Transcripts
1. Introduction: Having a website shows that you're running a professional business and sells your services. These days, clients do expect freelancers to have websites, and we live in a visual age. So it's important for small business owners have sides that are compelling, attractive, and impressive. This class is an inspiration station covering both the design and content for freelancer websites. Anything but ordinary. We'll look at several inventive freelancer and personal brand websites and you'll get inspiration to create or update yours. My name is Rosie Bell and I'm a freelance writer, editor and author. I've written for publications on both sides of the Atlantic, like BBC, forums, travel guide, Lonely Planet, Shonda land, and many more. I've run several small businesses over the years, coached other up-and-coming freelancers and design various high converting websites to showcase these surfaces. This class is perfect for freelancers from all walks of life and all industries. Whether you are a life coach, language teacher, or a luxury travel, it it's suitable for you whether you are a seasoned pro or just dipping your feet into the world of freelancing. An Excel worksheet will be provided for you listing all the websites referenced within this course, as well as a list of more than 100 carefully selected premium WordPress themes that you can use to create your website. The information in this class will be useful if you're building your site by yourself or briefing a designer to do it for you. Upon completion of this class, you'll have a blueprint for building a standout website, the different shades and showcases your services attractively. That's gets started.
2. The Importance of Freelancer Websites : before we begin, let's take a very quick look at the importance of having a wonderful website as a freelancer. Your website is your calling card and it's highly recommended that every business has one. People go to search engines and not phone books when in need of products and services, and often your business website is first impression. There are about 3.2 billion Google searches every day. People are actively looking for solutions to their problems. Your website can appear as one of those solutions. It's the easiest way to be found for what you want to be found for. You can have social media accounts and a linked in page, but your website is the one place that you truly own and have absolute control over. Having your own website is your way of controlling your narrative in your online presence. You're essentially curating what people find when they search for you on Google or any other search engines. A great website with great coffee will help you market your services. Copy, by the way, is all the words everything in anything appearing in marketing materials and your website is one of your most prominent marketing tools. It's the fastest way for clients to see how you may be of service to them on the value that you could create for them. It can help you communicate your benefits, display your work or even get famous and sell things that you produce thistles where all your storytelling can take place your tone, visuals, word, choices, colors, your mission, your values, skills and services are right there for all to see Thistles, where you really get to sing your own praises with all the bells and whistles and humble brag all you want. You can shout from the rooftops about what a great accountants right there. A programmer. You are your accolades, what you're good at and what makes a unique in a sea of freelancers. If you've got testimonials from happy customers, they can take center stage here. Your website is the best of the best about you all in one place. Your website can be updated to show potential clients what you're currently working on, and it can emphasize the progress that you've made over your career. Having a website is actually a subtle requirement for freelancers and businesses of any kind when you're a freelancer, you are your own business. Your personal website is essentially your Web resume, but unlike most sieving useful resumes, it could be as creative and dynamic as you want it to be. A winning website can help you win projects by virtue of its creativity, completeness, content and design. Having a website helps you operate in a global space because people can find you from all corners of the world. Not all social networks are available or accessible to everyone in every country. Ultimately, ah, website for your freelance business is your very own platform to showcase all of your strengths. The question is, why wouldn't you want that?
3. Your Goals, Audience and Tone : before you start working on your freelance Web site in the copy for it, it makes sense to outline your goals, audience and tone. Knowing what you hope to achieve on who you're talking to lets you know how to talk to them . Having these things clear in your mind is like having a funnel lets you know what your creative boundaries are. Start with your goals and objectives. What's the message you would like to convey? What's the first thing that you want someone to think about you and the land on your sense that your creative, capable accomplished? What do you want them to think when they leave your sight that they want to hire you, work with you or get in touch with you? Are you selling, educating or a bit of both, knowing your mission actually helps you choose your words. For instance, when you're looking to convince you, use loaded emotive words to invoke a certain feeling. All response. When you're trying to inform or educate people in the need for your product or service, you might use facts, figures, data or general truisms to convert or invoke a desired action, use verbs and calls to action. So what? Call to action do you need to include to reach your goal? Do you want people to sign up for your newsletter? Take a quiz by your courses. Book an appointment with you. Join your community. Purchase your e book well, just straight up. Higher you right away. Make sure you include in their call to action and preferably have one on each page. Next consideration is your audience. Accurately. Defining your audience is like hitting the bull's eye in a game of darts. You can target your side to your audience better. When you have snippets of wisdom about that. What are they looking for? What do they stand to gain by working with you? What are their motivations? Why do they need your part doctor service? You have to understand the problem you solve and who can gain from the value that you create to whittle down your audience. Imagine that your ideal customer is sitting in a chair in front of you right now. Describe that. Imagine what this client looks like, what they're wearing, what their demeanor is like, what they currently lack and what excites them. Thistles. The person that your website needs to appeal to. Then you should keep this person in mind throughout and tailor your site and its design and content to them. Write for your audience not for yourself, because your business exists for your consumers. So who is your target? Consumer or audience? Once you know who this person is or who this group of people are and what the inside that you're addressing is, you can then talk to them about the benefits. Your benefits could be functional or emotional. A functional benefit could be saving time and money for your clients. And an emotional benefit could be the feeling that the client gets from working with you or the feeling of relief that they'd get from finally finding a solution for a long standing problem. Years. Potential customers want to know about the benefits of buying from you or working with you , because that's what's going to encourage them to stick around and potentially engaged with you. So which benefits do you provide? Next up is your tone. Your tone of voice is an honorable manner or style in which you communicate with your audience, and you should use it consistently wherever you're speaking. to clients. Your tone of voice is the way that you communicate about yourself. It's the living, breathing personality of your Brad. Yes, as a freelancer, you have a brand Before you start writing, anything should have an idea of what your brand personality is. Knowing this lens silky smooth hand to the Web development process because it will be clear whether it's appropriate or helpful to use puns, jokes or statistics. Knowing your personality and tone also helped to select the language you use regarding your tone. Do you wish to come across as formal informal or even a mixture of both brands with a formal tone of voice? Strive for tactful neutral messaging that tends to avoid strong language and profanity. This is the approach used in a lot of business to business marketing. Informal brands are often relatable, casual and funny. They aren't scared to put fun at their brand or topic. They get people to laugh along with them to be positive associations and become memorable, and they used colloquialisms liberally to make their content conversational and accessible . Just because your website is for professional business doesn't mean it has to be stuffy or overly formal your tone absolutely depends on your industry, your personality and the kind of feeling that you wish to create. Remember that how you present yourself is a teaser of what it will be like to actually work with you. So if you present yourself as informal and relatable, clients will proceed that working with you will be the same way. You can certainly give your websites and flair, personality and possessed with a bit of human. Don't be scared of it. In this example from Joshua McCartney's professional website, visitors are reeled in with the strong dose of humor, which tends them to carry on scrolling until they find his majorly impressive portfolio, which includes work on various Netflix TV shows. Being funny requires a bit more thought and creativity, but it really pay off in terms of your engagement.
