Where can I find clients for Web Development?

[webdewy]

Guys, where can I find clients for Web Development?

I have 15+ years of experience in creating online projects of varying complexity with custom PHP/MYSQL/JQUERY/HTML5/CSS3. I can create an excellent website/project from scratch or customize an existing one. I develop everything myself from scratch - backend and frontend.

I want to work directly with client without any freelance platforms.

Any advice please.

[Mark_A]

Any organisation can need web development. Company, charity etc..

Contact them just as they decide they want a new website.

Most will already have a site and developer, you have to win through that.

[webdewy]

where to find?
I worked for myself for a long time.
But now I want to find clients and am ready to complete a project of any complexity.

[not2easy]

It could help if you build your own site to promote your services. even Wikipedia offers some information on requirements and expectations:

There are no formal educational or license requirements to become a web developer. However, many colleges and trade schools offer coursework in web development. There are also many tutorials and articles which teach web development, often freely available on the web

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_developer

Since it is your site and you want to show people some examples of your work, you might build pages that allow people to see your work. You can describe the benefits of what services you offer and be sure to outline your terms and conditions for being hired. Working with people who do not have an understanding of what is involved in creating their own site need to have things at least outlined and described before they might want to commit to your services. There is not "a place" to find your clients. You could spend time looking for sites that could use improvement, there are many. Being able to show and tell is a start.

[webdewy]

It's not a problem for me to show projects I've worked on.
A long time ago I also worked on freelance site. I have a lot of experience working with different clients.
I just want to find a client(s) and work directly. I don't think I need a website to show my skills in creating complex projects quickly and efficiently.

[lucy24]

I don't think I need a website to show my skills

On the other hand, who would commission a website designed by someone who doesn’t have a website of their own?

:: idly wondering how many sites the average WebmasterWorld regular has ::

[webdewy]

I repeat, I have many completed projects that are very convincing and I have never had the need to create my own page.
The customer writes what he wants to receive, I say how much it costs and how long it will take and I start working.
And he is satisfied with the results and the speed. And yes, I have a portfolio as I said earlier.

[tangor]

The answer is: YOU go out and find them yourself. There's no "client store" where you can pick and choose.

Advertise yourself on the web (costs money), newspapers (costs money), radio/tv (you know, costs money). MEANWHILE, your phone, a list of business, organizations, even government, etc can be found in phone books (or the equivalent). Cold calling remains a tried and true method for developing contacts. But that takes work and commitment and a thick skin to suffer the MANY rejections before you get a positive.

TANSTAAFL!

Reality? If anyone here has a tried and proven method to find clients on a consistent basis I doubt that formula will be publicly shared. Then again, web development can be as simple as WP, a $50/yr shared host, and a desire to create any kind of content ... expending nothing more than labor to make the pages with NO experience at all.

The kind of resume as presented by OP is really looking for major players in the business sector, particularly those WITHOUT a current website and then SELLING THEM on the idea of putting one up and YOU are the guy to get it done. That said, once you get to that level all kinds of other things are involved; legal issues, assurances, and might even require bondng, a place of business and.... don't forget: lawyers. :)

On the other hand, Mom and Pop locations can be found in local metropolitan areas one can walk into, drop off a one page brochure, maybe buy a cup of java and chew the wind. THIS can be a very satisfying method for gaining new clients and also helps build a local reputation by word of mouth.

Jobs do not find you---you find the jobs.

[webdewy]

I owned my own online business for over 10 years, but I had to sell it some time ago. And I never had problems with clients. They found me themselves and ordered services. But now everything has changed and I have to start from scratch.

As for development, I am not talking about simple WP installations, I am talking about developing interesting complex projects (sites) from scratch with a budget from $30-$40k. These are absolutely different things.

By the way, I also developed an interesting business startup for more than 6 months and an idea came up to find a partner and sell 50% of the ownership in this startup and then together engage in its promotion with advertising, very good potential. But there are no ideas where to look for him.

But I appreciate your advice.

[NickMNS]

But now everything has changed and I have to start from scratch.

That is true, a lot has changed, and is continuously changing. I'm not sure you are going to find many companies willing the to spend $30-$40k on a new website built using PHP/MYSQL/JQUERY/HTML5/CSS3. Today companies are looking for fully interactive websites built using React/NextJS or other modern front-end frameworks, serverless cloud infrastructure, and most of all AI integrations of some sort. You can certainly find work fixing existing sites, but the trend in new build is definitely not PHP/MySQL.

