In recent years, more individuals have begun working from home. Some left their traditional jobs to become freelancers, while others simply transitioned to working remotely. To put it simply, a freelancer is a self-employed, independent contractor who works for customers, sometimes even former employers.

A wide range of services are available, including creative writing, audio recording, web design, landscape design, translation, legal advice, crafts, and many more. There are many websites that link independent contractors with buyers, whether you are currently a freelancer or would want to test this alternative.

However, you will need your own website if you want to differentiate yourself from other freelancers or market your work outside of these channels. You may advertise your website on professional discussion forums, online directories, social media, and even modest print advertising around town. We’ll talk about a few items in this post that you should absolutely have on the website.

A well-designed website will help you grow your freelancing company and attract a lot of new clients.

1. Portfolio

Probably the most crucial section of your website is this one. Before they ever get in touch with you, most people want to see what you can achieve. For this reason, you should demonstrate your abilities to them, and this goes for whatever kind of service you provide.

Include a portfolio of your paintings if you paint; a thumbnail gallery with links to several active websites if you create websites; and a few sample paragraphs from various projects if you translate.

A strong portfolio may draw interest and make you stand out from the competition. People can quickly determine if you are the ideal candidate for the position based on the kind of work you perform. You should either choose your greatest projects or a handful that highlight various facets of your abilities since your portfolio shouldn’t be a repository of all of your work.

2. The Services Page

This is one of the first things visitors should notice on your website as you will be providing services. To attract attention, you should explicitly identify your services. If customers can find all the information they want in one location, such as what you can accomplish for them and what information or supplies you will need, they are more inclined to employ you.

Include any details you feel are necessary about your services, such as any restrictions. For instance, even if you work as a translator, you may not want to handle certain kinds of writings, including legal or medical records.

It will save you time to respond to customers who ask for additional information if you have a thorough explanation of your services. Nevertheless, make an effort to concentrate on the most crucial details and refrain from including too much material, which might render the page illegible.

You should create a separate FAQ page if you want to include information that is pertinent to your work but unrelated to the services you provide.

3. Your Costs

This is also a very significant matter. Communicate your fees to others. Do you bill by the hour or by the project? Do you charge more for expedited delivery? Do you provide monthly subscriptions or bundle discounts? For a bespoke service that isn’t on your website, how much will it cost?

You must provide answers to each of these questions on your website. When consumers are ready to place a purchase, they like to see the whole cost. Pricing may be listed on the same page as services, or it can be shown on a different page where a complete pricing list can be included, depending on what you provide.

To prevent any confusion about the payment later, be sure to mention any extra costs as well. If you provide web design services, for instance, a customer could want you to use a premium theme or plugin; if you make anything, you might have to pay extra for materials and delivery. You should disclose any such fees on your website in case the client is required to pay for them.

Try using “value-based pricing” rather than “cost-plus” when choosing your pricing approach. Instead of factoring in your expenses for executing the task and making a profit, value-based pricing bases your rates on the value your client will get from the product or service.

4. The timing of your delivery

Typically, people want to know how long they will have to wait for a certain service. Depending on the volume and complexity of the task, certain services take longer to do. There could be other issues as well. For instance, if you are a photographer, the weather may have an impact on when you deliver.

If you depend on a third party to provide a service or product that you need to finish your own project, your delivery may be delayed. To prevent any potential misunderstandings, you should constantly account for such unanticipated situations.

Telling your customers what to anticipate when they place an order is more important than providing the fastest delivery time when compared to other freelancers. Being truthful and on time will pay off in the long run, even if it takes you longer to do a job.

5. An order form

You should make ordering simple for your prospective clients. You have two options: either take orders straight from your website or post a link to your profile on a freelancer platform you use so that customers may place orders there, unless you would like that they get in touch with you first and set up an other payment method.

You don’t need to be an IT expert to take payments online if you want to let clients place orders directly on your website. You can accomplish this by adding an order form or even simply a payment button to a payment processor of your choosing.

For instance, PayPal makes it simple to add a payment button to your website with just a few clicks. As an alternative, you may provide premium downloads using programs like WordPress and our website builder. You may also think about this alternative, depending on the kind of job you do and the agreements you have with prospective clients.

6. References

Customer testimonials are the best indicator of the quality of your services. You may gain the confidence of your prospective clients by including a few testimonials on your main page or on a different page. They may assist you in building reputation and converting website traffic into genuine orders.

After you offer the goods or service, you may ask your consumers to give a testimonial in order to get genuine feedback. They may write you an email, complete a form on your website, or post a review on a review platform, depending on how you interact with them. You may post their testimonial on your website with their consent. Steer clear of utilizing phony testimonials since this might harm your image.

7. A positive About page

People should know who you are and what ideals you uphold if you desire their trust. Since there are a lot of experts on the market, you should persuade prospective clients that you are the best candidate for the position. Similar to your profile page on a freelancing platform, your website’s “about” page is where you provide personal information that may influence a potential employer.

Professional history, work-related values (e.g., punctuality, attention to detail), completed courses, accreditations and certificates, and any other information you feel appropriate may all be included here. People will be able to see who they will be working with thanks to a well-taken picture. Using a stock picture might give the wrong impression, so avoid doing so.

8. The FAQ page

You may need a separate page for some of the information about your services. Even if you have a list of your offerings on your website’s Services or Home pages, customers will still want to get in touch with you about some items. For this reason, you might include an often Asked Questions page on your website, where you can include any questions you find most often asked.

You may choose the file formats you use to distribute your work, for instance, if you provide audio transcription services. In the event that you create websites, let prospective clients know whether you also provide hosting, future maintenance assistance, or SEO services. Although some material could also be appropriate for your Services page, you should keep it brief so that you can add any further details to the FAQ page.

There are many advantages to having a distinct FAQ page:

• Enhances SEO: Your website may rank better in search engine results since you will have more information about your line of business.
• saves time: You won’t have to repeatedly respond to the same questions.
• shows off your knowledge: Responding to inquiries about your offerings will demonstrate your expertise and earn people’s confidence.

9. The contact page: For this reason, you need to include a Contact page where they may reach you. You may provide a phone number, email address, contact form, depending on how you would want to be reached. You may include a live chat feature so that customers can reach you in real time with their questions if you provide IT-related services, deal with computers often, and have some spare time.

Since the majority of your visitors will probably be looking for a means to contact you, don’t forget to provide links and buttons to your contact page on every other page. Additionally, you may add a button or link to your website’s header or footer.

10. A form to subscribe to a newsletter

This feature is the last one we discuss, and you may not believe you need it. However, you may maintain your consumers’ attention by sometimes delivering them news about your services or interesting facts about your line of business.

Seeing frequent updates from you will remind them that they can rely on you for a certain activity, so if they ever need your services again and haven’t stored your contact information, they can just check one of your emails.

Conclusion:

Having a website might help you increase sales whether you are a freelancer presently or want to become one. Having a website of your own will boost your visibility regardless of whether you utilize a freelancing platform.

You won’t be constrained by a third-party company’s content, and you’ll be free to disclose additional details about the services you provide. Compared to a profile page on a freelancing site, sharing your web address both online and offline is also considerably simpler.

Present your greatest work, provide additional information about yourself, and let others get in touch with you whatever is most convenient. You may grow your freelance company by adhering to our list of essential features for the website.