4. Visually Appealing Design : design is subjective naturally, but there are some widely accepted best practices that can help you create visually appealing website that visitors will want to feast their eyes off. People read sites in an F shaped pattern, so you should always put the most crucial information and key messages on the left side of the page. It's been said that Web users spend as much as 80% of their time viewing the left half of the page and just 20% on the right side. The top left corner gets the attention first, which is why it's a great place for your name for your logo. In this example from Australia's Balutis, he has a scroll through website where the menu items disappeared during scrolling. But the logo is always visible on the top left throughout, so it's imprinted in the minds of anyone on the site thistles. Also the case with this visually arresting sight from product designer MTI s Adam, the site is designed in a way that you will never forget his name, and you're continually exposed to the information that he deems the most important photo job title and contact information. The most important information on your site that you want to make sure it gets seen should be placed above the fold when thinking of reading newspapers and broadsheets. The information above default is what appears a top half before you would have to unfold the paper to get to the bottom of the page. On websites. Your most important information should be instantly accessible without people even needing to scroll at all. In Web design, above the fold is sometimes used interchangeably with above school. THIS'LL section should be reserved for your highest priority information, so that if someone on Leigh read the beginning of your content, they will still come away with the most crucial messages. You should ideally put your value proposition here. Adding multimedia elements draws in viewers and encourages them to immerse themselves deeper info, graphics, condensed, complex ideas and facts into aesthetically pleasing visuals. Photos aren't just for decoration. They can tell stories in themselves, embedded videos entertained and increase the amount of time that Mr spend on your site. People will always choose to watch a video over reading blocks of text. If they have the option to Devon Stance, Website tends to end up on lists of best portfolio websites. Hiss site uses both images and video on the scroll through home page. The video tells the story of his business and his work by a detailed descriptions of coffee preparation, which is actually a metaphor for his attention to detail on meticulous nature. As well as showing off aspect of his personality and his love of coffee itself. Multimedia is great for branding. You can attractively and quickly highlight different facets of your business and personal life. Video puts a face and a voice to the name, so feel free to use both images and videos to create a multi sensory experience for your site. Visitors remember that as much as you want to use amazing videos and images, it's very important that your side still loads quickly. If people can't access your side, they'll leave interactive content. Make spending time on your side all the more enjoyable. If you give visitors a playful, immersive experience, there's a higher likelihood that they'll like and remember you. Interactivity also somewhat forces. This chose to engage with your content. They have to be committed to get the next step, or for a new page to open or for a new information to be revealed. Some might argue that animations could be distracting, but they're delightful. If you want a website that's truly different, you tend to see animations on websites from programmers, you, X, u Y and graphic designers. But there's no reason why other freelancers can't get in on the fun to play around with animations. Because this is just something is generally under used in Web design, and we can therefore help you stand out. Use high quality images to make your site for more inviting images at entertainment value. They show up your personality. They help explain what your text says, and they break up text to aid Readability. Even if you're photo is small in size, it's important to use a high quality. There shouldn't be any visible picks, elation or blur unless this is intentional for stylistic effect. Don't just include any old image just for the sake of inclusion. Thean images that you select. You add something or serve a purpose. Is that image going to stop someone in their tracks, help them connect with you or reveal something your side should also showcase what your visual identity is. Justice brands and companies have consistent design themes, color schemes and type phones your personal brand can to. In the case of my personal brand, I use a specific light blue tone along with white or black text. All I do it's on the cover of my book escaped to self and all over my website, Rosie Bell dot net. Another visual element that's consistent with my personal brand is palm trees or leaves To invoke feelings of escapism and play thes things come together to create my visual brand identity. Figure out your style guide. We used it to certain colors. Use icons or cartoons or real photos. Robert Catalano is a writer, and her website was very clear. Visual identity. Different pages have different color schemes, and the same shades of green, red and yellow appear over and over again. Here on Good as Gold studio dot com, the products that this designer has available for purchase all have a similar cover. She uses a particular cursive phoned for all of her large headings. Palm trees are always visit. Play around with colors and shades. Color is your ally and design contrasting colors. Give a site clear visual identity. Take a look at this Navy and lilac dreams. Jeannie Go or this site from Robin Rotman, which use a strong contrast of navy blue, light blue and yellow to paint a pretty picture. Anna Ellenberger site uses bare, dramatic dark colors against white test. She is an illustrator and designer, and you can tell that some thought has definitely gone into the design of her side. Due to the use of these colors, be careful that the colors that you use don't clash. Still allow for a harmonious user experience. Another great to is using color coordinated, partitioned sections. Tell a visual story. This creates very interesting browsing experience. When you're using a WordPress page builder, let WP Bakery or L a mentor. This could be achieved by adding parallax sections. A study by the Nielsen Norman. We found that people don't lead websites. They scan them. In fact, only 28% of the words on the Web page are red. For this reason, you should use simple sentences, shorter paragraphs and have lots of white space white spaces sometimes referred to as negative space. And it makes a page the cleaner. And that's the reader. Focus on what you want them to focus on the content regarding paragraphs. The shorter they are, the easier they are to read, which means there's a greater chance of leaders will stay with you. Sometimes you'll even see sites that have just single lines of text. To break things up even further, you should make all your side contents easily scannable with bold headlines. Subheadings to break up large sections of text, dumb in bold headlines like these ones on Sean O Connor site. Draw in the eyes. It goes without saying that you should use fonts that aren't too small that are easy to read. Lastly, remember that your site should be responsive and optimized for different devices and screens to when choosing a theme. Or if you're working on the design yourself, make sure to test your site and see how it looks. Not just on desktops. Something. Developers actually have this function readily available within their live demos, which shows you just have important responsive design is
