If you are a freelance translator and you have a website it is because you know how important it is to have one if you want to reach a wider audience and reach potential clients.
However, having a website is not enough to land clients. You should also optimize it further to reach its full potential and ultimately attract clients interested in translations.
Fun fact 38% of users do not feel comfortable on a website with content that is not attractive, so how do you keep people interested in your website and how do you get their attention in the first place? To achieve this you can put these recommendations into practice.
Source: jhollandtranslations.com
1. Create Good SEO Content
Your website is an excellent way to make yourself known as a freelance translator, but attracting readers and potential new clients to your site takes more than that.
Written content rules today and generating interesting content will encourage people to visit you not only because they want to hire your services but to read your opinions or recommendations.
You can write about tips for translators, what to take into account when making a translation, what are the most common mistakes, among others.
According to Neil Patel, if besides writing quality content you implement SEO, which is a way to make your content rank better in web searches, you are likely to attract more eyes on your website.
Follow these recommendations from Neil Patel:
- Write quality content.
- Label all the images you use
- Mention your references any time you use them and link to other pages when necessary
- Add a section of testimonials or client experiences to your website
- It is recommended that your posts have more than 1890 words, since this is the average number of words that the articles that appear on the first page of Google search results usually have
You must have updated content about the services and/or products you offer.
All of them have to be written for SEO and accompanied, whenever possible, with graphic material that will be properly labeled with the keyword that you want to position.
Also, as far as possible, it is necessary to include in the content links to other pages on the same website so that authority can be transferred and, on the other hand, Google can unite the pages.
Source: alessandramartelli.com
2. Enable a Way of Contact
This may seem obvious, but a big mistake you can make is not making it clear how you can be contacted to hire your services.
On your website, you should have a contact section for them to write to you, where people must enter data such as name and email.
Also, you can add them to a contact list to keep them informed of your services, packages and promotions.
Source: www.oberlo.com
Apart from this, you can also add your social networks, so that users can follow you and keep abreast of what you do.
Another way to facilitate contact is to add a WhatsApp chat, through which people can write and reach you quicker.
Although having a website will make it easier for you to make yourself known, you should strive to make it visible so that it can have an effective result and attract customers.
The less complications clients have to contact you and the more immediate, the better.
Source: www.ventureharbour.com
3. Speed Up Loading Time
The loading time of a page affects the user experience, this means that depending on how long it takes your page to load, the user may want to leave your website.
In fact, 74% of users tend to abandon the website they visit if it takes more than 5 seconds to load. Getting this right could be a big factor in the ability to turn readers into clients.
Take good care of the loading time of your website, the less time it takes to load, the better the user experience will be, which will translate into people spending more time reviewing your webpage, seeing what you offer and potentially turning into clients.
So how can you do it?
Optimize your images, upload them with appropriate size and format, that preserve quality but are not heavy files.
Also be careful with videos, as including a lot of videos or dynamic elements will slow down the loading time.
In addition to that, be careful with the plugins that you add to your website as these can also affect the speed of your site.
Source: hostingtribunal.com
4. Have a Professional Domain
On the web you will find many platforms where you can acquire a free domain and although this may seem like a good idea, especially when you do not have a big budget, having a free domain will not do much good to your professional image.
As you may have already noticed, most other professional websites always end in .com (which is the most trusted top-level domain) or some other common extensions.
However, professionals with domains ending in domain-name.freewebsite.com may not make the same professional impression, you are likely to think that they are not yet well-positioned or serious and the truth be told, clients want to hire experts.
For that reason, one of the best investments you can make for your business is to buy a domain for others to see you in a more professional way and build a brand for your freelance business.
5. Invest Time on Your Blog
Although having a functional blog really helps the positioning of your business online, it does takes time.
Creating content on a regular basis is going to be of tremendous use to improve your presence on the Internet and grow your brand.
Thanks to your blog, with updated and interesting content, you will have more opportunities for your potential client to find you when searching for your web services on Google.
