Ways to Optimize Your Website and Social Media to Build a Freelance Copywriting Business

Ready to jump into the fun-filled world of freelance copywriting? I’m so excited for you! To get you started on the right foot, here are a few website and social media tips that have helped me find success in building my business.

Choosing an Easy-to-Navigate Site Map

First off, you’ll need to decide where you want to host your website. I have experience with Wix, Squarespace, Kajabi, and WordPress. They all have their pros and cons, but I ultimately prefer WordPress. That being said, it’s the least “drag and drop” friendly of the bunch, so it really just depends on how involved you’re going to be in the actual development of the site.

So let’s just pretend you’ve chosen your hosting platform, and you’re ready to plan and build it. Your “site map” is like the flow chart that your whole site is built off of. At the very top of this chart is your homepage, and in most cases on top of that page is a navigation bar allowing people to jump around your site. These are your “secondary pages.”

Websites can be as large as you want them to be, but for the sake of your freelance copywriter website, I wouldn’t worry about building anything deeper than secondary pages. So what should they be? Here’s my simple site map as an example:

HOMEPAGE

About

Services

Pricing

Contact

Work

Newsletter

Blog

You could also have a page with testimonials, you could combine “services” and “pricing,” and obviously if you don’t send out email newsletters, that page isn’t necessary either.

Use Conversational Copy Throughout

When you’re writing your pages, keep them conversational and easy to read. As copywriters, we’re trained to take on the voice and tone of our clients, but this is your time to show off your unique voice and point of view.

Many times a client makes their ultimate decision on who to hire based on a feeling of “I really like this person,” rather than just a black-and-white evaluation of their work. If you’ve got a sharp sense of humor – show it off! Do you love sports or are obsessed with The Real Housewives? Make fun little references and jokes about it. This is a great way to attract soulmate clients that “get you” and your personality, which makes for a much more enjoyable partnership for everyone.

Give SEO the Attention it Deserves

There are a couple ways to do this. There’s on-page SEO, meta descriptions, and blogs. To start with, try to have the H1 on your homepage include a keyword. For example, I want my business to come up in search when people type in “content marketing in Long Beach,” so my H1 on my site is “Boutique Content Marketing Agency based in Long Beach, California.”

While writing the content for your site, also be sure to include keywords without sounding like you’re “keyword stuffing.” On the back end of your site you can update the meta descriptions, URLs, alt tags, and image descriptions, for extra search engine “juice.”

Having a blog is a great way to improve your SEO, too! It also helps to establish yourself as an expert in your field and the content can be repurposed throughout your social media strategy (like in social media captions, live video topics, etc.)

Facebook: Groups, Personal Page, Business Page

The Facebook algorithm doesn’t give much love to posts on business pages. I still recommend having a business page for your freelance copywriting business, however, in case the time comes when you want to start running Facebook ads. All you need is a professional-looking profile pic, a high-quality, possibly even branded Facebook banner, and do a few posts per week to keep it active.

If you’re comfortable with it, your PERSONAL page is where you’re going to get engagement. It can be awkward transitioning from just photos of your family vacations and your fur babies to talking about your business, but once you get over caring what Brenda from high school thinks about your posts, you can start making some really valuable business connections.

Real talk: I’ve given up the notion that there’s anything personal or private on social media– ESPECIALLY on Facebook. My feed is very curated and strategic, and that’s just how I want it. Photos, videos, or messages I want to share with my actual friends and family happens via text or FB messenger. This mindset shift has made it easier to transition my “personal” FB page into a business page posing as “personal.”

Groups!! There are so many opportunities in Facebook Groups. Do a simple search for copywriter, female entrepreneur, content marketing girls club (shameless plug for mine), and see what comes up. Then join and start getting active! In the networking groups, you can search for “copywriter,” or “SEO,” or “social media manager,” or whatever job you’re looking to get hired to do. Then start connecting!

Instagram: Stories, IGTV, Feed

For both Instagram and Facebook, I highly recommend having professional photos taken. These could be simple headshots or a full lifestyle shoot, but it really makes you step into your awesome-ness and act as a reminder that this is your legitimate business, and should be treated as such. On Instagram, choose a warm and inviting photo for your profile picture. When you’re writing your bio, remember there’s SEO in there so spell out what it is that you do. Having a personal or business page is up to you, but if you’re using Instagram to marketing yourself, your profile should be public.

Pay less attention to posting on your feed, and more attention to your stories and actually engaging with people. I like to search and follow hashtags like #freelancecopywriter, #femaleentrepreneur, and #freelancelife to find some aligned people to connect with. You can also search and follow hashtags that are in your writing niche to start connecting with potential clients.

For the feed itself, I personally like having a more curated “editorial” look to it. I have a pattern for my grid, and a general color scheme. My post captions are often times repurposed from a blog or Facebook post, and I use almost all of the 30 hashtags as the first comment of my post. It’s also important to be strategic with your hashtags. You want them to be popular and searched often, but not TOO big that yours will just get lost in the mix.

LinkedIn: Job Posts, Networking, Publishing

I keep an alert set up for new freelance writing jobs on LinkedIn. It’s always good to at least keep a pulse on what the industry is doing. It’s also interesting to see what kinds of copywriters these companies are looking for so I can learn new skills or adjust how I market myself to new clients.

This is my favorite place for professional networking. Especially if you’ve been in the marketing or advertising game for a while, you know that it’s a small world. I’ve been cautious never to burn any bridges with my professional peers, and have been offered a decent amount of leads through former coworkers in the past as well.

I like the long-form publishing option that’s on LinkedIn too. I’ll probably go in and publish this article in its entirety on LinkedIn, as well as the link leading people to my website. Especially as copywriters, publishing your own work is a great way to show people that you not only enjoy what you do, but you’re really good at it.

Get Personalized Support

I’m happy to help you any way I can with your freelance copywriting website and social media presence! You can find me in my Facebook Group “The Content Marketing Girls Club” and ask questions there. I also offer 1:1 mentorship for creative freelancers, so you can email me at amy@a18media to learn more about that experience and see if we’d be a good match.

Want more? Check out my eBook “Content Marketing for Small Business” available on Amazon. It’s a simple, fun, easy-to-implement guide for websites, SEO blogs, social media marketing, email marketing, and more. Grab your copy today!

CHECK IT OUT

And just one more thing – I’m a strong “repurpose your content” advocate. It saves SO MUCH time and effort when creating all the social media posts, emails, landing pages, email funnels, etc. for your business. I made this “Spread Your Magic” Free Guide that gives you 20+ Ways to Repurpose Your Soul-Driven Content. YOUR words deserve to be read by more people, on more places and platforms. Grab your copy HERE. 

 

And if you’re looking for even deeper support in expanding your freelance copywriting business, making more money, working less hours, and filling up your roster with clients you LOVE, the Freelance Flow Mastermind could be a great fit. Learn more HERE.