5. Compelling Content: onto the crucial content for your site. Now in this section will cover website must haves and nice to have first up, the must have within three seconds. Your site needs to communicate exactly what you have to offer because you never get a second chance at a first impression. Your website needs to immediately communicate what you do, who you do it for and the benefits of working with what's in it for clients and customers. They need to know that you're capable, and not just because you think you are. Give them proof. What plans really care about is how you will help them achieve their goals. They aren't on your side to become your best, for although it would be great if that happened for the down the line. Your website is yours. But it's really about your clients and catering to beer needs. Keeping this in the back of your mind will serve you well. As you write all your website copy most compelling websites. Our client focused ones. You shouldn't just be talking about yourself on your side, not even on your about me page. You're not the one who needs to be convinced to hire you or work with you. Speak the language of your customers to get them on board right for them and talk to them. You should always be trying to connect with perspective Clients. Make your message as personable as possible and use you and yours more than they, them, me and I to help them identify with your message. Your side should also include information about your education and experience and social proof and testimonials, because what other people say about you is far more powerful than what you say about yourself. Recommendations, badges and logos of businesses that you currently or previously worked with are a speedy way of building trust. Where possible include names and photos with testimonials to give them extra credibility. People love to hear stories from real people. Thistle also helps them know that you haven't just made up a bunch of glowing reviews. Also includes success indicators like awards, any accolades, professional achievements, accreditation and honors that you've received. If you can't brag about yourself on your own website, where can you mention your services? Offered your areas of expertise and any projects that you've been involved in? One of the most crucial elements of your website is having a clear call to action. You might even have several, depending on what your goals are. They should certainly be at least one very visible call to action right on your home page. Calls to action should be visually striking and ideally, in a color that contrasts with main color scheme of your home paint while still fitting in with the overall design. Examples of call to action Poppy are sign up maken appointment registered today, or try it for free or in this great example, which says, Hit the damn. But let's go through some contents. Nice to have snap. It doesn't hurt to start with a bang with a line that throws water in the reader's face to make them pay attention, arrest the audience's attention in the first few seconds you get it. You can also engage visitors instantly by asking a punchy or thought provoking questions. This'd invites them to start reading, which brings them one step closer to understanding more about you and why you'll be a great partner for them to stimulate thirst and a desire for your services. Let it be known that you're a hot commodity that you're in demand and therefore your time is limited. Mention if your first batch sold out if you're currently fully booked. The scarcity effect is the cognitive bias that makes people place a higher value on things that are in short supply and the lower value on things that are abundantly available. Play hard to get a little bit. Talk about the limited number of appointments lost that you have available or mention if you have a waiting list. It's also a nice touch to have a professional headshot for photo of you on your site. Even better if it's a photo doing something directly related to your profession. Most people are visual, so use high quality images and videos to sweeten the experience that visitors have on your site. Another thing to consider is that if you have any external links, for instance, for your portfolio or your body of work, check that they open in a new tab or window Thistle's So visitors don't completely leave your site, which has been so much time and effort building. There are plug ins that you can download to make sure that all external links opened this way. I have included a checklist of these content must have and Nice toe have in your Handy Excel document, which you can refer to when you're building your site onto landing pages next.
6. Home and Landing Pages: your home page gets the bulk of your traffic, so it's crucial that it converts as many visitors as possible into leads. And hopefully, clients by besides tend to have high bounce rates, which means that vistors land on your home page and do nothing on the page they end, meaning that they just leave your sight entirely. For this reason, you need to create something compelling to make them want to stay. Your home Page has the tough job of convincing visitors to take the leap, click on other pages and discover your sites. Other corners. It should make visitors curious enough to say, Tell me more. Most compelling home pages communicate the benefits instantly. They have a clear value proposition and a call to action immediately. Announce your benefits above the fold right where visitors can see them without even having to scroll. Web users are lazy, and they're easily distracted. Hold on to their attention soon as you get it. In case Mr has never make it to your other pages at all, make sure they've already been exposed to your core value right on the landing page. If this is all that is, just get to know about you. Is it enough to communicate what's great about you? Tell them who you are and why they should care. Side visitors shouldn't have to become detectives to figure out what you're all about, what it is that you do clearly state your name and self your services or products right on the home page. Scroll through. Websites in particular, are really great for telling a story incrementally from your Why to your who and your house . Scrolling is much less of a commitment than clicking on different pages. Take a look at this example from UX designer Melanie David. Her scroll through said It takes us on an attractive journey through a process previous experience clients and contact information and then to congratulate visitors from making it to the very end. There's a digital high five. This is a nice little touch that makes her memorable. It also shows that she understands what user experience is all about, and she makes hers on her site a true pleasure. Award winning film director Kyla Simone Bruce has a nice and simple scroll through site that compartmentalizes the types of films that she creates and side visitors can watch each of them right there on her home Page three End of the Schooling Experience leads to her call to action to sign up for her newsletter, where she posts updates and invitations to private screenings and film industry events. There should always be some sort of call to action at the foot of a page after misters have scrolled through and seen all you have to offer. That's also not forget that your home page should be easy on the eye. It's not just about functionality. It's what prosthetics as well Would you intentionally create ugly business card? If you wouldn't? Then don't let your business suffer with an ugly home page because your website is your digital business card. Everyone knows an attractive website when they see one. The same goes for ugly ones. Design is subjective, but if your side hurts the eyes, Fister's will be out of there in no time. A great home page is particularly important for a new business that leads to step out there into the world with its very best face. However, it doesn't matter how long you been in the game or how successful your business is your home or landing pages, the ace in your deck and you should spend the most time crafting it
7. About Pages and Bios: your about page is one of the most important pages on your website, and it needs to be well crafted. This is where people can read your bio, which is significant confident of your personal brand. To write your bio, think of 3 to 5 words that describe what you do, who you are and your benefits the wider world. Use those words to inform everything you write your about. Page should also communicate what your USP is. Theo USP or unique selling point is what different shades your business and makes it stand out from the rest. Like if you're the fastest, first, most innovative. If you won the most awards, where were the only person to do something, perhaps, or the most affordable, or have the highest quality? Are you a cook that uses where ingredients are only a few ingredients? Do you have famous clients with specific dietary needs? Are you a writer that never misses deadlines? Or perhaps you're a writer that helps job hunters right. Non vanilla resumes toe. Ascertain what your USP is. Make a list of all the things that differentiate your business from competitors. How do you meet your customer's needs better than your competitors does. What do you bring to the table that the next person Kant Your USP should be focused on what customers love or need? Because it's the single most compelling reason that they'll hire or buy from you. Your business can even have a tagline. Taglines aren't just for fancy shmancy T v adverts. They aren't just for products, either. You as a freelancer can have a tagline, which you include on your about page and deliver your website and all your marketing materials. Your tagline is a short and powerful compression of your identity into a single pithy phrase that reinforces what makes you valuable to customers or stresses the differences between you and your competitors. These are long lasting brand statements that represent an idea or promise. Think of it as a very tightly condensed elevator pitch theatric. Tabling length is just four words. As you can see on an Lafayette's website, she has her attack line at the very top of her