Comments on: Why most freelance writers have bad Web sites (and what to do about it)

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:24:19 +0000

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.

3) \

By: Tai G

Tai G — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:10:39 +0000

Um, thanks for the tips. I find I’m inundated, but the truth is that appearance is important, and a reflection of my business.

By: Joe Casabona

Joe Casabona — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:41:52 +0000

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.

By: Blanda

Blanda — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:00:32 +0000

“As more and more journos start branching out into multimedia Iâ€™d like to see how they display all of that work if they canâ€™t display just their print work correctly.”

That will be the real test. Some writers will HAVE to learn design.

By: David

David — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:17:21 +0000

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.

By: Joseph Hollak

Joseph Hollak — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:15:47 +0000

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.

By: Geezer does the News « oldephartteintraining

Geezer does the News « oldephartteintraining — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:41:08 +0000

[…] Why most freelance writers have bad web sites ( and what to do about it ) […]

By: The Journalism Iconoclast

The Journalism Iconoclast — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:58:06 +0000

[…] Sean Blanda has an interesting post about the subject. Every freelancer, journalist, etc should have a personal Web site (it’s a good way to get more work). More importantly, however, it should be a good Web site. Don’t waste your time making a Web site that embarrasses you and detracts from you work. […]