Low-code no-code development platforms forever changed the way people and businesses create online tools. While software development was once the exclusive domain of programmers and developers, now anyone – including designers, content creators, and business owners – can build websites and apps of their own. (See: Strategies to scale your agency faster with no-code/low-code solutions). With Statista forecasting the global low-code no-code market revenue to reach 65 billion dollars in 2027 (as compared to its 13 billion dollars valuation in 2020), and Gartner predicting that 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code no-code technologies by 2025, it’s evident that low-code no-code isn’t just the domain of DIYers, but web design professionals and agencies, too. And low-code no-code tools are already ubiquitous; it’s up to agencies to determine which tool works best for them and how to integrate it into their processes. In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at no-code low-code development, its benefits, as well as the reasons for its rapid emergence in the digital creation space. We’re also providing a list of the top 10 low-code and no-code tools so that you can try this trend yourself. What is low-code no-code application development? Low-code and no-code platforms like Wix Studio enable programmers and non-programmers alike to create websites, apps, and other software without writing code. What is no-code web development? In the no-code space, people can create fully functional platforms without any programming knowledge at all. Before low code no code capabilities were around, creating and designing a website seemed like a long shot for a lot of people (unless creative coding is your thing). Now, however, these tools have democratized a space that was once dominated by developers. Whether people specialize in tech, real estate, wellness or somewhere in between, they can now create their own websites without relying on a programmer. Likewise, web designers can focus on the visual element of website building, without needing to learn coding first. What is low-code web development? The low-code space is similar, enabling the creation of more advanced applications with minimal coding, think: AI code generation and visual programming. Tools like Wix Studio make use of drag-and-drop building blocks and templates to create websites and apps. The code is still there–it’s just prearranged into bite-sized visual elements that creators can use to start designing right away. While developers will always have a role in creating the code that underlies every feature, anyone can piece together these features themselves. This means you still get the functionality of HTML5, JavaScript and CSS, but the building process is simpler and more efficient. What are the benefits of working with a low–code no-code platform? There's lots of hype around the low-code, no-code movement, and for good reason. There are several benefits of working with such a platform: 1. Simplifies prototyping Before going live with a new product, you can use a low-code or no-code platform to efficiently create a prototype. While it’s wise to do engineering or programming prior to the launch stage, drag-and-drop tools can be used to build the initial model without the involvement of a developer. This will communicate your idea to potential inventors, early adopters, team members and other stakeholders before you invest time and resources in programming. 2. Speeds up digital transformation One of the main reasons for the movement’s growing popularity is that it speeds up the time it takes to produce new applications. Using a low-code platform, you can build software that readily adapts to increases in traffic or scalability. For enterprise-level agencies, a project that otherwise may have taken one year is now reduced to a few months. Because the process of building and producing software is faster and less complex, low-code development platforms can help companies innovate more quickly and keep up with changes in the market. Using these platforms, businesses can stay competitive by efficiently adapting to meet the market’s needs. 3. Enables a smarter use of resources Low-code and no-code development platforms help businesses allocate their resources in a smarter way. Because these platforms make use of existing templates, pre-built forms and other elements, even low-code platforms don’t require a programming background to build functional applications. If custom coding is needed to further develop the application, IT departments can dedicate their time and focus exclusively to those more advanced elements. This helps them prioritize more critical projects, rather than writing each line of code manually. 4. Improves workplace efficiency Relatedly, the low-code movement means that team members without programming knowledge–such as designers, content creators, and project managers–can have a hand in software, website, and app development directly. When it comes to website development, for instance, content and design teams can work together to independently create landing pages and other site elements, without needing to pull a developer from important product work. Another advantage of this is that it reduces the number of cooks in the website building kitchen. Writers–rather than simply writing the content on a separate document and then relying on other teams to upload it–can add the content directly to the CMS. Likewise, designers can create and manipulate visual elements without needing to work hand-in-hand with a developer. 5. Inspires creative autonomy Whether you’re working independently or on a team, low-code and no-code platforms support the goals of creatives. Because these platforms are readily adaptable, marketing, design and content professionals can experiment with the layout of landing pages, forms, and other key assets. This means they can adjust these elements based on their own research, data, and user feedback, and act on their findings right away. 6. Supports independent business owners and hobbyists For those creating a website, app or software to support their own hobby or small business, low-code and no-code platforms help them turn their creative visions into reality. Artists and designers, for instance, can build a custom website to showcase their portfolio–displaying their work online while also highlighting their style and skills through their site design. Likewise, small business owners can create websites, apps and even software of their own to promote and sell their products online. Best low-code no-code tools and platforms For those curious about using no-code and low-code platforms for your own projects, here are some of the best: 01. Wix Studio 02. Oracle APEX 03. Quickbase 04. Zoho Creator 05. Kissflow 06. Voiceflow 07. Bubble 08. Airtable 09. Zapier 10. Mendix 1. Wix Studio Wix Studio is a low-code website creation platform for advanced, professional designers. The tool allows you to conceptualize and design responsive websites using smooth drag and drop tools. Wix Studio is equipped with advanced design features, including flex and grid layouts, full breakpoint control and custom interactions. 2. Oracle APEX Oracle APEX is a low-code tool for building enterprise apps. Because it doesn’t require scratch-made code, it allows companies to quickly develop and deploy apps. The apps are scalable and secure, with features such as data filtering and charting and a responsive user interface. 3. Quickbase Quickbase is an application development platform with both low-code and no-code functionalities. It offers tightly integrated dashboards, reporting, and insights in order to streamline project workflows. The tool enables citizen developers to continuously improve business applications while maintaining enterprise-level security and compliance standards. 4. Zoho Creator Zoho Creator is a low-code application development platform that lets you use drag-and-drop elements to create iOS and Android apps. It offers over 550 pre-built integrations so that you can connect all your business’s tools–including your CRM, email platform, and project management tools–and run them from a single app. 5. Kissflow Kissflow is a low-code digital workforce software with a drag-and-drop interface. It includes mobile access, drag-and-drop coding as well as hand coding, and data synchronization. The platform has multiple use cases for businesses, including project management, issue tracking, and process automation. 6. Voiceflow Voiceflow is a no-code collaborative tool for designing, prototyping, and building virtual conversational assistants. It enables companies to rapidly integrate and deploy custom chatbots, interactive voice response assistants, and in-car assistants. The tool doesn’t require any knowledge of coding, instead using drag-and-drop tools that let people create and reuse components. 7. Bubble Bubble is a no-code platform for building web apps. The tool is usable on both computer and mobile browsers and offers advanced capabilities such as creating chats, news feeds, and other real-time interactivity. It allows multiple team members to collaborate in the creation process simultaneously and share feedback within the platform. 8. Airtable Airtable is a no-code platform that brings spreadsheets and databases together. The tool is highly versatile, helping businesses manage workflows by creating calendars, assigning projects, and syncing data. The platform offers pre-made templates that can be customized for different projects. 9. Zapier Zapier is a no-code workflow automation tool that integrates between more than 3000 web apps without requiring the help of a developer. The tool passes information between these apps to create efficient workflows and automatically completes routine business actions, such as copying attachments or sending updates through Slack. 10. Mendix Mendix is a low-code RAD tool that allows enterprises to create apps with little coding. As a cloud-native platform, it allows citizen developers without specialized expertise to build portable, scalable, easily deployable applications. It also makes use of built-in automation and machine learning.

Artificial intelligence might be the most buzzed about topic of the moment, but Wix and AI have had a long-term relationship. We launched our first AI website generator, Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI), back in 2016. It was a game-changer for building basic websites, but it was never intended to replace web designers and agencies. We know the sites you create are bespoke, but there’s a good chance you want to create those bespoke and tailored sites faster and more efficiently. That’s where Wix Studio’s AI tools come in. (You can read about our other features in this guide to Wix Studio.) “AI completely disrupts the way creators work, not just in terms of efficiency but in terms of helping them shine and do a better job creating websites,” says Naama Ben-Oliel Ronen, the product team lead who spearheaded Wix Studio’s Responsive AI. “At Wix Studio, we’re giving you the AI tools to scale up your work so you create both better and faster.” (By the way, we also spoke to Ogilvy Paris’ David Raichman and Mathieu Plassard about leading an agency in the age of AI.) The Wix Studio AI tools changing the game Responsive AI Let’s start with Responsive AI, a feature that’s totally unique to Wix Studio. Wix Studio’s Responsive AI applies optimized layout tools and responsive behaviors to either one site section at a time, affecting all screen widths, or to the mobile breakpoint while maintaining the desktop design. To build it, we labeled thousands of Wix sites to teach the tool how to detect related groups of elements in a site section. From there, the AI optimizes the section based on the hierarchy of those elements and responsive design best practices. “We have an advantage at Wix since we have so many different sites we can analyze,” she says. “This feature is truly a game-changer. A single click does so much behind the scenes and disrupts the web creation process.” AI Code Assistant Developers will also want to try the AI Code Assistant. It offers code suggestions in real time, helping you build more complex and custom sites faster. It also explains its suggestions along the way so you know what’s up. “The AI was trained on Velo examples, documentation and best practices to create idiomatic Javascript code for the Wix platform,” says Yoav Abrahami, Head of Wix Code Products. It’s built right into the Wix IDE and you can click the Wix AI Assistant icon in the sidebar to access it. (Read more from the Studio team: exactly how the Wix Partners product & UX teams designed the new workspace) More AI capabilities you should know Wix has rolled out tons of AI tools to help site builders and business owners use AI in their web designs at all experience levels and disciplines. You can read more about our CEO’s commitment to AI, but here’s a quick look at some additional features: AI Meta Tag Creator: Wix’s first AI-powered SEO tool generates title tags and meta-descriptions tailored to every page. From there, you’ll be able to choose from several suggestions, then refine with prompts and tailor the tone of voice to suit your needs. AI Image Creator: Describe the image you’d like to feature—a woman doing yoga, a restaurant full of happy customers—and the tool will generate a photo you can instantly add to the site. AI Text Creator: Just provide the topic, plus anything that’s important to mention about it, and the AI will write your copy for you. AI eCommerce Descriptions: Explain the business type and quickly describe the item to generate as much product copy as you need. AI CMS Assistant: With just a few details, generate a new collection for your CMS, including suggested fields and sample content. If you’re as committed to AI as we are, you’ll be happy to know that this is just the beginning. We’re rolling out more AI tools all year long, so check out the product roadmap if you don’t see your dream feature yet. (Learn more about Wix's new premium plans.) It’ll be worth the wait. “AI already enhances efficiency, and as it improves, it will also serve as a catalyst for inspiration through generative AI and other technologies,” Ben-Oliel Ronen says, “like a collaborative assistant that frees you up to focus on the creative and strategic work that scales your business. Going forward, AI will evolve to be proactive and suggest actions rather than reacting to requests.”