[webdewy]

I meant that the direction of my activities has changed.

Approx 80% of all websites use PHP.
Many successful projects that have used and will use custom PHP/MySQL code that is reliable and works like a charm.
You are now using a forum with a design from the 2000s. So I don't agree with you on this part.

[NickMNS]

I'm not sure you got my point. I'm not saying that you can't build a great site using PHP/MySQL, you certainly can. What I'm saying is that the trend in the industry is moving away from that technology and moving towards using modern front-end frameworks. There are many, React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, Astro, Hono and the list goes on. I live in a big city, and I am active in the tech community and I know many people and many companies, and there are only very few companies today that are hiring or building in PHP. And most of the PHP work is for maintaining a legacy backend that feeds a modern JS frontend. You can stick to your ways, and you will likely find few clients that don't care or are happy with the devil they know. You asked for advice, and my advice is to learn and offer the services and technologies that the industry is asking for, because the people/companies you are competing against are offering those technologies.

Note that I am not suggesting any one tech stack, our industry has always been changing, but in the recent years the pace of change has increased dramatically. AI brings new challenges and opportunities, and you need to be able to adapt, quickly.

[christianihechi]

You'll need to make some noise out there to attract or find clients directly or get referred by others who can vouch for you.

My advice:

1. Don't just do the talking, create a visually appealing but minimalistic website that will also serve as a portfolio to showcase all of your work.
2. Like others have said, learn/add some modern web development frameworks like React, Vue, etc. to your arsenal. It will make you stand out more to clients due to demand and use cases of these technologies
3. Go to social media like X, and LinkedIn. Contribute to web dev discussions, post valuable web development related articles or tweets, network, make genuine and quality friends in your niche, work with them in projects and always talk about what you do consistently.

With all of these, if you're excellent in what you do, you'll surely get direct clients soon.

Best of luck!

[tangor]

I owned my own online business for over 10 years, but I had to sell it some time ago. And I never had problems with clients. They found me themselves and ordered services.

Kind of reaffirms what others have suggested: Put up a profile site to showcase ability etc. This will also allow a dev site to add new skills the money clients are looking for.

As for the 2000s look at WW ... done on purpose: Keeps the conversation focused on interaction rather than bright shiny objects. :)

[lucy24]

I am talking about developing interesting complex projects (sites) from scratch with a budget from $30-$40k.

You may want to spend some time thinking about who your target market is. There are plenty of businesses that currently have no website at all, and could easily be talked into a brochure-type site costing somewhere in the 3 digits. But there are not nearly as many, in this year of our lord 2025, that are prepared to jump directly from no website to a five-figure website, which sounds like what you are talking about.

If, instead, you are looking at businesses that are clearly due for something bigger and better, that calls for an entirely different approach

[webdewy]

My clients are those who want to implement an interesting online business, and not just install WP.

The same applies to finding a partner: there is a developed project and a partner is needed who is interested in investing and participating in the project. I am sure that my new project can bring in hundreds of thousands per month and these are not just words. Therefore, along the way, an idea arose to find a partner who would also be engaged in promotion, share additional ideas, and so on.

[tangor]

There is pie in the sky and all would like a bite! But Sky Pie has little nutritional value, so:

YOU will have to find that client desired as there is no other mechanism or tableau toward that objective. The comments regarding WP merely indicate that a web presence is CHEAP these days and one will have to be really STELLAR and also BRING THE BACON by MYSTICAL AND IMMENSE coding skills to get any client to INVEST that kind of money.

Don't get me wrong, I ran a consulting firm on the web for near 25 years, hired people at a living wage to get the business done, and did a number of 7 figure accounts before passing it along to the crew before retiring. Money can be made! It can be done. Maybe not as easily now as it was back then since the kiddies in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are turned into programmers at age 10, but it still can be done.

MEANWHILE, that Mom and Pop thing pays the rent, puts food on the table, and might even pay a car note. :)

Once again, responding to the OP, "Where can I find..."

YOU go out and Find Them.

Part of being a coder these days is having the tools, the knowledge, the vision, and the STAMINA to get a project done AND convincing a client you are not only UNIQUELY but the ONLY person to get it done. AND you are also willing to expend the shoe leather to slog it out to FIND those jobs (because they are NOT looking for you!).

