Create freelance journalists homepage: Here's how!

The profession of journalism is incredibly popular: The opportunity to work for radio, television or daily newspapers and to be able to express oneself creatively inspires many professionals: Who would not wish to see their own reporting on television or to receive praise from the editor of the daily newspaper in which their own article was printed!

According to the DJV, however, a significant number of journalists also work freelance, from photojournalists to reporters and many others. They are therefore not permanently employed by a radio station, broadcasting company or print medium. Because the profession is so popular, this group in particular faces a lot of competition: Contributions really have to stand out so that editors and other clients take notice. An important element in the self-marketing of freelance journalists is their own homepage, as this is where they can present themselves online in a good light and score points. In this article you will learn what is important for your own journalist homepage and what should not be missing in any case!

The imprint is the legal basis of every website and therefore deserves special attention! As a photojournalist, what good is a website on which you present your excellent work to clients, editors and broadcasters if it contains legal pitfalls for you?

INFO: The imprint is your legal protection as a freelance journalist: Otherwise you run the risk of being warned!

So that you can present your journalistic work on your page in a legally secure way, we have summarized here which points belong in the imprint of a freelance journalist's homepage. But be careful: The list does not claim to be complete. If in doubt, you should do your own research!

Checklist: Elements of a legally secure imprint

Full name and address of the site operator

Contact details for quick accessibility

For companies, probably less interesting for you: legal form, register entry, VAT ID

Profession-specific information for journalists

To be on the safe side and to save you unnecessary effort, you can also conveniently use an imprint generator. Just search for it online!

Let's move on to a must-have on your journalist page: So that editors, broadcasters or other employers can contact you at any time as a freelancer, you should definitely set up a contact area on your page. The more communication channels you put there, the better!

Checklist: Which communication channels belong in a contact area

• Phone number (maybe for WhatsApp, too?)

• Social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

• Your mail address

• Your fax number (if still available)

In this way, you can be sure that clients will contact you after you have aroused their interest. In extreme cases, not being able to get in touch can cause a whole order to fail and you to miss out on a fee: After all, if people notice that you are not available, there is no great inhibition to look for a replacement: There is a wide range of volunteer journalists!

Now we come to the heart of your homepage: The presentation of your work! Every freelancer should be able to prove to employers what good work he has already done!

INFO: By depositing previous publications, employers can directly get an idea of your way of working!

You can definitely score points if you have already published articles in many newspapers and on the radio. Finally, you can claim a lot on your website: Only on this subpage you can prove that these are not just empty promises! Here I have summarized for you some achievements that you can put on this subpage!

Checklist: Services of freelance journalists that should be listed on a homepage

• Radio contributions that have been published

• Newspaper articles and publications in print media

• Employers for whom work has already been done

• Any assignments abroad during the journalist's career

• Writing samples on specific topics

These are only a few examples of achievements that belong on your own website: In addition, of course, there can be many individual characteristics.

On this subpage, you are the center of attention: You should definitely provide information about yourself on your website and briefly outline everything you have already experienced as a journalist.

INFO: On a freelance journalist homepage you can score with your career and a short outline of your resume.

In this way, you can underline the skills you have mentioned with your actual achievements in life. This way you will leave a positive impression, similar to your already realized projects!

TIP: It is advisable to chronologically record the life achievements that you have already achieved, similar to a resume.

Diese Unterseite geht vermutlich Hand in Hand mit deiner “Über Dich”-Seite: Hier kannst du allerdings emotionaler werden und Gefühle deiner Arbeitgeber ansprechen: Du solltest erklären, was dich am Journalistenberuf begeistert und warum du ihn mit Liebe ausführst.

Checkliste: Weshalb du dich für den Journalistenberuf begeistern kannst

• Die Information von Lesern und Zuschauern/Zuhörern

• Man kommt in Kontakt mit vielen Menschen

• Man kann kreativ arbeiten

• Eine sehr abwechslungsreiche Arbeit

• Fesseln der Zuseher oder Leser mit der eigenen Arbeit

Indem du Redakteuren und dem Rundfunk zeigst, warum du für den Journalismus brennst, kannst du punkten und dir möglicherweise den einen oder anderen Auftrag samt Honorar mehr sichern!

This subpage is all about what's currently going on in your job: By showing what you're currently working on, you make it clear that you're busy and regularly working on assignments. This makes a good impression in that prospects see that employers trust you and that you work on projects regularly!

