The 3 Most Important Elements of a Professional Website
Ok, in this post I am mainly talking about illustrators and photographers who want to work for commercial agencies. Not only do I know the situation in this area, but I also got a lot of very specific feedback from the artbuyings I am used to work with.
If you are not an illustrator or photographer but you understand the basic thinking terms, I am sure you can come with working guidelines for your very own specific situation. It is all rooted in common sense. It is all wrapped around your client’s needs.
Many photographers/illustrators/designers who want to work for the creative industry are making a lot of wrong assumptions about websites and online portfolios. The biggest one being, that they do not need any of it.
Yes. You read this one correctly: I do know professional illustrators who have been working for this industry forever and who do NOT have a proper website. When I ask them why, I get a response along the lines of “I have been in this business for x years and I have never needed one, so why would I need one now?” And shortly thereafter they are wondering aloud, why “all of the sudden” they are getting less and less job offers from their old clients. There might obviously be different kinds of reasons for this development, things that are not under your control.
Work on those things – like your website – that ARE under your control!
You have to remember, that even if you are working for the same companies for long periods of time, the positions inside of the company might change, or the people holding specific positions change. So even if you think the artbuying of your favorite client’s company must know your work by heart, the new people in that department actually might not.
Young creatives today usually grow up having a website and a blog and Twitter and Facebook and whatever else. The younger generation is used to have an online presence. Their problem often is to get the priorities right.
First of all, most of the times it will be better for you to keep a separate business website. And this not only because you can deduct business expenses from your taxes (I am not a tax accountant, and these things work differently from state to state and country to country, so please check this with your local experts).
What I am mainly referring to is that I cannot think of a situation, where it would not look unprofessional when you clients were confronted with your family issues or having to wade through the results of your last party escapades.
If you want to be taken seriously and be given the responsibility of doing an assignment, you should behave professionally. Nobody cares what you do in your free time, as long as you do your job correctly. You could have 3 noses and your eyes on your forearms – as long as you do your job correctly, nobody really cares.
(I am not saying you should not be nice and interested in people and doing a little smalltalk – we are all people after all, just keep it in check and on a friendly professional level)
Mostly, what I am aiming at is, again, that you need to think about the workflow of your clients and how you’d fit in there the best way possible without disrupting it. You do not want them to have to go out of their way to be able to look at your work online. If you do, you better be really sought after, otherwise what will happen is simply that: nothing.
The good news is, that you do not need much to have that basic website with your portfolio that will be easy to use for ArtBuyings and editors. Neither will you need to spend thousands of EUR/USD (or whatever your currency) on it. Not only can you get most of the things you will need for free (or almost), you will also not need to be an expert to implement them.
So, how would an editor or an artbuyer normally walk through your website? What are the questions they would be trying to answer?
Is there something of interest in there for us or our clients?
>> Let’s have a look at the PORTFOLIO!
The work would be a fit, but can I trust that this creative person behaves professionally? Who else has s/he worked for?
>> Let’s check the CLIENTLIST!
I like the work and the person seems to be ok to work with, because the client list is impressive. So how do I contact him/her?
>> Let’s go to the CONTACT INFORMATION!
And that is the core of what you will need. Everything else is gravy.
Easy, right?! (smile)
Remember to put the portfolio right there smack on the homepage or at least accessible with 1 click. And if the portfolio contains a lot of material, then have some sensible way of sorting it.
Also try not to make the images all to small … Clients sometimes need to print things out for meetings. Include a copyright notice and the information about the copyright holder. Just in case someone downloads the picture while looking at 25 portfolios in a row, and later does not remember where he got it from. It happens. And remember: screenshots do not include metadata.
Sure, you can add some additional items, like a download page for PDFs with selected work samples. Some Clients specifically ask for these files for their internal workflow. I have to admit that I have never offered them, but if you have the time at hands now, you might want to do them and put them somewhere on the website, where they can be found and downloaded.
I always had a password protected client gallery, which has been extremely useful for me as I often work with international teams that are spread all over the place. Instead of sending everyone attachments and constantly having to make sure that everybody is on the same page and looking at the latest versions (consider time zones etc.), it was easier to give everyone a separate password and have it all sorted out in my gallery, where everyone could leave messages and little stars and whatnot to make their preferences or concerns or input clear to me and everybody else. My clients LOVED this! Up until 2 years ago. Since then I have not been using it anymore. Things change and now everybody wants to work with Dropbox or similar services. I am keeping my gallery, though, just in case.
You might also want to add a professional blog where you would be covering topics that could be of interest for your clients. And, if you often post relevant new material on your site, or go to meet clients on conferences and events, a newsletter might be interesting for them. Be sure to use a service that offers a double opt in, like Mailchimp (there are others).
Basically, as I said in the introduction. Identify your client’s needs and workflows. This will give you the best guidelines for your professional website.
And do not forget to include an imprint, a disclaimer and whatever is legally necessary in your country.
I am sure I forgot something … but feel free to ask in the comment section below.
Cheers!
