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As a freelancer, an online presence is very essential to your success. While social media platforms, amongst many others, are a way to create an online presence, the most important way for freelancers to thrive in the highly competitive digital market is to set up a website.
A simple website, not necessarily complicated, greatly increases your chances of landing gigs with potential clients. And if it's done right, with content that’s irresistible and a design that’s clear and engaging, your freelance website will attract more high-paying clients.
Your website tells your prospects about the quality and nature of your job, and it brings only your target audience to you. Meaning, you’ll get fewer emails and phone calls about work that you don’t do.
However, as good as this sounds, if the website is not done rightly and professionally enough, it's a big turn-off for clients and they’ll move on to the next freelancer on the list.
Unfortunately, very many times, freelance websites aren't done correctly. Your freelance website needs to grab the attention of clients fast, keep their attention long enough to persuade them to hire you and make it easy for them to contact you.
Here are 7 tips for you to make your website stand out and attract the right clients.
The sole aim of creating a website is to attract clients hence, your web content must be tailored towards meeting your clients' needs. Your content should answer the question "What's In It For Me?". As such, you're showing your prospects the benefit of working with you.
On your home page, your services, target clients, and offers must be concisely stated. And it must be written in a persuasive and compelling tone.
Remember, your prospect and their needs come first and your web content must provide a solution to all their needs. It's key to attracting high-paying clients.
While writing your headline, remember being clear is much better than being clever. Engaging headlines draw prospects to your website and your compelling web content keeps them long enough for them to hire you.
However, an ambiguous headline is a quick way to push prospects off your website. Clearly explain what you do and how this benefits the client.
No client wants to read your long web content. In fact, people no longer read websites, they simply scan through them. Ensure your sentences are simple, short, and precise such that your prospects can get the important messages by simply scanning through the website.
You're selling to your prospects, use language they will understand easily, bullets where necessary, and remove needless words. Tell them what they need to know first, and not bore them with redundancy.
Your logo should be at the top left corner of your website because people look at that part of a website first.
Generally, people use the F-shaped pattern when reading on a web, and looking at the top left corner is part of the pattern. It applies to mobile devices too. Hence, your key message should be at the top left corner. The message must be precise and compelling enough.
The next is a clear call to action. Tell your prospect the exact things you need them to do with a single sentence or phrase. Your call-to-action must be on every page along with your contact information.
What's the essence of a website if your prospects can't get in touch with you? Make it super easy for your clients to reach you.
Include your email address, phone number, on every web page and a separate contact page. The bottom of each page is a nice place for your contact details.
Testimonials from happy clients help you attract more clients—because new clients want to know that other clients found your services beneficial and satisfactory. That's key to getting them to hire you.
If you’re new to freelancing you won’t have this page yet. And That’s fine. Add them when they are ready. What others say about you is more powerful than what you say about yourself. It's like social proof.
If your freelance website is not visually engaging, then you need a complete revamp of the site. We live in a visual age where people value visual elegance more than anything. If your website doesn't appeal to your prospect, then you're never getting that gig. Hire a professional website designer. And employ other key design elements such as; using the right fonts, color combination, optimize the design for mobile devices.
More so, your site should not take more than three seconds to load, especially on mobile devices, and use the right images for your home page.
However, make sure the design is done moderately. Your web content, and design must complement each other. That's the beauty of a website.
Based on a conversation with @mjcreativeclt and @thewrittenworld.
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