Lots of people have been working from home in the past couple of years. While most of them simply relocated from their office, others quit their regular job and decided to start working as freelancers. In simple terms, a freelancer is an independent, self-employed worker who provides services to clients (sometimes even their old employers). The services can vary greatly – web design, landscape design, creative writing, audio recording, translation, legal consulting, crafts, and many more.

If you are already a freelancer or you want to give this option a try, you will find a number of websites that connect freelancers with buyers. If you want to stand out among other freelancers or promote your work outside of these platforms however, you will need a website of your own, which you can promote on social media, web directories, professional discussion boards, or even on small print ads around town. There are a few things you should definitely have on the site, and we will discuss them in this article. Having a good website can help you to find lots of new customers and to expand your freelance business.

1. Portfolio

This is probably the most important part of your website. People usually want to see what you can do before they even contact you. This is why, you should show them what you can do, and this is valid for any type of service you offer. If you paint, add an image gallery with your works; if you build websites, add a thumbnail gallery with links to a number of live sites; for translations, add a few example paragraphs from different projects.

A good portfolio can grab people’s attention and can help you to stand out among your competitors. If people see the type of work you do, they can easily judge if you are the right person for the job. Your portfolio should not be an archive of your entire work, though, so you should either pick your best projects, or select a few that demonstrate different aspects of your skills.

If you build websites, add a thumbnail and a link to each website you add to your portfolio.

2. Services Page

You will be offering services to people, so this is one of the things they should see first on your website. You should list your services clearly to get people’s interest. It is more likely that they will hire you if they see the information they need in one place – what you can do for them, what information or materials you will need, etc. Add any information related to your services that you find important, including any limitations. For example, you may be a translator, but you may prefer to avoid certain type of texts, such as medical or legal documents.

Having detailed description of your services will save you the time to reply to inquiries from people for more details. Nonetheless, try to focus on the important things and avoid adding too much information that can make the page unreadable. If you want to add information that is relevant to what you do, but is not directly related to the services you offer, you would better add it on a separate FAQ page (more about that below).

3. Your Prices

This is something quite important as well. Let people know how much you charge. Do you charge per hour or per project? Do you offer faster delivery for an additional fee? Do you offer package deals or some sort of monthly subscription? How much will you charge for a custom service that is not listed on your website?

These are all questions you have to answer on your website. People like seeing how much they will have to pay when they are about to order some service. Depending on what you offer, you can list your prices on the same page as your services, or you can list only your basic price there and create a separate page where you can add a detailed pricing list.

Make sure that you include any additional charges as well to avoid any misunderstanding about the payment later. For example, if you craft something, you may have to pay more for materials and shipping; if you offer web design services, a client may want you to use a premium theme/plugin - any such charges should be listed on your website in case that the client will have to cover them.

When deciding on your pricing strategy, try to use "value-based pricing" vs "cost-plus". With value-based pricing, you set your prices based on the value your customer will get from the product or service, instead of factoring your costs for doing the job and adding a profit. You can also check this article on Elementor's blog:

4. Your delivery time

People usually want to know how much time they will have to wait for a particular service. Certain services require more time to be completed depending on the volume and the difficulty of the work. There may be other factors as well – if you are a photographer, for example, the weather can affect your delivery time; if you rely on a third-party for a service or a product you need to complete your own project, your delivery can be delayed. You should always consider such unforeseen circumstances to avoid any possible misunderstanding.

This isn’t about offering the shortest delivery time compared to other freelancers, but about informing your clients what they should expect if they order. Even if it takes you more time to complete a project, being honest and punctual will pay off in the long term.

5. An order form

You should make it easy for your potential customers to order. Unless you prefer people to contact you first and to arrange an alternative payment method, you can either accept orders directly on your website, or you can add a link to your profile on a freelancer platform that you use so that people can order there.

If you want to allow customers to order on your website directly, you can add an order form or even just a payment button to a payment processor of your choice, so you don‘t need advanced IT skills to be able to accept payments online. PayPal, for example, allows you to embed a payment button on your site with a few clicks. Alternatively, applications such as our Website builder and WordPress allow you to offer paid downloads. Depending on the nature of your work and your agreement with potential customers, you can consider such an option as well.

6. Testimonials

Nothing says more about the quality of your services than the testimonials of happy customers. Adding a few testimonials on your home page or on a separate page can build trust between you and your potential customers. They can help you to establish credibility and to convert hits on your website to actual orders.

