaining a steady stream of clients.

Pitching a website redesign is one way to go about this. Adding these projects to your portfolio can also help demonstrate your skills to future leads by showing them exactly how you can improve sites. Before and after images and analytics for sites you’ve enhanced provide tangible evidence of your skills.

Finding sites in need of an overhaul isn’t too difficult. Small business sites tend to lack important site features such as Call To Action (CTA) links, mobile responsiveness, up-to-date content, and streamlined navigation. If any of these sites have bases in your local area, they could provide the perfect opportunity to land a redesign job.

What’s more, keeping redesigns on your mind when looking for jobs can also bring you back to previous clients whose sites have become dated. Offering to do redesigns for them could help establish an ongoing relationship and provide additional work down the line.

How to pitch a website redesign without stepping on anyone’s toes (4 Key Tips)

Pitching a website redesign requires extra care. While many of the skills you use to talk to clients about new websites still apply to redesigns, you’ll also need to be mindful and employ a little extra strategy. The tips below will help you pitch redesigns thoughtfully and skillfully.

1. Carry out thorough research to be professional and prepared

Sometimes, part of pitching a redesign is convincing a potential client that they have a problem in the first place. They may not realize the site they launched more than ten years ago no longer seems modern or reliable. In order to prove they need your help, you’ll have to know their site inside and out.

To start, try thoroughly exploring a lead’s site from a user’s perspective. This can help you find weaknesses you can point out to the potential client. Take notes on problems you run into, such as slow loading times or confusing navigation, then present solutions in your pitch.

It will also help to consider the client’s purpose, and what they need their site to accomplish. To them, a website is just a tool to help their business succeed. Showing them how a redesigned site can offer solutions to specific problems for their business improves your chances of winning them over.

For example, you could offer to help a local business owner improve their online sales by improving their Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or streamlining their checkout process. This shows how a redesigned site can increase revenue, making it seem like a good investment.

2. Put aside your opinions and focus on the facts

You might really hate the bright orange that dominates your lead’s current color scheme. However, telling them so probably won’t help you win them over. Making sure you don’t insult a potential client’s personal tastes is one of the most difficult aspects of pitching redesigns. Sticking to the facts can help.

Showing your client statistics or research on the positive impacts of features such as mobile responsiveness or CTAs makes your pitch more objective. Perks such as editing access for the client can also be appealing and help convince leads to hire you.

By keeping the focus on aspects of the redesign that aren’t related to personal opinions or tastes, you can better avoid insulting your potential client. Subjects such as color scheme, typefaces, and graphics can wait. Once you’ve built a trusting relationship with your client, they’ll be easier to approach.

3. Discuss your own strengths, not the previous designer’s mistakes

It can be easy to place blame on previous site design decisions that are now causing problems. However, you’ll never know if your potential client was the one who made the decision. They may have created the original site on their own, or requested their previous developer add a feature that now isn’t working.

Instead of dragging down the last designer’s work, you can keep the conversation positive by focusing on how you can make the site better. Promoting your strengths by discussing past successes or emphasizing skills you’re particularly proud of can help.

For example, you might mention how you’ve had a lot of success increasing conversion rates by improving site navigation. You can show analytics from other sites you’ve worked on as examples. This keeps the focus on what you can do, and not on the cluttered menu the previous designer created.

Demonstrating your redesign’s positive impacts is the best way to convince a lead to become a paying client. Drawing attention to ways their future site will better their business does more to sway a client than highlighting the mistakes of the past.

4. Involve the site owner in the redesign process to incorporate their tastes

Letting your client have a say in the design – or redesign – process has been shown to improve client satisfaction, put them at ease, and give them a greater sense of ownership over their site. All in all, involving your client and their tastes increases the chances of the redesign going smoothly.

Asking clients about what they want their site to accomplish and the features they want to include can make for a strong start to a project. These types of questions will give you more direction while you work. Plus, seeing their own ideas in the final product can make the client feel valued.

Having strong client communication skills is essential throughout the website redesign process. Practicing active listening and asking questions for clarification will help ensure you meet your client’s needs and deliver an end product they’re happy with.

Conclusion

Website redesigns present great opportunities for freelance developers to source new clients and build their portfolios. While it can be difficult to navigate a redesign pitch that encourages a potential client instead of insulting them, putting some extra effort into your approach can lead to serious payoffs.

In this article, we’ve discussed some benefits of tapping into the website redesign market as a freelancer. We also discussed four tips for pitching website redesigns without damaging the relationship with your lead:

1. Carry out thorough research to be professional and prepared.
2. Put aside your opinions and focus on the facts.
3. Discuss your own strengths, not the previous designer’s mistakes.
4. Involve the site owner in the redesign to incorporate their tastes.

Do you have any questions about how to pitch a website redesign? Leave them into the comments section below!

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