Design Agency Leads Year in Review 2024

If you're an agency looking for good clients with real budgets, Folyo sent over 500 of them this year, worth $37M in total project value.

These weren't small $500 website jobs - the average project budget was $75K. But raw numbers only tell part of the story. While over half our leads focused on design and UX work, the other half needed complex development, technical infrastructure, or systems integration. Government and public sector made up 29% of leads, followed closely by non-profits (26%) and tech companies (25%).

In this year in review, we'll break down exactly what types of projects came through Folyo in 2024, who was hiring, what they were looking for, and what this means for agencies heading into 2025.

Curious about what role AI played this year? When the most projects get posted? Which platforms and features were most requested by clients? Let's dive in.

Note: This is data is not across 12 months. January data and the final week of December were not included.

2024 Year In Review

This Year We Sent 484+ Website Design / Development Leads worth $36,000,000+ In Work

From February - December 2024, Folyo sent agencies 484 potential jobs. Each job was worth about $75,000 on average. Add it all up, and Folyo shared $36,000,000+ worth of work with agencies this year.

Think of it this way: that's about 40 good-sized projects every month, each one big enough to keep a small team busy for a few months. For agencies looking for work, that's a lot of opportunities to choose from.

The takeaway is simple: Folyo sends a lot of high-value work. We're not talking about small $500 websites here - we're connecting agencies with serious projects worth $75K on average. With 484 leads sent this year worth $37M total, there's more than enough quality work to help agencies grow significantly.

Project Type Distribution

The Most Requested Type of Project Was Visual Design and UX

We analyzed over 500 project leads and categorized them into 4 primary types based on their main focus:

• Technical Website Infrastructure (17%)
  Hosting, security, cloud development, database, architecture, migration, scaling
  

• Website Functionality (23%)
  CMS, blog, search, auth, ecommerce, analytics, SEO, admin tools
  

• Website Integrations (9%)
  APIs, OAuth, third-party connections, payment processing
  

• Visual Design & UX (51%)
  Mobile responsiveness, modern, branding, UX, wireframes, mockups, prototypes

Our analysis shows Visual Design & UX leads dominate at 51%, with technical work split between Functionality (23%), Infrastructure (17%), and Integrations (9%). This breakdown reveals most clients need a mix of design and technical work - they want complete solutions that combine strong visual design with robust functionality like CMS, ecommerce, and technical infrastructure. For agencies, this suggests building expertise across both design and technical services could increase project value versus specializing in one area.

Most Requested Features:

• User Experience: 22.5% (109 projects)

  • Mobile responsiveness

  • ADA compliance/Accessibility

  • User-friendly interfaces

• Integration Requirements: 14% (68 projects)

  • Payment systems

  • Event calendars

  • Social media

  • CRM/Analytics

• CMS Features: 13.2% (64 projects)

• Security: 10.1% (49 projects)

• Search & Navigation: 7.2% (35 projects)

• Performance: 4.8% (23 projects)

Client Type Distribution

Cities and Non-profits Were the Most Common Client Type in 2024

• Government & Public Sector (29%)
  Cities, counties, state agencies, and municipal organizations looking to modernize their digital presence and improve citizen services. These tend to be larger projects with structured RFP processes.

• Non-Profit & Associations (26%)
  Charitable organizations, foundations, professional associations, and advocacy groups. These organizations often need help showcasing their impact, managing donations, and building community engagement tools.

• Technology & Software (25%)
  SaaS companies, tech startups, and digital platforms looking to build or improve their web presence. These clients typically understand technology well and need sophisticated solutions.

• Education & Research (10%)
  Universities, colleges, schools, and research institutions. Their projects often involve complex content management, student portals, and educational resource organization.

• Professional Services (4%)
  Law firms, consultancies, financial services, and other professional service providers looking to establish credibility and generate leads through their web presence.

• Healthcare & Medical (3%)
  Hospitals, clinics, medical practices, and healthcare organizations needing secure, accessible websites that often integrate with patient portals or scheduling systems.

• Other Industries (3%)
  Various businesses that don't fit the main categories, including manufacturing, hospitality, and entertainment venues.

Budgets

The Average Lead's Budget was $76,000

The data shows most Folyo leads have significant budgets. Over half (52%) are in the $50K-$100K range, with another 23% over $100K. The average budget is $76K, ranging from $7K to $750K. Only 8% are under $25K, showing Folyo consistently connects agencies with well-funded projects.

Common Budget Ranges:

• Basic sites with standard features: $20K-50K

• Complex integrations: $50K-100K

• Enterprise-level with all features: $100K+

The High-Paying Type of Project was Technical Website Infrastructure Projects ($84K average budget)

Looking at this data, agencies can see that technical complexity drives higher budgets. Projects requiring infrastructure work, databases, and complex functionality average $82-84K, while pure design work averages $71K. However, design projects are most common (330 projects), suggesting reliable deal flow.

Key insight: Agencies can increase average project value by positioning themselves to handle technical infrastructure and complex functionality rather than focusing solely on design services.

The Highest Paying Type of Client Was Cities at $86,000 Per Project

Project Deadlines

The Average Time to Deadline Was 24 Days

This data shows how much time agencies have to respond to Folyo leads. The average lead gives agencies 24 days from when it's posted until the project deadline, with most projects (48%) falling in the 2-4 week range. Some are quicker - about 21% need responses within 2 weeks, while others give more time - 31% allow over a month.

The key takeaway is that agencies should plan for about 3 weeks of proposal process and use this time strategically. Rather than rushing to submit a basic proposal, agencies can build a systematic process that maximizes these 3 weeks: scheduling time for discovery calls, asking thoughtful questions, reaching out to past clients for references, and going beyond the basic RFP requirements. By treating these 3 weeks as a planned process with specific milestones, rather than a last-minute sprint, agencies can dramatically increase their chances of winning the work.

Other Takeaways For 2025

There Are More Opportunities Later In The Year

Q4 had 21% more leads than any other quarter. As organizations get closer to the end of the year, they likely have budgets they need to spend, and the number of leads per month picks up substantially. We saw this reflected in the metrics:

Lead volume by quarter:

• Q1 (Feb-Mar): 32.5* leads/month (* no January data)

• Q2 (Apr-Jun): 41 leads/month

• Q3 (Jul-Sep): 44.7 leads/month

• Q4 (Oct-Dec): 54 leads/month

Only 1% of Projects Focused On AI In 2024

Only 5 projects mentioned an AI-focus in 2024 (1.0% of all projects). While AI's impact on the agency design market has been a hot topic, I think overall AI helps agencies in 2025, mostly by allowing them to do more, faster.

An additional way I see AI affecting agencies in 2025 is helping grow the market. AI can help smaller organizations become sophisticated enough (both in terms of revenue and website sophistication) to hire and recognize the value of an agency. Part of this will depend on organizations recognizing the limitations of AI.

WordPress Continued to Dominate as The Most Requested Website Platform In 2024

WordPress continues to dominate agency projects with 12.4% of all mentions (60 projects), while Drupal remains a distant second at 3.3% (16 projects). Migration projects tended to command higher budgets ($7K to $180K range) and often involved either upgrading existing WordPress sites or consolidating multiple sites into one.

Wrapping It Up

The data from 2024 points to several opportunities for agencies in 2025:

First, timing matters. With Q4 showing 21% more leads than other quarters, agencies should prepare for increased opportunity during budget season. Build your pipeline early in the year but save capacity for Q4's surge in projects.

Platform consolidation is also driving agency work. Organizations want to merge multiple sites into single, modern platforms - primarily on WordPress. These migration projects tend to have higher budgets and more complex requirements.

While AI generated buzz in 2024, only 1% of projects specifically requested AI features. The real opportunity isn't in AI-specific work, but in using AI tools to deliver projects more efficiently as client budgets for technical complexity continue to rise.

Speaking of budgets - government and non-profit projects now represent over half of all leads. Agencies that master these sectors' requirements (like RFP processes and accessibility standards) will be well-positioned for the growing public sector demand.

Want to Land More Projects Like These in 2025?

Every week, Folyo sends your agency well-funded leads worth $75K on average. With over 500 RFPs worth $37M posted in 2024, we connect agencies with serious clients who have real budgets.

Sign up now to start receiving high-quality leads from government, non-profit and tech organizations looking for their next agency partner.