10 essential elements for a freelancer’s business website

Whether you are new to freelancing or have already managed to garner an
established book of clients, one key element to bringing in and retaining new business is a professional website. In an increasingly online business world, having a website that clearly conveys your expertise in your field is an important way to build trust with your potential clients, communicate important information about your services, and act as an “office” or “living room” for your freelancing business. Your freelancing business website says a lot about you as a freelancer and professional, so make sure it’s conveying the right message by being sure to include these 10 most important elements:

Introduction: Your headshot, bio, and a tagline

Think of your business website as a way of introducing yourself directly to
your clients. A professional headshot, (that reflects a bit of your personality), a brief description of who you are, where and how you got started, and what defines you as an expert in your field- along with a tagline will act as your, “Hi! I’m _______ nice to meet you!” Taglines are quick, catchy, and emphasize what your freelancing business can do for a potential client. Most businesses have some sort of tagline, and your freelancing business, or yourself as a consultant, should have one as well!

What you offer: Services, packages, professional Skills

What are you selling? What skills do you offer? What are your areas of
expertise? When clients come to your business website, they should be able to clearly see what you can do for them. Naming your packages or skills flashy or interesting things works for freelancers in certain lines of work, but make certain that a clear description is included. There’s no real benefit to a beautifully designed website with murky descriptions or unclear content. Make sure to put emphasis on your specific skills.

Examples of your work: A portfolio

If you’re a UI/UX designer, visuals of your successful designs will make you stand. A business analyst? A downloadable portfolio of your past projects is a great way to talk about your successes. Social impact expert? Infographics or links to your successful projects, or testimonials from previous clients that are happy with your work.

Your goal, after all, when potential clients view your site, is to showcase examples of your best and most successful work. This will entice your target audience to work with you.

What does it cost? Pricing guides

Clear pricing directly on your website is useful for a variety of reasons. It will help potential clients to determine right away if you are within their budget, and in the event that they are looking for a project that is not specified exactly on your page or the scope of which may be larger or smaller than your typical packages, they will already have a general idea of what to expect when it comes to your price range- saving you from too
much back and forth or excessive negotiations.

Frequently Asked Questions: Quick answers

FAQs are always a good idea to include on your freelance business site. No
matter what area of freelance you’re in, chances are there are client (existing and potential) questions that always seem to need answering. Save time on communication by placing the answers to these, clearly on your site.

Call to action: Compel the contact

Like any business, your freelance site should include compelling content that encourages users to engage in your services. This includes a classic “call to action,” which is a marketing component that asks a viewer directly to do something. “Call us now,” “click the link below!” “Sign up today, for a free first consultation,” are all examples of this.

Build your leads: Contact form

Including a contact form on your site is a key component to building a list of potential clients and leads.

When someone visits your site, and they are interested in your services but may not want to speak directly to someone right away, filling out a contact form is a way to garner their information, what they are looking for, and how to reach out to them. It’s a freelancer’s business website essential.

Glowing reviews: How great are you to work with?

It’s always a good idea to reach out to previous clients that you have had a
positive working relationship with and ask them for positive reviews. While many businesses include a direct link to Google Reviews, you have more control over and selection when you ask to publish quotes from prior clients directly on your page. This helps to both establish and build trust in your skills and professionalism.

Blog posts and insights: Show your industry expertise

Blog posts or insights pages on your website are great marketing for your
business.

They help to establish your expertise in your area of focus and provide many opportunities for you to build rapport and gain organically driven traffic to your website.

Blog posts are potential goldmines for strategic keyword placement, and routinely posting keyword-rich content keeps your site fresh and relevant in online searches.

SEO: Keywords for searchability

Finally, as mentioned above, keywords are a great way to help grow the traffic for your site. Knowing the kinds of search terms associated with the type of freelance business you do, and including those words throughout your headlines, blog content, subheaders, and page descriptions will help your site appear in more searches, getting you in front of more potential clients.

P.S: Don’t be afraid to build a professional website on your own. Yes, you’ve read that right. Building a website no longer requires you to have a background in webpage designing. There are plenty of online builders that can help you develop your site, that too at a fraction of the cost required for hiring a professional. Use our curated list of the best website builders and choose the one the fits your requirements. Don’t worry; our list isn’t 10 pages long like most others on the internet (and there are no kickbacks to us – this is independent advice!). We have selected the best 4 builders. We guarantee that our article will help you launch your site by the end of the week.