Most developers start with a hundred cold emails into the void. The better answer to how to get web development clients is simpler: find the business owners who already asked. They post "I need a website" in Facebook groups, on Reddit and on X, and you reply first with one example that fits their trade. Then offer local businesses with weak sites one clear fix.
I have been building businesses since 2019, mostly mobile apps and websites. In every one, the hardest part was the first customers without burning money on ads. The best ones were often people asking for help in public. I built Hodorak to find those requests every day.
Those posts are easy to miss, and the replies under them are often lazy. A post like "Looking for a web designer for my bakery" collects a row of comments that just say "DM me". (The bakery owner already knows how DMs work.) The developer who answers the actual question stands out.
Business owners still post "I need a website" in public
Small businesses still buy websites, and they plan to keep spending on them. A 2025 survey by Clutch of 406 US small business owners found that 90% plan to invest in their website over the next 12 months. The top plan, at 58%, was a full redesign or visual refresh.
The same survey has two more numbers worth reading twice. 17% of small businesses still have no website at all, and 12% launched theirs in the past year. The work is there, and someone needs it right now.
What our own data can and cannot tell you
I wanted to show you our own count of website requests. We have not measured web work yet, and I will not invent a count to fill the gap.
What our data does show is how often people ask in public. In one 72-hour window at the start of October 2026, we read 1,039 public posts for real estate agents by hand and found 80 real requests, 47 of them in Facebook groups. The full count is on our page for real estate agent leads. Website buyers are a different crowd, but they ask the same way: in plain words.
Where website requests show up
- Local Facebook groups: town groups and small business owner groups.
- Reddit: r/smallbusiness, city subreddits and r/forhire, where people post jobs.
- X: short posts like "need someone to build a website", often with a city name.
- LinkedIn: founders and managers asking their network for a developer.
Rule of thumb: search the way owners write, not the way you sell. "Need a website" finds more buyers than "full-stack developer". For more places where buyers post requests like these, see our guide on finding clients who already asked.
How to answer first and stand out from 30 comments
Speed and fit win here. Imagine a bakery owner's post with 30 comments under it. A few paste a portfolio link, and one asks a real question about the bakery. The owner remembers that one. Lawyers live by the same rule, and our guide to how attorneys answer public requests shows a reply that stays within bar rules.
Comment first, then DM
Reply in the comments first. Other members see it, and the owner can check your profile before talking to you. Send a direct message only when the post invites it or the owner answers you.
Read the group rules first: many groups limit links and self-promotion.
Write the one-line reply
Your first reply has three parts: who you build for, one example that fits, and one question about the job. No price list, no ten-link portfolio, no hard pitch.
Hi, I build sites for cafés and bakeries. Here is one with online orders and a simple menu. Do you need orders online, or just a menu, hours and a map?
The question does the heavy lifting. It turns a pitch into a conversation, and it proves you read the post.
Be there while the post is fresh
The first reply wins more often than the best ad. But you cannot refresh five groups all day and still build websites.
That is the job Hodorak's Facebook group monitoring does: it watches the groups you choose and shows you the posts where someone asks for a website, with why it fits and a suggested first reply. You edit the reply and send it yourself, from your own account.
Honestly, if you build large platforms for big companies that buy through tenders, Hodorak is the wrong tool. Those buyers do not ask in a town group.
Find local businesses that need a better website
Not every client posts a request. Some have a site that quietly asks for help. This is how to get web development clients who never posted anything: find a real problem first, then show it to the owner.
Step 1: Run the Google Maps check
Open Google Maps and search one trade in one area, such as "plumber" plus your town. Open each listing and look for four signs:
- no website button at all
- a site that is slow or looks really bad on a phone
- a contact form or booking link that does not send
- an "under construction" page or a copyright year from long ago
A broken contact form is a doorbell with no wires. The owner thinks nobody calls. People are calling; nobody hears it.
Step 2: Send a short audit message
Use the email or contact details on their listing. Keep it to four lines: what you saw, what it costs them, one fix, one question.
Hi, I tried your booking form on my phone and it did not send. Customers who book at night may be giving up. I can fix that form this week. Want a short video of what I saw?
Show people the problem instead of describing it: a screen recording from a phone beats a paragraph about page speed. Name their pain points in their words: lost bookings, not "poor UX".
