We have already discussed business ideas for developers and programmers. Those ideas could be an excellent fit for all developers and programmers in general.
But upon request, we thought to share nine unique web development startup ideas.
Web development has great significance in the online market. As the internet market is growing, the potential for web development is growing the same way!
Apparently, every website or blog we say is a by-product of web developers’ efforts.
So if you are a developer, no matter front-end, back-end, or full-stack developer, you are so crucial for the growth of any business.
For instance, Google has started considering webpage speed and user experience ranking factors. That means 7 billion websites worldwide need a developer either for UI design or to speed up web pages.
To make a long story short, web development has massive potential as a business in the market.
Let’s discuss practical web development business ideas.
On this page
Start Your Company
The first best idea is starting a services company.
It could be your sole proprietorship business where you alone work initially, where you can offer your services to different companies based on your specialty.
Companies usually prefer hiring external consultants for short-term projects.
Otherwise, you can offer them long-term services based on your specialty. Say stores like Amazon and eBay need a web developer to maintain their stores.
The next question that might come to your mind is, how will companies reach you?
The answer is simple. You will reach them, letting them know what’s wrong with their websites or stores and what needs improvement. How beneficial it could be.
Say your specialization is in UX. You can take any landing page, see what’s hindering the conversions, and what you can do.
You offer your first company that it didn’t work; you won’t charge anything. Suppose it worked. How long can your startup go now?
Become a Freelancer
In freelancing, you offer your services as you do in your company, but its strategy is different.
There are many freelancing platforms where SMBs, enterprises, and startups offer projects or find experts to solve their problems.
So the main difference is that needy people are already on the market here. They will offer a project and pay for you after completion.
The famous platforms are Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer, and now LinkedIn is also launching its freelancing platform (that must even better than many others).
Note: We added the screenshot to show how many projects are availing on those platforms. We searched for a single keyword, “website design,” and found that freelancers have already completed thousands of projects. And it’s only one platform.
You can utilize all the best freelancing platforms to get huge business in this niche.
Create a Social Platform
Creating a social platform like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, could also generate passive income in return.
You can use that website in many situations.
- You can present that platform as your portfolio
- You can run the platform to get engagement
- You can sell it
- You can ask for sponsorships
You might be thinking that as there are already tons of social platforms, how can you compete with them?
That’s true. A startup can’t compete with giants.
But a startup can secure space in the market. The only thing that matters is that it should be unique and appealing to the user.
Look at the example of TikTok. TikTok was launched at a time when there were many giants in the markets, including Google +.
But still, TikTok idea was so appealing that it changed the trends and secured its position along with the giants.
If you believe you have an idea that can revolutionize the internet market, try it.
The other best example could be Fiverr. Fiverr got famous even when Upwork and Freelancer were the most popular freelancing markets.
Offer a Theme
Offering themes is a great business these days.
As I said earlier, Google is looking for highly speedy and user-friendly websites. The layout has great significance in business now.
It led companies to think of their layouts and designs.
You will rarely find any websites as they had been in 2006.
You can create a theme for specific commercial businesses or WordPress sites. Both have huge potential and a big market.
For instance, I use WordPress. I have a GeneratePress theme. It’s simple and speedy. However, there is always room for improvement.
Suppose you analyze this theme. You find what sucks in this theme.
Now, you create a theme with an excellent color scheme and high speed. And start reaching people using GeneratePress, letting them know how and why they should move. How many conversions will you get?
Surely you will get the great attention of WordPress users.
The same is for retail stores.
WordPress uses PHP, but other stores can be based on different languages. You can pick one with your expertise.
Note:
The theme is a great long-term business idea because it’s not a time process.
You keep working on your theme. You keep on updating to make it compatible with the new trends. This is how theme owners earn from their existing buyers.
However, building a theme, creating a website, or offering a WP plugin, demands powerful marketing.
You can ask influencers or market your business with digital online strategies. You should only try it if you have a substantial marketing budget.
WordPress Plugin
A good plugin is a pillar of a successful WordPress site.
Say a WordPress user can’t even think of a sustainable business without SEO Plugin, Cache plugin, Redirection plugin, and many others.
It will indeed work if you believe you can offer something unique at an affordable price.
For instance, it’s not long since I saw Rank Math with a few thousand downloads.
My friends referred me because Rank Math was offering excellent services for free. Yoast and a few others were the most popular plugins at that time. But sooner, the Rank Math plugin got famous.
Their strategy was pretty appreciable.
They started offering great features in the free version that made them popular among WordPress bloggers. However, their premium version has worth investing in features for bloggers.
This is how they started competing with giants.
That means, no matter how crowded the market is, people will start loving it if you offer something better for free.
Suppose you are curious how you can earn from a plugin. There are two pretty easy methods.
#1 is to offer a Pro version with some other excellent features or keep it free and ask for donations like many other great free plugins.
Maintain eCommerce Stores
I added it as a separate business idea because it has a vast market.
The Digital revolution has changed business trends. Now people can’t survive without digital appearance.
That means everyone needs an eCommerce store or a commercial website for their business. Just like all other businesses, such stores and websites need maintenance from time to time.
Every business will love to hire you if you can maintain and even help them grow their stores or websites.
It might look difficult to find business in this niche, but why don’t you think of reaching out to 100 businesses with fully personalized emails?
It will make a difference.
Offer a Course
Offering a course is another excellent web development business idea for creative people.
You can offer a course if you are good at any language, whether it’s a simple one like HTML, CSS, or Jave.
Say you keep exploring the unique ways to use these simple languages for excellent web design or user experience. You can easily sell your skills.
However, the language Python is in high demand. The reason is that it’s also used in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, data analysis, and some other advanced skills.
If you sharpen your expertise in Python, you can either move to advanced skills or prepare others for it with your course.
Preparing a course is a one-time effort. You can upload your course directly or on platforms like Udemy.
After that, it’s only marketing your product to get more and more sales.
If you could get a freelance writer who could offer you an excellent copy, it would make your day.
Start a blog
Starting a blog could be a great web development startup. And the great thing is that anyone can start blogging without money at any time.
There are many benefits to starting a blog. You can monetize it. You can sell services and offer courses to premium users.
Let me make it a bit more clear.
People searching for web development-related problems could be students, beginners, or most website owners.
Such audiences are premium in this niche because they may seek a course or services expert to solve their problems.
Note: We checked the search volume of a single query, “web design,” through Ahref Tool (screenshot added above). It has a 263K global volume. You can see how far you can go in this business if you satisfy the user.
Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is the world’s most prominent visual search engine. It has billions of active users a month.
People use it for entertainment purposes and also for learning things.
Whatever your specialization, you can start a vlog and give unique solutions to user problems.
Once you get 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch time, you can apply for Adsense. It’s not over. You can offer your courses, make sponsored videos, and earn through affiliate links.
I searched the term “HTML” on YouTube, and you can see in the screenshot that there were 1.3 million views of the first video in just seven months. It shows that even a simple language like HTML can get you massive business on YouTube.
If it appeals to you, we have written an in-depth guide on starting a YouTube channel and getting paid in five unique ways.
Summary
Web development is crucial for any online business. If you are a web development expert, you can start your own business and earn from it. And if you want to create a tech company, then here is how to find developers and programmers for your startup.
We have discussed nine web development business ideas for startups. Anyone can begin with and earn handsome money from your business.