TIP: Regular assignments underline your skills and show that you are the right choice for other media to cover!

For example, you should elaborate on when and how long you'll be working abroad, what topics you're researching and writing for, and where which articles of yours will eventually appear!

Before setting up your site, you first need to select a suitable template. The homepage construction kit offers users a variety of designs from which you can choose freely!

TIP: For journalists we recommend the template "Photography" as a basic design.

Of course, you can change this template at any time during the creation of your homepage or customize it according to your wishes. The template "Photography" with its simple and timeless design is ideal for freelance journalists. In the following you only have to change the menu items and fill your journalist page with life!

The homepage construction kit offers its users numerous extras: With the extra "News", for example, you can spice up your news section even more!

INFO: With the extra "News" you can write small entries about your news in blog form.

Just activate the news in the extras section and start writing right away! You can delete old entries at any time! News about your work as a photojournalist or reporter can be arranged clearly and chronologically for the visitors of your page! In the best case, this will bring you one or two more orders and more fees!

To make it even easier for editors, broadcasters or other interested parties on your freelance journalist homepage to get in touch with you, we have developed the extra "contact form".

INFO: The extra "Contact form" is designed so that users only have to fill out and submit one form, saving them the hassle of writing an email.

All you have to do is navigate to the "Extras" section and personalize and activate the contact form there. Messages that users then write via this form conveniently land directly in your inbox!

Since pictures play a major role in journalism, the extra "Gallery" should be an interesting option especially for journalists: If there are pictures of you reporting, impressions of your finished articles or cover photos shot by you, they deserve a special place on the free journalist homepage!

INFO: The extra "Gallery" serves not only to deposit your pictures on your page, but to embed them in an appealing and attractive way!

For example, you can add a description text to your pictures, activate a picture rating for your site visitors, sort the pictures or activate comments. This way your images get the attention and focus they deserve!

You don't have to worry about a privacy policy for your journalist homepage either! We have pre-formulated a privacy policy for our users, which can be activated just as easily via the Extras area.

TIP: The extra "Privacy Policy" saves you a lot of work, because you only have to activate it in the "Extras" section!

You can save yourself the trouble of reading through legal texts and having to create a privacy policy yourself in the end! You can also choose whether it should be displayed on each of your subpages or only on one page.

A freelance journalist website is best for showcasing accomplishments and good work. On social media, it can be problematic that posts quickly become outdated: On Facebook, who still scrolls to posts from 2017 in your profile?

On your own website, on the other hand, you can convince with these references more timelessly! In addition, a website offers you plenty of space to express yourself in detail and tell the world what makes you tick as a journalist! You can write about your work on numerous subpages. On social media, on the other hand, it will be difficult to provide long and detailed texts!

A website offers journalists another decisive advantage: You can be reached everywhere and all the time! Regardless of whether you are currently reporting in Africa, Asia or elsewhere: Your journalist website is accessible worldwide! Users from all over the world can also access it from the comfort of their own homes and will be impressed by you as a journalist! In addition, the site is online around the clock. This means that even if you are asleep and can't take calls, people will always be able to contact you via a contact form or your e-mail address!

Of course, an Internet presence for freelance journalists is also suitable for publishing news about your own person! As already mentioned above, we recommend the extra "News". You can keep news about your work on your site at any time and users can easily click through. Old content can also be deleted again. Of course, Facebook can also be integrated into your own page. Some technical tips for integrating widgets or other page elements can also be found here!

TIP: If you post daily on Facebook, you should definitely connect your account with your website!

Last but not least, a website can also be considered as a relatively inexpensive advertising measure: Our free package is completely free for you (as the name suggests). Many functions of the construction kit are already available to you. That means, you can advertise about your person and inspire users with your site and that completely free of charge!

TIP: For even more professionalism, we recommend the ad-free package of the construction kit!

We learned that, according to the DJV, a lot of journalists in Germany are freelancers. To stand out from this crowd, in this article you learned how to build a professional freelance journalism site. For this, I first went into the elements that should not be missing on your page. Among them were the imprint and contact area, an about you page, news and your references. Afterwards I gave you some extras of the construction kit, which you can use to make your site even more attractive. For example, you can use a news section, a contact form or a gallery for your pictures. Lastly, I told you some of the advantages that this site will bring you. Among them were, for example, the possibility to advertise for free, to be available worldwide and at any time or to be able to communicate comfortably with your target group. I hope I have whetted your appetite for creating your own journalism site: Have fun with it!