By John Brown
Some freelancers still prefer keeping their portfolios in a Google Drive folder. Nevertheless, those who decide to take freelance seriously and make good money usually have a website. Of course, this requires certain investments, but all your efforts will definitely pay you off.
If you want to start building your own website and need to get cash now, you might want to look for vetted lenders that offer the best short-term loans on lending platforms such as GetCash.com. You can receive from $100 to $5,000 depending on your needs and credit score the next day.
Already thinking of building your own online pages? Let us show you the most critical elements that should be included in your website.
Domain Name
A domain name is everything people type after “www.” in the URL line to find your site. There are some platforms where you can create a website for free. But in this case, you have to keep a specific part of the domain name without changing it. One such platform is Tilda, for instance. If you want to use it without paying, you have to add “tilda” after your domain name.
However, we can name at least two reasons why a paid domain name is a better solution. First, when your potential customer sees that you invested money in having the possibility to show your work, he starts thinking of you as a professional who will not suddenly disappear with the prepayment. Second, you can find a lot of new customers using SEO.
Unique Selling Proposition
When a person lands on your website, they have to understand from the first seconds what exactly you offer and why you are better in your job than many others. Your USP can be, for example, a 50% discount for the first order or a free analysis of the customer’s website from your professional point of view. Make your value proposition bright and catchy. And don’t hide any tricks under the USP. If you promise a discount of up to 50%, it’s not fair to offer customers a 5% lower price at the end.
Your Services
Try to keep this part of your website as precise as possible. Are you writing texts? List all types of texts you can write — newsletters, product descriptions, cover letters, etc. The more detailed information you add, the higher your chances of getting an order.
We also suggest adding a price to each service. Most freelancers say that everything entirely depends on the difficulty of the order. In this case, you can create several difficulty levels, describe each of them briefly and mention an approximate price. The customers should know at least roughly how much they are going to pay for your services.
Portfolio
Show your work — easy to say, but not always easy to do. What do you do if you have just a few successful examples? How do you make a portfolio if you are a copywriter? These and other questions are stopping freelancers from creating their own websites.
Well, first things first. There is a way to show any type of work. If you write texts, add links to your publications and write short descriptions next to them. If you are, for instance, a translator, add links to the documents with original texts and their translations.
If you have a lot of different works to present, it’s a good idea to put them in categories. It doesn’t really matter whether you categorize them by topics, type of projects, or any other criteria. The primary purpose here is to make it easier for the website visitor to go through your works.
About You
It’s important to get a little more personal with the potential customer and tell the person who you are. Write a few words about your education, experience, and hobbies, and maybe add your favorite quote — whatever you find appropriate. Don’t forget to add your photo as it’s always nice to see the person you are going to work with.
Contact Form
Provide your website visitors with several ways to contact you. It can be your e-mail address, social network accounts, or even phone number. But the most convenient option for many of your potential customers is leaving you a message via a contact form. So if you can add it to your website and regularly check whether someone left you a message, it would be a great choice.
Wrapping Up
All in all, a freelancer without a website is like a programmer without a computer. If you want to make a good impression on your customers and make freelance your primary source of income, start thinking of a proper domain name right now.
About the Author
John is a financial analyst but also a man of different interests. He enjoys writing about money and giving financial tips, but he can also dive into relationships, sports, gaming, and other topics. Lives in New York with his wife and a cat.