Beginning a new task, no matter what it may be, will always be a daunting prospect. As a freelance writer, if you’re starting the steps towards building a professional website, it’s very likely that you are new to the industry or are transitioning to a more solid platform of marketing yourself.
Whatever the reasoning may be, it can feel overwhelming. You want to do it right, with minimal time spent and zero frustration. You may jump to Google for answers and find dozens of websites explaining the precise steps. Which one do you go to? You soon find yourself spending too much time reading and not enough time doing it.
Don’t worry; I get it.
Breaking an enormous task down into smaller, digestible chunks can help ease the feeling of being overwhelmed. Creating actionable steps that aren’t too difficult can get the wheels turning. And then, before you know it, you’re accomplishing that monster assignment you thought was too much.
Your actionable step today will be to understand what the foundation of a freelance writer’s website is. There is no need to dig through a tedious list of how to do each task step by step. Instead, a basic understanding of what to include and why it’s essential to your brand.
Easy right? Let’s start with the beginning.
Home Page
A home page is the landing page of your website. It’s most likely what a client will see first and can create the impression of your identity and brand. As a freelance writer for hire, you want to make that title abundantly clear.
There would be nothing less devastating than a potential client arriving at your website and immediately viewing images of you cuddling with your cat. They throw a glance around the page, see nothing that screams “I’m a freelance writer,” and decide to leave.
Craft your home page with some of these tips in mind to avoid sending a client away from poorly displaying your brand.
- Include a professional photo of yourself with a short bio explaining who you are and what you do. Including the contact or hire me button can send a clear message that you are available.
- Displaying logos of publications and prominent businesses you’ve written for on your home page certifies that you are a professional writer.
- If you’ve taken any writing, marketing, or other courses related to your niche, you can include those as a part of your profile, like the brands you’ve written for.
You want your homepage to be welcoming, engaging, and speak to who you are and what you do in a single glance. You’ll include other pages on your website that go more in-depth, but this page will be the initial introduction to you.
About Me page
Don’t let this section confuse you. Despite what it’s called, you don’t want to write all about yourself, your life and personal history, or anything else that doesn’t apply to your freelance services.
This page will focus on the client and what you can offer them. It’s your personal sales pitch. It will be your first (and potentially last) impression.
The About Me section of your freelance website will be the most viewed page, as it delivers the most concise image of you and your services.
With that knowledge in hand, you want to ensure that you do this step correctly, right?
Here are some key points to keep in mind:
- Only talk about your personal history and experience if it relates to your niche. If you trained as a mechanic, but your writing niche is gardening, there’s no reason to include that educational background. One doesn’t affect the other.
- Include that you are a freelance writer for hire, and showcase what your writing niche is. If a potential client is skimming your page but doesn’t see those two key components, they will leave in search of someone who does offer those. Don’t make the mistake of looking like a hobby writer!
- Additionally, adding links to your work, testimonials, and significant publications that you’ve written for all help to build your credibility as a freelance writer. There’s no need to go overboard on this page, but be sure to include 1 or 2 of these in case a client doesn’t choose to look at the landing or portfolio pages.
- Craft all this information in a way that sells yourself. A client is looking for a writer, either to save time, money, improve sales\traffic, etc. Zero in on the problem you’re there to solve and present it to them in a convincing way.
Without a doubt, the About Me page will be one of the most critical areas of your website. Inject it with personality, allow it to ooze charisma and watch as it does all the work for you.
Hire Me Page
Treat this section of your website as the checkout of an online store. A potential client has perused your goods, added some items to the cart, but now it’s on you to finish that sale before they consider abandoning it.
Most individuals are under time constraints, and although you would like a future client to explore your entire website, the chances are likely that they will only visit the About me or Hire me page.
You want to create this page as a “mini-me” of your About page with that in mind. You will want to recap the essential details located in your About while shaping this as a way to seal the deal.
An excellent way to remember this is to highlight your writing niche, the skills you bring to the table, and why this would help the client. Always sell yourself as a winner.
Some optional additions to this page could be a list of what you do or don’t do and including your rates. Neither is required, but including them could be a way to filter out prospective clients that don’t fit into who you’re looking to work with.
Portfolio Page
As a freelance writer for hire, one of the essential tools you will need is a portfolio. You’ll find that this is much like a resume and showcases all your work to prospective clients.
Keeping a page dedicated to your published work is crucial. Clients that are considering you want to know that you can write well and engage an audience. The only way for them to determine this is by looking at what you produce.
There are many different ways you can showcase your work. If you’re using a WordPress website, there are even plug-ins that help with this! The direction you decide to go in will be completely up to you.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when listing your published work:
- Suppose you’re writing in several different niches and have a preferred one; list those related pieces closer to the top of the page. Subjects that you are less thrilled to write about should have a place lower down on the page.
- When applying for work, you can link this page instead of linking specific pieces. Of course, this will depend on the client and job, so use your discretion.
- Even if you’re a modest person, this page helps you shine. Go ahead and brag! Got that piece on Huffington Post or wrote for Walmart? Be sure to show that off. More prominent publications and names help to wow clients and display that you know what you’re doing.
A portfolio page is a spectacular way to display your work and writing ability, but what if you’re new and don’t have any work to showcase?
That’s okay.
You’ll instead want to make sure you create some writing samples to use when applying for jobs. Come back to this step once you’re able to.
Contact Me Page
You’ve put in all this time and effort to craft a compelling piece of marketing, and now you need to land that new client! Including a page that lists your contact information goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Be sure to have a contact page.
There, that’s out of the way.
Linking this to your other pages is essential as well. At the end of your About or Hire me page is a great location. A potential client has finished reading your written copy only to have no way of reaching out to you. They then decide to move on to someone else who had included a contact button. Devastating!
You should also include it on your homepage. An example of an incredible location would be your header or banner that includes your photo and mini description. A contact button at the bottom of the page for scrollers can be beneficial as well.
You want yourself to be accessible at every opportunity. Make sure that prospective clients can quickly reach out to you, or you may lose out on quality work.
Blog
Our next step can be an optional one. Know that including a blog on your freelance website is not essential to your success. But there are many positives associated with this decision.
- A new freelancer can use their blog for writing samples in place of paid or guest work.
- Updating a blog frequently can establish your authority and knowledge in your chosen niche.
- Gaining a following and receiving social media shares on your blog can show prospective clients that you know how to engage an audience.
- Writing for yourself can be a creative release, a method of keeping those creative juices flowing, and a way to train yourself to write daily.
- A personal blog will be a perfect space for you to learn and practice writing engaging posts.
For example, if you are starting as a freelancer, you’re not going to have very many, if any, published samples to show prospective clients. That’s a problem because clients want to know that you can write.
In the beginning, using your blog as a sample can aid you until you have published pieces to showcase.
If you choose to go this route, it is crucial to remember that you will need to maintain and update your blog. Starting a blog and then allowing it to gather dust won’t improve your standing with new clients. Instead, it will send a message that you don’t stick with tasks or that you abandon things once you’re bored. We don’t want that!
Conclusion
You’ve now learnt about the core basics which make up a writer’s website. The beautiful aspect of building a website is that it’s yours. You may take it in whichever creative direction serves you best.
So long as you include a stunning home page, a way for clients and readers to contact you, and all the basic information about your services, you’ll be golden.
Remember to treat yourself as a personal brand that you are marketing whenever crafting any content on your freelance website. With that in mind, you can be as creative as you desire while hitting all the key points that you need for a successful website.
Share with me which page you think is most important for a freelance writer’s website!