With the surge of online brands and services, now might be a better time than ever to start a web design business. But if you’re on the fence about whether to make this your full-time gig, then you’ll want to take the time to understand what you’re getting yourself into. After all, it’s not just about having the technical know-how; it’s about understanding the market, the challenges and the true value you can offer to your clients. For web designer Derek Hairston, his ‘aha’ moment came with the realization that “most web design agencies leave clients in the dark with unexpected costs, delays, and no visibility into the process.” “We bring our clients’ vision to life and give them peace of mind at every step of the way,” he says about his full-service agency, Olam Sites. “We specialize in building custom websites and features on Wix Studio.” Learn more about how to manage your agency on Wix Studio. Below, we cover the essential steps of starting your web design business. Keep reading for tips on running an agency and finding your own conviction to get started. How to start a web design business Every business is a little bit different, but in general, you’ll need to take these steps: Choose your niche Decide which web design services to offer Register and license your web design business Create a business plan and set goals Price your services Build your portfolio or website Promote and market your web design business 01. Choose your niche To stand out in a crowded market, you’ll want to know your “who” and “why.” In other words, it’s a good idea to narrow down your focus and decide on the types of clients you’d like to take on. “Deciding on your niche is a blend of self-discovery and essentially asking the question, ‘Who would I be excited to wake up and serve every day?’” notes Brad Hussey, web designer and founder of the Creative Crew community. “You’ll be spending considerable time, energy and money being around these people at trade shows, on podcasts, writing content for, networking with—and ultimately producing solutions for.” Remember that just because you decide on a particular niche now doesn’t mean you can’t broaden your reach and services later on. It’s much easier to start small than to start too broad, or to bite off more than you can chew. If you’re struggling to decide on your niche, start by defining why you do what you do. For example, are you passionate about the restaurant industry and see an opportunity to build more professional online experiences for them? If so, start there. In the video below, Hussey gives additional tips for solidifying your niche and the “why” behind what you’re doing. 02. Decide which web design services to offer Once you’ve settled on your “who” and “why,” the “what” should come somewhat naturally. Decide what services you can (and want) to offer your clients. Your services could include: Website design and development Ecommerce solutions User experience (UX) design User interface (UI) design Search engine optimization (SEO) Mobile app design and development Website accessibility Graphic design Custom web application development Online branding Think about which services can be offered on a regular basis—such as graphic design or SEO—and thereby supplement larger one-off projects by bringing in recurring revenue. Also, consider ways in which you can package your services together to better service your clients. 03. Register and license your business Before diving into creative work, it's important to address the legalities of starting your own business. You’ll need to register your business with the relevant authorities. In most U.S. states, this will be your Secretary of State. To register your business, you’ll need to choose a business name and decide on your legal business structure. Consider, how big do you plan on growing your team? Do you plan on managing the business alone or with a partner(s)? Ultimately, what is the vision for your business and how it will evolve? The answers to these questions will help you choose between several structures, the most popular of which include: Sole proprietorship: Owned and operated by a single individual. As the owner you have unlimited personal liability and business income is reported on your personal tax return. Limited liability company (LLC): Combines elements of partnerships and corporations, offering limited liability for owners (members) and flexibility in management. Income is typically passed through to individual tax returns. Partnership: A business owned by two or more individuals who share profits and liabilities. There are general partnerships (equal sharing) and limited partnerships (with limited liability for some partners). Corporation: A legal entity separate from its owners, providing limited liability protection. Shareholders own the corporation and it can be taxed as a C corporation (double taxation) or an S corporation (pass-through taxation). As shown above, each structure has its own tax obligations, protections and requirements. You’ll therefore want to make sure to thoroughly research your options and consult a business attorney, consultant or accountant before making a final decision. At this stage, consider whether you’ll need to apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS and open any business accounts with your bank to keep your finances in order. Make sure to obtain all necessary licenses, insurance and permits for running a web design business in your region, too. 04. Create a business plan and set goals There are many other decisions you’ll have to make from both an operational and strategic side. A good place to start is by tackling your business plan. Your business plan will serve as your roadmap, outlining things like: Your business description Target market Competition Organization and management Services and products Goals and strategies Financial projections Do your due diligence and don’t rush this step. As you build out your business plan, you may realize things you hadn’t before—like the need to secure outside funding. “I started off as a penny-pinching bootstrapper, although I’m not convinced that’s the best way,” reflects Hairston on the early days of Olam Sites. “I projected revenue based on the potential customers in my immediate environment, but this limiting mindset put a ceiling on our earnings and scalability.” “My suggestion when getting started,” he adds, “is that your projections and confidence should justify raising funds for greater scalability. Otherwise, what’s the point?” Whether you need extra resources to expand your services, grow your team or invest in marketing—a business plan can help you decide when and how to raise money. It can also show where the money will go when approaching investors, banks or other potential backers. 05. Price your services As your financial and personal goals for your business start to take shape, so too will your perspective on how to price your services. Oftentimes deciding on what price to charge can feel like taking a shot in the dark. Or, you may feel pressure to price your services low if you’re just starting out. However, you’ll want to avoid selling yourself too short. At the same time, know what your competitors are charging. Identify your differentiators while weighing your expenses and ideal profit margin. Think about the different clients you plan to take on as well as the different web design pricing models you can offer: Flat fee (a.k.a. “Project-based pricing”): A fixed amount that you and your client agreed on at the start of the project. Hourly fee: An hourly cost, ensuring that you get paid the agreed-upon amount for every hour you spend on a project. Monthly fee (a.k.a. “monthly retainer”): A contract, either measured in time or value, that involves monthly payments for a certain amount or type of work. Learn more: Choosing the right business model 06. Build your portfolio or website A strong portfolio is key to attracting clients and showcasing your design skills. This is your chance to show (not just tell) future clients what you’re capable of creating online. When creating a website for your web design business, consider using a platform that can host both your website and your work for clients. This not only helps to keep everything in one place but also helps you to get ultra-familiar with the web tool you’re offering your clients. The most effective creative portfolios include sections, pages or CTAs like: About: Introduce yourself and your team, including your credentials like any relevant education, industry awards and your value proposition. “Our Work”: Showcase projects that represent your best work, and make sure there is a brief but clear backstory so that visitors understand how you solved your clients’ needs. Keep in mind that before uploading client projects, you should always get client approval in case projects are confidential or not yet live. Services: List the different services you offer so that you’ll spend less time weeding through requests and more time connecting with relevant prospects whose needs match your skills. Contact: Make it easy for people to contact you with any questions, and consider embedding a form into your site to collect useful information from prospects (such as their company name, current website’s URL, etc.). “Book a Meeting”: Offer high-intent prospects the opportunity to meet you face-to-face via an online booking feature. A solution like Wix Studio, for example, is tailored for agency work. It brings together features—including AI tools—for web design, development, SEO,  eCommerce, website maintenance, CMS and more. Beyond having the tools to design cool, interactive sites for your clients at scale, you can enjoy built-in capabilities that allow you to expand your services. Build your agency site on Wix Studio with one of these responsive templates. 07. Promote and market your web design business Once you’ve published your site and opened yourself up for business, take steps to establish your brand and to proactively get in front of potential clients. “Building authority in your industry by creating content is like investing money in the stock market,” says Hussey. “When I started creating videos, writing blogs, appearing on others’ podcasts—those efforts may not have produced results in the immediate term, but over time, the benefits have paid me back in multiples.” Exercise your existing network and ask for referrals. Engage with folks on social media. Scour job boards, including LinkedIn, for any calls for help. Here Hussey suggests four additional ideas for your outreach: Don’t forget to invest in your personal brand. Given how nearly 70% of consumers trust influencers, friends and family over information coming directly from a brand, it’s always a good idea to use your own sphere of influence to connect people with your agency. Note that Wix Studio includes marketing integrations that allow you to schedule social posts, send emails and track performance—both for your clients and yourself. Use these tools to your advantage as you spread the word about your business. Web design businesses and agencies built on Wix Studio to inspire your own One way to jumpstart your business’s website creation is to follow the examples of established, successful agencies, like the sites below. In addition to providing fundamental information, each of these sites packs a creative punch and demonstrates the creative potential to future clients. The Boathouse Agency This creative design agency shows that there is no limit to the growth potential of your web design business. The Boathouse Agency goes beyond web design and offers complete 360 creative and branding solutions for brands of all sizes. Visual Identity Visual Identity is a web design studio specializing in site design, UI/UX, development and branding. Their site’s black-and-white design, typography and visual elements create a bold and impactful statement about their vision and purpose. Scopetheory Scopetheory leads with results-driven design for their clients that involves taking branding to another level. The homepage makes it easy for prospects to see the agency’s results, with prominent callouts that highlight their clients’ accomplishments. What is a web design business? A web design business is a type of design agency that specializes in creating and maintaining websites for clients. However, more often than not, it’s about more than just design; it’s about building functional, user-friendly online spaces that serve a specific purpose for a client. The scope of work involved in a web design business can be broad. They can range from simple static pages to complex web applications and everything in between. Whether it's an eCommerce platform, a personal blog or a corporate website, each project comes with its own set of design and development challenges and requirements. Why start a web design business? The web design industry offers a world of business opportunities for creative and tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Starting your own web design business not only taps into a field that blends art and technology but also positions you in a market with high demand for your services. The benefits of starting a web design business are numerous. Here are some of the most compelling reasons to consider: High demand: In a digital age, nearly every business needs a website, increasing the demand for skilled web designers. Flexibility: Running your own business means you can set your own hours and work from anywhere, be it your home office or a beach in Bali. Creative freedom: As the owner of a design business, you have the freedom to express your creativity and make decisions that align with your vision—from the clients you choose to take on, to the design and website niche you specialize in. Considerations when starting a web design business Starting your own web design business is a big step professionally and it's often accompanied by a set of important considerations that any new business owner should be aware of. Is web design a profitable business? The profitability of a web design business can be significant if managed correctly. Here's what you should keep in mind: Demand for services: With more businesses going online, the need for professional web design services is on the rise. Tapping into that demand can mean a lot of work for a web design firm. You’ll need to think about things, such as your sales process for your web design business, amongst other key business needs. Pricing strategy: Setting competitive rates that reflect the quality of your work and the value you provide is the key to profitability. To do this, you’ll need to have an idea of what your competitors offer and how they package similar services. Be mindful of value-pricing, which is setting your rates according to the value of your work, not just the time spent on it. Marketing: You’ll need to promote your business to give yourself the best chance of securing long-term and profitable clients and projects. This could include networking or connecting with related online and offline communities to promote yourself and your business. Encourage your current clients to refer you to others who might need the same services and build your freelance community along the way. Diversify your services: Offer a range of services within the field, including content management and social media promotion, if relevant to your expertise. Build client relationships: Establishing long-term relationships with clients is crucial to getting repeat business and securing more freelance design clients. Stay updated with industry trends and changes: The web design industry is constantly evolving. Keep learning new skills and staying abreast of trends to remain competitive. Can I start a web design business with no experience? With no prior experience, starting any type of business can be challenging. However, focusing on education and growth from the outset can help you maintain momentum and see measurable development over time. These steps can be a solid guide for your first few months: Learn the fundamentals: To understand web design from the ground up, get familiar with user experience, content writing and responsive web design. While these days it’s not necessary to create websites with code, an online coding class in HTML, CSS or JavaScript will help you understand the backbone of your websites. Practice your skills: As you learn new concepts, put them to use. One option is to recreate websites you find online, down to the details of hover interactions and entrance animations. Practicing on Wix Studio can help you focus on your web design skills, since the platform has extensive no-code design capabilities. Share your progress: Whether you’ve created wireframes, designs or live websites, share your real-time process and finished products on your social channels. You’ll receive encouragement and feedback from professionals, plus you’ll enjoy going back to your old posts to see how far you’ve come. Connect with professional heroes and mentors: “Become an apprentice of someone who is already successful in the industry to gain the skills, experience and industry insight,” advises Hairston of Olam Sites. “This could be in a variety of forms: employee, mentee or YouTube channel subscription.” Choosing a professional hero—someone whose style you admire and want to emulate—will give you a wealth of creative inspiration. Plus, it’s never a bad idea to get in touch with them; they might be happy to provide mentorship and feedback as you find your feet. Build your online presence: Now that you’ve completed a few projects, organize everything on a portfolio website. You’ll have one link that you can easily share to show off your past work, whether you’re looking to take on clients or build up your network. Can I start a web design business from home? Starting your web design business from home brings great advantages like no commute time, significant cost savings and complete control over your work environment. And though this also comes with its challenges, you can overcome them with these best practices: Enlist time management for work-life balance: Different from project management, time management helps you organize your day across your different tasks, including any personal tasks that you may have to take care of while at home. Set a clear start and end for your work hours, as well as offline times for lunch and screen breaks. Create a Zoom-friendly space: Video conferencing isn’t unique to working from home, but take notice of what’s behind you when you’re on camera for video calls. Make a good impression by clearing away laundry and dirty dishes, and find a space away from household interference. Connect with online communities and local organizations: Without an outside office space, it can be more difficult to cross paths with like-minded professionals for shared learning and networking. But with a little effort, there’s a big payoff. Join online professional communities like Freelance Fam for web design freelancers, and Creative Crew for web design agencies. Find nearby events to attend via resources like Meetup. Schedule in-person meetings: While it’s comfortable and convenient at home, health experts encourage getting out of the house daily for physical and mental well-being. Do this by finding time to meet with colleagues or clients face-to-face, whether for business meetings or casual coffee chats. Learn more: Guide to Remote Work Tips for managing your web design business Effectively managing your web design business helps keep projects flowing—on time, on budget and on brief—and ensures a positive experience, both for your team as well as for your clients. First create a solid project management process and then choose a project management software that meets your needs and budget. Best practices for project management Keeping projects on track ensures client satisfaction and repeat business. Clear communication: Establish open lines of communication with clients to manage expectations and keep them updated on progress. Project management tools: Utilize software like Monday or Asana to organize tasks, owners, dependencies, deadlines and collaborations. Hairston provides some insight into Olam Sites’s efficient management practices: “Our operations strategy is centered around standard operating procedures, leveraging efficient tools (Asana, Hubspot, Wix Studio, etc.), and a phenomenal project manager. Wix Studio centralizes all client websites and team access, making the deliverable handoff process seamless and scalable.” With Wix Studio’s management tools, you can work from a unified workplace no matter how many employees are working together. And for teams on the go, the mobile app keeps everyone involved and up to date. Other features include a collaboration suite, handover resources and reusable assets. Business software solutions Leveraging the right business tools can greatly enhance your efficiency as a business owner. Invoicing and accounting: Software like FreshBooks or the Wix invoice maker can simplify financial management by helping you create invoices. Time tracking: Tools such as Harvest or Toggl help you keep track of billable hours for each project.

