Regardless of what career path you go down, there will always be some form of competition. Whether it’s other candidates applying for the same job as you or fellow employees vying for that promotion – you’ll have competitors and rivals.
Saying that freelancers are perhaps the group of people with the most competition out there. Finding work as a freelancer can be a big struggle, particularly when the competition is one step ahead of you. Not to mention a lot of freelancers work in careers that are in high-demand and the market is saturated with freelancers. This is a problem many new freelancers have as they try and get their foot in the door only to find someone else’s foot is already wedged in there.
Don’t fret freelancers, there is a very simple idea that can help you fight off the competition and kick that door firmly open. As you might have guessed by the title, this idea is creating a website. In this article, I’m going to give you a few easy tips on how to set your freelance website up, and we’ll conclude by seeing why this can help you beat your rivals.
Creating A Freelance Website
Ultimately, creating your website will start the same way every other website starts; securing a domain name. This will literally be the name of your website, and it could even be your name itself. After all, the purpose of this website is to market yourself as a freelancer. I’d suggest using your name with the word freelancer in it too, e.g, www.joebloggsfreelancer.co.uk. Ironically it doesn’t seem like that domain is taken yet so if your name is Joe Bloggs and you’re a freelancer then you’re in luck!
After this, you move onto the second step which is finding a web hosting provider. This is where you choose the server your site will be on. Ideally, you want a server that’s reliable and isn’t prone to problems so your site can stay up at all times. If you’re serious about freelancing it makes sense to invest a little money into your web hosting so you can afford a top notch provider.
Now, you’ve got a domain name and a server to host your site on, what comes next? Well, after you register a domain and get a web hosting provider, you can focus on actually making your website. At this point, you’ve pretty much just got a blank page. It’s time to come up with a design or template for your website, so it looks the part. This is a very important step as you need your site to look professional and also convey something about you. If you’re a serious freelancer that writes a lot of serious content for news publications, etc., then you want your site to reflect that. It should make people think that you’re a very serious journalist that takes pride in their work. Likewise, maybe you’re a freelance graphic designer. In which case you need your site to look very modern and reflect the work you do. There are loads of website and tools you can use to bring a site to life. Some even include themes and templates you can use if you don’t want to go through the effort of completing coming up with a unique design.
After the design is figured out, you need to address the content. Everything on your site, be it text or imagery, should be designed to promote you. You need to write about yourself and list your qualifications/experience. Put examples of your work on the website for people to see. Not only that, but the content needs to be rich with keywords that people are likely to search when they’re looking for a freelancer like you.
How Can A Freelance Website Help You Beat The Competition?
To put it simply, a website will give you more exposure as a freelancer. I ended the last section by mentioning keywords that need to be placed in your content and around your site. By doing this, you go some way to helping your site appear in the relevant searches when people are looking for freelancers. As a result, they’re more likely to see you than a freelancer without a website.
It also ensures that work finds you, rather than you always finding work. Companies can stumble upon your website, be amazed at how professional you must be, and contact you.
There is no downside to having a website as a freelancer. It might seem like a lot of effort, but it’s worth it as you can definitely get ahead of the competition and find some good contracts.
