All about web design

This may seem obvious but it’s important: no one knows you’re a web design expert until you tell them. Like I mentioned earlier, you have to be outgoing, and willing to talk about the services you offer. Here are some tools that will help spread awareness of your freelance web design business:

Elevator pitch

If you only had 30 seconds to a minute to explain what you do, could you do it? The elevator pitch, named for the practice of pitching company execs while riding with them on the elevator, is your most basic explanation of how you can help a person’s business. Practice selling yourself, and timing it, and you’ll have a quick and easy way to introduce what it is you can do for people.

Business cards

Obvious, but extremely necessary. Once you’ve adopted the mind set that you are indeed an expert, you’ll learn to tell everyone you meet that you’re a freelance web designer. Once you’ve introduced yourself and given them your spiel, you’ll want to leave them you’re card. Make sure the design of your card reflects your personal brand. Are you simple and clean? fun and retro? grungy and edgy? Whatever it is, be consistent. And have them printed somewhere like Vistaprint or Overnight Prints.

Portfolio site

Whether you use a free service, a paid service, or your own custom site, you must have an online portfolio with screenshots and links to your work. Your business card should point there, as should your email signature. If possible, provide details about each project, describing the situation and how your design helped overcome the problem.

Blog

As an expert, you should have a point of view about web design and online marketing in general. A blog is the best way for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the field and to convince potential clients that you do indeed know what you’re talking about. Get started with a free service like Blogger or Tumblr to develop your style, and move to a custom WordPress blog, especially if you really want to learn WP programming and design. Having a blog has the added benefit of encouraging you to stay on top of industry trends, and it also gives you content to promote on Twitter and LinkedIn

Twitter

Again, you’re a freelance web design expert, so spending some time on Twitter will help reinforce that notion. Create and account with a custom background. Search for people in your area within Twitter itself or with a tool like Twello. Tweet relevant industry news and tips of your own. Once you have a blog up and running, you can provide links from your Twitter account to your articles. Follow industry leaders and learn what’s going on.

LinkedIn

This social network is important among professionals, and having an up-to-date profile will help give you credibility in those circles. It shows that you’re aware of this avenue, and it provides more traditional professionals, including those who don’t use Twitter, the opportunity to get to know you and vet your experience before connecting in person. Keep your profile current, and solicit recommendations from clients you’ve successfully completed projects for. And when times are slow, watch the LinkedIn answers section to see if you can help anyone with their web designer challenges.

Facebook?

Facebook can be a decent place for sharing recent site launches and new portfolio work, but the tone of Facebook is much more personal intimate, and self-promotion is less welcome here. Use with caution when promoting your freelance web design business.

Whenever you’re creating a web design, do you always consider what your users want? If not, then it’s time that you start learning more about your target audience and understand their needs. After all, the main reason why you’re trying to come up with a good design is because you want to gain your audience’s attention and generate more traffic. And the only way you can achieve those goals is to think of what your users want and apply them in your web design.

Read the following information regarding your audience’s preferences and make sure you include them in your final web design:

Users Want Websites with Easy Navigation and Quick Loading Time
Online users are often very impatient, and this is probably because they’ve been accustomed to high-speed connections and easy browser experience. So if they encounter a website that difficult to view and takes too long to load, they will instantly be turned off and move on to the next site. That’s why you need to work on making your web layout more accessible to your readers. Be sure you add complete menus, search boxes, FAQs, categorized blog posts, site maps and other navigation tools for your visitors to use. Also, avoid using graphic effects like flash and JavaScript because they give your website a slow loading time.

Users Want Readable Fonts and Soothing Colors
One of the many things that users complain about on a website is the choice of the fonts and colors. It is very important that you select a font type and color scheme that’s soothing to the eyes otherwise your visitors will have a hard time browsing through the contents. Always use readable fonts, lighter backgrounds and darker font colors for your web design.

Users are Constantly Searching for Fresh Content
Designing a website is not only about being creative, but it also has a lot to do with writing relevant contents for your users. Remember that no matter how good your web layout is, it would be of no use if the news and articles you post are months or years behind. Therefore, you should keep putting fresh contents and updates on your website if you want to increase your online traffic and profits effectively. Do that and your users will surely love coming back to your website on a steady basis.