Step 3: Offer one small fix first
Do not open with a full redesign. Offer one job with a clear end, like the form or the mobile menu. A small win builds trust, and the bigger talk comes after.
Some owners will not want a site at all: in the Clutch survey, 34% of those without one said it was not relevant to their industry. Do not argue with a potential client. Show them one customer they are losing.
Designers and developers: one method for design, build and fix
The method works whether you design, build or fix. Only the search words and the reply change. If you came here asking how to get web design clients, read this part with your designer hat on.
| Work | How owners ask | Where to search first | What your reply shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design or redesign | "our site looks old" | local Facebook groups, X | one before-and-after |
| New build | "need a website for my shop" | Facebook groups, r/smallbusiness, LinkedIn | one live site in their trade |
| Fix or change | "my Shopify checkout is broken" | platform subreddits, X | one diagnosis question |
Fix requests are the fastest way in. Someone whose Shopify or WordPress site broke this morning wants help today, not a proposal next week. Before you reply in a subreddit, check what Reddit allows for self-promotion. Many of those posts land in subreddits, and Hodorak's Reddit monitoring can watch the ones you pick for words like "broken" or "need a developer".
Design work sells on the picture. Service based businesses want a site that books jobs, and content creators often want one simple page. Show a before-and-after from the same kind of business, maybe even a rough sketch of their home page.
This is also the simplest answer to how to get clients as a web developer with a thin portfolio: fix jobs need a quick diagnosis, not a gallery.
Marketplaces as a starter, not a plan
Marketplaces are good for one thing early on: your first few reviews, proof that a stranger can check.
I started this way. I built Flutter apps for clients on Mostaql, an Arabic freelance marketplace, and finished every project there with five stars.
But a marketplace is a shop in someone else's mall. Upwork's help center says its freelancer fee ranges from 0% to 15% per contract, fixed once the contract starts. You also compete with every other profile on the same job, which is how bidding wars start.
A direct client has no fee in the middle and no rival bids next to yours. You own the relationship, so the next job and the referral come to you. That is where higher rates start.
Clutch shows the gap. 45% of small businesses gave their site to an agency, and only 9% to a freelancer or consultant. Owners pick whoever looks safe. Fast, useful answers and real reviews make a freelancer look safe, and that is how to get web development clients who stay.
Networking events still work too, but they are slow. Photographers have the same problem, and our guide to getting photography clients uses the same fix: find the request, then make choosing you easy.
Frequently asked questions
Is web development still in demand?
Yes. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that jobs for web developers and digital designers will grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average job, with about 13,600 openings a year. It counts 18% of web developers as self-employed, which is the freelance side of the same demand.
Is web design still worth it in 2026?
Yes, if you sell results and not pages. Clutch found in 2025 that 90% of US small businesses plan to invest in their website within 12 months. A full redesign or visual refresh was the top plan, at 58%. Owners still pay for a site that brings customers.
How to get clients as a web developer with no portfolio?
Start with fix jobs in one trade. Fix a broken form or a slow page for a local business, and ask if you can show the before and after. Building projects for friends counts too. Two or three small sites in one trade give you the right example for the next owner who asks.
Where do I find people who need websites?
Search where owners ask in public: local Facebook groups, small business subreddits, X and LinkedIn. Use their words, like "need a website" or "looking for a web designer", plus your city. On X, keyword alerts for new posts can send you matching posts while they are still fresh enough to answer. Paid alert tools watch more sites, and Syften and its alternatives differ a lot in what they catch.
How do web designers get clients?
Mostly through referrals, public requests and outreach that starts from a real problem. Referrals grow from past clients and a strong network. Requests come from owners asking in groups and on Reddit. Marketplaces help with the first reviews, but a few direct clients are what build a web design business for the long term.
How to get web development clients starting today
Pick one trade and one town. Tonight, search two local groups and one subreddit for "need a website", and answer one real request with one example and one question. Tomorrow, run the Google Maps check on ten businesses in the same trade.
When you want the requests to come to you, start tracking leads in Facebook groups, on Reddit, X and LinkedIn, and reply yourself, in your own words.
Worst case, you find a plumber whose site still says "under construction". Ask them when it opens.
