The goal of many web designers is to maximize the amount of money they earn on a regular basis. As with any profession, it is often nice to work less and make more so that additional time can be spent with friends and family. If you are trying to figure out a way to increase your hourly rate, you are not alone. Whether a web designer has been working for months or for years, it is possible to make these dreams come true.
Bringing in more than $100 per hour is a realistic goal for anyone that has a strong web designing skill set. Thousands of designers have found ways to market themselves for higher prices. A common thread between these designers is the use of the WordPress platform. It is effective at any skill level and is extremely flexible. These things have caused the demand for WordPress to increase over the last few years. As designers begin to realize that WordPress is an excellent system for managing content, it has broken loose from the purely blogging beginnings.
The popularity has spread from designing circles to the rest of the internet world. Clients have started requesting WordPress sites and designers who can deliver high quality sites will stand a chance at making the most money. There is no doubt that breaking away from old techniques can be difficult, especially for people who have worked in the industry for a long time. Why should you consider using WordPress for your websites? Some reasons that WordPress can help web designers create more lucrative businesses are:
1.) Easy to Maintain and Update
Everyone loves when their work is made easier because of someone else’s actions. WordPress provides updates on a regular basis. Updates mean there are now more chances for designers to bring in extra money. One possible option is to have long term clients who you charge a monthly maintenance fee. Providing monthly WordPress updates for plug-ins and themes is an easy task and may only require a few hours each month.
A custom WordPress site can be fully updated in a matter of clicks. The technology brings everything straight to you. There is never any doubt when an update is available and WordPress will even remind you on a regular basis. Over time, a designer can have constant income while spending less and less time at the computer.
2.) Build Websites Faster
Building a website from the ground up requires a good deal of time and energy. Designers can spend weeks completing one traditional HTML website. If a person could complete a site faster, he or she would have more free time and more opportunities for new projects. WordPress allows web designers to create high quality websites in a fraction of the time. You can still charge the same as you would for a traditional website, but you would be done in a shorter amount of time.
The functionality of the plug-ins makes it possible for you to up your fees without having to invest hours and hours of extra time. For instance, clients expect to spend more for added functionality such as e-commerce. You can meet this need with only a couple of clicks. Clients will be happy and you will not be swamped with extra work.
Let us say that it takes you about a week to create a functioning HTML website. Now think about the amount of money you charge the client and turn this into an hourly wage. Designers familiar with WordPress can create a custom site in less than a day. How much extra money would you be able to make in a week with such a decrease in work time and an increase in productivity?
This provides the opportunity to charge more per site or simply keep costs the same while getting more websites done each week. Even though there is a significant decrease in creation time, the quality of the website is not sacrificed at all. It can be easy to believe that the WordPress sites must be plain and dull. Fortunately for designers, websites can be built quickly with a wide range of functionality including sliders, shopping carts, social networks, etc.
3.) WordPress is Free
Tight budgets are a common problem among the online business community. Web designers who are just starting out in the business may quickly be dropping a few thousand dollars on the design software needed to successfully begin work. This means that the revenue from the first few projects a freelance web designer completes will go towards the start-up costs. Would you want to do a lot of work knowing that none of it will be profit? Depending on a person’s circumstances, this type of financial situation may not be plausible as other bills need to get paid.
The easiest way to get around expensive business tools is to find cheap tools in the first place. Designers can get started with WordPress without having to spend a single cent. This results in a lucrative business model because money is saved from the very beginning. Even though it is free, websites look beautiful and professional. In this case, quality does not suffer from the lack of cost. Money will also be saved in the long run because upgrades do not need to be purchased every year.
The savings can be placed in other areas of your business such as marketing. The ability to maximize advertising opportunities will ultimately lead to more clients which of course will mean more money. There is no reason to pay for a platform that cannot offer more than WordPress.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why WordPress is a superior platform for web designers today. It is a smart choice and deserves consideration. The ease of use and lack of cost means that there is nothing to lose by giving it a try.
With a little knowledge, anyone can create top notch sites while increasing the profits from freelance work.
Excellent Post!