Being a web developer in Upstate New York—especially in a small town like Earlville—is a whole different ball game compared to working in a bigger city. If you’re banking on SEO alone to bring in clients, you’re going to have a rough time. The reality is, there just aren’t that many people searching for “web designer in Earlville” every month. Actually, scratch that—there are barely any people searching for it at all.
If I were based in a city like New York or even somewhere like Buffalo or Rochester, I could probably rely on search traffic to keep my business running. Bigger cities mean more businesses, which means more people actively searching for website design, SEO, or digital marketing services. But in a place like Earlville, there just isn’t enough local demand to sustain a web development business on SEO alone.
That’s why at Redline Web Design, we’ve learned to do things differently. Yes, SEO still plays an important role, but we don’t just limit ourselves to our immediate area. Instead, we focus on nearby cities where businesses are actually looking for web design. Places like Binghamton, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany have significantly more search volume, so we optimize for regional search terms instead of just hyper-local ones.
Small Town, Big Challenges
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about web design is that “if you build it, they will come.” That might be true in a dense metro area where businesses are constantly searching for web developers, but in small-town Upstate New York, it’s just not how things work.
For one, a lot of local businesses here have been running for years (sometimes decades) without a website, and they don’t always see the need for one. They’ve built their customer base through word-of-mouth and community connections. Many small business owners are also wary of investing in something they don’t fully understand. If they’ve never seen direct results from digital marketing before, they’re not going to be jumping at the chance to spend money on a new website.
And let’s be real—some businesses around here still have websites from the early 2000s, the kind that look like they were built on GeoCities and haven’t been updated since. Convincing them that a new, well-optimized website will help them isn’t always easy.
That’s why, if you’re a web developer in a small town, you can’t sit back and wait for leads to come to you. You have to go out and find them.
Expanding Beyond Local Search
So, if local search volume isn’t enough to bring in a steady flow of business, what do you do? You expand your reach.
Instead of just optimizing for “web designer in Earlville,” we target bigger nearby cities. Businesses in Binghamton, Syracuse, or Utica are far more likely to be searching for web design, and they’re usually more open to investing in digital marketing. Even though our business is based in Earlville, we position ourselves to be a go-to provider for web design in the surrounding areas.
This means optimizing for regional SEO terms, creating content that appeals to businesses in multiple cities, and sometimes even running localized ads to get in front of the right audience. It’s not just about ranking in search—it’s about making sure the right businesses see us when they need our services.
But even that isn’t enough. Because in a small town, SEO isn’t the only way to get clients.
The Power of Networking and Referrals
Here’s the thing about doing business in a smaller community: people trust word-of-mouth more than anything.
A business owner in Earlville isn’t just going to Google “web designer” and hire the first person they see. More often than not, they’ll ask around. They’ll talk to a friend, a colleague, or someone in their industry. And if that person mentions Redline Web Design, that’s worth way more than any Google search result.
That’s why building relationships is so important. We make sure our past clients are happy, and we encourage them to refer us to others. Happy clients = more business. It’s really that simple.
A lot of our best projects have come from referrals. One business owner tells another, and before we know it, we’re building websites for multiple businesses in the same network. That kind of organic growth is something SEO alone can’t replace.
Cold Outreach Still Works (If You Do It Right)
Another reality of working in a smaller market is that sometimes, you just have to reach out first.
There are a lot of businesses out there that don’t even realize they need a new website. They’re not searching for web design because they don’t know how much it could help them. That’s where cold outreach comes in.
Now, I’m not talking about those spammy emails you get from random companies offering SEO services. That stuff doesn’t work. But a well-targeted, well-written email or phone call? That can make a difference.
When we do cold outreach, we focus on:
- Personalization: We don’t just send generic messages. We look at the business’s current website (if they even have one), identify opportunities for improvement, and reach out with specific ways we can help.
- Value First: Instead of just saying, “Hey, we build websites,” we show them how a better website can bring in more customers, improve their branding, or streamline their business.
- Follow-Ups Matter: Most people won’t respond to the first message, and that’s fine. A polite, non-pushy follow-up can often make all the difference.
Cold calling can work, too—especially in smaller towns where business owners aren’t flooded with sales calls all day. A quick phone call to introduce ourselves and let them know how we can help has landed us plenty of projects.
What It Takes to Succeed in Small-Town Web Development
Being a web developer in Upstate New York isn’t the same as running a web design business in a big city. If you’re expecting leads to roll in just because you have a nice website and good SEO, you’re going to struggle.
Instead, you have to be proactive. You have to:
- Expand beyond your immediate area – Target bigger cities where businesses are actively looking for web design services.
- Build strong referral networks – Word-of-mouth is everything in a small town.
- Use cold outreach strategically – Sometimes, businesses won’t come to you, so you have to go to them.
- Offer real value – Business owners need to understand how a new website will help them, not just why they need one.
At Redline Web Design, this is exactly how we’ve grown. We don’t just rely on Google rankings—we make sure people actually know we exist. We reach out, we network, and we provide real value to businesses in Upstate New York. That’s how we keep getting new clients, even in a small town like Earlville.
If you’re a business in Upstate NY and you’re looking for a web designer that understands the local landscape, let’s talk. We’re here to help your business grow—no matter where you’re located.