To collect real testimonials, you can ask your customers to leave one once you deliver the product or service. Depending on how you communicate with them, they can send you an email, fill a form on your website or leave a review on a review platform. With their permission, you can add their testimonial on your site. Avoid using fake testimonials – doing that can have a negative impact on your reputation.

7. A good About page

If you want people to trust you, you should tell them who you are and what values you support. There are many professionals out there, so you should convince your potential customers that you are the right person for the job. The About page on your site is like your profile page on a freelancer platform – it is the place where you share information about yourself that can help people to decide to hire you.

Here you can include your professional background, work-related values (being punctual, paying attention to details, etc.), completed courses, accreditations and certifications, and any other information you see fit. A good photograph can also help as people will see who they will be working with. Do not use a stock photo as doing such a thing can leave a bad impression.

8. FAQ page

Some information regarding your services may require a separate page. You can list what you offer on the Services page or on the Home page of your website, but there will always be things people want to contact you about. This is why, you can add a Frequently Asked Questions page, where you can mention anything you notice people ask about the most.

For example, if you offer audio transcription services, you can mention what file formats you use to deliver your work. If you build websites, inform your potential customers if you provide hosting as well, if you help with future maintenance, or whether you can help them with SEO services. While some things may be suitable for your Services page as well, you should keep the content on it concise, so you can add any additional information on the FAQ page.

Having a separate FAQ page has a number of benefits:

  • Improves SEO. You will have more content related to your field of work, which can help your website to rank higher in search engine results.
  • Saves time. You will not have to answer the same questions over and over again.
  • Demonstrates your expertise. Answering questions about your services will show people that you know what you are doing and they can trust you.

9. Contact page

No matter how much information you have on the website, people may still have a question or a custom request. This is why, you should have a Contact page that will allow them to get in touch with you. Depending on how you prefer to be contacted, you can add a phone number, an email address and/or a contact form. If you offer IT-related services , you work on a computer often and you have some free time, you can also add a live chat so that people can contact you in real time with their inquiry.

Do not forget to put links and buttons to your contact page on all your other pages, as most likely, most of your visitors will be searching for a way to get in touch with you. You may also include a button or link in the header or footer of your website.

10. A newsletter subscription form

This is the last feature we mention and you may think that it is not something you really need. However, sending news about your services or trivia about your field of work every now and then will keep your customers‘ interest. If they ever need your services again and they have not saved your contact information, they can quickly check one of your emails as seeing regular updates from you will remind them that they can count on you for a particular task.

Adding a subscription form is quite easy, especially if you use software like our Website builder or WordPress. You can find out more about adding one in our articles on how to launch a successful email campaign. If you want to make sure your emails reach people’s Inbox, you can check our article on the topic as well.

Can you add all these things with ICDSoft?

Yes, you can do this easily! Our feature-rich Website builder allows you to add your services, a pricing list and testimonials with a couple of clicks in the Content section of the application. It supports more than twenty different payment processors, so you can set up an order form for any service within minutes. You can use a ready Contact page and a Form builder module that you can customize to make it easier for your potential customers to get in touch with you or to subscribe for a newsletter. To make things even easier, you can compose and send the newsletter emails directly through the Website builder.

An FAQ Builder module and different portfolio options (gallery, slider, various content layouts) will help you further to add everything you need on the website even if you don’t have any technical skills. We mention this as freelancing is about working for yourself and loving what you do. It doesn’t necessarily involve being an IT professional. Using our Website builder, you can set up your freelancing website in no time. Check out the gallery below to see some of the features and modules we have mentioned that you can use.

Of course, you can also use a content management system like WordPress and add the functions you need by installing a plugin. You may have to spend more time to configure the plugins you use, but you will still not need advanced skills to build a great freelancer website and add everything you want on it.

In Conclusion

If you are already a freelancer or you plan to become one, having a website can help you to boost your sales. No matter if you use a freelancer platform or not, a website of your own will increase your exposure. You will be able to share more information about the services you offer and you will not be limited by a third-party company what content you can add. It is also much easier to share your web address online and offline compared to a profile page on a freelancer platform.

Show your best work, tell people more about yourself and allow them to contact you in the most convenient way. Following our list of must-haves for the site will help you to expand your freelancing business.

Author

I started working in the web hosting business in 2004. My other interests are mountain biking, fine woodworking and raising my kids to be good persons.