sight, and it's visible on every page. It's never too late to create is her tagline, which acts as both a mantra for prospective clients and a summary of her brat. She got into surface pattern design very late in life and now has a business helping others make a living out of their heart. It's not unusual for people or personal brands to have taglines. You may have come across taglines from these entrepreneurs before Richard Branson's is Screw it. Just do It and Seth Godin's is Go make Something Happen. Your USP can actually be your tagline, as is the case with many companies and brands. If you could compress your benefit and expertise into one sentence, what would you a tagline be in terms of putting together your bio and about page? There's no one size fits all formula. You could be very flexible. There are lots of ways that you can communicate who you are and the essence of your personality. Let's go through some strategies and great examples. You can design your story to be memorable by including something that people don't see every day, something a little bit out of the ordinary. Jenny Adams is a freelance writer, and in her by him she mentions that she happens to come from a long line of rights or starting with her grandmother. You often hear of third generation doctors or lawyers. But writers now that's something different. Her aunt is actually a riser as well. Your bio should naturally convey your history and your story, but it should also be interesting. Think about when someone tells you a story in real life. If it's not invigorating than it doesn't hold your attention, you start looking away. Your eyes, please. Oh, you might even start falling asleep. Well, if your about page this news best instead of rolling their eyes, people will just leave your side entirely and find somewhere better to go. Sandwiched between all her accomplishments, Maria Kournikova's bio details how she became an accidental poker player while carrying out research for a book and one over $300,000 in the process. That's pretty interesting to me. Your bio is where you can use superlatives freely and include things that are outstanding and noteworthy about you and your accomplishments. Lewis House Bio proclaims that he's a media sensation that in itself makes you stop and listen. Emily Pen is an ocean advocate, and her side mentions the cheek. Organized the largest ever community led waste cleanup from a tiny talent island. Callie Schweitzer is bio details how she had one of Time magazine's 140 best Twitter feeds in the world. Another way to jazz up your bio is by presenting it as a series of questions and answers, like your very own frequently asked questions Page thing is how the about page from my personal website Rosie Bell dot net is laid out. It tells prospective clients that my writing is lights and personable without being unprofessional. It breaks up a text and helps misters imagine the day witnessing friendly conversation. You can see something similar on Andrew Res website. He has a series of humorous, imagined questions from the public like Who are you? And why should I care as well as Can I be your best friend? And why don't you show your face? Presenting your bio information this way helps to break up your text into easily digestible sections. Another way to break down and simplify your bio is by creating a number or bullet point list. This is a great way to present a lot of information in a way that's easy to take in. We can see this being done well on nickel, Oprah's website side hustle nation dot com. He has a list of 25 random facts about him and then a list of his pet peeves, one of which is seeing people have unhappy lives when they have total control over their futures. So while this list seems whimsical and indulgent, it shows off his personality, his motivation and why he wants to help his clients. On my website, I have something similar. I've got my main about page, but I also have a different page. It's 17 random facts. Stop me people who want to know a bit more about me on a personal level, knowing these things in a sense house people feel that they're dealing with a friend, and it can be endearing. Yasmin Cheyenne also has a numbered list very quickly gives this just insight into her hobbies and her background something that you might also notice that a lot of these lists have odd numbers. Odd numbers of brain candy reportedly make headlines more enticing. The mind is also said to trust odd numbers more than even ones armed with the knowledge that Web users have short attention spans. Some freelancers actually break up their bio into shorter and longer sections. They might have a short condensed sentence or paragraph and then a longer, more detailed section for people that are interested to go a bit deeper. On Pam Neely's website, she has a section of highlights and then a medium long section with her backstory and then a long version. This'll way. People can decide if they read enough by the time they get to the long version, but by then they would have already gotten the main just of her story from the short version. Anyway, something else that might be useful is to partition your bio information into professional and personal sections or work related and non work related information. We can see this being done on Robin Rotman sides and on writer Lindsey Tiger Side to She has a little paragraph on what she does for fun, even her personal sections dresses that she loves to write and most likely has a pen in her hand. Oh will be found at her keyboard, this year's passion and dedication to what she does. G. Griffiths leads with her skills and then talked a little bit about her personal life in a very short paragraph. It's nice to give a little bit of insight into who you are, no matter how tiny it is, as it lets people know that they're working with a real person. The fact that this section about her personal life is considerably smaller than her expertise signifies that she's putting her clients at the forefront of what she does. As previously mentioned, your side should be focused on what you can do for the client. Even your about page jasmine stars about Page articulates her work as more of a calling, she says. I've been placed on this effect, how people build a business and life they love. It's not about her. It's about her service To others. A nice little touch for your about page and all your website pages, quite frankly, is to show humility and gratitude and thank people for taking the time to view your work, express enthusiasm and excitement to speak them or work with them in the future. Josh one McCartney mentions on his website how he's been lucky to have worked with big clients like Netflix and the BBC. And despite his extensive experience, he says, it would be lovely to hear from you any prospective clients. Think about how you start off the page to do you say hello, Ola or even howdy. Greet your visitors justice. You would read someone in real life. It's nice to create a pleasant experience with people who are taking the time to get to know the way you speak to potential clients says a lot about your values. Speaking of values, feel free to include what your values are, your mission statement or the things that you believe in. Whether you think they directly linked to your work for not highlights in your manifesto and announcing your views of the world is a great way to build an audience around shared beliefs. It should be noted that the page with your bio doesn't necessarily have to be called about at all. By the way, you can call it whatever you like. It could be titled my story or frequently asked questions, bio my background or even get to know me. Your bio information doesn't have to be confined to just one page either, since it's often all that some people will see. You can Sprinkle little trickles of information about yourself on your landing page, too though I have a dedicated page with my about information right on my home page. It's easy to skim through and weed a little bit about me and all the pies I've had my fingers in. Information is creatively showcased throughout my website, as well as on the about page. Just a your bio information could be included on other pages. You can also couple your bio information with anything else that you would like to like. Press associations. You're part of testimonials, appraised your client list or awards and recognition thistles. Particularly handy if you don't have enough of these things to include on one dedicated page. Lastly, another little bonus for your bio. Your about page is your ah ha moment or what led you down this path that you're currently on and you're history or how you've involved to become this multi dimensional, amazing feel answer that helps your clients take their businesses further
