Why Do I Need a Freelance Writing Website?
We’re not going to beat around the bush here – you should definitely have your own freelance writing website. Why, you ask? Well, there are so many upsides to having your own website, and very few downsides.
That all sounds great, and in a perfect world, of course, we’d all have a fancy website. However, I hear you saying the same things we used to say about creating a freelance writing website, “I am not a web developer.” To most of us none techy folk, the idea of creating your own website seems complex, and well, time-consuming.
However, we’re here to tell you that having your own freelance writing website isn’t as scary as you might think. There are lots of different platforms out there that are designed specifically to help the average person create their own website. You don’t need to know code or be a computer whizz, you just need to follow instructions and work diligently.
This might take you a bit of time in the beginning, but it is sure to pay you back ten-fold in the future. That’s because having your own website is the perfect marketing tool, and if done right is going to earn you a lot of jobs.
Here’s why we think a freelance writing website is going to help earn you lots of jobs:
- People hire professionals
- It’s your best marketing tool
- It’s a great chance to hone your skills
- You’re in complete control of it
- It never stops working for you
While there are plenty of different ways to pick up jobs in freelance writing there are none that combine these five points better than having your own website. So, if you’re asking yourself, “should I have a website as a freelance writer” the answer is yes.
1. People Hire Professionals
People hire professionals – professionals have websites. The simple fact is that having a professional-looking website gives you a lot more authority. If it was you hiring, and you had to choose between a writer who had a short bio on a jobs board, versus a writer with their own website, who would you choose?
Even if you remain completely unconvinced by the rest of these points, this one point should be enough to convince you that having your own freelance writing website should be a priority. Having your own freelance writing website shows that you’re committed to freelance writing, and above all else, that you’re serious and professional.
Part of this job is not just convincing potential clients that your writing is great, but that you’re going to be easy to work with, meet deadlines, and generally make their life easier. The best way to do this is to show your level of professionalism through your website.
I always think of choosing a freelance writer a bit like drafting a quarterback in football. Often it’s the intangibles that make the greatest quarterbacks. It’s the same with a freelance writer, it’s not necessarily the writing that makes them a great fit, it’s the little details like their level of professionalism.
If you get your website right then the first impression your potential clients are going to get is one of a professional. They say the first seven seconds when you meet someone are the most important, so make your first “meeting” with your potential client happen on your website, where you’re in control of what’s going on.
2. Your Website Is Your Best Marketing Tool
In our article “Marketing Yourself as a Freelance Writer,” we listed build your own website as our number one piece of marketing advice. The reason for this is you can use your website to tie together all of your other marketing efforts and get potential clients reading your work.
Whether you’re applying to jobs on a job board, posting to social media, or sending out pitches, if you have a website, then you have somewhere to send all of these people. Link them back to your website, and show them all the great work you have done in the past.
Without a website, it is much harder to tie all of your marketing efforts together. Of course, you can send out links to some of the work you have done, but why do that when you can have lots of your work all in one place?
Once you’ve got your website set up it’s the ideal place to start building your portfolio. If you can write some great content for your website then this will obviously help impress your potential clients, but you can also link to work you have done for previous clients.
Set up a specific page called portfolio and link to the work you have done for previous clients. Include anything you think is beneficial and really sell yourself. If the article did particularly well then tell people about it. Did it rank high on Google? Did you get amazing feedback from your client? Then put it all on there and don’t be afraid to show yourself off.
Your website is the culmination of all your marketing techniques. Use all the marketing platforms you can, but send people to your website. With your website, you’re in control of exactly what you show your potential clients and it’s the best way to wow them.
3. A Chance To Practice
If you’re new to the freelance writing game then having your own website gives you the opportunity to practice writing in a low-pressure forum.
There are lots of people out there that know they have the skills to be a freelance writer but struggle to take the first step. One of the best ways to get over your fear of writing for a public audience, and to improve your writing skills, is to post to your website.
That’s because there’s much less pressure on you when you write for your own website. You are your own client so you can work at your own pace and structure it exactly how you want to. You can also relax in the knowledge that at least in the early days of your website you’re writing isn’t going to be read by that many people. This means you have a perfect opportunity to practice your writing.
This is not an excuse to produce anything less than your best work, but it is an opportunity to take advantage of a less pressurized environment to produce some of your best work. As you learn and progress as a writer, you might come back to your original articles and decide they’re not good enough anymore, but the great thing is you can come back to them and edit them any time you like.
Your own website is a great place to practice your writing whilst building out your portfolio at the same time. You can edit and improve on these articles as you go and turn them into some excellent marketing materials.
4. You’re In Control of What Happens
One advantage your own website has over other marketing platforms is that you are in complete control of how you portray yourself. Every decision is up to you, and this means you can present yourself in the best possible light.
Whereas with most of the other ways you will communicate with your clients you are limited to a short bio and perhaps a few links for a portfolio, with your own website you can put as much as you want on there. Tell your own story exactly as you want it to be told and let your creativity show through!
Not only does your own website give you control over how you portray yourself, the sheer fact that you’re in control means you will learn what it takes to run a website. When you’re writing pieces for a client’s website this will make it much easier to understand exactly what your client wants.
If things aren’t formatted the right way then it can be quite time consuming taking someone’s work and putting it on your website, so any knowledge you have of this is a big bonus. These are all little things, but when all the little things start to add up that’s when you get jobs!
Running your own freelance writing website gives you the power to portray yourself how you want to be portrayed, but it also gives you valuable experience at the same time. It’s just another benefit of having your own website.
5. Your Website Works Even When You’re Not Working
No matter how committed you are to your freelance writing career you’ve got to sleep sometime. Your website on the other hand never rests and is always there to market your skills whenever you need it to.
Of course, setting up a website takes time and energy, but once you’ve got it all set up it really doesn’t take that much to keep it ticking over. The benefits you get though are huge. No matter where your potential client is, what time it is, or what they want to know about you, your website can be on hand to help you out.
This comes back to the idea that people hire professionals. If you’ve got a website that can give your clients the information they need 24/7 you’re going to have an edge over the guy who doesn’t. No matter what you’re doing, if you’ve got a good website then you can handle queries and book work just like a big business would.
There’s no doubt that building a website will take some time, effort, and money in the beginning, but the benefits are too great to ignore. Your website can make you look like an accomplished, professional freelance writer no matter what time of the day or night it is. It allows you to deal with any queries, and most importantly, book that all-important gig.
Conclusion
A freelance writing website is a vital tool in the arsenal of the freelance writer. When you’ve got it set up it becomes your own personal receptionist, marketer, and salesman, and when you’re a one-man-band freelance writer, that’s like gold dust.
When people are hiring freelancers in any industry they want to work with professionals and benefit from everything that entails. It’s not always the people with the best writing who get furthest in this industry, it’s the people who do the simple things well. They are, conversing with the client, understanding the client’s aim, and making deadlines. If you’ve got a professional-looking website you’re going to help convince potential clients that you can do these things.
Your website is the ideal marketing platform because you are in complete control of it. You can show yourself exactly how you want to be shown and really wow your clients. It works for you even when you’re not working and can create leads with little to no effort on your part.
There are so many reasons why having a website is a great idea for freelance writers but here are our big 5 reasons why you should start a website.
- It shows you are a professional.
- It can be your best marketing tool.
- It’s a great chance to practice your writing.
- You’re in complete control of how you portray yourself.
- It works even when you’re not working.
We know it takes time out of your busy schedule to build a website, but the long term gains are worth the sacrifice.
