We’ve been talking recently about freelance writer websites and how they can help you attract prospects and convert them into clients. Today let’s focus on a particular element of professional sites — freelance writer blogs. Now, I’m not talking about freelance writing blogs, where you write about freelance writing itself, and where your content is for other writers. The vast majority of freelancers don’t need those, and
Do you ever feel overwhelmed, and you just need to step away and take some time to yourself? Maybe you still intend to work, but you just want some quiet time away from other people while you do so you can recharge and clear your head a bit. When that happens, what should you do with your professional website? You might be inclined to leave
Earlier this week, we went through my professional site to show you the kinds of plans you might make after conducting a content audit. Yesterday we took a look at Yolander Prinzel’s freelance writer website. And today I’d like to follow up with one more site review, for David Rodeck. David Rodeck is a business and financial writer similar to Yolander, so this is a
When we looked at 5 freelance writer websites done well, I critiqued some professional writer websites to give you ideas about how to improve your own. I also opened it up for review requests for others who wanted public site reviews here on the blog. Yolander Prinzel was the first writer to take me up on that. Yolander is a freelance financial writer, and back
No freelance writer website is perfect. I pointed that out when we looked at five freelance writer websites done well. That includes my own site, ProBusinessWriter.com. And today I’d like to use it as an example to show you the kinds of things you might want to change by picking it apart a bit here on the blog. About a year ago I updated the
In looking at freelance writer websites done well, you might have noticed some common themes and site elements to give you ideas about what to include in (or add to) your own. But what if you’re building a fresh freelance writer website from scratch? Where should you start? What pages should you include in your site? What features should a new freelance writing website have?
Are you happy with your freelance writer website? Does your professional site do enough as a marketing tool to attract prospects and help you convert them into clients? Do you even have a website yet? As strange as it sounds, this post has been a few years in the making. For quite some time I’ve wanted to do a round-up to showcase quality freelance writer websites to
When a client visits your professional website, are they getting the information they want and need? Are benefits of hiring you, as opposed to your competition, clear? Do they leave with enough information to make a hiring decision, or at least feel inclined to contact you? An effective freelance writer website should do those things. Does yours? I previously announced I’m in the process of
Readers and colleagues often come to me with questions about problems they’re having with their websites or blogs. In some cases, such as sudden search engine ranking issues or site indexing problems, one of the first things I tend to ask them is to check Google Webmaster Tools. That’s when I sometimes get the mind-blowing responses of “What’s that?” or “I don’t use that.” Not good. So
In my post “4 Elements of Effective Freelance Writing Websites,” I suggested creating a custom 404 error page to help misdirected prospects find what they’re looking for. A 404 error is a “page not found” error message someone sees if they try to visit an address on your site that doesn’t exist. No one likes seeing an error message. So it’s a good idea to
What are your goals for your freelance writing website? To be clear, we’re talking about your professional site — the one designed to attract clients, not your site or blog targeting other writers. Chances are that you’re hoping to attract not only clients, but the right clients. You know, they’re the ones who have a need in your specialty area and an adequate budget to hire a
We’ve talked in the past about why freelance writers need a professional website. There are some things we didn’t get into then, and some things have changed over the years, making them more important now than ever. To kick off our series on professional websites for freelance writers, let’s start by looking at some of the most important reasons you might want to create one.
Your freelance writing website is an important tool that can attract new clients. It’s how they find you when searching for writers. And it’s where they go to learn more if they come across you via social media channels or after receiving a pitch from you. If that professional website isn’t up to date or portrays a negative image, it could cost you great freelance
I’m a big believer in creating a Web presence as a freelance writer. Frankly, you couldn’t give me an excuse I’d consider good enough for not building a professional website (although some have tried). Let’s explore why I feel they’re so vital, and why it may be worth setting up a professional site even if you already maintain a steady client load without one. What
As a freelance writer, your website can go a long way towards attracting clients in your target market. But is yours currently doing that? Or is it costing you work? When I look to hire a service provider for anything (whether for my business or personal needs), I like to check out their website first to learn more about them, what they’re offering, and what
In response to one of my guest posts on my blog tour last week, (pretty sure that’s where it was) someone mentioned wanting to set up a professional website to move their service listings off of their blog. In other cases, I’ve seen writers inquiring about how to take an existing static site and add a blog to it. In short, a combination of the
I doubt there’s a single case where I wouldn’t suggest that a freelance writer set up a professional website and portfolio. Do you have one yet? You can take a look at mine currently at ProBusinessWriter.com. If you’d like to share your own professional site, leave a link in the comments. But what if you don’t have a professional website yet? Where do you start?