8. Portfolio Pages: showcasing your portfolio or your body of work is important to attract new clients. Thistles. The proof that you could do what you say you dio professionals and different fields might also have portfolios that are hosted on other platforms and directories. Writers may have profiles on crack and contentedly, and designers may have a council dribble and be hands. However, your portfolio on your Web site is a place you can control the layout and design and display your work anyway. You see fit. Your portfolio should show your best face so you can include the full extent of your work. But you don't have to include absolutely everything you've ever done. You can curate your list after the best of the best or the projects and clients that you feel best represent. You people should be able to look at your portfolio and get an overall sense of what you do or what your specialty is. For instance, when we scroll through Benjamin Kemper's writing portfolio, you can instantly recognise he predominantly rights but food and drink and scream. Your portfolio should show expertise in the field that you've declared that you're strong if you are highly experienced product designer, show off some great products that you've designed. There are countless ways you can display your work. You can showcase your past projects chronologically or according to the client that you did the work for. You can also split your work into categories or topics. Things is helpful if you operate in a particular niche, which you would like to share expertise. You can even go Wild and lister work by clients, topic or any other category and give people multiple options of how to enjoy your past work . You can list individual projects and go even deeper and give some background into that. You can show what the client briefed you on, how they approach, do what their problem waas and the solution you came up with. For that, she wants your work process and get behind the scenes insight into projects you did. Why not? If you're just starting out, you might not have enough portfolio items for an entire page, so you can tack on examples of your work onto your about page or the landing page. Remember to maintain your site and updated with all of your new work and projects as they come in
9. Services Offered and “Work With Me” Pages: your website should have a services offered work with me or hire me page that lists all the services you offer, even if you've never been paid for any of them yet. Your services offered pages basically what you want to do more just like a restaurant. This is your menu where clients can pick and choose what appeals to them the most. It's like your user manual lets people know how to work with you. It's a place where you can share them in detail, why they need to work with you and established or reestablished a need for your product or service. If we take a look. A Copywriter Ursula Brunette Sees Website She states that companies that haven't nailed your tone of voice are essentially greeting every potential customer with a limp as lettuce handshake. So if anyone was wondering why they would eat a copywriter to help them work on the tone of voice, now they know why. And they know who to call. It's best to assume the potential client aren't already sold on the idea of your services. So imagine there in front of you and you're trying to convince them to buy into what you do . Sometimes you have to educate them about the importance of necessity of your work. A page that does this very well is from the copyrights and agency copy Uncorked. There are very clear bullet points that highlight the pause to the impact that conversion copyrights and can have on a business including better email, open rates and more site visitors. There are even statistics included as well to convince potential customers that they should buy from your higher you. Naturally, you should be screaming about the things that they have to gain. Coaching service, wondering painfully does this wonderfully. They list for benefits of the coaching program and go into detail about why it's right for you and why you might need it back. Even Dike also has a very clear value proposition, with all of her services and bullet points showing what's included in each of her packages . One of the best services pages I've come across in a while is on Robin Castellanos website for her work as a brand storyteller. It's a beautifully designed, comprehensive list, and it even has prices, which is naturally one of the first question people will have about working with you. There is even a tab, which answers questions that people might have about Britain with writers like Why can't I just get my niece, nephew, best friend from college or office assistant to write my copy? Since they know how to write. After leaving this page, you come away thinking that Robin really knows what she's talking about. She even educates on the different types of editing in the level of work required with each . I would like to highlight another absolutely brilliant website. It's from copywriter Miguel Ferreira, and his services are actually listed on the home page and not on a page dedicated to services. He has three distinct packages of the information provided for each is extremely detailed. He informs interested parties of his turnaround time, what's included and how many slots he has available. Each package has a short paragraph explaining what it's about, and he entertains while he explains his top cat copyrighting package will be delivered in plain English, no mambo jambo jargon and his attract and convert package is for you. If you aren't making enough sail through your website and you need words to bring the searching back, keep in mind, by the way, that you don't have to display your prices. If you don't want Teoh, it may or may not be applicable or necessary for your line of work and your individual business. Your services paid should break down your areas of expertise as well as highlight who stands to benefit from the work that you do and exactly how they will benefit on Tony, Robbins said. He promises that his services will help you get the life you deserve and that you can master every area of your life. Selene DaCosta says that she can help you get a next level life fire her courses. It's also very useful to have a testimonial or some proof from somebody who's already bought or used your product or service right on the product page. This can push them that a little bit closer to wanting to work with you. If they believe that your services actually worked for someone else Beyond saying what you can do and talking about what you've done for others, you can actively prove your worth to potential plan by already doing something for them Now . What I mean by this is that you can show, rather than just say what you're capable of by giving a teaser or providing some added value. Now, for example, Pam Nearly is a content writer, and within her website she has a section called Tools. One of the tools that she has is a headline and content idea generator. It's a free to that anyone can use to get potential ideas for their blawg after answering just five simple questions. After filling in the blanks, you get up to 200 potential headlines and content ideas, which can save or download as an Excel document. Pam nearly really knows what she's doing because you can actually get twice the amount of content ideas if you register and essentially give her your email address by having an amazing product like this on recite, she's going the extra mile and helping you even before you contacted her services. Imagine the value you'll get after
10. Press and Appearances : If you've had the great fortune of being endorsed by a celebrity appearing on TV or being quoted in the press, mention it. This is not information that should be hidden. If you haven't been featured in traditional press like newspapers or on TV. But you have been on blog's or podcasts. You should definitely mention that. In fact, even if someone famous just like your instagram photo tweeted youth, that's something worth mentioning, too. You might wonder how saying that Beyonce was on your Twitter is going to help your partner sell like hotcakes. But this goes back to what was mentioning a lesson about compelling content regarding social food. Catching the attention of the media and the powers that be is an indicator of success can help you build trust and believe in your services. Your appearances page is a place to celebrate anywhere at all that your name and business has appeared. No accomplishment is too small to mention. If you've got it, flaunt it. You can name this page whatever you prefer. It could be pressing appearances, interviews and profiles, or, as seen in features or where to find me. You can display your press features with just links or have links alongside images of individual logos, and you don't actually have to have an entire page. You can also just plaster the logos of the places that you've appeared on, your home page and other pages within your sight, but especially the home page. If you're looking to bolster your list of appearances and features, reach out to your favorite blog's podcasts with a well rated email and simply ask if you can feature asking is for free. And if you don't ask, you don't get.