As a web designer, the last thing you want after spending untold hours building out a site that looks great on your screen is for it to look glitchy on someone else’s. (And with the number of devices there are in the market lately, your site is pretty much guaranteed to show up on some unexpected screen sizes.) In this day and age, a responsive web design approach that ensures that websites behave well on a variety of screen sizes and resolutions is pretty much table stakes. With that in mind, we’re sharing a curated collection of responsive websites from a variety of sectors. Each responsive website example on our list uses a particular creative strategy, like flexible grids, multiple columns and zigzag layouts, to make sure their design can be viewed quickly on any device. But before we dive into the examples, let’s answer a few popular questions about responsive design. What is a responsive website page? A responsive website page is a page that adjusts its layout and content based on the size of a viewport. A responsive web page looks equally good on a small screen of a mobile device and on a large TV screen. 20 responsive website examples 01. Maya Lynne Adar 02. Ethical Essence 03. The Boathouse Agency 04. Kristina Horan Website Designs 05. La Bonne 06. VMV Studio 07. Velocity X 08. Moon Rabbit Acupuncture 09. Visual Identity Co. 10. Scopetheory 11. Esperia Advocacy 12. Product Hiring House 13. KlikArch 14. Strategy Folk 15. Change the Game Studio 16. Praagya 17. Aura Studios 18. The Forestta 19. The Benev 20. YNK 01. Maya Lynne Adar Maya Lynne Adar is a multidisciplinary designer whose website uses unconventional typography that combines an italicized serif with a sans-serif font. The site additionally features cutout shapes that pop in and out of the screen and a dice-like mechanism (built with custom CSS) that allows visitors to toggle between various color palettes. Animations, hover effects and horizontal scroll further add an element of playfulness and surprise. Maya Lynne Adar accounts for the fact that less is more on smaller screens, striving for elegance in simplicity. The minimalist layout presents the artist's work across several menus—a testament to the importance of having a strong information hierarchy when it comes to creating an intuitive UI. The mobile view, however, does away with the horizontal scrolling altogether in favor of a card-like format that presents the different tabs in Adar’s menu. The layout therefore offers a much lighter experience, not only because of the limitations of mobile interactions but because less heavy sites load quicker. 02. Ethical Essence Ethical Essence’s eCommerce website stands out for its strong branded touches: earthy tones, high-definition videos, sans-serif typeface and well-lit product photography. The company emphasizes these nature-themed visuals, showcasing eco-friendly skincare products against a backdrop of sudsy beach waves and rocky terrain. As a whole, the site is gorgeously responsive, with all the elements adjusting well with the breakpoints. That’s all to say, you won’t notice much of a difference on any screen size because the website is formatted to shrink and expand accordingly. One way Ethical Essence achieves this is by changing their product gallery to display just one product at a time on mobile (rather than the row of four products on computer screen sizes), intentionally keeping the product image front and center while displaying related products on a slider. The takeaway: give assets room to breathe, even if they can’t share the width of the mobile page. 03. The Boathouse Agency The Boathouse Agency's website exudes coolness and creativity, with meticulous attention to detail. The website glides gracefully when scrolling. The combination of videos, animations and unique scroll behaviors creates a non-traditional experience—a perfect complement to a portfolio that showcases innovative design projects and celeb collaborations. Notice how the logo plays well on all sections because it changes based on what’s behind it, keeping the agency’s  branding neutral and letting their work do the talking. The mobile version of the site offers a more simplified experience. You’re likely not used to being greeted with a video on a handheld device, which immediately sets the brand apart. After that, you’re presented with a scrollable listview of different case studies. It’s all kept neat, tidy and professional on mobile view, with a look and feel that spotlights some of the incredible clients in The Boathouse Agency’s portfolio. 04. Kristina Horan Website Designs Kristina Horan Website Designs (KHWD) site is bold from the jump, with sharp contrasting colors that add some pop to the daring grayscale image at the top of the site. The website has an eclectic look and feel as you scroll, using various scroll behaviors, buttons and blurred images that add flair.. The website is arguably even more impactful on mobile, with the same scroll behaviors presented in a tighter area so that there’s something eye-catching at every portion of the scroll. In the header, KHWD tucks the menu behind a hamburger menu (likely to reduce cognitive load), which draws further attention to the striking image on the landing page. It’s all carefully crafted, so take note of how well the header image scales, the flow of information presented and the scroll-friendliness of the website. 05. La Bonne La Bonne is an organizer of corporate events, experiential marketing campaigns and social gatherings with a website that matches the team’s “good vibes” approach. Upon entering the site, you’re greeted by a collage on each end of the screen. The collage fades on scroll to reveal additional design elements that explain what the company is all about. The site is optimized for mobile screens, with reasonably sized, centered text.  The website features contrasting colors and a simple flow of information from top to bottom. The button to submit your contact information is illustrated as an envelope, adding an endearing touch that sets the tone for the relationship from the very beginning. 06. VMV Studio VMV Studio is a self-described collective of designers, filmmakers and visionaries whose website reflects the studio's innovative approach to visual storytelling. Animations, bold graphis and videos breathe life into the web design, showcasing the studio's creativity and technical prowess. Meanwhile, subtle touches—like the frosted glass footer and text fill on scroll—add extra flair. The same holds true on phones; all the same assets make a comeback without slowing down the website’s load time. You’ll see the same scroll effects, the same high-quality videos and all of the same pages on mobile. It speaks to the fact that you don’t have to dumb down the mobile view of your website when you use Wix Studio. On mobile view, the item grid that features the VMV Studio’s portfolio of work shifts from a looser collection of one to two items per row, to a strict single item per row format that makes the website more scroll-friendly. 07. Velocity X Velocity X leverages mouse hover effects that move the objects in the background, combined with unexpected horizontal scrolling. Blurry shapes, glowing outlines and glass-morphic menus compliment their cutting-edge branding. The recurring use of purple, orange and turquoise hues offers visual cohesion through a branded color palette, and an FAQ menu at the bottom adds further context to the brand’s offering. Velocity X maintains its look and feel on the mobile website, the major difference being the resizing of elements and the manual horizontal scroll (done intentionally to preserve the experience). Card menus no longer stack. They’re instead presented as a list view of cards, which is all to say that the mobile website does away with animations to simplify the experience, while still upholding the brand’s visual identity on smaller screens. 08. Moon Rabbit Acupuncture Moon Rabbit Acupuncture's website features high-resolution images, a light color palette, hover effects and a thin typeface to draw attention to the main focus of their website: the benefits of acupuncture and holistic healing. Overlayed menus and product shots invite visitors to explore their various offerings, from booking a service, to shopping their products. The first thing you’ll notice when viewing the site on mobile is how well images scale down to accommodate narrower screen sizes. Scroll on and you’ll notice that the various grids of assets change so fewer elements clutter the screen per row. 09. Visual Identity Co. Visual Identity's website showcases a striking animated visual right as you enter the landing page. The animation toggles between a gold or purple color at the click of a button. Below, scroll effects like text fill and resizing elements give the website a sense of flow within the movement. The portfolio highlights a diverse range of projects, demonstrating the agency's ability to create impactful visual identities for clients. Not much changes on mobile, which is a sign of a highly responsive website. Whereas some mobile websites opt out of animated effects, Visual Identity preserves all of the same elements (including a clock that displays the current time in the agency’s hometown of India) that make its desktop version so effective. 10. Scopetheory Scopetheory keeps their site simple above the fold, using a blank white canvas for a background, a custom typeface and a pared-down navigation menu. As you scroll, things start getting interesting: the brand’s client work is presented in a grid which starts to stack up as you travel further down the website. On mobile, the approach is somewhat different; you no longer need to scroll down to be greeted with visuals. Rather, they appear above the fold. The stacking effect still stands though, as does the chat function. An interesting note: Scopetheory brought the "client impact" section up higher on mobile (perhaps to adjust to different expected behaviors between mobile and desktop, or else to emphasize the most important elements first). 11. Esperia Advocacy Esperia Advocacy adds subtle design touches that set its site apart from other company sites in the space: architectural imagery, a mix of italicized and serif fonts, an eggshell background and an oversized, halfway-cut-off footer. It all translates quite well on mobile. The company doesn’t remove anything from the mobile site, opting to maintain the same appearance on all devices. Here, the assets have a little more room to breathe, which makes for a more scrollable experience overall. 12. Product Hiring House Product Hiring House's website combines multiple effects for a memorable experience. These effects include a sticky header, items that move on scroll (like the venn diagram that squeezes the two circles closer together), hover effects and sliding image galleries. When paired with a rich paper background, a glassmorphic effect and gorgeous landscape photography, you get a website loaded with texture and engaging functionality. The same holds true on mobile - though it’s all resized. The grid takes on a more vertical alignment here, though the animation effects are preserved. It makes for a seamlessly responsive website that feels similar across all touchpoints. 13. KlikArch KlikArch's website greets you with a bold sans-serif font that tells you a little about what the brand does. However, it’s only when you scroll below the fold that you see their work in action. Their header disappears into the top of the screen as you scroll down, revealing product images and team headshots that decorate the screen instead. Transitioning the site to mobile affords more whitespace when you first land, though as you scroll you’ll find that the contents end up taking most of the space. It’s an interesting play on dimensionality when resizing the website. 14. Strategy Folk Strategy Folk's website is clean and minimalistic on entry, with a little robot animation that runs across the screen. As you scroll, design assets like text boxes, buttons, cards and more robot animations spring on screen to add movement and excitement. You’ll notice a lot of whitespace on the website, which helps it scale down effectively on mobile. On mobile, the elements appear tighter together, indicating that you can scroll below the fold to see more. That said, everything behaves relatively the same as on the desktop site, providing a cohesive experience across all screen sizes. 15. Change the Game Studio Change the Game Studio's hyper-colorful site is a perfect representation of their ethos: chaotic innovation. Oversized text, unique fonts and maximalist style help the brand go against the grain, and abstract shapes, graphics, patterns and typographies add an extra pop. The same look and feel is maintained on mobile, with a resized grid that’s more scroll-friendly. The menu is a bit tighter, but they’ve chosen not to use a burger menu in place of displaying the full list of options up front. It’s as visual as it is conceptual: see for yourself! 16. Praagya Praagya's portfolio website leverages hover display effects against a tv static backdrop to achieve a bold and differentiated aesthetic. Sharp visual and conceptual design lays the groundwork for his portfolio, which merges print, image making and strong use of creative hover interactions. For static homepages like this one, you have to pay meticulous attention to detail and spotlight the work itself. Switch over to a mobile view of this website to see how brilliantly responsive this website truly is. All the hover displays run automatically, but the website is perfectly spaced to fit them all accordingly. It demonstrates the power of playing to your device’s interactions to shape the experience of the web design itself. 