Online Trends Which Your Website Really Should Feature

online trends that your website needs

Freelancers are fighting in a competitive field. Not only do they have to compete with plenty of local services which offer similar results, but they often have the security of a full firm behind them. Every freelancer has felt this competition. If they can’t find a good way around it, often they are condemned to vacant periods of work. However, as with anything, the internet can be the great tool to level the playing field.

If you’re reading this as a freelancer, or someone desiring the freelancing lifestyle, then read on. Our website guide could help you distinguish yourself when clients are searching for services. Your website says a great deal about you, and so impressing at this stage could not only secure work in the present moment, but potentially a long-term, lucrative relationship with coveted clients.

Show Your Work

You need to present and express your work well. It’s the first thing a client wishes to see. If you’re unable to do this, you could hamper the business relationship from the very first moment. For this reason, consider looking into attractive UI designs which help show the highlights from your professional career. You also need to make this presentation interesting, and easy to navigate. The average attention span of someone looking for good content online is limited, so you need to keep this in mind.

Check this blog post from Brandbits on benefits of flipbooks integration. This can help your client leaf through your work in a tactile, responsive, relevant and interesting way. For someone searching through many different businesses and freelancers online, this could help retain their attention long enough to keep them on your web page.

Interactive Contact Information

We all know to place our contact information on the web page we host. It is the fastest way for further correspondence between you and your client to occur. There is also a way to accelerate this process. Instead of hosting your contact information in a text file, consider making it interactive. For example, if you have an office, Google Maps integrated allows a client to see the way there without having to leave the page. If you have a Skype address, apply the link to send you a message directly front and center, as well as your phone number. Host an email form which allows someone to send you a quick message in a matter of seconds, without needing to load up and compose an email of their own.

Of course, what could be considered even more important in the modern world is social media integration. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are all relevant. Instead of placing links there, consider applying live widgets which give your user a rundown of your most recent postings. If you live stream your work, consider hosting a VOD in the HTML of the site, so it’s the first thing your clients are greeted with.

Just be sure to use an element of taste here. Auto play is condemned far and wide among those who have good online sense, so ignore your temptation to use it. Also, ignore any useless widgets. Greeting popups, advertisements and anything which takes agency away from the cursor of the visitor are things to be avoided like the plague (at least for these circumstances.)

Develop Your Image

We all know what a website looks like. We all know how navigable a website feels from the perspective of quality. These are things which decades of web design have developed and refined to a sharp point. The true way you can make yourself stand out is by clever graphic usage, interesting use of formatting space, and immediate utility. Developing your image in this way will depend on what you do. For example, if you’re a freelance musician and audio engineer, framing your website in the design of an interactive Digital Audio Workstation could bring that novelty factor which is so coveted in its ability to grab someone’s attention.

This will only work if you have a clear and consistent voice, and theme your brand around this idea. A fragmented website filled with cool ideas is much less effective than a singular idea achieved well. It doesn’t take much for a great website to work and look awesome, so use temperance in your application.

Feature Past Work Prominently

Of course, the first words a potential client will be looking for are something to the effect of ‘See past work and testimonials here.’ This allows them to browse the back catalog of your work. Even if you cherry pick the highlighted work shown on your homepage, it’s important to have a vast library of your efforts, so they can chart your diversity.

If you can, framing this on a chronological scale which shows how your skill has developed, or how your branding has become more prominent allows a potential client to feel interested in your story, and willing to become a part of it. On the subject of featuring your best work prominently, it’s important to show a clear and professional picture of who you are. People are much more inclined to hire someone they have seen than a mysterious voice on the internet, no matter what work is behind it.

Videos

In the same vein as featuring your past work prominently, you should understand exactly how to. A portfolio can be displayed in many different ways, and it will largely depend on the work you do. However, a presentation video, or a ‘meet the freelancer’ video can work well to show your best self to the audience. It needn’t be lengthy, just a quick polite greeting which shows you, your passion, and your past work can again help a client identify with you.

It shows you are willing to present yourself confidently and stand behind your work publicly. That speaks volumes of your reliability and willingness to tackle issues head-on. Just make sure the video never auto plays, because as stated earlier, that can be annoying.

With these tips, you should find your freelancing working commission exploding in volume. Best of luck to you!

With over 9 years of search marketing experience, Sandra is cross skilled between PPC and SEO. Her experience in search spans across different verticals including Technology, Retail, Travel & Automotive.