Marketing

How Do I Attract Clients with My Writer Website?

Wondering how to attract clients using your writer website?

Everyone is telling you that you need a website, but what good does it do if no one tells you how to use it to attract clients?

How Do I Attract Clients with My Writer Website?

I used to think the exact same thing.

For a long time, I didn’t realize why I needed a writer website.

Only when I launched my website and started landing more clients did I realize I was wording the question all wrong. What I really should have been asking was this:

How can I use my freelance writer website to make clients hire me?

Here’s What Your Website Doesn’t Do

Your website does not sit on the front lines attracting clients to your services. The best it does in attracting is getting clients to land on your site via SEO (which is actually a really good technique).

Your website does not sit on the front lines attracting clients to your services.

But SEO isn’t the only method you have to get clients. They’ll also find you via social media, referrals, and even responses to their own job board postings. Only after they have heard about your services in those places and feel compelled to learn more about you will they visit your website.

Here’s What it Does Do

Once they’re on your website, they’re looking for reasons to hire you (or reasons not to). They want to know more about what you can offer.

Ultimately, you website will help clients make a final decision to work with you or not.

So “attracting clients with my website” perhaps isn’t the best way to put it. “Making my website attractive to clients” is a better way to think about it.

How to Make Your Website Attractive to Clients

1. Keep it simple.

Your clients don’t have a lot of time. That’s why they need you. Don’t throw your whole life story at them, but give them just enough to let them know how you’re going to solve their problem and why you’re the person to do it.

2. Make it about them.

Too often writers talk about themselves. That’s great, but your clients need more than that. Avoid starting your home page copy with, “Welcome to my site! I’m so glad you’re here.”

Instead, identify your client’s problem, and then tell them how you’re going to solve it. This step is actually super simple if you’re conscious about it.

Too often writers talk about themselves.

Example: “Looking for a copywriter who can save you time and a headache? Then you’re in the right place!”

Your “About Me” page? Make it about them. Frame your background, experience, and interests in a way that shows them how you can benefit their business.

Example: “With my six years of nursing experience, you can trust that your health-related content is in the right hands.”

3. Include a main call-to-action. 

Instead of sending clients all over the place, include a main call-to-action that gets them to go where you want them to. It could be something simple like, “Want to work with me? Contact me today!” Avoid saying things like, “Start by exploring my blog, and then check out my testimonials tab before contacting me.” It’s too much, and they may never get around to contacting you.

4. Make it easy to contact you.

Having a contact form only is a good way to turn some perfectly good clients away.

  1. Contact forms don’t always behave properly.
  2. Some people prefer different means of communication.
  3. It can look more professional to list your phone number and other contact information. (It shows you’re a real person.)

Be sure it’s easy to contact you and that you offer different options so you don’t lose clients who might be having trouble with one option.

Want us to take a look at your writer website and tell you how you can improve? Leave us your URL in the comment section, and we’ll take a look.