17. Aura Studios Aura Studios' showcases simple grid layouts that lets the content do the talking: rich photographs of gorgeous travel destinations and epic getaways. It’s a creative agency that wields a strong sense of elegance in simplicity on its homepage. The brand exudes lavishness, from its rich earth-toned color palette, to aspirational imagery and snippets of punchy typography. The site responds well to narrower dimensions too, with a nearly identical mobile experience just with tighter shots of the same images used for desktop. While the text scales to two lines for more breathing room, the proportions of all other assets are kept the same. 18. The Forestta The Forestta's features several scroll effects against a leafy green background, including parallax images, side scrolling text and cards that overlay on top of one another. It’s a fun design that showcases some of the delicious food you can expect to find there, with a color palette that perfectly complements the images the brand chose. On mobile the same site behaviors are maintained, with the grid shrinking down to single content per row. In all instances, the website prioritizes usability with clear CTAs to book a table, order online and check out the menu. 19. The Benev The first thing you’ll notice upon entering The Benev's website is the custom ‘B’ shaped cursor, which appears as the rest of the website loads. From there, slightly washed-out videos and imagery give an ethereal touch to the website’s branding. All the content is laid out in a dynamic, non-modular grid that fills the page in an unexpected way. On your phone, the grid snaps into a modular shape, reducing the amount of visual stimulus that would otherwise be there if the grid were simply shrunken down instead. It's one of the best responsive website examples to demonstrates how blocks of content can scale well across various screen sizes. 20. YNK Young Na Kim (YNK) combines text and image scroll effects to give a bold landing page some extra dynamism. The focus of the website is clear: to showcase the selected portfolio pieces in a section below the fold, incentivizing people to get in touch. Resized on mobile, the website behaves exactly the same, now with a little more whitespace. Square images turn to circles as you scroll, and moving text also combines to give the experience an added sense of dimensionality. Why should websites use responsive design? Almost 60% of website traffic in 2023 came from mobile devices, so it's essential to optimize your sites for small mobile screens in addition to standard desktop. Responsive design allows a single website to be optimized for all devices, rather than maintaining separate websites for desktop, tablets and mobile. Where can I find responsive website templates? Creating a responsive website from scratch can be challenging because you have to arrange site information for each device it might be viewed on. A website template can thereby be a real time-saver,  offering a ready-to-use solution that you can still fine-tune and customize. Wix Studio offers an excellent collection of responsive website templates that feature unique visual attributes, such as crisp typography and well-crafted animated effects. So how do you make a great responsive website? The first thing that you need to do is to learn the principles of good website design. Those principles are universal and apply to any type of website. After that, you can dive into the specifics of responsive design. Maintaining a flexible website layout is critical for designing responsive websites because it allows you to edit your existing designs instead of recreating them from scratch. Use Wix Studio’s responsive AI as a starting point to shave off hours spent on adjusting your layout and the corresponding elements by hand (you can always set custom breakpoints or make design adjustments afterward). From there, consider other web design standards to smooth out user experience across all screen sizes. This includes taking a mobile-first approach; designing for thumb, touchpad and mouse interactions; creating websites with a singular call to action to reduce friction; and using fluid layouts by default (including designing with percentages rather than pixels and using SVG images that scale well). As a generality, a minimalistic design enables your website to scale effectively without running into loading issues or interaction errors. Check out this guide on how to make a responsive website for the full rundown on responsive design. What makes a website responsive vs. non-responsive? Responsive websites scale up and down automatically to respond to the size of your browser. That means that whether you shrink the browser on your desktop by holding and dragging your mouse, or switching to view a website on a tablet or phone instead, you’ll get a similar experience retro-fitted to the device you’re on. Responsive websites: Faster page load speeds Increase your conversion rates Provide better user experiences Strengthen your SEO performance Keep mobile device users more engaged Decrease bounce rates because of faster load times Future-proof your website to stay ahead of the curve Reduce maintenance costs of having multiple sites with responsive design Making websites responsive is a best practice among agencies to ensure a seamless, unified experience across all breakpoints. If you don’t do this for client sites, your clients’ users will likely need to pinch and zoom to navigate the website because it will display a desktop-friendly design on mobile, or, more realistically, your visitors will bounce. Best practices for creating a responsive website Practice mobile-first design. Start your design process with the smallest screen size in mind. It will help you identify and prioritize the most important content for your web page. That’s different of course than when you actually build out your website on Wix Studio (since you should build from desktop screen size down), but the actual design process should start with mobile because most users visit sites online in their phones. Set media queries. CSS media queries define different screen sizes and make a web page adapt its layout to different screen sizes. Among media queries, a category of breakpoints defines the widths of devices. Commonly used breakpoints are mobile (480px), tablet (481px - 7689px), desktop (779px - 1024px) and TV screens (201px+). Optimize images. You need to make sure that the images you use are optimized for different devices, so they look great and load quickly no matter where a user comes across them. That’s where image optimization comes in—it’s the process of resizing images for different viewports. This helps to reduce page load time and improve the site's performance (especially on mobile devices). Test your design on multiple devices. You have to test your website on various devices to ensure it looks good and functions properly on different screen sizes and resolutions. Contextualize the aesthetic to different screen sizes: your mobile view shouldn’t be a 1:1 clone of your desktop website. Rather, you should adjust the design accordingly.

Every marketer and web creator knows that the client wants to see their new site at the top of the Google search results. And despite enlisting SEO specialists and the best keyword research tools, this has been getting monumentally more difficult. Then in January 2024, we were hit with a new study by German researchers, “Is Google Getting Worse?” The research confirmed “significant amounts [of] spam” and “simplified, repetitive, and potentially AI-generated content” across results pages of the leading search engines. Or, as Wix’s Head of SEO Mordy Oberstein describes it, “There have been a lot of complaints about the quality of the Google results—[complaints] that Google started to reward sites that didn't deserve to be rewarded and it started to downgrade sites that deserve to be ranking high.” As much as Google’s forever-changing algorithm can create complexities, the study’s findings point to changing content patterns and the increasing challenges of AI-generated content. “It’s a reaction to content trends,” Oberstein says, referring to Google’s current unpredictability. “Some of the websites who [are] complaining about this don’t really understand what good content is.” So, what exactly is good content? Below, Oberstein offers his two cents on how to create content that not only has the potential to rank but also resonates with site visitors. 01. Users want first-person expertise, so lean into real experiences from real people. For years we've been indulging in tightly cropped, brightly lit, self-recorded videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram that feature talking heads reviewing products or sharing “you’ll never believe what happened” stories. And while these types of first-hand experience videos are on the rise, they are well outside the reach of Google. According to Oberstein, “Search engines are going to need to address that trend of the user looking for actual firsthand knowledge.” “I think Google has been the most vocally proactive about that,” he adds. But even though Google has started taking steps to surface first-hand experience content by elevating forum-based sites on search engine results pages (SERPs), the search results are arguably lower quality. Where has that gotten us? “It’s a lot of rank volatility,” notes Oberstein. “You have Google throwing in Reddit, downgrading websites and moving things around as they try to adjust to showing firsthand experience on the results page.” Despite the volatility, marketers and site creators can rest assured that Google’s ongoing optimizations to prioritize quality, first-person content are indeed working. As observed in the German study, the “positive effects of the ranker updates” are evident. As algorithms continue to evolve, now’s the time to prioritize first-person expertise in your content strategy, advises Oberstein. “Get ahead of this trend,” he says. “Google is going to figure this out, and you want to be in a place where you’re aligned with how they’ve figured this out.” Be creative with quotes, user-generated videos, testimonials, webinar cutdowns and more formats that feature real people. Notice in the video below that the on-camera speaker is simultaneously building a website on Wix Studio, thus demonstrating his first-hand experience. 02. Users prefer conversational content, not that marketing mumbo jumbo. Consider the all too familiar ads flaunting things like “the ultimate moisturizer to transform your skin and revolutionize your daily routine.” Does this sound like a conversation with your friend, or like a branding brainstorming session? “[Marketers] are used to defaulting towards a marketing terminology that [they] feel resonates with the user but sounds less organic,” says Oberstein. But in actuality, he continues, consumers “[want] to see something that's a bit more differentiated with an actual human touch to it.” And even while your potential customers seek more authentic content, the German study found an uptick in less authentic or conversational content, such as sites with “lower-quality, possibly mass-produced, or even AI-generated content.” The opportunity is clear for brands to stand out and break through this clutter by embracing an authentic human tone. “A conversational tone differentiates you from something AI,” says Oberstein. “Being more conversational also helps people feel more connected to the expertise and the first-hand knowledge.” Case in point: the casual tone of Mark Zuckerberg’s at-home, stream-of-consciousness product review. But don’t rush to dismiss AI writing tools, which are still powerful companions when paired with thorough human guidance and editing. (Read more on how agencies can harness AI for creativity.) With or without AI assistance, writers should put authenticity at the heart of content creation. Think: conversational headlines, blog articles and videos that leverage first-hand experiences. Start by talking to your customers and listening to how they speak about your products or services. Mimic their lingo and enlist your biggest enthusiasts as ambassadors to create content from their perspectives. In this video about websites on tablets, web designer Brad Hussey references “warm bread with fresh butter on top” to describe the feeling of a good site experience—positive wording we all can relate to. 03. Marketers need to narrow their target audiences and tailor their content accordingly. To date, many marketers are still fixated on bringing top-of-funnel traffic to their sites through their content. Looking ahead (and following Google’s announcements), Oberstein predicts that this high level of top-of-funnel traffic will start to decline. “[We’re] going to see a reduction of web traffic overall and I think that's normal,” he says, pointing to Google’s wider rollout of its new Search Generative Experience (SGE). Referencing Google’s announcement, Oberstein hypothesizes that SGE will surface more targeted information in order to drive users to more targeted pages. “Letting SGE give you a little bit of information and serve you entry points to the particular journeys you want to go down and explore, SGE is going to try to forward you to more specific information and as specific as possible.” In effect, users who land on your page will be more primed and relevant, and with higher intent. This is assuming, of course, that your site has the very specific content that prospects and SGE are looking for. By mining more deeply for granular insights on a more precise audience, marketers can own a niche and create more targeted content. Take a look at your current site and content, and conduct some research in your customers’ communities and with search keywords. How can you refine your offering for a more specific persona, intent or use case? 04. Sites need to diversify their traffic sources and focus on brand building. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that Google is volatile. Relying exclusively on Google leaves your site at the whim of Google’s ranking algorithm updates—which often come without any warning. “We’re talking six updates in a four-month span, which is insane,” says Oberstein, reflecting on the last several months of 2023. “So it’s a lot of rank volatility, a lot of ranking shifting as Google tries to adjust.” While Google will still be an essential traffic driver, you’ll want to have other channels or keywords you can lean on to continue bringing people to your site. As Oberstein recommends, “If you see volatility, you need to diversify how you’re going to handle that.” This can include: Expanding the number of search keywords your content targets Identifying long-tail keywords that are more precise and targeted Creating social media content for brand awareness and product education Leveraging emerging niche communities for grassroots brand and trust-building Sponsoring placements in relevant media for a credibility halo effect At the end of the day, a strong and trusted brand has the best chance of weathering sudden changes in search engine traffic. “Focus on branding—on being a recognizable brand and a trusted brand that people think about when they’re looking for a product or service that’s related to your business,” advises Oberstein. “Be grassroots, be organic, be involved in the communities and niches in a real way that doesn’t require tons of spending.”

