Websites for freelancers 101. All the questions you should ask yourself before building your own website.

A presentation at WordCamp Oslo in March 2018 in Oslo, Norway by Francesca Marano

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

Francesca Marano @FrancescaMarano WordPress Community Manager at

Show of hands! ● How many freelancers in the house? ● How many have built their own website? ● How many build websites for other freelancers?

Keyword: awareness

Ask yourself many questions before you start

Why 2. For whom 3. Content 4. Design

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

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

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

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

What’s in it for me?

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

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

One million bonus points if you add a price range

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

Before & After

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

Links! ● Simon Sinek - Start with Why ● Think with Google: Micromoments ● Copyblogger ● John Maeda on three types of design in digital technology

GRAZIE! @FrancescaMarano Photo Credits: Brad Neathery, Emily Morter, Galymzhan Abdugalimov, Mike Wilson, Glenn Carstens-Peters at Unsplash

Francesca Marano
@francescamarano

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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.

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.