Tips for designing your freelance web site

One of the most important parts of your advertising arsenal is your Web site. Your Web site is the place where you display your product to potential customers. Your product is design and interactive media, and it is important that these potential customers can view a wide range of projects. Often interactive designers will post what they feel is their best work to their Web site. While this is a good idea, I have learned that it is better to have a wide range of styles and types of projects posted online. Even if some of the work is not your best, it is better to post projects that represent a wide range of work. For instance, I have work posted in my portfolio from when I helped design the 1999 refresh of the Chevrolet.com Web site. The designs look old and dated, but the brand name recognition helps build my credibility with new clients. As designers we are often very critical of our own work. I have been pleasantly surprised by how much a new client likes a past project of mine that I consider old and inferior to my more modern work.

When you design your freelance Web site you need to think about your target audience. Every designer has their own style and market niche. You need to decide if you want to do work for any or all of the following: advertising agencies, B2B organizations, B2C organizations, non-profits and mom-and-pop shops. It is a good idea to do a little research before you begin sketching out the design. Try to learn about what your target audience looks for when they select a freelance Web site designer. In the case of my site, Airgid.com, I have gone through many iterations over the years. One of those iterations consisted of a heavy Flash interface that infused aliens and robots throughout the Web site. The theme was a 1950’s horror movie.

“The Attack of the Killer Web site” generated a tremendous amount of attention in the online design community. When I launched the Web site it was featured in several design portals around the world. My Web site usage statistics skyrocketed and I even had to move up to a new hosting plan to keep up with the bandwidth the site used. Although it was receiving a lot of attention from the Web design community, it did not generate new work. I did a little digging and talked to some of my clients. Most of them did not really understand why I had a slew of aliens and robots dominating my site. They   could not see the “business logic” behind it.

Another big problem with this version of my Web site, was that access to the most important information was four clicks deep. An analysis of my server logs revealed that users went straight for the portfolio section, they viewed a few projects and then they left. The time spent searching for this area and the hindrance of not being able to view brief highlights of my work became a major concern. Users where forced to follow this path to look at my portfolio pieces:

Splash page > home page > portfolio page > portfolio piece

Another issue with this Web site was the fact that the home page was extremely overweight. It required a download of a little over one megabyte, and secondary pages where not much better. So even with a fast DSL connection, the Web site took a good deal of time to load. All of these mistakes coupled together made for a bad user experience. My target audience is full of busy marketing managers, creative directors and CEOs of fast-paced companies. They do not have the time to click, click, click, to find valuable information. They want it now and often they need to make a decision fast? ¦ should I hire Kevin Airgid to do my work, or should I look elsewhere?

I have since created a leaner, meaner Web site. Even though it is much more business-oriented, it has just the right touch of creative flare and professionalism. I have gained both highly creative and engaging projects, as well as steady corporate design assignments. The portfolio now follows the popular Amazon.com one-click methodology. When the user arrives, my portfolio is the first thing they see. The home page is cleverly disguised as the portfolio page, and my product is served for consumption by the masses. Keep the following lessons in mind as you design your next freelance Web site.

Your work should sell itself. Do not worry about lengthy explanations or marketing jargon for each project. A short, punchy paragraph   emphasizing the skills utilized is sufficient. Most users only skim text online.
Make your portfolio easy to access and fast to download. Keep in mind even speedy corporate T1 connections partition bandwidth and can slow down.
Even though your clients may want to hire you for your Flash animation skills, do not make them wait to see your portfolio. Resist the temptation to use your portfolio interface to flex your animation muscles. If you need to show this off, create a separate “demo reel” that users have an option to select.
Corporate design may feel boring to Web designers, but in my experience it helps keep a Web site grounded in reality, especially when you have a lot going on in your portfolio. If we do our job, the information architecture and interface design should compliment one another and provide a pleasant user experience.