The entertainment and advertising industry has opened up a tremendous amount of opportunities for freelance…
Every Freelancer Needs a Website and Here’s Why
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One of the biggest challenges that every freelancer has to face is to how to reach potential freelance clients.
It’s especially hard at the beginning of your freelance path and can cause some stress. You don’t have the resources and necessary knowledge to run a complex marketing campaign. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can attract clients by creating a professional freelance website.
Keep reading and you’ll learn all the benefits creating a freelance website will give you as well as how to achieve them.
A freelance website is a confirmation of your authenticity
Once your potential freelance clients find you on social media or hear about you from a colleague, their next step will be to google your name. What happens if nothing pops up? They’ll lose interest and trust. It’s as if you don’t exist. That’s why you need a website. It’s the easiest way to confirm that you’re in fact real and that you are not trying to scam anybody.
It’s important to include your contact data and some information about yourself on your freelance website. The best places to do this are the menu and the footer. Those two elements are going to be visible on every subpage of your site. That’s why it’s worth it to display the most essential features and information there.
Something that will boost your authenticity even more is the testimonial section. You’ve managed to make some clients satisfied with your work? Don’t be shy to share their positive reviews. To make it even more interesting and eye-catching, add some animations to your testimonial section or display them in a slider. Moving elements draw attention and cause your visitors to stay longer on your website.
A freelance website gives you a control over how you present yourself
Your image as a freelancer is extremely significant. What image you want to convey depends on the type of freelance work you do. If you’re a freelance life coach, for example, you want your potential clients to think of you as a trustworthy and reliable yet inviting person, and your website should reflect that. More toned down colors, shades of blue or green and minimalistic design with highly curated images should work for you.
On the other hand, if you are an artist, show your creativity and style. Let the website tell the story of your work and give the visitor the sense of what they can expect from you. It’s so much easier to build the personal brand and reach your targeted audience when your website is cohesive with the style of your work.
People like and recognize things they are familiar with. By building and maintaining a consistent image, you help them to distinguish you from the competition. So spend some time and decide what font, colors, or shapes you want to use. Create a logo, some slogans and your main theme. If you need some help with that, you might want to ask professional graphic designers and website designers. I assure you, that this investment is going to pay off. Stick to the rules of your visual identity on your website, social media and correspondence. You won’t regret it.
A freelance website lets your customers actually see your work
Like I said before, your freelance website should reflect your style but can never replace your actual work. That’s something that you can exhibit in a portfolio. Show work you’ve already done. Be proud of your achievements.
When creating a freelance portfolio, you should keep in mind that its sole purpose is to display your work. So try not to overshadow it with too many special effects.
If you create products that you sell, it’s also a good idea to combine a portfolio with an e-commerce store. Putting an “add to cart” button right next to your amazing graphic design is going to convert into more sales. You’ll navigate your customers through the sales process and make the whole experience easy for them.
Selling your products directly through your freelance website also means that you’ll make more money, since no e-commerce platform is charging you a commission. You’ll also be able to decide how you want to display your products. I highlight this once again, but the level of control over your image your own website gives you is one of a kind.
Most importantly, a freelance website helps you reach potential clients
When you have a website, people can find you even if they are not looking for you to begin with. They might type “copywriter in my neighborhood” and in the next few minutes send you an email to discuss the details of your offer. Having a website is a first step to having that happen.
Learn a bit about search engine optimization (SEO), and even more people will find you. Your website should also contain the answers to the questions that your potential clients are typing into the search bar. Sometimes, though, typical information that answers these questions such as the freelance services you offer, a description of your experience or contact info are simply not enough to beat the competition and place you on the top of the list of search results. Including a freelance blog on your website will cause search engines to rank your site higher in search results.
Just a few well written and keyword-rich optimized blog posts can make a huge difference in the traffic you’ll receive. Those people might originally only be looking for specific information and might want only to read about what they were looking for. But it’s possible that at the end of the day, they will become your clients. Or at least recommend your services to somebody else.
Being present online raises the awareness of your business. And that is necessary to succeed in the modern world. As a freelancer, in addition to having a social media profile or two, you really need to create a professional website that has an interesting blog.
Conclusion
As you can probably already tell, a freelance website can really kick-start your freelance business. It helps you to reach potential clients, gain their trust, show and sell your work and build a consistent image. Those are key elements to a successful freelance business. So go ahead and create your first website or update the one you’ve got already. You will thank yourself later!
Want to learn more about freelancing? Take my free 7-lesson mini-course Get on the Right Path to Freelancing here.
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Images by XPS and Amy Hirschi
Monika Buchelt
Monika Buchelt works as a marketing specialist at WebWave, the company that created a free website builder for both professionals and amateurs. As a marketing specialist, she promotes WebWave on international markets. She is especially interested in business psychology.
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Hi Monika, I’ve met several freelancers who did not have websites because they had so much work. But then, in a few years, they lost a few accounts and still had no website to generate new sales. It’s a big mistake not to have a website for your own freelance business. You need to showcase your work often and promote yourself. You never know when you may lose a customer or two. Then your website can be a lead-generating machine!
Hi Lisa, thank you for your comment.
You’re definitely right – a website is a great way to generate leads. Neglecting your online presence can result in loosing existing clients and not reaching new ones.
These days, if you want your freelance business to thrive, you have to promote it online. Fortunately, setting up a website is so much easier now than a few years back.
Hi Monika,
Spot on. A personal website, a professional (domain-specific) email ID over free Gmail or Hotmail ID, and a portfolio section: I think these are the top priorities for a freelancer to reach out to prospects effectively. This way, they won’t need to Google about you, and they can find all the required information in a single place.