First impressions mean everything for a freelance writer. No amount of skills or experience matters to a client if they hold a negative perception of your writing abilities. The best thing a writer can do to create a strong first impression is to create a personal website.
Nothing beats a sleek and professional looking website to help a freelance writer move up the ladder in their trade. It acts as a living resume to clients. In the same way a strong resume can help job seekers find the right job in other industries, a good freelance writer website can help writers get a step up in finding better clients and higher paying assignments.
Here are just a few advantages you gain as a writer when you have a personal website:
A Living Portfolio
It doesn’t make sense to send clients on an Internet scavenger hunt to read a few of your articles. You can use a personal website to showcase your best work all in one location. Examining past articles, blog posts and other content is much easier for clients in this situation. You can organize this content under separate tabs or web pages according to project type or niche. They can click on the relevant link and be taken to that content instantly.
A Virtual Front Door
Visibility is a freelance writer’s best friend when they are searching for their next job. A personal website acts as a virtual front door for clients. It gives them a place where they can find you and contact you. Having your own website and associated email also makes communication easier with existing clients. Emails from generic email accounts (like Yahoo, Hotmail or Google for example) can end up in a spam folder and become lost to a client. Such problems are usually less frequent with emails tied to your own writing website.
Improved Marketing Opportunities
A personal website dedicated to your freelance writer is the online equivalent of a business card. It lets people know you are a professional writer instead of some random casual blogger operating out of their basement. You can market yourself much better through a dedicated personal website. It puts your strengths as a writer right at a client’s fingertips. Clients can better gauge your abilities to tackle projects such as white papers or e-books because they see examples of skills needed for those projects in action. What it means is many more available jobs than without a website.
Better Credibility
Nothing says professional writer better than your own professional looking freelance writing website. It builds credibility with clients because they know you can do the job and do it right. A poorly designed website can send the wrong message about your skills as a writer. You should do everything in your power to create a user-friendly design spotlighting your best work. If a website looks more appealing to the naked eye at first glance, a better first impression is made with a potential client.
John C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
