If I had a website, would it make a significant difference to the amount of clients I get? (Graphic design)?

[Joe]

I have my own graphic design business and if I were to set up a website using a vista print package do you think it would make a significant difference on the amount of clients I got? And how would people find my website?

I'm thinking of getting this package for £9.99 per month (1 month free trial), the standard package in the middle - http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/websites.asp...GetStarted

My facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/JMG-Graphi...935?ref=hl

My twitter page - https://mobile.twitter.com/account

[Georgina]

Yes joe it would give them confidence that you are a professional and won't just take their money. You can add a gallery to showcase it and use the free mailing system 'mailchimp' to stand and track your marketing emails too

[Benjamin]

You probably know some businesses who are doing phenomenally well without a website. I do, too. But I often wonder how much better they could be doing if they took the time to invest in one. And when I say “website,” I don’t mean an electronic version of that brochure they’ve been handing out for the past 10 years. I mean a legitimate, well-thought-out site that is graphically designed to inform, engage and convert their audience....

This is an excellent blog post I found at http://www.creativevision.co.nz/blog_3.html I think you would benefit from the read good luck

[Fraser]

Hi Joe,

he answer is both yes and no...

yes, because if a potential client wants to view your recent work then they can simply type in the address and its as if they have had a full catalog of your work sent through their front door. Over a trillion searches are performed on google alone every year... and people make a lot of money through internet exposure...its really a bit silly not to have a website.

no, because a website is absolutely useless if you cant be found...and this points to SEO (search engine optimisation) and regardless of how lovely your website looks it needs to be very well optimised to be of any value...especially in your field.

visit my site at http://www.primowebdesign.co.uk to find out why its important to have SEO professionally done on your site.

Hope this Helps

Fraser
http://www.primowebdesign.co.uk

[Fiona]

You should have a business website. It will make your would-be customers respect your business. That means you are indeed professional.

For now, you should focus on your own locality - Manchester. If you know something about SEO, you should at least employ keywords in your site like "graphic designer Manchester" so that your business can easily be found on Google, Yahoo! or Bing.

I think VistaPrint is just fine. But when you are making much money in the future, migrate to another platform. Build a self-hosted website because it will offer you more unique and custom features that vistaprint cannot deliver.

Good luck in your business. I know you will do well.