11. Testimonials: When clients are happy with your work, seize the moment and ask them for a testimonial or linked in recommendation. You can then put all the recommendations on a dedicated testimonials or what clients say page on your website, which looks great when a new client is sizing you up. You can aggregate all your recommendations from linked in or dig with an e mails for feedback and compliments that you got from clients. Ask their permission or check that they're okay with you paraphrasing or displaying their words publicly on your site. It's ideal toe. Have names and photos alongside your testimonial to give them extra credibility. It makes them more personal. Unbelievable. It shows they come from real people, too. Feel food to call your page of glowing will be used anything that you like. It could be called testimonials, praise or even kind words like Becky Vendex Testimonials Page. You can have testimonials for each package service for product that you have or testimonials about you and your services as a whole. You can also combine your client list with your testimonials on the same page as we can see here on Hanner, Silverton's freelancer website. G Griffis does something similar, and she has a client's and praise page on her site. Prospects can immediately see a selection of the people that she's worked with and what they think about her. Your testimonials could also work well, merged with your appearances and press. You could combine them into a best of or as seen in page. If you're relatively new to your field, just starting out and don't have enough testimonials fit onto an entire page, you can tack them on to various other pages, like the about page or the services page. If the testimonials that you have are few and far between, you could be a bit creative and nifty with what constitutes a recommendation. Remember those celebrity tweets I mentioned earlier? Well, if a celebrity liked or retweeted one of your tweets mentioned that somewhere on your website, by the way, it helps to tap people in your tweets in the first place. If you would like them to take notice of you. If you think it might be too flimsy to just mention it, someone you respect simply interacted with you on social media. There are ways you can spend this into a bona fide testimonial on DeWitt. In this example, tweeted an article that I wrote about the CW TV show Jane the Virgin, and it caught the attention of the show's creator. She only left a few heart. Emoji is, but I can take Met what I want. I could say my pop culture reviews have been praised, commended or acknowledged by Jane, the Virgin Showrunner, Jenni Snyder Urman and it Waas I would tweet is an acknowledgement. This is a great way to turn lemons into lemonade and add reviews to your website that will help you get noticed.
12. Blogs: a block is a great part of a content marketing strategy. Your block can help you generate traffic to your website, which means more people may see or portfolio quality content and S CEO or search engine. Optimization can help you reach a wider audience and attract people to your site where they can then find out about what you do and all you have to offer. There's a reason that most website themes come with inbuilt blocks these days. Because there's so much demand for them, they're normalized. A block can have several purposes. It could be a place you collate and showcase articles of Everton somewhere else. It can help show off your writing style. It can also help you improve your writing because putting your work out there in a public forum means you're encouraged to create high quality articles. It could be your own news channel, where you share updates, announcements that might not necessarily fit in anywhere else on your sites. It can be used to share career milestones in any progress you've made. It's a great place to announce events that you're running or even humble, brag about amazing things that have happened to you a block can show off your versatility. For instance, if you write in multiple languages, it can have the purpose of placing us a well connected expert in your field. For instance, legendary travel rights or rolled pots has an amazing blood, with over 200 interviews with other travel writers, which places him right in the center of the field. A block is a great place. Demonstrate thought, leadership and a position of expertise. You can talk about industry developments, groundbreaking ideas, explain your processes, give behind the scenes accounts and reflect on your individual experiences within the field that you operate in. You can use a block to showcase of things that your passion about you can inform. Give insight into your lifestyle and inspire positive feelings towards you as a brand. Because you are brat. A block is a very useful tool for cultivating your personal Brad. Naturally, your block content should cover the things that you're good at and what you want to be known for. Your niece or editorial slant should be in line with your profession because this is your professional website. After all, Blog's can be online diaries You can, of course, use your block to show off your personality, your likes and your lobes. But an effective log on your freelancer website should be focused on your client's problems . If you show them that you're savvy and Kimble of solving their problems with the free content on your site, they're much more likely to believe that you able to help them. If and when they hire you, your website should be about demonstrating and bringing value to clients, and your blog's is no difference. You can actually brand your block and give it a name, so it has a standalone identity. Jenny Adams, a freelance photographer and author, and her blawg is a human love of the curious title. Buddha drinks Fanta. I would certainly want to read what she's posting. Their Gary Xiang's book is called The Out of the Box block, which is a fitting title for the fall provoking and inspiring articles that he posts. A block can be endlessly beneficial for your company, but don't spend so much time honored that you're distracted from the very core of your business. No, what you want to get out of it and invest your time accordingly.
13. Newsletter Sign-up Pages and Forms: Newsletters help your business by increasing your number of potential customers, creating exposure, driving traffic to your website, and growing your database, which is actually a very valuable asset. Studies show that consumers need to be exposed to your product six to eight times before they make a decision to buy. So having a weekly or monthly newsletter helps you put your business name in front of customers repeatedly. You get to keep your brand in front of customers who buy infrequently. And people might even forward your newsletter to friends if there's something in them that's newsworthy or sharable. In order to have actual people to send these dazzling emails too, you'll want to get working on building an email list. This is essentially a collection of individuals who are interested enough in you to receive updates and offers. These people are already convinced about your brand and your mission and are therefore much easier to sell, to buy a newsletter. Because of general data protection regulation or GDPR, you can't just email people, willy nilly. They need to give you their permission for you to email them. So you have to actively invite them and convince them to subscribe. If you have an online store, it could be that you collect email addresses automatically when someone makes a purchase. But if you're not selling anything, you'll have to get their e-mail addresses the old-fashioned way by asking for it. You can invite people to sign up for your newsletter in a number of ways, like with a dedicated email newsletter page, website pop-ups and banners, and you can also offer incentives. Now let's look at examples of each approach and how they've been done well, starting with email sign-up pages, one of the most impressive email opt-in pages I've ever come across this from honey copy. It's a dedicated landing page with the sole mission of getting people to part with their email addresses. What makes it so great is that it clearly states the benefit of signing up who doesn't want to meet three times more money. The site itself is just different in terms of layout and the value proposition is strong. Chimp and convert kid are globally. So to help you craft your email opt-in page, if you don't already have one. Once you've created that page, share the link on Twitter, LinkedIn, or wherever you get traffic. Many websites have newsletter pop-ups that appear as soon as it does to our lands on a site or a particular page. The pop-up may be a small box or take over the entire page. This is an interesting example of a newsletter sign-up pop-up from the unconventional route.com. It's kind of tongue in cheek. And the call to action button says start, which is exciting. Ultimately, this box is hard to ignore. Probably the most common approach for newsletter sign-up, to have a banner on a website sidebar or puts her. Some even have the banner right at the top above the fold. For those businesses, email clearly plays a significant part in your marketing. You can see this done on Jeff Gordon's website. The newsletter sign-up box appears before. Anything else on his homepage. It's a good idea to put email sign-up form banners on more than one page of your website, on the homepage, About page the bottom of every article and a few other pieces. People may need to see your email sign-up form a few times and learn more about you by or your website's decided they wanted to subscribe. So do have several prompts dotted all over the place. Batters or pop-ups can be added to your site easily if you use WordPress, Mail Chimp, which is a powerhouse in email marketing, has