[Mark_A]

Re going out to find work, if your experience is anything like mine, you will identify companies, contact them, persuade them that you should be the individual to work on their next website. Then you wait until they are ready to start. And the wait can be months or years. Yet when they decide to push the go button you will be expected to drop everything to be at their beck and call immediately, no matter what other work you have won and are doing at that time.

And there are disadvantages to being a sole trader, no one to take over should you be ill / busy on something else etc..

[webdewy]

Thanks, I really appreciate your tips.
I don't want to say that I'm a super guru, but believe me, for 17 years of work - I have a huge experience and knowledge, I'm versatile - I do everything myself when it comes to development, fast and very high quality.

Ideally for me, find the same person, with the desire to launch a joint interesting project or create for him and I am sure that we will create more than one successful online business.

The problem is that most forums are not active, but who knows.

[explorador]

webdewy: Guys, where can I find clients for Web Development?

Today? I'm not sure. Do you have any personal projects? most of my clients came to me because they visited one of my personal projects and asked "who built this? how can I contact the webmaster?", those projects were not just designs or information pages, they were (are) websites with lots of info, and without planning, they became my selling card.

Now? I don't know. Years ago moved to sell websites and it was already difficult by then, people were more interested on the magic trendy words "Wordpress", and then NodeJS, Whatever-Css, etc., you know, that dark chapter when ignorant people thought using NodeJS would somehow make their website rank better.

It was easier when websites were things only gurus could build. After mass media established that anyone could do it, clients became less respectful, asking for very dumb things withing insane delivery dates. I ended up avoiding web clients.

The problem is that most forums are not active, but who knows.

True.

Something I've seen come and go, is people trying to sell their books and needing online presence (landing pages).

Recently, my wife told me how people at her workplace needed a website, and she smiled telling them I was not available because I have experience. The thing is, they have a need, more more than a need, it's a dream, they have absolutely no idea on what they need, and I don't have patience for that, I how how that goes, the meetings become a chain of meetings, always thinking, asking questions, but not engaging on production, and without production, people won't pay because there is no final product.

ah, I mentioned people trying to sell their books... I remembered something: people online asking how to create portfolio websites (artists, photographers, and even singers), you can see some of those questions on reddit.

[Wolfik]

Upwork, LinkedIn

[Whitey]

With 15+ years of hands-on full-stack experience, your best clients won’t come from “where devs look for work,” but from where business problems already exist. Pick 1–2 verticals you know well (e.g. travel, real estate, professional services), build 2–3 problem-led case studies that show revenue, speed, or cost impact (not tech stacks), and do direct outreach to founders and operators via LinkedIn and email—especially companies with outdated, slow, or SEO-weak sites.

Partnering with SEO consultants, PPC managers, and agencies who need reliable build-from-scratch developers is often the fastest route to steady work without platforms. Finally, publish a few authoritative posts or tools in your niche (even small utilities) so prospects come to you as “the guy who fixes X,” not “a general web developer.”

[Kendo]

Pick a target market, do a search, check out the sites and contact those who you think you can improve.

Not much else one can do and that seemingly is what everyone else does.

[explorador]

@webdewy, about 7 years ago I bought my first serious solar panel for home use, did my research and all the websites were absolutely terrible, outdated, slow, abandoned as "useful", etc.

Last year I bought another big solar panel, found one company and went right there to find out the prices and options (at least where I live... there is a sick culture of "don't post prices", why? silly answers).

Anyway, bought the panel and asked the owner why they had no prices on the website, no information, no details, and lots of errors.

He said he was in the process of improving it with lots of features, had someone taking care of it and was about to launch the new version with prices, model information, inventory (availability), and... a bot of AI to answer all your questions in order to keep the customers informed.

I knew the website would remain the same: abandoned, and I was right. Nothing changed, and that right there is a business opportunity, a new potential client.

Just beware:

- People (clients) thinking AI bots can take care of sales are outside their minds, it's stupid, and as a service provider you should be clear of the dangers of talking to someone like that (they often make you waste your time).

- I was offered a job a few years ago to manage the website of a solar panel company, the client was insane, he was happy because his website had lots of "conversions", he meant: someone opened the chat, someone clicked on "contact us". He celebrated that, yes, and he had absolutely no sales, no ROI, but he was one of those freaks loving google analytics stats and graphs. We talked, but I couldn't make any sense out of him, so I decided not to work on that company, they remain... like a zombie company, it's insane.

But in the long run, you can go out and see business with website addresses of projects that don't work, and they may become your clients.

[tangor]

@webdewy ... it's been a few months. Any luck on the job search?