I am contemplating redesigning this site to look more professional in my quest to lure more freelance work this Fall. For inspiration, I wanted to check what my colleagues are up to. Truth is, not much. Most freelance journalists prefer simplicity in their site design with many opting to have outdated Web pages.
An example of a bad freelance site
One example is Bob Bly, author of many books on freelance writing. Books that are very useful (in fact, I owe Temple Library a few bucks for keeping them too long). Bly’s page is very 1999 with a simple left hand navigation and a very text heavy content area:
While Bly may prefer function over form, his site can inundate you with pop-ups such as a “Wait! Are you sure you want to leave this page?” such as when you exit his coaching page. He even has an “e-articles” section that takes you to an under construction message. In his books, Bly advocates an aggressive marketing strategy for selling yourself and his site does just that. However, on the Web, it is not the site owner that piques interest: it is the curiosity of the user. Trying to bombard them is just going to tick them off enough to hit the back button. Keep the user (hopefully a prospective client) so interested in what you have to say that they drill down themselves.
Bly is just one example of a lackluster Web page. There are many more. Google “freelance journalist site“. Go ahead, I’ll wait here. You will even find people who write about the Internet with sub par design and usability.
The good
One freelancer’s Web site I particularity liked was Brad Mackay. One could argue that his rollover based left hand navigation is awkward, but I found it refreshing, and very intuitive. But most importantly it stands out from all of the dull text heavy pages of most freelancers.
Another is Koren Wetmore. The page is very simple with excerpts from the articles on the main page, with a very clean navigation on the left. If you want to read her work it is visually separated from the rest of the page. If you’d like to contact, that is easily accomplished as well. Nothing is being shoved in your face, yet she is promoted and represented well.
As a rule all freelance sites should:
- Make the writer easy to contact
- Present themselves as a business, not an individual with a Blogger account
- Have a home page that does not try to list all of your articles
- Let the user decide if they want more details on you or your work
- Support transparency and answer questions people have about your article/book/etc.
- Stand out without compromising usability
I am not in the business of picking out people who may have site designs I find uninspiring, I wish to see journalists, especially freelancers, embrace all the Internet has to offer. I also know that this Web page isn’t exactly Cameron Moll. As an industry, we can do much better in presenting our true love. Let’s help push it forward.
6 Comments
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If you happen to find any sites that incorporate print, photo and video let me know.
As more and more journos start branching out into multimedia I’d like to see how they display all of that work if they can’t display just their print work correctly.
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There are many reasons journalists have bad websites and one of them is the fact that because we are experts at creating information and presenting it we think we understand the web. Sean’s argument is a valid one for knowing when to hire a professional, knowing how to present your website (get a dynamic one these days ran on a Content Management System you can update without messing with code or even HTML) and how to, ultimately, present yourself. As writers we understand readers. To market ourselves effectively we need to also start to understand surfers.
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“As more and more journos start branching out into multimedia I’d like to see how they display all of that work if they can’t display just their print work correctly.”
That will be the real test. Some writers will HAVE to learn design.
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I think it really has to do with keep up with the current trends, which is something even a lot of web developers don’t do. But reading sites like A List Apart can help. A problem I run into also, is the best way to lay out my portfolio. I find I am changing that the most.
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Um, thanks for the tips. I find I’m inundated, but the truth is that appearance is important, and a reflection of my business.
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I think if you’re looking to start a freelance career, this is a decent guide for what one should have for a website. But speaking for those in the crowd with the Blogger account and trying to compile all of their work:
1) Most editors in the U.S. and Canada (television, radio, and newspapers) still can’t figure out how to surf and even fewer care about what platform your website is on. Blogger is fine for journalists out of college or those who do not have the financial resources to purchase a domain and a host. Clearly, you need those things, but if time is money, you should be investing your time in the content, not the package. This may become increasingly more important as people read your content through aggregators over visiting the actual website.
2) By listing all of your own content you can recycle it and repackage it as you see fit, while collecting (potential) advertising revenue from the website and its content if you optimize it correctly. It’s your work, you should cash in on it. Providing an entire archive also helps collect material that may have been scattered across the Internet and rendered difficult to find for a variety of reasons. By having the work in one place at the same time as many, you open the door to introduce past work to new readers, building an audience.
Just my thoughts. Keep up the great work.
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