lots of WordPress plugins to easily incorporate your newsletter into your site. Another way that freelancers build your email list is by offering incentives like discounts for money off if you have an online store or free books which require email addresses to send or download. These are also called lead magnet or ethical brides. And there are a valuable resource and you can create for your target audience and give away for free in exchange for their e-mail address. This pop-up that comes up on the path to profitability.com offers an incentive of a free e-book. It presents this either because a no-brainer and the buttons are quite compelling in a humorous way. You can either get their free books sent to you or you can reject it, which is a very strong word and makes you think twice. Business strategist, Jasmine star, it has offers from multiple free resources on her side. She can then see what kinds of things certain customers are interested in based on what they download, and then she can mark different things to them. She even has a great Thank You page or people who have downloaded her bundles to welcome them to her program and her business. Bear in mind that building your list predominantly by promising incentives and lead magnets could lead to an email list, people who only want free stuff and who might unsubscribe after they've gotten their hands on the goods. To keep these people, you would need to make sure that everything that you send to them in the newsletters is relevant and in line with what they initially signed up for. Some newsletter sign-up form best practices. Now, there is nothing more uninspiring than simply saying sign up to our newsletter with no other information provided. Why should they sign up? The space around your newsletter sign-up box is insanely valuable. So make sure you take full advantage of every inch of it. Build your sign-up message to convert with a clear call to action and to benefit. The word subscribe alone simply influenced people of what will happen when they click on that button. But telling them what they'll get out of clicking on that button gives them a reason to clearly state the advantage of signing up. What value are you offering? What's the incentive? Is it money off? Interesting articles, recipes, exclusivity, selling tips. Always be clear about what subscribers will get from you. Explain what exactly you'll be sending to them so they know the advantage of giving you their precious email addresses and nobody wants to get spammed. So let them know how often you'll be emailing them and then they can decide if this frequency suits them or not. Make sure your newsletter sign-up message stands out within your website. Every site has one. So how people really notice yours on the website for copyrights are never met Aura, the e-mail sign-up strikes you and catches your attention with the question, why is this box so ugly? And then a subtexts which says, my emails aren't, give me your email and I'll make you a better writer. This definitely isn't your average boring subscribe button. Make them believe that by joining you, they'll be part of something special. A pop-up on honey coffee.com asks if you want to be let in on the magic and join over 8 thousand other people on the mailing list. Also add social proof if you can't mention how many other people are already signed up to this newsletter. This sign-up form from the unconventional route.com says that since 2017, more than 1.6 million doses have been served. Back lingo.com employers you to join other people that receive weekly SEO tips I email. This encourages you to sign up because hundreds and thousands of people who can't be wrong, right.
14. Contact Pages and Forms: you've done all of this work to make people want to work with you, and now you need to give them away to actually reach you. Contact pages and forms tend to be an afterthought, although this is generally one of the most important parts of your site. What's the point of an amazing website if it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, which is bring you actual business? Your website is supposed to translate interest into custom, and those customers need to be able to get in touch with you. For this reason, your contact information should be easy to find from anywhere on your website. You wouldn't want to lose a customer because they don't know how to reach out to you. Not all websites have a dedicated contact page. Some simply have contact forms on the footer up the home page or contact details displayed at the bottom of each page. If possible, you should actually have contact information on every page of your site. Contact forms a preferable if you don't want your actual email address to be revealed and to protect you from spam, you can, of course, have a form on display your email to its ideal to get people options to contact you in ways that are convenient and suitable for them. Some people will prefer to use the form. Others will want to email you directly from their own email provider and be able to add links and attachments, which often is impossible with website forms. Give your visitors various contact options, like leaving a message by air you're safe or requesting a callback or booking a discovery session. Include your social media channels if you're available there, too, when someone truly wants to speak to your contact page is where they'll come, so help them tell you exactly what they need, like giving them options to take from or select from, or provide dedicated space for them to tell you about the project for the work that they're flattening. Your contact page is another place. You can highlight precisely what it is that you would like people to get in touch with you about whether that's speaking opportunities, coaching interviews or just to say hello so no one's time gets wasted. You can also highlight what you don't want to be contacted about services you don't offer, and the collaborations that you aren't open Teoh by now. You should have already given visitors a reason to want to contact you, but nothing stops you from putting reminders here within your contact page. This could be in the form of a quick bio, your value proposition, the benefits that can gain from working with you or simply what you're good at. There's no reason why your contact page can't be attractive and memorable to design should be in keeping with the overall look and feel of your site, and you can embellish it with illustrations. And image is an image can help your page feel warm, inviting, friendly and also riel. An image creates that sense of the real person will be receiving an email, and it won't be going into the dark, endless corners of the interwebs. People know who they're going to be talking to. More approachable, you've seen the higher the likelihood that you'll be approached so feel free to include encouraging or welcoming images of yourself on this page. People might also be more likely to contact you if you encourage them by creating a sense of urgency and anticipation mentioned that you can't wit or how much you're looking forward to hearing from them. Give people that sense that you actually care about hearing from that. If you're going to have headline text on your contact page, make it a call to action or a powerful inviting greeting like we can see on product designer Jonathan Patterson's website, which says, Hello, ready to make something special? Me to some powerful greeting and headline text for your contact page include Stop by and say hi. Tell me how I can help you ready when you are, just reach out. Let's do something amazing together and don't be a stranger. Say hello, also, that people know that this form is actually managed and monitored. Let them know when they can expect to hear back from you if your site is on WordPress, some contact form plug ins that you can use include contact Form seven jetpack and Ninja forms. Most portfolio website themes you can download or by will usually have an inbuilt contact form, though lastly, if you have a contact form, make sure it actually works. Test it. It would be a crying shame. People believe that they reached out to you, and they're expecting a response that's never coming because you simply never received their message
15. Honorable Mentions: In this lesson, I like to highlight seven freelancer websites that go beyond and above the call of duty and seriously stand out. What these sites have in common is interactivity and creativity. They've all employed out of the box thinking to present a service that many people provide . First up, we have a seriously impressive sight from Gary Lee Muscle, who is a French Web analytics consultant. What's incredible about this site is that it's actually designed as a replica of Google. Resemblance is uncanny and even uses Google's brand colors to write his name on the search boxes Interactive in the way that Google search box gives you. Predictive text website only has four pages, and each is powerful. Clicking on I'm Feeling Lucky takes you to his contact page, which again resembles a Google listing. Copy here is incredible, and he encourages you to get in touch and hire Gary and even mentions that you have the power to rock. That conversion rate by using his contact for cooking on Web Analytics takes you to a very detailed page that's broken up into sections with clear subheadings. He talks us through his processes and clearly highlights the need for his services. At the end of the page, he's wisely got a call to action. Let's talk about your KP eyes, followed by a button that says, Better call Gary with an exclamation mark. Talk about sense of urgency. That button then leads to his contact page. One thing you'll notice is that every page has a button for the contact page, which is a very wise decision indeed. Honorable mention. Number two Now