Poll: Do you think having a professional website is profitable? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think having a professional website is profitable?".
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I do have my own website (www.bpt.com.pt). It has been worthwhile: it's another way of being visible, another marketing tool, a place where interested direct clients and agencies can go to get more detailed information about my portfolio with examples of my translations and testimonials from previous clients. It has gotten me some very good clients…
| | | | Nicholas Boline 
United States
Local time: 02:13
Member (2023)
Spanish to English
I'm actually actively looking to hire somebody to build one for me right now. If anyone has any recommendations, feel free to message me!
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 09:13
French to English
Suggestion for tomorrow's poll: How many times have you answered a poll on professional websites for translators?
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 09:13
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
No, you can spend time designing your own website, but you have to spend time learning how to do it properly, and it is unlikely that you'll earn back the cost of your time. Or you can pay a professional designer, but the same caveat applies.
So, profitable? No. But it is a necessary business expense.
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I do have one but I do not devote any time to it at all which you do have to do to make it work for you. I prefer to be visible on Proz. I think it's no use having a website if you're not prepared to spend time to update it. There never are any Kudoz questions in my language pairs (English/Italian/French to Maltese) so being visible is limited, but I still do my best and get noticed if I go by the number of requests I receive, but I do't devote any time to my website which is therefore useless. ... See more I do have one but I do not devote any time to it at all which you do have to do to make it work for you. I prefer to be visible on Proz. I think it's no use having a website if you're not prepared to spend time to update it. There never are any Kudoz questions in my language pairs (English/Italian/French to Maltese) so being visible is limited, but I still do my best and get noticed if I go by the number of requests I receive, but I do't devote any time to my website which is therefore useless. I didn't spend any money on it though. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 03:13
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Mostly a marketing tool | Aug 18 |
I started building my own website years ago, and, gosh, was it difficult. After several iterations with different business names, I finally wrote one that went on the air a bit over a decade ago, with a portfolio and everything. I was writing my professional blog at the time, so they cross referenced each other.
But making money off my website? No, never. At first, I would have the occasional visitor but no quote requests, nothing. I had better luck with my blog, which brought me so... See more I started building my own website years ago, and, gosh, was it difficult. After several iterations with different business names, I finally wrote one that went on the air a bit over a decade ago, with a portfolio and everything. I was writing my professional blog at the time, so they cross referenced each other.
But making money off my website? No, never. At first, I would have the occasional visitor but no quote requests, nothing. I had better luck with my blog, which brought me some subscribers and even caught the attention of a Translation Department Director at a private university in the United States; I got a job interview with her and several professors but I didn't get the post.
Building your own website is possible; you write up the content, but you likely leave the design part to professionals. I chose to use Wordpress and its plugins to build my website (and blog) because it requires much less time.
My own experience has taught me these:
- If you want to share your knowledge and expertise, spend more time writing on your blog.
- If you want to attract clients, have a pro design your website but be mindful that you'll have to add content to it and maintain it. Having your own website like that should be part of an overall marketing strategy, however.
- Blogging is slowly disappearing since many people prefer to write content on other platforms like LinkedIn. ▲ Collapse
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