By publishing a weekly article, you will have 52 new sections on your website by the end of the year, which really translates into 52 new opportunities to appear on the results page when your potential clients make searches related to your professional translation services.
Source: leaftranslations.com
Although one way to promote your work with elegance and ingenuity is by creating content regularly, it is not only about blog articles, but also about videos, podcasts, and any other audiovisual material.
If you offer fabulous and useful content for your potential clients, they will trust you and, when it comes to needing your services, you will be the first they will think of.
Quality and useful content is a powerful weapon to gain visibility, search and attract potential web customers. Work on it and you will see that your brand gains authority as you publish.
6. Expand Your Online Presence
By having a website for your translation services you will already be expanding your online presence, but being present on social networks will help increase the traffic of your website.
Nowadays, the use of social networks to promote your work and find new clients is key. The commercial potential of these social platforms is tremendous that will undoubtedly help you make yourself known.
In general, social media profiles allow you to add a link to your biography. If your social media accounts are related to your work as a translator, your clients will come to your website to have a clearer idea of who you are and what you offer.
If you want to find and get new clients, you must be active on social networks; although it does not mean that you must have a profile in all.
To know which social networks are the most convenient to promote yourself, study the style of customer you want to attract and evaluate which platforms they usually use.
Once you decide on the social network, create a fabulous and attractive profile that reflects your personality, show your previous work, post interesting material related to web design, and start to build a name and a reputation on these networks.
In each post you make, you can remind them that by clicking on the link of your biography they will access your website and they can contract your services or see what you offer.
Source: www.instagram.com
7. Pick the Right Platform for You
If you already have a website, you should evaluate if that platform you use is versatile to do all the things you want through your website.
If you want to sell packages on your website or have a live chat, among other options, you should know if it is something that your platform allows and if it is not, consider migrating your website to one where it is possible.
For example, platforms like WordPress, Wix, Jimdo, and Weebly are ideal for building complete websites with many possibilities.
In general, in these platforms, you can create from a blogging section to an online sales section, which would be very useful in case you want to sell translation service packages from your website.
To have a professional site it is not necessary to be an expert in computers or web development.
Today these sites take into account that anyone has the need to create a website, so they have simplified the entire process involved in making one.
Source: marinamatarodriguez.com
However, keep in mind that you can always hire the services of a professional to create your website at your whim and so you will not have to worry about this at all.
Anyway, if you want to save money, design a functional portfolio website, and enjoy the process of creating it, you can try an alternative that allows you to do it yourself without major complications and watch some tutorials to guide you.
8. Include a Section for Recommendations
This is one of the sections that you absolutely need to include in your portfolio website. Aside from your previous works and projects, another thing that clients will take into account is the testimonials of other clients.
They will want to know what the experience of hiring your services is like, how skilled you are with translations, and the languages you speak, among other things.
Including a section on your website for these testimonials and opinions will help them build trust in you and ultimately aid landing clients.
A good reference from a client is the beginning of another new translation project. Many freelance translators get new contracts because ‘another’ previous client recommended them.
Always strive to have happy customers and to make your work speak for you because if you want good reviews, you should provide good service.
When you finish a project, you should always ask the client to refer you to their acquaintances or to those who need a similar service.
Also, send them an email thanking them for the opportunity to take charge of their project and take the opportunity to suggest that they write a comment that will serve you for your new clients; ask them for a brief review of how their experience was when hiring your services.
Source: marinamatarodriguez.com
Optimize Your Website and Get Better Results
Your website is an ideal ally to get new clients, optimizing it and making sure it follows SEO techniques could be your main source of making yourself known and attract clients.
For your website to be really useful it must work efficiently, load the content quickly and allow users to correctly view all the resources you have there.
Writing quality content and having a contact section will help clients have a glimpse into your work and likely to generate an interest for them to hire you for their projects.
The best thing you can do to boost your freelance career is to invest in your website, so that it looks professional, improves your image as a translator, and allows you to reach potential clients.