Every agency owner knows that landing new clients is a full-time job all on its own. But if you’re not tending to the clients you already have, you risk jeopardizing the relationships you’ve already built. Sure, the effort you put into lead generation and closing sales grows your bottom line, but the real bottom line is this: if you can’t retain clients, then it’s back to square one. Don’t throw all that time spent attracting clients down the drain once you get them. While you might already know how to score new clients, it’s time to build your client management system to tend to your existing client base too. But first, what is client management? Client management is the process of building and maintaining relationships with clients to meet (and exceed) their expectations. It involves communicating with clients to understand their needs, delivering solutions and providing ongoing support to foster long-term relationships. Examples of client management include: Checking in with clients periodically to survey their lived experience Hosting monthly live Q&A webinar sessions with your client base Holding a debrief with clients following the completion of a project Sending personal / automated emails to engage inactive clients Big picture: An organized structure to manage clients puts your team in your clients’ headspace in order to systematize how you address their needs. What is a client management system? A client management system, also referred to as client relationship management (CRM), is a software platform or tool designed to help your business organize, track and manage interactions with your clients. It typically includes features for contact management, communication tracking, task management, sales pipeline management and reporting. For instance, SEO and web design agency Zoek likes to prioritize client timelines by budget, which means they mostly use their CRM to rank and manage projects in order to pay better attention to bigger ticket clients. When choosing a CRM, consider: How much it costs to add additional users How in-depth the customer reporting is on the platform How seamless the CRM’s team collaboration workflow is How mobile-friendly the platform is for employees to access on all devices With Wix Studio’s CRM tools, you can centralize your communication and streamline your workflows at both the workspace and client levels. For instance, on a workspace level, you can use Wix Contacts to manage your agency’s clients. Meanwhile, you can use Wix Contacts to manage your client’s customers and site visitors. With the right tips, your client management system can continuously elevate your client-agency relationship at all business scales. 7 tips for effective client management 01. Develop ICPs to find the right clients from the start 02. Set the standard for project planning and execution 03. Communicate frequently and effectively 04. Respond to crises with grace 05. Be your client’s thought partner 06. Expand your toolkit 07. Never stop learning about your clients’ needs 01. Develop ICPs to find the right clients from the start The best way to tend to your client relationships is to work with your dream clients from the start; the people who fit the bill for your ideal customer profile (ICP), because they’re the ones with the exact problem your agency solves for. These are the clients that will be the most willing to purchase your services, refer you to others and stick around for the long term—and they’re out there looking for your services right now. You might even have more than one ICP. Segment your customer base according to demographics, their expressed wants/needs and contextual insights that may change how you approach each client type. If you cater web design services to restaurant clients, for instance, you might choose to segment your clients based on franchise restaurants or local mom-and-pops shops. And if you’re a remote agency with clients across the globe, you might segment your clients based on their time zones. Take a look at how Brad Hussey writes welcome email sequences that converts leads to clients based on his customer segments However you structure your client management system, know this: the better you get at identifying and working with your ICP segments, the faster you can standardize the process of working with each. Consider the opportunity cost of working with the wrong clients: it can make or break your business at worst, or slow down your agency’s growth at best. That’s why you should work tirelessly in your sales and marketing messaging to reach the clients that share the same values. 02. Set the standard for project planning and execution Once you have a new client, it’s time to craft a project timeline that breaks your vision down into targets and deadlines . You have a ton of options to map your plan here, such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, Monday boards, spreadsheets or even simple checklists. Find a solution where you can capture the entire scope of your project, including the tasks you’ll be doing and when you intend to complete them by. Be sure to define project milestones ahead of time, and to create a clearly defined change request process that you can introduce to new clients. On your end, this process should include a way to assess impact on project timelines and budgeting (such as how many hours,days or weeks the change will set you back, and what that will cost) so that you can quote the changes in your invoice instead of absorbing the costs. As a rule of thumb, you should always expect the unexpected. Give yourself enough of a buffer in your timelines, should you need to make a strategic pivot—and consider as many possible scenarios as you can before they arise. For instance, should you continue to work if clients don’t pay on time? What happens if your client gets sick for a prolonged period of time? And how about if your client goes bankrupt while working with you? Have a contingency plan in place before things go south so you don’t get caught off guard. 03. Communicate frequently and effectively Clear and transparent dialogue around clients’ expectations are critical for avoiding scope creep before it happens. Set realistic deadlines and achievable results, then regularly update your client with status updates and progress reports during scheduled check-ins. That goes double when talking money. Offer clients reminders of their upcoming and late bills, and consider flexible payment options to take the financial burden off of your clients’ shoulders. Of course, the best way to ensure satisfaction in the long run is to work with your clients, not just for them. Create open lines of communication—be it Slack, email or WhatsApp—to address concerns promptly. Leverage collaborative tools like Wix Studio’s workspace to customize client permissions and provide smooth client handovers. Remember, be easy to reach when things go wrong, and even easier to work with to make things right. While even the best agencies can’t avoid making mistakes, you can always control your response to unintended outcomes. Do your best to provide exceptional services to your clients, but also be the agency that leans into the client-designer relationship and picks up the pieces when mess-ups happen. 04. Respond to crises with grace Luck favors the prepared agency. While you can’t predict a pandemic or sudden economic downturn, clients pay attention to how you handle major setbacks. Take steps to recession-proof your agency, and lead with humanity where possible. In the macro, bake a way to identify potential issues into your work processes. That could look like conducting quarterly risk assessments, subscribing to channels that cover global business news, getting the right insurance and hiring consultants who can provide outside perspectives to mind gaps in business you’re unaware of. Should an issue arise that evades your radar, have rapid response teams ready to handle client questions (and any potential PR backlash), and offer opportunities for collaborative problem-solving sessions to get the relationship back on track. If the mess-up is yours, acknowledge it, own up to it and chart your customer win-back strategy. If the client is routinely failing to provide their end of the bargain, take a moment to assess whether or not this is the right relationship. Should you both commit to resolve the issue together, it’s imperative that both parties learn from challenges for future improvements. This goes back to communicating frequently and effectively; create continuous improvement initiatives and make time for more regular feedback sessions and post-project reviews. 05. Be your client’s thought partner Your clients don’t just want to work with someone who can ‘do the job.’ They want someone who brings a new perspective to the table. Be an indispensable agency by providing guidance on digital solutions, sending clients industry trends you come across (i.e., keeping them informed on AI digital marketing trends), and offering workshops and webinars to train clients on the types of services you provide. You can take it a step further by creating guides and user manuals to walk clients step by step through a problem asynchronously. If you have the bandwidth, consider starting a newsletter for your different client segments catered to their specific interests. Not only does this build your authority by demonstrating subject matter expertise—it’s also a great way to deliver insights at scale. 06. Expand your toolkit It stands to reason that the best tools can help you provide the best services. That includes: A robust CRM system to track and utilize client data to personalize your services, Automation tools to streamline communication and collaboration where possible, Collaborative design tools Analytics and reporting tools for data-driven decision-making and performance metrics you can supply your clients in your progress reports. As we look towards the future of these tools, you should also consider how to integrate AI into your tech stack. Check out the seven best AI web design tools that we recommend every agency to use. 07. Never stop learning about your clients’ needs The reality is that clients’ needs change over time, so your services should aim to parallel these changes. Perhaps your clients are in need of a greater social media presence (which is a good time to upsell clients on new services). Or maybe they’re seeking a strong SEO strategy to drive traffic to their websites.. Whatever their needs are, continue to evolve your services based on your growing understanding of your clients. Get to know your clients better through weekly calls, surveys, behavioral data, events and community-building. Client feedback sessions are another excellent way to understand your client’s preferences. In the grand scheme of things, keeping clients happy isn’t a one-and-done ordeal. Strong client relationship management is an ongoing process, so commit to growing together so you don’t grow apart. How to choose the right client management tools Automation, driven by AI, is revolutionizing client management practices by streamlining routine tasks, enhancing efficiency and ensuring consistency in service delivery. In other words, it’s helping agencies care for clients individually, at scale. Moreover, the right tools can help agencies save time so you can put routine work on autopilot with agency automation. That includes sales pipelines, team workflows, email marketing, and customer segmentation. And if you’re using Wix Studio, you can cut down on client back-and-forth with handover tools like: Client Kit (which allows you to add guides and tutorials to a client’s dashboard), Automated reports (insights emailed directly to your clients on a monthly basis) and Content mode (allows clients to upload/change content without changing the website’s design). Don’t forget how Wix Studio’s AI capabilities will change the way you work, either. 10 core principles of client management There are 10 essential principles every agency should foster to maintain strong client relationships. Though the practice of client management is ever-evolving, these principles are timeless values your agencies should uphold as you grow: Communication: Maintain open and clear channels with clients to discuss their needs and expectations. Understanding: Take the time to understand your client's business, industry and specific requirements to provide tailored solutions. Responsiveness: Be prompt and proactive in addressing client inquiries, concerns and requests. Trust: Build it through transparency, honesty and reliability in your interactions and deliverables. Relationship-building: Focus on fostering long-term relationships by providing value, offering exceptional service and consistently exceeding client expectations. Collaboration: Work closely with clients as partners, involving them in decision-making processes and seeking their input throughout projects. Adaptability: Be flexible and adaptable to changes in client needs, market conditions and project requirements. Accountability: Take ownership of your actions and commitments, delivering results on time and to the agreed-upon standards. Continuous improvement: Strive for excellence by seeking feedback, learning from experiences and continuously improving processes and services. Ethical conduct: Uphold ethical standards in all interactions with clients, respecting confidentiality, privacy and professional boundaries. The future of client management Moving forward, personalization will be the key to make clients feel more valued. The agencies that do this at scale will differentiate themselves best (since it’s typically harder to offer the same degree of personalization as a larger business entity). See how AI is inspiring personalization. This shift toward greater customization enables agencies to tailor their offerings precisely to individual client needs and preferences, fostering stronger and more loyal relationships. Predictive analytics will empower agencies to anticipate client needs by making sense of trends in behavioral data to drive proactive decision-making and deliver even greater value in the client-agency relationship.

You’re a fast-moving agency with big dreams and bigger hustle. You already use AI to help research trends, ideate concepts, write copy and design assets. But do you code with it? “Agencies need to start with developers to drive success in the age of AI,” says Shuyin Zhao, VP of product at GitHub Copilot, an AI developer tool that helps you write code faster. It’s about empowering your developers with the right tools so they can create new opportunities that, in turn, empower the rest of the world, she says. But like all things AI, it can be hard to know where to focus your energy, which tools to select and how to implement new processes. Ahead, Shuyin Zhao and Yoav Abrahami, Wix’s head of code, share how you and your dev team can tap into the massive opportunities AI coding assistants present. Prime your devs to adopt AI “The speed of innovation is astonishing, and new things are emerging every day that challenge the previous day’s way of thinking and doing, so it’s really all about the developer’s willingness to learn new skills and adapt to these new technologies,” says Shuyin. That means empowering your devs with new tools and training sessions. Motivate your teams to do their best work by walking the talk; make sure your leadership is actively discussing, using and learning about the latest in AI. Consider delegating an ‘AI owner’ within your agency who is responsible for researching and disseminating new AI tools, trends and practices. To Shuyin’s point, new developments in AI are launching at an unprecedented pace (in fact, a whopping 70% of professional developers are predicted to use Al-powered coding tools by 2027, according to Gartner). So, sharing information and learnings as a team, in real time, will be crucial to your agency’s success. Creative director at Ogilvy Paris, David Raichman, asserts that as AI makes headlines on a weekly basis, “you have to ask yourself, ‘am I going fast enough?’” Open your lines of communication to reach those ‘aha’ insights sooner. Read more about how the team at Ogilvy Paris adopts new technologies like AI quickly and strategically. Help your devs choose the best AI coding tools for the job Some things you only learn by doing, but you should still guide your developers to consider several core questions when deciding which AI coding tool to use. Specifically, ask them to consider: How accurate and reliable are the AI code assistant's code suggestions and corrections? What programming languages and technologies does the AI code assistant support? What level of support and documentation does the AI code assistant provider offer? What is the cost structure and ROI of implementing the AI code assistant? What security measures are in place to protect sensitive code and data? What integration options are available with existing tools and workflows? What is the scalability of the AI code assistant solution? From there, weigh your options. Of course, you can always default to ChatGPT to write code, but consider the alternatives. GitHub Copilot increases developer productivity and accelerates software development by speeding up the coding process up to 55%, according to the company. A large differentiator between Copilot and its competitors is the emphasis the team at GitHub places on responsible AI. “Naturally, the integration of AI into the development raises ethical concerns, such as algorithm bias and data privacy, so from day one we’ve taken measures to ensure Copilot’s outputs are fair, transparent and accountable,” says Shuyin. Another tool created specifically for web creation: the Wix AI Code Assistant, an intelligent coding companion built into the new Wix IDE on Wix Studio. The AI Assistant generates tailored code snippets and troubleshoots bugs in real time to help you ship higher quality sites more quickly. “AI is changing the coding landscape and allowing developers to work more efficiently,” Yoav Abrahami notes. “That means freeing up time so they can focus on solving bigger problems.” (Read more about Wix Studio’s AI capabilities.) Rework your processes with an AI-first mentality The opportunities AI presents for developers to work efficiently at scale is “actually mind-boggling,” Shuyin explains. Not only is code a major differentiator if you’re looking to score more clients, but with AI, you can also accelerate your dev velocity. Of course, your devs can use the AI code assistant to generate functions, but they can also ask it to check why some code isn't working, or explain segments of code from tutorials to learn how to integrate new concepts within your work. Developers can even leverage assistants to provide feedback on another teammate’s work, in order to improve the way humans write code too. “It’s not guaranteed that your AI assistant will always output the right code—which is why you still need your developers at the wheel to steer each project. However, you can always iterate on the outputs to get closer to your intended result,” says Yoav. Go from writer’s block to code blocks in seconds when your devs learn to work with their AI assistants. Get them to document their interactions as they play around with AI to share their findings with their team(s). Delegate the tactical to AI, then hone in on the strategic To be clear, AI can’t and won’t replace your developers. “There’s a misconception that AI is coming for everyone’s jobs, but we’ve found that it has allowed developers to delve into more creative work, which, in turn, makes them more fulfilled,” says Shuyin. “This ultimately yields a secondary effect of employee retention, as you give developers greater autonomy and responsibility.” You’ll still need developers to round out machine errors and determine which code blocks work best, but the function of coding (and therefore the role of a developer) will change from creating to curating. “Think of AI like a coworker at your company; you’re not competing, you’re collaborating,” says Yoav. ”You assign it a task, you trust it to do its job, and then you hand it off to someone else for editing and quality assurance.” The combination of AI doing the coding and humans overlooking the process allows your dev team to be more agile. AI serves to augment (not replace) strategic vision and human creativity. “Now more than ever, developers need to work closely with strategists, engineers, UI/UX designers and other domain experts to bring AI solutions to life that address more complex problems,” Shuyin says. “There are so many ways for developers to innovate today. Creativity and collaboration are even more important than before.”

