Firstly, why do we as freelance journalists need a website? Is it ego? Well partly I guess it is. But for me it’s about automation. The computer, the web, a website, is just another tool that I use to make life easier.

A good website shouldn’t create too much extra work and it should do tasks for me. Consider this. I write to an editor, pitch a story idea and then he or she replies and asks for samples of my work. I can provide a link to my recent articles and samples of my previous work. To anticipate this question I always have a link in my email signature to constantly promote my site. I also provide feeds on my site so that once I’ve completed an online article, it appears as a link. It’s up-to-date with the latest information I can provide.

Providing feeds

I realise that delicious bookmarks consider self promotion as spam. However I use this service to bookmark an article I’ve recently written for another website. It’s not my site and I believe it is therefore a valid bookmark, which may help others in their online research. It also helps promote the business that pays my bills. I also use delicious to provide links on my site whenever I find interesting information while researching articles. You can filter the bookmarks by using tags to present general rss feeds, or say for example, published articles. It eliminates the need to post a link and a description on my own site as it’s now fully automated.

Blogging platforms

I’ve spent quite some time considering how to present my work online. A static site that doesn’t change much and shows a portfolio of work? Or, something more dynamic which may attract more visitors?

Blogging platforms such as WordPress provide a very flexible way to maintain a site and most importantly, constantly create new addresses (which occur after each published blog entry), so that I have many pathways to my website. WordPress can, when used properly, provide an easy way for those of us not trained in coding to update our sites on a regular basis. Gain the greatest flexibility by self hosting (having your own domain name). WordPress also offers a concise explanation of blogging, including some terminology.

The benefits of blogs

Someone searching for information on a recent cyclone in my part of the world, such as Tropical Cyclone Hamish, may land on my site and not just those directly looking for me, the freelance writer. I’m not that popular and only a handful of people will directly type my name in a search engine.

It’s important therefore to structure the permalinks so that they are meaningful and google friendly. Permalinks are basically everything that follows your formal web address, for example http://greghardwick.com.au/noosa-after-cyclone-hamish/.

I may have conducted some research, I may have some images I’m willing to share and take the chance with copyright theft on a topic that others may be interested in. So why not write this down into a blog entry?

It doesn’t have to be long and it may just attract the attention of an editor. Blogs however should not be journal entries. Why would you want to read someone else’s inner most thoughts, when that is something that traditionally has been kept hidden in a draw in your desk? Keep them short (if you can) and as with any form of journalism, consider the reader.

Writing blogs

For many journalists we are just too busy writing stories for money, or at least trying to, to consider extra non-paid writing tasks. But for me, a blog entry can be just a way of keeping a record of what I’ve done and explaining it to others. I may have learnt something after some extensive research, so why not keep a record of how I discovered this new and exciting information? Perhaps it’s my science training where it is considered good practice to record what you have done so that others may follow in your footsteps and, importantly, question and critique your methodology.

By creating new blog entries, you are in effect, creating new pathways for others to find your site. You may help someone else who is going through the same process and you may just learn something from reader feedback. After all online journalism is growing and it is something that a student or accomplished journalist can no longer ignore.

On that point, I’d love to read your thoughts and opinions. Especially any other freelance journalists out there.