With freelancing becoming more and more competitive each year, having a website is absolutely essential for your business to stand out in the crowd.
If you don’t, you are leaving a lot of money on the table and risk losing out to your competitors who has one.
Having a website will also allow you to build an automatic lead generation machine that will allow you to engage and attract new clients into your freelance business.
It can also be used to support and help your clients, saving you time and money. Who doesn’t want that?
With a small investment, you can start your own freelance website for as little as $10 per month with WordPress.
Why use WordPress to build your Freelance Website?
Apart from been the most popular content management system in the world and why I choose WordPress is because
- It is fully customisable from its hosting to functionality to its design. I am not restricted to a platform’s limitation or development timeline. Meaning I have 100% control.
- You get access to a huge collection of third party free or paid plugins that can extend and improve the functionality
- It has an intuitive and easy to use interface
- It allows you to create multiple users with varying levels of access.
- Has an awesome online community and resources to support you
Disclaimer: Some links in this post (including Bluehost and Aweber) are affiliate links, which means I earn some revenue, at no additional cost to you when you purchase using those links. However that’s not why I’m recommending them; I’m recommending them because they’re what I use.
How to setup your Freelance Website in Three (3) Simple Steps?
1. Professional Domain Name
The first thing you need to do is choose a domain name for your freelance website.
Ideally you should come up with a name that is close to your brand as possible.
To get your domain name you can purchase it at any domain registry like Godaddy or you can get one free from Bluehost when you purchase their hosting.
2. Hosting
The next thing you need is hosting for your website. My favourite place is Bluehost as it very affordable where you can get hosting for as little as $10 a month andget a free domain.
Siteground is another hosting I recommend
3. Install WordPress
Once you have purchased your hosting, all you need to do is install WordPress. Which can be done in a few clicks.
- Login into Bluehost
- Click on Create Site
- Continue to follow the steps and note down your login details
- Done
For a more comprehensive guide to installing WordPress on Bluehost and setting up your website click here.
The Essentials
Now that you have purchase your domain, hosting and installed WordPress, it is time to start building your website. Here are a list of all the essential pages and elements you should include in your freelance website.
1. Home Page
This is the usually the first page your client sees when visiting your website. It is very important that this page does the following things
- It should instantly tell your clients what you do
- Tell them what you do and how you can solve their problems
- Has an intuitive and logical navigation and links to answer all their questions
- Have a clear Call to Actions, what you want the client to do, usually it is contact you.
Example of great looking home page that
- Freelance Writer – Elna Cain
- Freelance Web Developer – Chris Harold
- Freelance Graphics Designer – Jessica Jones
2. Your Bio and Picture
You should have a good mugshot!.
Having good a good headshot or picture with some personality will go a long way of building trust and rapport. Just think that you are trying to attract a client as you would on a dating app. Ok no sexy half naked pictures please.
Next is to create a bio to describe a bit about yourself and your experience. You can include your education, where you have worked and skills.
No need to write your life story. Enough for your prospect to know who they are working with.
3. Services Page
Once the client has gotten to know you a bit, it is time to tell them what services you provide.
Depending on what you do, this page or pages should describe
- What problem do you solve
- Who is it for
- The solution you provide
Should I include prices?
I would say yes because it can help filter out the people who can’t afford your services. There is no point of talking to prospects if they cannot afford your service.
If your pricing varies, you can always have a ballpark like it “starts from”.
However, you could also do a survey funnel which is a little bit more advance way to filter your clients out. The advantage of this is that you get their contact details.
4. Showcase your Work
This is where a lot of freelancer gets it wrong. Don’t just show, show and tell.
You definitely want to show examples of work but you should always share the context of why the client hired you?
- Describe what you did
- Your solution
- Outcome
- Before and after shots where applicable
5. Testimonials Page and Social Proof
Having some testimonials or social proof can do wonders of building up your credibility, trust and rapport with your prospects.
6. Contact Details and Working Hours
The goal of your website is to get prospects to contact you. So make sure this is clear and easy to find! Don’t make it people have to search for it.
Also include the best way to contact you and your working hours. You be surprised how many people think you work 24/7 and weekends.
To make things easier, you should add a contact form which can be easily done via a plugin like Contact7.
Bonus Tip: Connect to an Autoresponder
I also like to connect my online forms to my email autoresponder like Aweber which automatically sends them an email with a thank you and welcome email after they submit their form.
I found it It helps give the clients peace of mind and assurance that their query will be answered soon.
As well I also send a bunch of automatic email series to followup and build rapport with the prospect.
The best thing is, you only have to set this up once and it will keep working for you automatically.
7. FAQ Page
Lastly you should have a FAQ page for all the questions you think a client might have.
A lot of people want the answers now, so having this page will help solve this problem.
How to Standout
Now that you got the essentials it is time to stand out. Here are some of the things I recommend that can make a big difference.
1. Start a Blog
Having a blog will enable you to attract clients and prospects into your business through search. This is where SEO comes into play.
Share you expertise and knowledge.
Some of my favourite blog posts types I like to write are
- How Tos
- Product Guides and Reviews
- List Articles
However my favourite ones are writing Q&A blog posts. Every time a client ask a question, I take my answer and put it into a blog post. Simple way of adding content and now you have something you can refer to for similar questions in the future.
2. Video Introduction
Instead of just having a picture, why not create a video introduction of yourself. If pictures can speak a thousand words, what do you think a video can do?
To create a video you can simply record a short video using your phone, upload to Youtube and embed into your About page.
Talk about who you are and what you do.
3. Use a Premium WordPress Theme
Instead of just using your stock standard WordPress theme design, use a premium theme especially if you not a graphics designer.
You can find some really great designs from places like Themeforest that will make your website pop.
4. Create Free Resource Page
Why not create a free resource page that lists to a bunch tools, software, books, courses and resources that can help your clients.
Just another great way to help your clients. Plus you could make some extra money through affiliate programs.
5. Create a Lead Magnet
Instead of just getting people join up to your newsletter (most people don’t anyway), I highly recommend to create some kind of a lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
Lead Magnet Ideas
- Ebooks
- Checklists
- Free Course
- Challenges
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