Handwriting fonts, which look like they’ve been written by hand, come in all kinds of styles—cursive, swirly, rugged or with long tails and beautiful swashes—that convey different emotions and set the mood for your entire design. That’s why they lend themselves particularly well to headers, logos and branding, posters and social media ads. While handwritten typography has a long tradition in graphic design, most notably in book and magazine publishing, it can also be used in web design to help draw attention to user interfaces. Handwriting fonts can help your project stand out from a sea of cookie-cutter designs, but you’ll want to be sure to choose your font carefully. Find a family of fonts that adds a personal touch yet doesn’t become overwhelming. Also, consider font size and readability: most handwritten fonts don’t look right when used for body copy. They can, however, give a lot of impact to short standalone amounts of text. We’ve compiled 20 of the most versatile, stand-out handwriting fonts—some free, some with paid licenses—to give you lots of variety for the best typography across your different projects. Want to use one of the fonts below? Make sure to check out a font’s usage and licensing before using it. 20 handwriting fonts Marshmallow Petit formal Quentin Whomp All-Star BADGER Baystar Script Genty Gliker Kaligari Millie Mushy Nonplus Outback Brush Font Palm Club Rage Italic Scalter Waverse Wubberly Zombie Punks Free handwriting fonts 01. Marshmallow By Neil Summerour Think marshmallow and you get squishy, fluffy and joyful. Like its namesake, this font Marshmallow has a thick body with soft edges, minimal breaks and bubbly vibes. Create full-figured words in Fluff or Script—with attached letters—to infuse your site’s headings with a nostalgic or gleeful touch. Marshmallow is free for Adobe users. 02. Petit Formal Script By Impallari Type A cursive font feels timeless, personalized and elegant, perfect for wedding or luxury eComm sites. And yet Petit Formal Script also feels whimsical, taking us back to our school days when we traced these letters’ loops and curls on paper. A highly universal font, it supports 489 languages and is best used digitally in larger sizes. 03. Quentin By Get Studio Quentin brings the sensation of a rough writing surface or an imperfect thick marker to the screen. Ideal for signatures, Quentin gives the personalized touch to your logo, product packaging or “About” page. Notice how characters 'Q,' 's' and 'f' convey classic cursive but with a touch of handmade uniqueness. 04. Whomp By Alejandro Paul Whomp elevates the look of a thick marker to create a handwriting font inspired by Alf Becker, an American sign artist from the 1930s and 1940s. Yet there’s a ‘70s vibe that comes through with a bold attitude—so much so that glyphs 'K,' 'Q' and 'R' even look dressed in flared jeans—and encourages you to play with its outlines and shadows. Whomp looks great in logos, headings and social media imagery, and is free for Adobe users. Paid handwriting fonts 05. All-Star By Hunter E. Anson With jagged edges and unconventional shapes, each All-Star character embodies a world of its own, with distinct features such as the outstretched lines in 'A,' 'K,' 'M' and 'S.' Create a headline that stands out, or assemble a mix of letters for a truly starry impression. 06. BADGER By Hunter E. Anson Use BADGER to amplify your message in the style of city graffiti or sidewalk chalk. The strokes convey the same spontaneity and man-made texture that you’ll find on concrete walls or pavements. Take a look at letters 'O,' 'R' and 'Q' where you’ll find points reminiscent of spray paint that hit the wall for a second too long, or numbers like '5' and '7' with the exaggerated angles and curves of fiery creation. 07. Baystar Script By Mans Greback Inspired by retro car logos like Chevrolet Chevelle and Camaro, Baystar Script fuses the glamor of mid-20th century type with the professionalism of practiced penmanship. The characters’ curves, crosses and dots pay homage to the beautiful calligraphy of the fountain pen. Thanks to an incredibly wide range of glyphs—over 4,800 variations across three font styles—there is plenty of variety to convey an authentic handwritten style. 08. Genty By Flavortype Genty, a bold, brush-like font, lets you play things funky or safe with more than 600 glyphs for maximum range. In particular Genty Regular, one of the two included fonts, provides characters with extensive connected flourishes for a feel of curated yet modern calligraphy—take a look at 'd,' 'h' and 't' for a first taste. Used separately or together, the fonts are excellent for both online and offline uses, such as headlines, supporting paragraphs, stickers, posters and more. 09. Gliker By Cahya Sofyan An undeniably cheerful font, something about Gliker is ripe for animation and a boogie. In fact this handwritten font looks like it’s already moving—without hard angles and systematically straight lines, Gliker feels amorphous and like it’s continuously responding to the space around it. Plus, with 28 styles, it can fit a wide variety of design applications, from logos to titles and body text. 10. Kaligari By Franziska Weitgruber “Inspired by expressionist techniques,” Kaligari is sophisticated and original. With exaggerated angles reminiscent of penmanship from days gone by (check out the 'g' and 'r' variations) and European museum posters, this font looks best in larger, shorter uses. It supports a wide range of languages with many localized characters. 11. Millie By Kyle Wayne Benson There’s no need to rotate your screen. As the font’s creator explains, “[Millie] was designed to be used on about a 20 degree angle, though she looks just fine on a level plane.” The connected glyphs in particular have a tactile, industrial feel, such as bent and twisted metal bars. Take an extra look at connected characters 's,' 'f' and 'r' which are all distinct and beautiful. 12. Mushy By East of Rome If melting ice cream was a font, then you’d find this ice cream dripping down your screen. Letters join together “making words look like a sticky mess,” and words stretch out like a paper doll train. However, Mushy gives you lots of room to tailor the typography to your needs, with options for unjoined letters and four font weights. Try out this psychedelic font for logos and shorter words. 13. Nonplus By OHNO If you’re going for experimental typography or “short words at large sizes,” then Nonplus is designed especially for you. This handwriting font is the total opposite of “non.” It’s full of enthusiasm, unpredictability and wit. With two font types, Nonplus plays simultaneously with minimalist linework and filled in rounded figures, giving the reader equal amounts of riddle and answer. 14. Outback Brush Font By Greg Nicholls Honest to its name, Outback Brush Font is a brush-like font that not only provides a genuine, handwritten appearance, but comes with over 100 glyphs so that each letter has multiple variations for more authenticity and more variety. Plus, with over 50 swashes, you can emphasize or embellish with lines and ink dots for that true brush-on-paper feel. 15. Palm Club By Set Sail Studios Capturing the essence of summer break, rebellious romance and breaking the rules, no film (or typeface) did it better than 1987’s Dirty Dancing. Now, you can tap into that nostalgia and dial up the retro-vacay feeling with this ‘80s’ inspired handwritten font. Palm Club supports 23 Latin alphabet languages and also includes 21 different swashes for underlines and embellishments. 16. Rage Italic By ITC Don’t be fooled by the name. Rage Italic won’t leap off the screen in a rage, but this handwritten font does convey a rage of inspiration. The speed and imperfections in its letters and connected forms show a fury to get the words down on (digital) paper. The uniqueness comes through with characters like 'B,' 'D,' 'f' and 'z,' which show the authentic strokes of nostalgic pen-on-pepper cursive writing that’s not found in many other handwritten typefaces. 17. Scalter By Dirtyline Studio Anyone who has played with stencils and pencils will feel right at home with Scalter. With 38 fonts covering all the bases—serif, sans serif, condensed, expanded, slanted and more—the font’s versatility ranges from elegant art deco to colorful ‘70s’ retro. It can be a perfect fit both for outdoor signs as well as for video animations. 18. Waverse By Typeji Just like rolling waves, this font is gentle and smooth, best captured by the rolling lines on letters like 'Q,' 'w,' 'x' and 'z.' And also like the sea, Waverse suggests a mystery that lurks beneath the waves—note the cut-off on 'g' and 's.' This handwritten font would look equally at home on a city cafe sandwich board as it would on a beach club T-shirt, and is best used in large and medium sizes. 19. Wubberly By Set Sail Studios Go for Wubberly if you’re looking for something bubberly…er, bubbly that is. This handwriting font is Y2K, balloon animals and gravity-free floating all in one. Perfect for logos, 3D lettering, short headlines and social media posts, there is just enough glyph variety to keep it fresh. Wubberly comes with two variations of uppercase letters and 50 swashes. 20. Zombie Punks By wingsart Channel the suspense of a horror VHS or thriller paperback novel with Zombie Punks, one of the scariest fonts in the mix. Play around with colors, sizes and outlines to give the impression of fresh paint, toxic slime or even freshly spilt blood. Available only in all-caps, Zombie Punks is best used for headlines, titles and attention-grabbing callouts, like, "Watch out behind you!" Bring handwritten typefaces to life with no-code animations and effects on Wix Studio.

The adoption of no-code/low-code solutions has been growing steadily for years, but with the advent of new tools, things are heating up. Art West, founder of NoCodeDevs, a directory for no-code/low-code apps and tools, and co-founder of MergeWebDev, a community for developers, agrees: “With no-code/low-code tools you can shrink your time to market, save tons of money on development costs, and test functionality early without overinvesting on resources. You’re also able to iterate much faster and respond to your clients’ needs in a more timely manner,” he says. The tools simply make you more efficient. And because you're more efficient, you can reallocate your spare time to scaling your agency. Talk about a winning strategy. Below, West responds to some of the most common questions to code/low code solutions. Can you scale past an MVP with no-code/low-code? The short answer: yes. The long answer: “No-code/low-code tools allow you to test things quickly without spending extra funds, time, or resources on development. This means you get data faster, and when that happens you’re able to pivot quickly with changing customer demands” says West. In other words, ‘build quick learn quick’ is the name of the game. And whether it’s testing new features, making your UI more accessible, or checking how your front end and back end interact, no-code/low-code tools let you hit the ground running and grow as you go. There is one caveat though: you have to choose the right tool from the jump. One that scales with your ambitions. “Whether you're a traditional or low code developer, you’re already picking and choosing your software stack anyways,” adds West. To scale faster, invest in no-code/low-code tooling with robust infrastructures, native solutions that can be added as needed, and are preferably fully managed so you don't need to allocate additional resources. (Related: what is technical debt? And how to manage it for more successful projects) How easy is it to migrate to code later? Just because you start no-code/low-code doesn’t mean you can’t integrate complex code down the road. “A lot of folks ask me, ‘is there a specific point in the life cycle of building websites and business infrastructures that I'm going to want to switch to a full-on development team?’ And the answer depends on which product you're using and what you’re looking to get out of it,” says West. So when should you migrate to full-code? When the project requires it. It sounds like an obvious answer but for the sake of efficiency and not wanting to start over, you only want to go full-code when it's absolutely necessary to deliver the brand experience you're after. Of course, some platforms let you go both ways within the same site...that's a sweet spot if your devs are ready to code away. The takeaway? You need to do your homework. Determine not only how the no-code/low-code platform scales, but how well it plays with coding integrations. Is it better to use an all-in-one solution or multiple tools? Many of the best no-code/low-code tools available on the market are multifunctional. And while the saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” rings true with business solutions ( you never want to rely on just one solution provider in case something happens to them), there is such a thing as too many solutions in your software stack too. Strike a healthy balance with an all-in-one solution as your operating system, coupled with a few tools that go deeper in areas vital to your business. For instance, Wix Studio puts the power of email marketing, SEO invoicing, social media marketing and customer communications directly in your hands. In many ways it's an all-in-one solution for building and scaling a digital agency. But it also plays well with other tools agencies like to use, such as Google Suite, MailChimp, Klaviyo, TrustPilot, ClientKit and Canva. Traditionally no-code/low-code tools served a singular purpose, so it wasn’t unheard of for people to amass up to 15 such tools. “From my experience, of course you have to find a proven and entrusted provider, but more than that you want to cut down on the expenses and complexity of using so many tools. Eliminate as many possible breakpoints in your business operating system as you can,” says West. Is the perception around no-code/low-code changing? There's never been a better time to leverage no-code/low-code tools. West alludes not only to the growing popularity of these tools, but the shifting public perception around them as well. “You've always been able to get a whole business off the ground with no-code/low-code solutions, but now that they've gotten better, we're finally seeing clients asking for them,” says West. And if they’re already asking for it, that means pitching no-code/low-code tools is easier than ever before. Don’t believe you can build powerful, robust websites with no-code/low-code tools? The proof is in the pudding. Plus, you can move faster to build and launch their websites. It’s a win-win-win, for client, agency and solution provider. Ultimately using no-code/low-code solutions is a no-brainer (in the right situation), but selecting the right solutions takes some thought. Our best advice: craft a long-term strategy and plan accordingly. Create a hub-and-spoke model of compliant solutions, but keep your toolkit down to the essentials. Have more questions? Want to speak to Art West directly? Join the MergeWebDev community to chat with him and like minded professional developers and get your questions answered.