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9 Comments

Hi Alicia, would you check out my sites and give me your opinion about them? I really would appreciate it. THANK YOU, Karin My sites: http://karinelisas.wix.com/freelance https://www.linkedin.com/Karin-e-schwarz karin-e-schwarz.branded.me http://about.me/karin.schwarzReply to Karin
Karin, Definitely! One thing I noticed right away is that you use a consistent image across all profiles. That’s good! It helps brand you. (I wasn’t able to access the link to LinkedIn, though, so I’m just going to look at the other three.) Great tagline on your website! It tells me exactly what you do. Your navigation bar on your WIX site is a little awkward, though, since you only have one page and it follows me as I scroll. I really like the idea of having all your info in one place so people don’t have to click through a bunch of pages. Great job on that! One thing I would suggest on your copy, though, is to start by talking to your prospects. Something along the lines of “Need a freelance writer? Hi, I’m Karin, and I’m here to help save you the headache on copywriting tasks,” can help capture your audience’s attention more. Your background is certainly impressive. Great job outlining that! But I’m not seeing you mention what type of writing you do. Your headline does mention freelance writing, re-writing, and copywriting, but you may want to flesh that out a little more since there are so many products under the “copywriting” umbrella. Do you write sales landing pages, social media posts, blog posts, eBooks, etc.? Clients will want to know that. Also, your “Speaking Calendar” section feels out of place since you don’t actually have any “speaking” events on there. Can you get rid of that section? Perhaps you could try a separate theme (one that also doesn’t have the awkward navigation bar that follows you around). Other than those suggestions, your website is on the right track! Your About.me page is also missing what writing services you offer. I see that you say you’ll take on any opportunity, but it might be worth giving examples. You could say something like, “I specialize in writing sales copy and eBooks, but don’t hesitate to contact me about alternative projects.” Feel free to get creative with it! Your Branded.me profile does a great job outlining your services! I’d add those to your other profiles. I really like the layout of your Branded.me profile. I’d get rid of the “I’m self-employed…” part in your tagline since you already said you’re a freelance writer. Side note: Are you really a hair model? That’s pretty cool. In your bio, start by talking about what you can do for clients. That way, you draw them in to keep reading to learn more about you. Something like, “I’m Karin, and I help businesses save time by writing their articles, short stories, and business letters for them. Born and raised in Germany…” You have a great start! My biggest tips are to start by connecting with prospects about their needs and to make sure you give them an idea of what type of writing you do. Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope this helped!Reply to Alicia
Hi Alicia, I know you have seen my site, and like the recent cosmetic changes. But, I sure would value your opinion on its content. Especially the landing page. Thanks! Alan http://www.alanedwardsfreelancer.comReply to Alan
Alan, I will email you shortly.Reply to Alicia
Hi Alicia, Thank you for giving a detailed eye to the content. Your advice is quite practical, and I’ll make changes accordingly. Will write to you in detail. 🙂 SabitaReply to Sabita
Many thanks, Alicia! The post has come up at the right time for me. I’m working on my website these days. It’s pretty much done, and I hope that I have kept the basic ingredients intact. I just want to ask about what to put on the Home Page of my website. At one point I thought not to have a home page at all and make About Page as the main page. Is it possible to answer my query. This is how my website ( http://www.sabitasaleem.com/) currently looks. SabitaReply to Sabita
Sabita, I’m so glad you shared your website link. I’ve been wondering if you ever got around to working on your site. I think your home page copy is great, but it does read a lot like an about page. Still, you’d probably be fine if you left it. My biggest thing: Do what works for you. I would arrange the home page like this almost every time: Clients’ problem How you solve their problem Call-to-action You already do a lot of that, but for a home page, I might pare it down a bit. This is only how I would do it, but you can definitely go any direction your gut is telling you to. I would have your home page read like this: You and Your business are great! You know that. Because you have the seeds of greatness in you … But do you see your clients’ excitement visible when they read your words? Does your copy thrill your clients the same way your personal interactions do? EVERY SINGLE TIME! Hi, I am Sabita Saleem, and I know: -You have a brilliant mind with a ton of ideas to thrive your business, but don’t know where to start from. -You steal the deal when you meet your clients in person, but you don’t get the same results through your website, emails, brochures, etc. -You know the awesome power of words, but don’t have time to reflect that in your business communications. I am here to help you achieve results! I help businesses save time through writing and design services, offer practical, valuable advice to their readers, and provide creative ideas for growth. Want your project to be next? Get in touch. The rest of it about why to hire you, more about you, etc. is what I would put on your about page. Feel free to email me with other questions, Sabita!Reply to Alicia
Thanks! And I like the example you gave about being specific about your services. I thought that calling myself a “freelance blogger” made things kind of obvious, but someone recently pointed out to me that it isn’t obvious what I do. Do I write blog content, or do I offer blog management services? So being specific about what your services cover is important. Thanks! 🙂 AliciaReply to Alicia
As usual, these are great tips to get you started as a new freelance writer. I think the biggest thing you mentioned is to make it clear to prospects how you can help them and then explain why you are the best fit for that. I’m finding I have to be more specific when I list my services. Originally on my site, I had listed articles as a service. I mentioned how useful articles are as a lead generation tool, but I failed to let prospects know what I actually do in regards to article writing. So, I changed that and included specific services such as: – fast turnaround time – fact checking – editing – how many times I revise – If I do interviews This helps prospects see the range of services you provide for article writing or blog writing or any other writing service you provide. Now, when prospects contact me, they know exactly know what I provide and they don’t have to guess. ElnaReply to Elna