Francesca Marano - Websites for freelancers 101

Ten years ago, when you started a business, the first thing you took care of was making business cards. Today your first thought goes to a website. Often freelancers create their websites without a clear plan. It's true that WordPress makes it relatively easy to build a website on your own, but it's a good/recommended practice to start such a project by asking yourself some questions before embarking in this adventure (trust me, it is epic and no, you don't need to learn to code).
- Do all freelancers need a website?
- If you decided to build one, what pages should definitely be there?
- What information is useful to your readers? What is worthless?
- And by the way, who are your readers? What and how do you write for them?
In this talk, I'll explore common questions that freelancers have when deciding to build their own websites, and give some answers that will help you on your journey.

Transcript

1. WEBSITES
   FOR FREELANCERS:
   ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF BEFORE
   BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE
   @FrancescaMarano
   

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2. Francesca Marano
   @FrancescaMarano
   WordPress Community Manager at
   

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3. Keyword: awareness
   

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4. Ask yourself many questions
   before you start
   

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5. 1. Why
   2. For whom
   3. Content
   4. Design
   

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7. Everyone needs a website
   I want to rank first on Google
   Any reason not supported by a goal
   and a strategy
   

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8. Brand awareness, reputation
   Sales
   Reasons supported by a goal and a
   strategy
   

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10. Buyer persona
    Customer journey
    Real people, real problems, real
    solutions
    

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12. It’s not about you
    It’s about the reader
    

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13. What’s in it for me?
    

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15. Say no to lipstick on a pig
    Make it easy to navigate, easy to
    understand
    Unambiguous instructions
    

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16. Must Have
    ● About Page (it’s not about you)
    ● Sales Pages (it’s not about you)
    ● Contact (this one is about you)
    ● Legal stuff (check with a lawyer)
    ● In a blog: search, tags, categories
    

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17. One million bonus points if
    you add a price range
    

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18. Nice to Have
    ● Mini bio
    ● Links to social media
    ● Testimonials
    ● Newsletter signup form
    ● Popular posts
    

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19. Example #01
    Before & After
    Paul Jarvis
    

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21. Example #02
    Before & After
    Find another example
    

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22. It’s not about you
    It’s about the reader
    

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23. Example of a website where the freelance is portrayed with other people and not on his
    own like a rock star
    

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24. Every page or blog
    post is a potential
    landing page
    

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25. Example of a good after entry footer, page, etc...
    

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26. GRAZIE!
    @FrancescaMarano
    Photo Credits: Brad Neathery, Emily Morter, Galymzhan Abdugalimov, Mike Wilson at Unsplash
    

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