Take a Selfie of Your Freelance Website to Attract Web-Copywriting Clients
By Pam Foster

I just read the goofiest thing. The trend in selfies right now is to take a picture of yourself where you either: a) pretend you have a headache; or b) look like you have “Barbie feet.” I’m not kidding! Nutty, huh?

But, silly trends aside, selfies can serve many purposes. They can show family, friends, or community gathering together or capture something unique and interesting that catches the eye.

A selfie says a lot about the person (or people) in the photo. Those simple snapshot moments show you instantly who they are, where they are, what they’re doing, and how they present themselves.

I bring this up, because I want to ask you …

If you took a selfie of your own freelance website right now, what would it tell others about your copywriting services?

What would be a potential client’s first impression of you?

As a web copywriter, you want to put your best “self” out there, with a website that tells clients, “I’m a professional web copywriter and I can help you improve your traffic and sales online.”

Now, if potential clients look at your website right now, would that be the impression they get about you?

One easy way to tell is to use a checklist to audit your website … and pretend you’re the client.

By doing this, you’ll find any problems you can easily fix …

You’ll give prospects a better idea of why they should choose YOU …

And you’ll get valuable practice, which can translate to evaluating client sites and helping them improve THEIR first impressions to customers.

Here’s a starting checklist to see how your freelance website stacks up.

• Your website clearly says what you offer and who you help.

  Hopefully it’s clear to a prospect, within a split second, that you’re a web copywriter and you work for marketers in the [specific industry or niche].

  Here are a few examples:

  • Les Worley: Hi-Tech Content and Copy
  • Farr Communications: B2B Copywriting for Accountants by a CPA
  • ​PetCopywriter.com: Web-SEO Content & Consulting for Pet Industry Marketers

  Every website, for any kind of business, should be this clear. For your freelance business, this is very important. I know, from looking at online job sites, prospects are eager to find freelance copywriters who can help them grow their businesses and who understand their industries.

• Your web content is about the prospect, not YOU!

  Yes, your website should be about the unique, fabulous services you offer … but it should NOT be all about YOU.

  Freelancers and businesses sometimes make the mistake of talking all about themselves — how great they are — without considering the prospect’s needs and wishes.

  If you find you’re not projecting prospect-solution-focused messages with your current content, you can easily “flip” the tone and conversation in your content to be all about how you solve the prospect’s needs by:

  • Writing optimized web content that’s easy for your target audience to find.
  • Demonstrating you understand their industry or market.

  THAT’S what prospects want to hear.

• Your website invites prospects to engage with you somehow.

  Ideally your site includes a free report, newsletter, free consultation, or something else appealing to the prospect so they’re willing to contact you or sign up with an email address. That’s the first step to building your relationships with potential clients.

  Without having some type of appealing offer, you’re limiting your odds of starting a relationship.

• Your website is mobile-responsive.

  Keep in mind that many prospects — maybe more than 50% of them — will be looking at your website on their smartphones or tablets. If your website is on an outdated platform, it will look bad on a mobile device and create a poor impression.

  Make sure you update your site to a mobile-responsive WordPress theme (or other) as quickly as possible! First impressions can make a huge difference.

• Your website provides multiple ways for prospects to contact you.

  If a potential client lands on your website and is excited to reach out to you, make sure it’s easy to do so! You want the prospect to be able to reach you right away if they’re motivated, right?

  Some freelance websites (and other business sites) only offer a contact form on the site … and prospects are left wondering when they’ll hear back. It’s much better to provide an email address, phone number, LinkedIn link, and so forth, so prospects can choose their preferred method when they want to get in touch with you now.

These are just five ways to evaluate or audit your website to make sure it’s appealing to your prospects. There are many other ways, as well.

Once your website is in the best shape possible — looking good as a “selfie” for prospects to see —

Offer a similar “site audit checklist” service to your prospects, helping them find and fix gaps in their content.

This just may be the ticket to landing more clients.

This article, Take a Selfie of Your Freelance Website to Attract Web-Copywriting Clients, was originally published by Wealthy Web Writer.