AI has been a huge part of the web design industry conversation for a while now—so it’d be natural to be a little AI curious. Here, we demystify the conversation and get into the practical details of how professionals can actually use AI in their day-to-day. So if you want to know how to streamline your web design process, but you’re not sure which specific tools you should use to do so, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll review specific AI web design tools that will help you design a client website from start to finish, including ideation, text and image generation, and even breakpoint adaptations. How is AI used in web design? AI tools can help web creators enhance various design and development activities, such as: Generating layout design ideas: AI tools can act as visual assistants for web professionals and generate visual ideas based on specified criteria. Finding color and font combinations: AI tools can suggest color schemes and font pairings that will help create an aesthetically pleasing design. Generating images and illustrations: AI tools can generate photos, illustrations and graphic patterns for your design. Automating content creation: you no longer have to use Lorem Ipsum text if you don't want to. AI tools generate content, such as product descriptions, blog posts, and social media updates, saving time and effort for content creators. Conducting predictive analysis: AI can predict the success of design variations, allowing designers to create layouts that will perform better for users. How to create a website using AI tools? Contrary to what you might think, using AI in your agency work and creative processes probably isn’t that different from your existing product design process. We start with user and market research, then ideate potential solutions, find the one we think will perform best, prototype and validate our design with regular users. The only difference is that we use AI web design tools at every step in this process. When used effectively, AI tools become our companions that help us achieve our goals much faster. Here are a few examples of how we can use AI tools for the web design process: Market research: Use AI tools to conduct market research and identify trends, user preferences, and competitor strategies. AI tools cannot replace user researchers, but they should streamline some research activities, such as analyzing transcripts of user interviews or analytic data. Prototyping: Because AI tools can create visuals based on textual description, it's possible to use them for inspiration and assistance in creating wireframes and mockups. Content creation: Content directly impacts the user experience. The better the content, the more likely users will have a better experience. It's possible to use AI tools to generate new content or optimize existing content. Development: AI tools can generate an entire website for you. You can use AI-powered website builders like Wix to speed up the development process. Testing: AI-powered analytics tools can help identify bugs in the design and implementation of your website. Create a website with AI tools that create site content, responsive layouts and code on Wix Studio. Best AI design tools for agencies In this section, we will review popular AI tools for web design. You will find best practices, pros & cons and pricing for each tool in this list. 01. Wix Studio 02. Midjourney 03. Adobe Firefly 04. Bing Image Generator 05. Copy AI 06. Jasper 07. Writesonic Website builders with AI capabilities Website builders powered by AI give users a new way of designing and building sites. Instead of creating layouts by hand. 01. Wix Studio Wix is a pioneer in the field of AI—the team launched its first AI website generator, Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI), back in 2016. ADI revolutionized the way of building basic websites. Fast forward to 2023 and the launch of Wix Studio. The new platform features many excellent AI tools, such as Responsive AI (analyzes your design and creates the most optimal layout design across all breakpoints), AI code assistant (offers code suggestions in real-time), AI text-to-image generator, and AI image enhancer that help web professionals work more efficiently. Value proposition: AI tools are nicely integrated into the web design workflow. Need to create a responsive layout? Generate a new image? Remove the background from the image? Generate SEO tags? Wix Studio will help you with that! Plus you really feel like you’re in control to fully deliver your creative vision when you’re inside the website builder. There are tons of no-code/low-code design features you can easily bring to life like scroll effects, hover animations, custom cursors, text masks, and the list just goes on. And when you want to take the reins to create something from scratch, Wix Studio lets you add custom CSS, create bespoke widgets, and leverage its powerful CMS. The opportunities are really endless. Best practices for using Wix Studio: Ensure your website looks good on mobile devices. Wix Studio automatically generates a mobile version of your site, but it's essential to review and adjust the design as needed. For example, you might want to change the order of some sections on mobile to maximize effectiveness. Explore existing business solutions that Wix Studio offers such as eCommerce, Bookings, CRM, and more. Wix Studio offers full-stack business solutions for any client, so you don't need to start from scratch. Take a moment and consider the apps and widgets you most commonly build for your clients’ sites on repeat. Now build these once in Wix Blocks and they become reusable, responsive, adjustable components you can add to all your Wix Studio sites. Leverage all the client-facing features – like content edit controls and a handover kit – to give your clients the best experience and to set them up for success. Be sure to check out: Smart AI toolset that Wix Studio offers can aid the web design process. AI tools can help with various tasks—from creating layouts and generating images to writing code. Free plan: No Pricing: start from $16/mon for the Standard plan Start now and build a site with AI on Wix Studio. Image generators AI won’t replace graphic designers, but it will allow them to work more effectively. Powerful AI tools can help with creating stunning visuals for your design. 02. Midjourney Midjourney is an AI image generator that generates images from natural language descriptions called prompts. It's a versatile image generator that can be used for generating all sorts of images—from photos of people to graphic patterns. Value proposition: Midjourney gives you access to the latest AI models and offers helpful features such as adding contextual details to the image. Best practices for using Midjourney: Craft descriptive prompts: Provide details about the subject, style, lighting, materials etc. to steer the image. Experiment iteratively: Start general, see the results, then get more specific with additional details that sculpt the image closer to your vision with each iteration. Vary prompts creatively: Tweak prompts by trying metaphors or conceptual descriptions rather than concrete attributes to produce a wider idea-space. Understand aesthetic impacts: Add stylistic keywords like "cinematic, photorealistic, abstract" to the prompts to help steer overall visual direction. Be sure to check out: Great versatility of Midjourney. The tool can help you generate images across different artistic styles and categories. Free plan: no Pricing: from $10/mon/site for the Basic plan with limited generations (~200 / month) 03. Adobe Firefly Firefly is an AI image generator created by Adobe. It works similarly to Midjourney but also offers some unique features like text-to-image and text-to-vector that are specially designed for web professionals. Value proposition: unique features like text-to-image and text-to-template that benefit web professionals. Best practices for using Adobe Firefly: Use it to generate photos of people. Adobe Firefly is powered by the Image 2 Model, which is very good at generating realistic images. If you want to create a photo of a person, use Firefly for it. Use generative fill. This feature allows you to modify some visual elements of the generated image. For example, if you want to change a person's haircut, simply select the area and specify what you want to see. Be sure to check out: Try unique features that Adobe Firefly offers for web professionals. It allows creating text effects (i.e. apply textures on text), remove objects from the image, and even generate color variants of your vector artwork. Free plan: yes Pricing: from $4.99/mon/site for the Premium plan with 100GB of storage space. 04. Bing Image Generator Bing Image Generator is an AI image generator powered by the DALL-E 3 model from OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. DALL-E 3 is the third generation of the text-to-image model that understands significantly more nuance than previous systems, allowing you to easily translate your ideas into exceptionally accurate images. Value proposition: Within seconds, you can generate photorealistic images, graphic designs, illustrations and art in almost any visual style you specify. Best practices for using Bing Image Generator: Experiment with inputs: Try different prompts and parameters like size or artistic styles. Varying inputs lead to wider creative ideas. Use DALL-E 3 in Chat GPT: The Bing Image Generator isn’t the only place where you can access DALL-E 3. The ChatGPT Pro plan also allows you to generate images, using DALL-E 3 (and can generate text, though it has a monthly fee). Be sure to check out: Use complex prompts for DALL-E 3. DALL·E has shown better comprehension of increasingly complex and nuanced text prompts. You can use this feature as an opportunity to spark creative ideas that would be hard to envision otherwise. Cons: Lower level of realism. In comparison to Midjourney images generated by DALL-E 3 are less life-like. Potential for bias perpetuation if misused without enough human oversight High level of censorship. It's hard to generate images of famous people or cartoon characters. Free plan: yes (as a part of Bing Image Generator) Pricing: $20 per month for ChatGPT Pro subscription that also includes DALL-E 3 Copy generators When it comes to AI-powered copy generators, there are many options to choose from, including versatile tools like Chat GPT, Google’s Bard, and Claude. These chatbots can be used for various tasks, including copywriting. But in this section, we will focus on narrower AI tools specializing in copywriting. 05. Copy AI Copy AI allows you to generate all kinds of text copy—from user interface copy to social media and email campaigns. It's an easy-to-use tool—all you need to do is specify what you want to generate, and the tool will do it for you. Copy AI offers a few plans, including a free plan that comes with limitations. It allows you to generate only 2000 words per month. Value proposition: Copy.ai creates human-like copy that needs little editing and sticks to brand voice. Best practices for using Copy AI: Use formatting techniques: Take advantage of formatting like brackets, dashes, and caps when providing the initial prompt to structure copy. Do fact-checking: Validate any data points or factual claims made in copy against known/trusted sources. Be sure to check out: Multiple options for tailoring output tone, length, formatting, and keywords. Use Copy AI to generate text that matches the voice and tone of your company. Free plan: yes Pricing: from $49/mo for Pro plan that allows up to  5 users with unlimited words in chat. 06. Jasper Jasper is an AI copywriter tool that was trained to produce copy that sounds natural to readers. It also integrates with other tools like Grammarly, which allows you to check spelling errors. Value proposition: easy-to-use AI assistant for writing high-quality marketing copy and other business content. Best practices for using Jasper: Write concise prompts: Summarize the goal and audience in 1-2 sentences. Too much detail slows processing and quality. Analyze and refine templates: Review how Jasper's templates translate your input and refine prompts to calibrate tone, voice, structure. Curate content variations: Generate 3-5 content variations around important copy to hone messages and identify standouts. Be sure to check out: Use Jasper for creating marketing copy. The tool generates excellent marketing-focused templates (ex. newsletters, social media posts). Free plan: no Pricing: from $39/mo for Creator plan 07. Writesonic Writesonic is an AI-powered writing assistant that aims to help people write better content faster. It's a web-based tool that uses the power of GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models from OpenAI to generate content ideas, write drafts, rewrite, edit, summarize texts, and more based on user prompts and parameters. Value proposition: The platform aims to save time and effort at different writing tasks with high-quality AI-generated content customized for the writing needs and goals. Best practices for using Writesonic: Use parameters: Fine-tune the output by adjusting parameters like target word count, style (casual/formal), keyword density and more so that the content fits your goals and needs. Break up long requests: For long content pieces, don't prompt the AI all at once. Break requests up into smaller prompts focused on a single sub-topic so the content stays on track. Be sure to check out: Use Writesonic to generate long texts. This tool is able to generate complete drafts of content incredibly fast, saving the human user significant time. For long blog posts or articles, this time saving can be hundreds of not thousands of writing hours. Free plan: yes Pricing: from $13/mo for the Smaller team plan that offers GPT-4 model Learn more about AI on Wix Studio with responsive AI, SEO tag creator and more.

