What a freelancer's website should look like?
Matt Kelly
One of my resolutions this year is to overhaul my website, so I can display
my freelance work and professional credentials to prospective clients
without embarrassment. (My current website isn't much more than an "under
construction" page.) Can anyone recommend any sites I should study for ideas
about what to do? I'm sure some freelancers have very sophisticated and
impressive sites-- therefore, of course, I'd want to poach those ideas for
my own. ;-)
-Matty
Harry Haller
"Matt Kelly" <mkell...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:3ff4648e$0$4739$61fe...@news.rcn.com...
I put together a pretty basic website using microsoft publisher (came free
with office) last year. It has lots of built-in formatting and designs, with
customization options to that you can quickly put together something that
works and looks OK if not stunning.
My question is, how do you link your site to search engines like Google or
Alta Vista? Google has a "site registration" function that I have tried
several times, but I still don't turn up in search engine searches.
Matt Kelly
I don't even expect to place on Google's search results or anything like
that. I just want a good website I can mention to editors and such, so they
can review my resume and work samples in one central electronic location--
certainly beats sending a paper resume or scouting for links to old articles
and pasting them into an email. I just want to take stronger command of my
work.
"Harry Haller" <hal...@spamouflage.com> wrote in message
news:tH_Ib.267587$Ec1.9...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Harry Haller
>
> I don't even expect to place on Google's search results or anything like
> that. I just want a good website I can mention to editors and such, so
they
> can review my resume and work samples in one central electronic location--
> certainly beats sending a paper resume or scouting for links to old
articles
> and pasting them into an email. I just want to take stronger command of my
> work.
>
>
You might take a look at publisher, then, or I'm sure others can recommend
similar products. I am not technologically adept but I put together a
decent-looking 5-page site in a couple of hours.
Graham Holliday
vouch for the PC version, but I imagine it works much the same. Quick
and easy to use with professional results. No need for any knowledge
of HTML.
Bonnie White
The site I currently have up is nothing to write home about (in my opinion)
and am in the process of revamping using a whole new, sharper template.
Bonnie
--
Bonnie White
Write Angle
Honesty. Integrity. Simple.
http://writeangle.net
"Graham Holliday" <in...@grahamholliday.co.uk> wrote in message
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Matt Kelly
Thanks much-- I appreciate all the tips on what software tools to use for
design. I'm also looking for specific websites to visit, just to see what
else is out there and get a feel for how a good freelancer site should be
organized and presented. Any ideas?
-Matt
"Matt Kelly" <mkell...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:3ff484ef$0$4765$61fe...@news.rcn.com...
JB
> Happy New Year all!
>
> One of my resolutions this year is to overhaul my website, so I can display
> my freelance work and professional credentials to prospective clients
> without embarrassment. (My current website isn't much more than an "under
I'm not sure editors care that much about what the site looks like. In
fact, anything more than text links might just be more confusing and
harder to use. Look at Jakob Nielson's site, useit.com, for something
that is mostly text, fast, pretty easy to use, but not flashy at all.
And this is someone who has written several books and is considered
one of the best UI and usability guys around. My own site is all text,
with just links to articles that are just text. It says my name at the
top, e-mail and phone, and gives one page of links. Yeah, it shouldn't
listed on Google because you probably can't legally post the info
anyway; the site shoudl just be for editorial use.
- JB
Sean McManus
> Alta Vista? Google has a "site registration" function that I have tried
> several times, but I still don't turn up in search engine searches.
All the hard work in websites is in promoting them. It takes some time
to learn how to build a site, but it's nothing compared to the time
you'll need to spend promoting your website if you really expect it to
bring in fresh business.
You'll need to:
- post quality content that internet users will find useful, and not
just editors. You need to attract visitors and link partners to
improve your search engine ranking and make it easier for editors to
find you.
- exchange links with other websites continuously - but only relevant
websites.
- submit your site to search engines one at a time and be patient.
Don't resubmit within a month. It can take several months to get your
homepage in Google and much longer before it comes back to spider the
rest of the site.
If you're not getting listed in Google, first do a search for your own
URL at google. If it's listed there, the problem is that you're just
not ranking highly and this is probably partly caused by the fact that
you don't have enough links coming in to your site.
