Build Your Own Freelancing Website: Step 3 (Blog or No Blog?)

Welcome to the third post in our “Build Your Own Freelancing Website” series! So far we’ve covered domain names and hosting. Once you’ve purchased your domain name and hosting package, you’re ready for…

Step 3: Decide whether you want to publish a blog and where it should go.

In my last post, I listed three options for setting up your site: using a hosted service (which I recommended against), creating a self-hosted site using Wordpress, or using Squarespace to create and publish your site. Whichever option you chose, you will now need to make your first big decisions about the structure of your site.

In this post, we’ll go through the first two big decisions you need to make. To learn how to implement your decisions on a technical level, I recommend that you review Getting Started With Wordpress or the Squarespace Manual (depending on which service you chose). If there’s enough interest from people in the comments, I would also be happy to run a free webinar demonstrating how to do basic setup stuff in Wordpress and/or Squarespace.

Note: If you are creating a self-hosted site with Wordpress, you’ll need to install Wordpress on your site before you do anything else. Luckily, most of the hosting providers out there (including the three I mentioned in my last post – Reliable Webs, Bluehost, and Godaddy) will install Wordpress for you. You can either go into your control panel and navigate your way to the “install Wordpress” button, or just call your hosting provider and ask them to install Wordpress.

Now on to those “big decisions” I was telling you about.

1. Will your website have a blog?

The first decision you need to make is whether you want to have a blog on your website. You don’t have to. I emphasize that because if you’re not going to have the time to update your blog regularly, you probably shouldn’t publish a blog at all. A stale blog is much worse than no blog.

At the same time, a blog is a fabulous way to establish your expertise. If you have the time and writing ability to update your blog at least weekly, go for it. Just make sure that your blog is geared towards your prospective clients, rather than other people who do what you do.

2. Will your blog be on the homepage of your website?

Your blog doesn’t necessarily have to appear on the homepage of your site. Since the primary goal of your site as a freelancer is to sell your services, you may want to create a simple homepage that quickly tells visitors (1) what you do; (2) why they should hire you; and (3) how to contact you.

On the other hand, if your blog posts are well-written and provide information that would be useful for potential clients, you may want to keep it front and center.

Not sure what to do? Start looking at your competitors’ websites. See what you like and don’t like. Take the time to figure out what format would best show off your talent and abilities.

What’s next?

Between now and the next post, think about whether you want to publish a blog on your site, and if so, whether you want it to go on the home page. Once you make that decision, you can begin setting up the basic framework of your site. Starting next week, we’ll cover (1) the other pages you must have on your website; (2) how to customize the look of your site without spending a fortune; and (3) how to write web content that helps you get more clients.

Please share your questions and/or suggestions in the comments! The more direction you give me, the more useful these posts will be.

photo credit: tj scenes