Is It Important for a Freelance Web Designer to Have a Blog?

BY random IN Uncategorized, 11.09.2014

The answer is yes, a blog is important for a freelance web designer for many reasons. It’s true that having a website helps and so does having a presence on Facebook, but only a blog can showcase your ability and talent in different ways. More than anything else, a blog gives you the means to share your thoughts, views and ideas freely with other people and potential clients.

How Blogging Helps Land Clients

As anyone in the web design industry can tell you, competition is tight and finding clients can be tough. The key to getting a client of course is to prove to them that you are a professional and that you’re the person for the job. And the best way to do this is to set up a blog and use it as a platform to attract clients. What many
freelance web designers don’t realize is just how powerful blogs can be as marketing tools. Facebook and Twitter may be very popular now, but it takes more than tweets and likes to get a client’s attention. Clients who are looking for serious web designers are not interested in how many followers you have, but in your portfolio and work. With a blog, you’ll be able to market yourself in a way that will interest people. At the same time, a blog makes it easy to reach out to your target market.

Elements That Make Up Quality Blogging

It goes without saying that your blog will only be successful if you publish quality and relevant content, and if it is updated regularly. However, while it’s easy to blog online, you still need to give it a lot of thought, because the worst thing you can do is to just copy the design on other designer blogs, because it will strike users as being unoriginal. You must also avoid superfluous content, and don’t update just for the sake of updating if you don’t have anything important to add.

So what makes for quality blog content? For a freelance web designer it means showing samples of your work. You can leave out a lot of things on a blog, but work samples is the one thing you cannot do without if you’re entertaining any thoughts of landing a big client. However, it takes more than just sample works to entice them, as you also need to show them how your thought and creative process goes, because it will give them an idea of how you work.

Pictures speak a thousand words true, but you need to write down in your blog how you started and finished each project. By doing so you’ll be able to demonstrate to clients that you’re capable of meeting challenges and overcoming them. You can, by way of your blog, show your adaptability and flexibility and what the differences are between the original concept and the finished product. The ability to improvise is important in web design, and it’s something you can show off by blogging.
Freelancer

Show Clients How It is Done

Clients aren’t just interested in the final result, but in how you reached it, so show them how websites are designed. By doing so you achieve three goals, the first is you impress them, second you show everyone that you’re knowledgeable, and third, collaborating with clients become easier because they understand the process.

There are few things more difficult than working with a client who has no idea how web design works, because they might make unreasonable demands or harbor unrealistic expectations. However, if clients know how the process works, the collaborative process will be much smoother.

Blogs Develop Your Personality

Blogging will enable clients to see your human side, and this is an aspect you cannot ignore. The truth is clients will work only with people they’re comfortable with, and by writing in a conversational and clear manner, you’ll convey the right impression. You need to use your blog not just to promote your work but promote yourself too.

While the medium may be different, blogs are no different from interviews in that with your entries, you develop a personality and demonstrate to clients you can be trusted. The bottom line is that blogs will help you reach more clients, and if you have to choose between a static website and a blog, a blog is better because clients find no reason to go back to websites that are never updated. By posting regular updates on your blog and showing off sample works you’ve done, you will gain a reputation as an expert and someone they can rely on.

What you’re doing is basically this: you provide free advice and step by step demonstrations of your works, and this will intrigue clients. If they want to know more, then they’ll get in touch with you and do business.

A few books on blogging for you: