Must have Essentials for Your Freelance Website

As a freelancer, we are our own company, we have to wear multiple hats and do multiple things which we may or may not be experienced to do. But one thing which we absolutely must do is have a great looking website to attract new business and in this article we will be taking a look at the must have essentials for your freelance website.

Before we get into the essentials let us understand why we need to have a website as a freelancer and how can it impact our bottom line. You may often think to yourself, Do I really require a website for my freelance career? Yes! You absolutely do. A website is essentially your digital address, you can’t run a business without a physical office similarly you can’t run a freelance business without a digital address.

Still not convinced about having a website? Here are a few reasons to convince you as to why you need to have a website for your freelance career to thrive.

• It shows professionalism and establishes you as a legitimate option to consider
•  It helps establish trust and credibility
•  It helps you in showcasing your skills
• It helps your prospects collect more information about you
• It helps your customers find you.
• It helps you in positioning yourself as an expert in the domain.

By now I’m certain that you see the benefits of having a business for yourself as a freelancer, So let us take a look at some of the most important must have essentials for your freelance website.

1. A Professional looking website

It’s only natural that an article about websites would have the first essential as a professional website. A website, as we established, is your online address and you must ensure that it is built on a memorable, simple to remember and easy to pronounce domain name.

You can commission a digital artist to create a customized website specifically for you or you can use one of the many template based drag and drop website builders to create a stunning website for yourself.

A professional looking website typically has pages such as Home Page, About, Services, Portfolio, FAQs, Blog, Contact Us, Pricing and Packages and Client Testimonials.

2. A Pricing page with packages you offer

A pricing page is one of the most important pages you absolutely must have on your website, a pricing page lets your customers know what they should be expecting to pay and what would the deliverables be in return. This shows that you are serious about your freelance career and also keeps the clients with low budgets at bay.

Your website should ideally have 3 packages with the 3 basic price points, a cheap beginner package which shall lure potential customers to try your service, an intermediate package which ideally should be the most value for money and an advanced package which would carry the highest ticket price and also make you high margins.

3. Client Testimonials

What’s the most important thing that builds trust and credibility? Reviews and Testimonials! Your website should always have a client testimonial page with real testimonies of your previous happy clients.

Testimonies from previous clients help persuade the minds of your potential clients and manipulate them using their emotions to go ahead and try out a new product or service. Studies have proven that in most cases humans rely not on logic but on emotions to make decisions and with the help of testimonies you can convince a new client to try out your service.

Frankly, who doesn’t like a good story? testimonies also act as a good story since it has characters (the clients) with a problem they are looking to resolve (Conflict) and solutions which you provide (resolutions).

Some important points to consider while displaying testimonies.

• Have an image of your client (Human Connect)
• Understand the Buyer Persona
• Be selective
• Get a video

If you are going to use a CMS like WordPress you can consider this list of WordPress Testimonial Plugins.

4. Visually Appealing Logo

A logo is a combination of text and visuals that serve two important functions, one, tell your customers the name of your business and two, create a visual representation of what your business is all about.

Logos help your customers make associations and associations are positive for any business, think of the last time you saw the iconic golden arches of McDonald’s and thought of tasty fast food that’s affordable.

You can have a graphic designer make one or if use a Logo Creator, which is probably the best option if funds are tight, you can also make a logo yourself but the end result might not be the best.

Whichever route you choose you the main thing is that you have a professional looking design in the end. A poorly designed logo can make potential clients think twice about your service, which obviously you don’t want.

5. Payment Gateway Integration

You don’t want your clients to go to a third party just to commission you some work and pay you your dues, do you? Having a payment gateway like PayPal integrated into your website not only help decrease bounce rate but also make it a lot more convenient for your clients to pay you on time and immediately without having to jump through hoops.

There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing the payment gateway and it can be confusing to choose one but in our recommendation it is always easier to use either the payment gateway from a credit card vendor like Visa or simply use PayPal which also has an easy developer API which can be integrated to your website in no time.

6. Email Subscriptions

Studies have proven that 77% of consumers prefer email marketing over other types of marketing communications and you shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to reach your customers where they would most prefer.

Having an opt-in for your email newsletter where you send out great content either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly is an absolute must for any new freelancer and their website as it helps you get more business by sharing stories of your client’s success with other clients and potential clients.

There are lots of email providers but MailChimp email is a good option if your are on a budget their free plan is really good

In the process of creating a website and an email newsletter don’t forget to create value for your customer via the newsletter as only 33% of people actually read the whole email unless you can capture their attention via the headline or through the content in less than 30 seconds.

Some of the best content for your newsletter will come from your past clients and their stories so don’t forget to share their experiences with your email subscribers.

Time to Build Your Empire

Website builder software help building a freelancing empire starts with creating a killer website. Remember to get all the essential in place and make sure that you present a professional, trustworthy storefront that potential clients won’t question.

If you have any question or tips we would love to hear them.