You can make money with a web design side hustle by building simple, useful websites for small businesses in your spare time, then earning recurring income by hosting and maintaining those sites. You do not need a degree. You need a few core skills, a small portfolio, a clear offer and a reliable way to deliver and look after client sites. This guide covers each step.
Is web design a realistic side hustle?
Yes, if you are honest about what it takes. Most small businesses need a website that loads quickly, works on a phone, explains what they do and makes it easy to get in touch. They rarely need complex custom code. That is work one person can do in evenings and weekends.
The trade-offs are real. Clients want quick replies, and some will contact you during your day job. Projects often run late because content and photos arrive late. Earnings depend on how many clients you win and how you price, so treat any income figures you see online with caution.
The skills you need
Start with the skills that let you deliver a working site, then add the rest as you go:
- A website builder or CMS. WordPress is the most common choice for small business sites. Learn to install it, choose a lightweight theme, build pages and set up a contact form.
- Basic HTML and CSS. Enough to fix layout problems and adjust a theme without breaking it.
- Domains, DNS and hosting. You will set these up for clients, so you need to know how a domain points to a host and how SSL works. Our guide What is web hosting? is a good start.
- Basic SEO. Page titles, meta descriptions, headings and fast-loading images.
- Writing. Many clients cannot write their own page copy. If you can, your sites will be better and you can charge more.
Free tutorials and documentation cover all of this. The fastest way to learn is to build real sites.
Build a portfolio before you have clients
Prospects want to see work. If you have none yet:
- Build your own site first. It is your shop window, so keep it simple and clear.
- Build two or three sample sites for imaginary businesses in sectors you want to serve, such as a restaurant, a law firm or a school.
- Offer a reduced price to one or two real local businesses in exchange for permission to show the work.
Only show work you actually did, and only quote feedback that clients actually gave you.
Decide what you sell
A clear offer is easier to sell than “I build websites”. Choose a narrow package, for example:
- A five-page business site with a contact form and WhatsApp button, delivered in a set number of weeks.
- A one-page landing site for an event or a single product.
- A redesign of an existing site that is slow or does not work on phones.
State what is included, how many rounds of changes, what the client must supply, and what costs extra. Ask for a deposit before you start. This protects your time, and clients take the project more seriously.
Find your first clients
- Your network. Tell friends, family and former colleagues what you do. Many first clients come from people who already know you.
- Local businesses with weak sites. Look for businesses whose site is outdated, broken on mobile or missing. Send a short, specific note on what you would fix.
- Freelance marketplaces. They are competitive and take a fee, but they can bring early work and reviews.
- Referrals. When a project goes well, ask the client to recommend you.
Add recurring income with hosting and care plans
One-off projects end. Hosting and maintenance keep paying. After launch, many small businesses would rather pay you a monthly fee than manage hosting, updates and backups themselves.
With reseller hosting you buy hosting in bulk and sell it to clients under your own brand. Tremhost reseller hosting starts at $7 a month. Every plan includes WHM, unlimited cPanel accounts, white label, LiteSpeed, CloudLinux, Imunify360 and free SSL. You give each client their own cPanel account and set your own prices, while Tremhost runs the servers. Our guide What is reseller hosting? explains how it works.
A typical care plan might include:
- Hosting and SSL.
- WordPress, theme and plugin updates.
- Backups and restores.
- Small content changes each month.
- Security monitoring, or website protection such as Tremhost’s Armor Guard, which is Cloudflare Pro set up and monitored by Tremhost for $9 a month per site.
Write down what is included and what counts as extra work, so a care plan does not turn into unlimited free changes.
Run it like a small business
- Use a written agreement for every project.
- Register each client’s domain in the client’s name, not yours. It avoids disputes later and builds trust.
- Keep a simple record of income and expenses, and check your tax obligations.
- Use a professional email address on your own domain.
- Set reply hours and tell clients what they are, so the side hustle does not take over your evenings.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know how to code?
Not to start. Many small business sites are built with WordPress and a good theme. Basic HTML and CSS help you fix problems and customise layouts, so learn them as you go.
How much should I charge?
Work out how many hours a project takes, decide what your time is worth, and add a margin for revisions and delays. Look at what local designers charge for similar work. Price the package, not the hour, once you know your process.
Should I host client websites myself?
Running your own server takes time and skill. Reseller hosting lets you offer hosting under your brand while the provider handles servers, patching and uptime.
What if a client’s site gets hacked?
Keep software updated and take regular backups so you can restore. If a Tremhost-hosted site is hacked, Armor SOS offers free same-day triage.
Next step
If you are ready to host the sites you build, compare plans on the reseller hosting page. For more tools for freelancers and agencies, see hosting for developers and agencies.