this'll next website exemplifies doing something unexpected to become gossip worthy in your field and beyond. This'll Great one page website was created by a gentleman by the name of Destin Main, the Canadian digital Nomad creates of the site date and adventurer, and it went viral because it was actually a dating website. He presents himself in a factual and informative way, even using graphs and charts, and it caught people's attention because it was vulnerable, honest and human. He wisely also ends the home page scrolling experience with the call to action. This'll site is essentially a dating resume, and even if it didn't directly score him adventurous life partner, it got his name out there because of its unusual nature and could have only been beneficial for his other business endeavors. A tour company in Myanmar of photography business and a newsletter that now has thousands of subscribers. He's also been interviewed by a handful of international publications. Previous example was a one page website, and so are the rest of the honorable mentions. Actually, one page Web sites tend to be more creative because they have to work harder to communicate everything that person wants to get across and keep Mr Is engaged. Moving the coarser or scrolling down honorable mention three comes from David Pero Z, who is a developer. On his one page site. Visitors have to click and hold a button in the middle before they construct scrolling through his information, which is all presented in an attractive manner. This site basically begs for interaction. He's a creative developer, and his website really goes overboard to sell his skills. Honorable mention them before is one of the best freelancer websites I have ever come across. It's technically Robbie Leone Ardis one page resume website, but really it's built as an interactive adventure game. Visitors scroll down a press the keyboards down arrow to move the character along on his adventure and in the background is a showcase of skills and accomplishments. There are even levels to really authenticate this as a video game experience and also to let users knew how far along they are to manage their time expectations. Among his skills. He notes that he's advanced at animations and this website proves it. It also doesn't hurt that he portrays himself as a caped crusader, busting through hurdles to make it to the very end and achieve success. Honorable mention Number five is also a resume that's interactive from start to finish its from Albi. Noto Nina, who's a developer as well. This'll website manages to take something which is usually quite stuffy a resume and makes it fun. The experience on his site starts and ends with hello and by, and the bright blue color scheme is very attractive. You don't come across interactive dunning sites like this every day, and that's what earned it a spot on this list. Someone pages have minimal information, but are still these healed enough to get you noticed. Number six, another truly created one page website from freelance writer Sarah for Shine at Sarah for shine dot com with very bold text. She has one very large paragraph that tells the story of her writing experience and links, and different colors are used to both break up the text and provide validation for what she says she's written about. The design of this one page website is arresting yet simple. It also shows that you don't necessarily need all the bells and whistles. The downside of a one page site is that you only have one set of meta information, so your S CEO can be affected negatively. The benefit of a one page website that your information is easily digestible. Seventh and final website comes from Andrew McCarthy, who is a designer and developer. He has a one page website that has an icon in the middle that shape shift into different forms and into different primary colors. You could just spend hours scrolling and scrolling and watching that shape change as you go , there's something chance fixing and oddly entertaining about it. This side has an endless scroll to meaning. It just continues. Bring up all the information over and over again. The site itself is light on text. He left the design to the talking instead. He isn't a writer. He's a designer by a. His sight keep its his very best foot forward.
16. 10 Tips for Attractive Websites : we've arrived at the last lesson now and before you go, I would like to share 10 handy tips for attractive standout websites that nicely blends together everything that you've learned so far. Number one. Let data help you tell your story. Use qualitative and quantitative data to support your ideas. What's your pitch? Acceptance rate isn't higher than normal. Do you deliver work earlier than expected 100% of the time? Did you help a company increased their sales By a certain percentage, you could use general statistics or figures relating to your work and what you deliver. Don't make claims. You can't back up, though. If you're number one in your field, Why? Who said So? Did you win an award? Did you have the highest sales? Did you invent something you can't claim to be the best? Just because you think so, provide evidence with images or link to external sites that verify your plans. Number two Don't over complicate things unnecessarily. Potential planes and visitors to your website should be able to fully comprehend what it is that you do, and this is best accomplished through simple language. Number three it goes without saying, but you should always edit your work several times and then some editing software like Graham Early and Hemingway can prevent you from publishing work with careless grammar mistakes or typos, which happen to the best of us. When the website visitor discovers the spelling or grammar mistake, it completely interrupts their concentration. It might even make them stop reading. At the very least, it's bound to lessen your authority in your eyes. Number four. Never underestimate the importance of being interesting. Are the words on your website jumping off the page and into the potential clients Chamber of wants and needs. No matter how normal or regular your product or services, you can always make your website copy. Attractive good copy is original. Different, surprising, intriguing, engaging, attractive and compelling. It's only if your website visitor is convinced they will give in to your call to action, which is naturally your gold number. Five. There is no disputing that humor is a powerful ally. When it comes to marketing yourself. Humor lightens the conversation and how people connect with you. Humor is also proven to enhance the memorability and persuasiveness of messages. Number six. When thinking about copy for your freelancer, website s CEO headlines and meta descriptions shouldn't be overlooked either, as they're also important avenue to talk about your company and improve your search rankings. Theo CEO Headline is a good place to stick your USB. You're competing with millions of websites after all, so those few lines have to work. Number seven. Even if you're using a pre build theme or template, you can still make it yours. Use your brand colors and add images of yourself. There are lots of sites that are made with free WordPress themes with Wix or on squarespace , but they still offer things that we don't see every day on average. Website number eight. Be crystal clear about who you serve and how you serve them. You should always be communicating who stands to benefit from working with you and how number nine show expertise and examples of the work that you want to get paid for via the design and content of your website. If you're a graphic designer, have a creative website that shows off your design capabilities. If you're a writer, how about a typewriter or pens and pencils to create quick visual impact? If you're a green thumb florist. Why not create a blooming site with plants and flowers? Photographers can naturally have all sorts of paraphernalia relating to capturing images have images that show you and your work process. Such images can provide a quick mental shortcut, visitors that instantly connects you to your profession. Lastly, you could never be too polite to potential customers and clients. How you speak to visitors on your website is a teaser of what it's like to actually work with you in real life, or virtually, you always want to give the impression that you're personable, polite, professional and pretty good at what you do.
17. Class Project: Now that you've gotten a world of inspiration regarding wonderful websites that help freelancers get noticed, it's time to put your learning into practice with the help of the Excel sheet that's available for download. Your class project is to complete one of these two tasks depending on where you are on the journey towards creating your best freelancer website. If you are yet to build your website or just starting out, your task will be to outline your goals, audience and tone for your website. What do you hope to achieve? Who are you speaking to and how will you speak to them? If you already have a website, I've created a checklist for you to audit your site to help you ensure that your content is compelling and her design is attractive and visually arresting. A bonus task for you is to share your website with someone in your professional circle or, better yet, a past client and ask them what impression it gives them. What does it communicate to them? And is this what you wanted to be communicating for those that are just starting to build your sites? You can, of course, always come back to this project once you're done and do the same thing. Thank you so much for joining me for this lesson. I hope you enjoyed it and found it helpful and inspiring. Good luck building your site. Have fun and see you at the next class.
Rosie Bell, Writer & freedompreneur
