Freelancer Portfolio Review: DesignItPlease


I wanted to do more videos that weren’t straight-up app reviews, so here’s a new thing I’m trying: freelancer portfolio reviews. (Sign up for yours here.)

Our first volunteer: Samantha Fagan of Design It Please. Her question?

What do you think I could do to increase conversions/build trust/prove credibility?

I had a lot to cover (my original goal was to get it done in two minutes, but…obviously I went over!) so clearly I was talking a mile a minute. Here’s a quick recap, in case you had a hard time keeping up:

Increase conversions: 

  • Email list signup + contact form – put these everywhere you can (okay, not everywhere, don’t be annoying, but visitors should be able to get in touch or signup to your email list from any page on your site)
  • Streamline categories on portfolio and services page – people get overwhelmed when they see more than three options, in general
  • More details (and using price anchoring, which I kind of glossed over in the video but you can read more about here) on services pages where pricing is included – by leading with the price, you’re training clients to look at that first and comparison shop, so instead, lead with benefits, features, and details on what they’re getting

Build trust + prove credibility: 

  • There’s inconsistent I/we language across the site – either/or is fine, but choose one and stick with it, otherwise potential clients will have no idea who they’re dealing with when they get in touch
  • Instead of having mentors featured on the about page, have client testimonials or mini-case studies – it’d also be great to scatter these throughout the site, too

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Want to get a more in-depth version, with plenty of action steps & homework? Head here.