For the latest details and terms of the Wix Studio Revenue Share plan through January 2025, please refer to this article here. Mention the words “passive income” and thoughts of an heiress’s trust fund, grandpa’s pension plan, or your landlord spring to mind—pretty much a range of people enjoying passive income, just not you. However these days passive income is within reach for all types of professionals, in the form of revenue sharing. And fortunately it’s never too late to get on board and to start generating your own passive income from revenue sharing. What is revenue sharing? Revenue sharing is a business model that allows companies to share [their] success with stakeholders. The sharing of “success” – such as the compensation, the timeline, and the requirements – will vary from company to company and be clearly outlined from the onset. For example, the payout could be distributed quarterly into your bank account if you surpass a minimum sales threshold. The “stakeholders” who receive the benefit will also be clearly defined, and could be the external business partners who sell the company’s product as part of their daily operations. The Wix Studio Partner Program is one example of a revenue share program created especially for creative and digital professionals. Once you’ve enrolled in the Partner Program, you are a “stakeholder.” And as your clients’ sites generate revenue for Wix Studio – through premium plans, online store sales, email marketing plans, and more – you receive a portion of the company’s “success.” Apply now for the Wix Studio Partner Program How can I benefit from a revenue share program? A well-rounded strategy to secure recurring monthly income is a combination of traditional models, such as upsells and ongoing site maintenance contracts, and a revenue share program. And with the unique advantages of Wix Studio’s revenue share program, you’ll also develop your creative and professional skills, and grow your new business funnel. 01. Open up a new revenue stream Revenue share brings stability to what can be an uncertain industry with fluctuating demand, limited resources and a long new business development cycle. Enjoy peace of mind by earning consistent, recurring revenue from premium site renewals, online or offline payment transactions, marketing tools sales, and more. 02. Partner with a provider that wants to see you win Revenue sharing is about much more than financial gain—it’s about identifying as many opportunities as possible for you to gain as many professional opportunities as possible. Think: influence over a product’s evolution; access to white-glove service; and front row seats to industry news, courses, certifications and more that your provider may offer. This, in turn, can help you offer more value to your clients. You then stand to gain more from the revenue share arrangement. Wix Studio, for example, is offering its partners the most expanded revenue share opportunity in its Partner Program’s history. Plus new product features (like the AI code assistant) and new training opportunities (such as Wix Studio Certifications) empower you to deliver more advanced projects and ultimately reap more rewards in revenue sharing. 03. Brand yourself as a specialist Revenue share isn’t a short-term strategy. Your clients are looking for great long-term results: sites that increase in traffic and authority, and stores that encourage return customers and repeat sales. Long-term success for your clients equals long-term success for you – building a site that your clients want to sustain and that continues to generate strong sales effectively leads to more income for you from a revenue sharing plan. Professional Partners who work on Wix Studio for the long term don’t only see a recurring return from the revenue share plan, but also increase their rates of return. By publishing more premium sites over time, Partners gain points and eventually reach higher levels of return in the revenue share program. Nicola Nogales, a partner success manager for Wix Studio, advises creative professionals “to fully exercise their revenue share opportunities with Wix. Generating a passive income stream that continues to grow with your business is a smart strategy." 04. Expand your list of services The best revenue share programs offer you various ways to earn money, using the tools they equip you with. For example, the program can include separate but incremental revenue streams, such as website sales, email sales and app sales. This not only gives you multiple ways of generating revenue, but also allows you to develop your professional skills across multiple client needs. In the long run, you can enjoy sustained revenue and hone more skills to broaden your portfolio. Wix Studio offers more than just site creation. It offers a wide-range of tools that can add value to your clients’ businesses, such as email marketing, mobile app creation, online (and POS) payments and more. Selling these additional tools to your clients translates into additional revenue share into your pocket. The Wix Studio Partner Program’s revenue sharing plan is subject to change. The latest applicable terms for the program through January 2025 can be found here.

Whether you’ve been providing web services to restaurant clients for years or your deepest insights into the industry come from watching The Bear, you’ll have a sense of the blood, sweat and tears that restaurant owners put into their businesses. With the number of plates they’re spinning at any one time, the less they have to think about their company’s tech and digital presence—the better. And tech is becoming ever more critical for restaurants. Deloitte’s Future of Restaurants report anticipates large-scale changes on the horizon, including a digital tsunami of algorithms and automation. These changes will shape the competitive landscape for restaurants and create a greater need to innovate, which presents a massive opportunity for agencies. Whether you already have a client list packed with eateries or possess an appetite for their business, here are nine ways to cater to your restaurant clients. 1. Remove the friction As consumer preference for digital channels continues to grow, providing a frictionless digital experience remains a must for restaurants. In 2023, 40% of consumers opted to order directly from a restaurant website versus 13% who expressed a preference for third-party apps or websites, according to Deloitte. That’s to say, consumers want their ordering and booking experience to be quick and hassle-free. To achieve this, keep customers within the singular site and brand experience you craft for your client. Make the user journey super streamlined and straightforward to match user intent: navigating menu, checkout and pay functions must be clear. Avoid adding hyperlinks to online ordering partners, which not only creates a disjointed user experience but also starves your client of tracking and conversion information. Sometimes, it even sends customers to a marketplace full of client competitors. Wix Studio’s Restaurants offering is seamlessly built into your client’s site. It means visitors have everything they need in one place—including multiple fulfillment options such as pickup, delivery, curbside pickup, and contactless dine-in—delivered with zero friction and from one brand. Removing the friction not only works for customers but has a big impact on your client’s bottom line. Having first-party online ordering with Wix cuts out commissions charged by third-party delivery services (sometimes as high as 30%), leaving your clients to pocket 100% of the proceeds. 2. Help them get to know their customers One of the biggest challenges restaurant owners face today is knowing who their customers are. That’s where user data comes in: it helps clients better understand consumer habits and deliver an exceptional, personalized customer experience that turns first-timers into regulars. And what better place to collect that data than through their website? With a built-in CRM system, your clients can get intel on whether it’s a customer’s first time buying or their 100th, what they order, their table preferences, allergies and so much more. Wix’s new Online Orders and Table Reservations apps, for instance, provide insights that help restaurants better identify their clientele and engage with them with the right info, on the right channel, at the right time. Remember, marketplaces like UberEats and DoorDash retain all customer data for themselves, so having a CRM integration means your client’s valuable data is not going to waste. 3. Master the menus The first port of call for most visitors to a restaurant website is checking what’s on the menu—making it the perfect place for your client to shine. As an agency, you know all about avoiding clutter, keeping on brand, using high-quality imagery and making font accessible, but there’s more than design principles to consider when crafting your client’s menu. Using their sales data, help them optimize their menus for profitability by analyzing the popularity and cost of each menu item. It will determine which dishes to feature prominently and which ones to consider dropping. Rather than uploading their menu as a PDF, create it directly on a webpage so that it’s mobile-friendly (75% of Wix Restaurant menus are opened on mobile) and searchable. Studio’s Menus app enables restaurants to display their catalog dynamically and boost their site’s SEO. It also supports multilingual capabilities, so clients can easily display their menus in multiple languages, while the new layout and customization options allow even the smallest clients to feel like they’re getting a bespoke and enterprise-level offering. The menu for day spa and restaurant The Benev, built on Wix Studio by Australian agency Arta Design, has a veritable buffet of best practices you can draw from. Not only is its soft, minimalist design with clean typography easy on the eye, but it’s created directly on the site. You’ll notice no dollar signs on each item’s price—an industry marketing trick to keep customers focused on the experience, not the cost. 4. Turn one-off customers into regulars Being able to transform first-time visitors into loyal customers is at the core of any successful restaurant, as it increases repeat revenue, encourages word-of-mouth marketing and builds a community that provides valuable feedback. For consumers, they’ll stay loyal once they get something in return. Work with your client to create and customize a loyalty program to suit their customers. Choose a title for their rewards program, give the points a unique name and make them feel like they’re part of something special. Wix’s new Online Orders system and Loyalty Program integration allows restaurants to create and manage promotions, discounts and coupons for their customers with the click of a button—choosing between pre-populated suggestions and custom campaigns. Gift cards are also a surefire way to generate return business. You can set your client up to accept them by adding a gift card page to their site. Content is another effective tool for building a community. Schedule a regular newsletter to share your client’s news, updates and special offers. Using Wix’s CRM, restaurants can easily create automated marketing campaigns to ensure customers never miss a promotion. Encourage your clients to stay engaged with online reviews to make customers feel valued. Also, consider introducing weekly specials to promote on your client’s site, like the one Edge Creative Studio created for Italian restaurant Forsetta using Wix Studio. 5. Win them back time Restaurant owners are well known for being time-poor. If your agency can take menial tasks off your client’s plate so they can focus on creating the best dining experience, you’ve made your agency a valuable asset. One way to do this is through automation. Set your client up to send customized emails, welcome messages and receipts, confirm reservations, award customers with loyalty points and assign tasks to their team using automations in their CRM. Also, set up automatic reminders for customers with reservations to avoid costly no-shows. Restaurant owners shouldn’t be confined to their desks to run their businesses. With the Wix Owner app, they can manage orders and reservations in real-time, update their menus, and engage with their community on the go directly from their phone. 6. Get them diversified You won’t find many businesses running on tighter margins than restaurants. Following turbulent times during the pandemic, restaurant owners are looking beyond their core dining business to develop new revenue streams. Agencies need to think outside the box and add more functionality to their client sites to create new business opportunities. A good place to start is scoping out what inventory or services your clients can monetize. With Studio, you can use Wix Stores to add an eCommerce capability to their site to sell and ship trademark items like sauces, condiments and frozen goods. If your client has a strong brand identity, consider their potential to produce and sell branded merchandise like Wix Partner Mixed Handed Branding helped its client Butcher & Bird do. They could follow in the footsteps of restaurant chains like Taco Bell, Chipotle and Sweetgreen, which found major success in new merchandising ventures. Also, think about niche services your client can offer like pizza classes, private events or sushi-making workshops. Adding Wix Bookings to their site will give them the functionality they need. If catering is a potential side hustle, Wix Online Orders enables restaurants to offer larger, bulk orders for enterprise customers. Subscription services for meal kits and premium recipes are among other revenue streams to explore. 7. Encourage clear, sustainable messaging According to Mintel’s 2024 Global Consumer Trends report, consumers increasingly recognize that a passive approach to the climate crisis is not enough to tackle environmental challenges. They want to see brands innovate and show how they’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Empty messaging or greenwashing just won’t cut it. Does your client use sustainable practices like efficient food waste management or environmentally friendly packaging? Put it front and center on their website, and if they can measure its impact, share the metrics. Does it use locally sourced ingredients? Add supplier names for each dish on their menu. Many enterprise brands like Sweetgreen, who aim to be carbon neutral by 2027, Five Guys and Dig Inn are leading the way by highlighting the sustainability of their products and how they’re sourced. Ask your restaurant clients the right questions, get to know how they work and help them effectively communicate the good they do for the planet. They’ll thank you for the new environmentally conscious customers they attract and the brand image they enhance. 8. Connect the physical with digital When developing a restaurant’s online presence, you’ve got to make the connection between the website and the physical establishment as seamless as possible. While most agencies won’t have the luxury of stepping into a client’s premises to get the vibe of the place, they can draw on imagery, video and the client’s story to tease out the brand personality and build a site that feels like a natural extension of the physical space. Just like any dish, consistency is key. Some agencies will create new restaurant brands from scratch to work across different mediums. Studio NinetyOne is one creative studio that nailed this. They were tasked with creating the branding for a UK-based Cantonese restaurant, Three Uncles. The studio’s approach was to balance Eastern traditionalism and Western modernism to create an authentic Hong Kong experience with a contemporary London twist. Built on Wix Studio, the Three Uncles website showcases a powerful brand that transcends the borders between physical and digital. As the agency explains on its site, it uses bold typography to represent Hong Kong’s neon street signs and high-rise buildings, half-tone portrait images taken from the founders’ private family archives to add nostalgia to the story, and bespoke animal icons to inject a modern feel. The more you understand your client’s brand, the more alignment between in-person and online you’ll achieve, but always make sure assets and elements like logos, themes, graphics and color schemes stay consistent across the two. Using candid shots of your client’s team in the restaurant is also a subtle way to connect the dots. 9. Speak their language The best agencies catering to restaurants are knowledgeable about sector-related web design trends, tech, and best practices. Your client’s business is your business, so stay up to date with news and share industry reports with them and on your social channels. It will help differentiate you from run-of-the-mill, catch-all-client agencies. If you’ve worked with multiple restaurants in the past, create a standalone page on your site showcasing your work and develop case studies that outline the journeys from restaurant brief to online brand. Food and drink creative agency Tableside Creatives neatly lays out selected client projects that “unite research, strategy and creative firepower” in the Work section of its site. Take inspo from creative studio Disruptive by placing a strong emphasis on your story and creating a fast-paced digital experience that reflects the industry. Through immersive, engaging scrolls, modern design and relatable content, its Wix Studio-built site highlights its expertise in creating and scaling hospitality brands and presents a compelling proposition to restaurant owners looking for “a creative team that just gets it.” Keep an eye out for new Wix Studio integrations coming soon that connect your client sites with leading third-party restaurant systems to facilitate faster onboarding, streamlined operations and a more powerful management experience.