Don't believe for a minute that a good website will bring in loads of
top-class commissions. Editors on good titles have enough freelancers
approaching them that they don't need to go out hunting contributors.
It will however:
* put a portfolio online so editors have a reference point when you
contact them.
* bring you closer to your audience and be a great resource in finding
ideas and comment.
* bring in the type of work you don't even know is out there from
clients who need to hire a writer and don't know any yet.
* bring in enquiries from people who aren't offering anything near the
market rate for the work.
Through my website (www.sean.co.uk), I've had content licensed for
publication in books and sold photos for use in brochures and album
covers. I've also been invited to write for magazines that were
starting up or that I hadn't heard of and have attracted corporate
writing work. And I've sold books directly to readers as well as
through Amazon (making a commission on the sale). The site also makes
some money from advertising.
But the best thing has been that I've immersed myself in the internet
communities I've been writing about and this has enabled me to offer
better quality articles to clients.
I've posted some resources and tutorials for webmasters here:
http://www.sean.co.uk/a/webdesign/index.shtm
Hope this helps,
Sean
---
www.JournalismCareers.com
www.sean.co.uk
Harry Haller
"Sean McManus" <uk_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b719969b.04010...@posting.google.com...
> "Harry Haller" <hal...@spamouflage.com> wrote in message
news:<tH_Ib.267587$Ec1.9...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
> > My question is, how do you link your site to search engines like Google
or
> > Alta Vista? Google has a "site registration" function that I have tried
> > several times, but I still don't turn up in search engine searches.
>
> All the hard work in websites is in promoting them. It takes some time
> to learn how to build a site, but it's nothing compared to the time
> you'll need to spend promoting your website if you really expect it to
> bring in fresh business.
>
[snip]
Thanks for the comments. It's not really that I expect my website to be
bringing in a lot of business on its own. It's really more of an expanded
business card, something that I can send to a prospective client that has my
resume, background, and links to samples that are available via the web all
in one place. It works perfectly well for this purpose. However, it would be
nice if people could also look it up on google if they remember my name but
can't remember the specific URL. I have seen freelancers who have sites like
this. They don't have a lot of links or whatever, they basically just have
the same kind of information I do, but I can search for them by name on
google and come up with their site.
I first tried to link my site with goolge a year ago, but my url never
showed up in google searches. I waited 6 months and tried again and it still
didn't. I kind of forgot about it after that. It's not something that I need
on a daily basis but something that would be nice to have.
JB
> showed up in google searches. I waited 6 months and tried again and it still
> didn't. I kind of forgot about it after that. It's not something that I need
> on a daily basis but something that would be nice to have.
Google rankings are based, in part, on the number of other sites that
link to your site. So, it's counter-productuve -- unless you have
something to sell or say that millions want to know about (and link
to) then you won't get very many hits.
Mark Henricks
wrote:
Take a look at mine if you want.
www.notjustaliving.net
or
www.markhenricks.com
I used Microsoft Front Page Express and my own primitive design
skills. It ain't perfect but it does show up on Google. I use
Hostway's freebie search engine listing service and it seems to work.
I've gotten some work from it too, although the book it is primarily
designed to promote, sadly, has not sold well.
Best,
M
Lara Lara
I have a copywriting site that I use for pretty much the same purpose. I
don't remember going to outrageous lengths to get it listed on Google, but
it comes up first when you do a search on my name. I think the important
thing is to be sure that your name is somewhere on the index page, so that
Google's spiders (the little creatures that crawl around the internet
gathering up site info) will catch it. You should also make sure your
metatags include your name and whatever key words you believe to be
relevant. It's very easy to do; the instructions for whatever software you
end up using will probably explain how.
Apropos software, I used Adobe GoLive, a WYSIWYG site builder, but after
wrestling with it for a few days I gradually came to understand how HTML
works and found it easier to write the code myself and simply use the
software to see how the pages would look online before I actually published
them. The HTML was simple to learn because my site design is very simple --
I think it's important not to get too caught up with fancy flourishes, as
they most likely slow down navigation through the site.
FYI, here's my site: www.gretchengriffin.com.
Good luck,
GG
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