How To Make Your Website Work For You (and not against you)
If you run a freelance business or smaller company, this one’s for you. It’s challenging to make all the decisions you’re making on a daily basis and it’s a tough world out there if you’re trying to make it. With all the designers popping up everywhere, standing out online can be a key to success and eventually make or break you.
Image by Svilen Milev
In this article we’ll give you a few handy tips for the road that hopefully can help you do what needs to be done to be visible online. These tips are not related to coding or software, but rather pointers on how to focus with your website.
Let’s have a closer look!
Know your audience
If you want to make a website that is memorable and stands out to the right crowd, you’ll need to know who your target audience is. Who’s buying your products/services and what do they like? This can be hard to answer but it’s definitely something that is worth researching a bit further. Talk to existing and potential clients, look at your competitors and evaluate well. If you’re able to get a website that targets the right people a lot of the work is done.
Portfolio
Having an online portfolio today is crucial. Make sure that your portfolio is either part of your business website or that you at least have a very clear and visible link to it. It’ll help you sell your work better than a thousand words!
Social links
Image by Clix
Having social links available is a must these days, especially when you’re working in design/graphics. Not only can people connect with you but you’re also showing that you’re very present in what’s going on online. Also, those that follow you on Twitter or like your website on Facebook will see updates and be easier to reach for the future. Social media is way more powerful than most of us understand.
Be accessible
Social media is one thing, but have you made sure that your contact info is easy to find? Make sure you’ve included at least a couple of ways to help potential clients reach you. Not everyone fancy filling out a contact form or sending you a tweet. If you have at least a couple of ways they can reach you, you’ll be more likely to get contacted.
Timeless design
The design of your website itself is really, really important. When it comes to the finished product, it’ll of course rely a lot on your own taste and skills, – but there are definitely a few things you should aim for. Make sure you’re not having a design representing something that was really in a decade ago. It is important that your website reflects your professionalism and has a timeless and clean look. This way you’ll look good and at the same time not have to update the design every 6 months due to major trend changes. Also: you don’t have to be a web designer to get a good website. Have a look at WordPress or other CMSs and you’ll see that you can still do a whole lot with no coding experience!
Blog if you can!
Image by Dmitri Popov
Today, blogging is a huge part of networking and a huge source to get visitors. If you make a blog section of your website where you write about stuff you’re doing, new trends or maybe feature some tutorials – you’ll see that visitors come running after a short time. “Everyone” blogs these days and you should jump on that trend.
Images and Video
The technology today makes it possible for us to have websites that look and feel a thousand times better compared to just a few years back. If you want to make a solid visual impact on potential clients you should try to take advantage of some of the many possibilities. Crisp images and videos give a much more solid impression than clip-arts and low-res pictures. Take some time to read up on what technology has to offer and stand out from the crowd!
SEO
If you don’t have any knowledge of Search Engine Optimization, this is the time to get it. With all the websites out there you need to do something to be noticed. Read up on the subject, or get help from professionals and you’ll see that you get paid back many times for prioritizing this.
Conclusion
Making your website work for your business is so much more than just coding. By following our tips we believe that you’ll be more likely to get a website that works with you instead of against you.
Remember that we’d love to hear your own tips as well.
Good luck!
Tags: Business, freelance, tips, tricks, Web Design
