How to Serve Multiple Types of Translation or Interpreting Clients with One Website
When someone lands on your website, you have one goal to achieve:
to lead that potential client to come to the conclusion that YOU are the right fit for them.
But how do you do this when you have more than one type of ideal client or more than one area of specialization?
I get this question all the time from my website course students, so I thought I'd share my tips for the best ways to appeal to multiple types of clients here on the blog.
First, it's important to mention that it's totally okay to have more than one type of ideal client. In fact, it's a good thing! If you can diversify your business in any way, do it!
That said, I do hear from a lot of translators who feel stuck when it comes to writing web copy and creating a website design that resonates with their ideal clients when they work in multiple specializations or language pairs.
Done right, your web copy and design can appeal to more than one type of client. Here’s how to make it work for you.
1. Break down who your clients are and what is important to them.
If you want to appeal to your clients, you have to really know them.
This small, but incredibly important detail, is a sticking point for a lot of my website course students. I think it must be for so many freelancers, really.
I mean, you don't want to be all up in your clients' business, right? That could get weird...
Okay, all jokes aside, the only way to appeal to a customer so that they absolutely know you're the right person for their translation projects or interpreting assignments is to make sure that you know what is important to them and focus on sprinkling this in when drafting your copy and creating your design.
Think about it. When a brand or company wants to market to you, they find a way to appeal to something that is important to you.
Typically, it's a goal you have or a challenge you want to overcome. Or, it could be as simple as knowing what you like and appealing to you with something that complements what you already tend to use or buy.
Here's an example.
I love home design. I read home style blogs, DIY (do it yourself) articles, I follow brands and stylists whose aesthetic I like, and I appreciate having a home that is both cozy and functional.
So, it should come as no surprise that when an article I'm reading mentions a certain challenge that I have in fixing something up around the house, and it gives me ideas for solutions, or a stylist mentions a product that will help improve a certain nook in my home, I'm paying attention.
The folks who create the content I'm consuming understand what I want to see when I land on their website or social media pages. They know how to appeal to me, because they have studied the market for people like me who consume similar content.
Your clients are no different. They ALL have goals. They ALL have challenges. They ALL like to work with certain types of people.
And it's up to you to figure out what their goals, challenges, likes and dislikes are so that you aren't wasting their time (or yours!).
To do this:
Create an Ideal Client Profile (also called an Ideal Client Avatar) for each of your ideal clients (try to cap it at three, but definitely no more five)
Figure out what your ideal clients' goals are, what their challenges are, what makes them want to keep working with you.
Determine what you offer that fits what is important to them. How do you help them overcome their challenges and reach their goals?
Focus on what makes you different (I like to call this your "X-factor"). Why should your clients choose you over other translators/interpreters who offer a similar service? How can you turn your differences into an ideal set of characteristics that your ideal clients will appreciate? By the way, pointing out that you deliver on time or translate accurately is not what sets you apart. These characteristics should be a "given" for anyone providing translation services.
2. Speak directly to your ideal clients through well-crafted, targeted web copy.
You can have the most beautifully designed website that you paid a designer thousands of dollars to create, but if your copy is lacking, you're leaving money on the table.
Copy sells. Plain and simple.
Go back to the Ideal Client Profiles you created and determine where there is overlap among your ideal clients. Ask yourself:
What do my ideal clients have in common that I can use to appeal to them in the main headline and first paragraph on my website?
This is where you should focus on copy that truly gets to the heart of what is important to your ideal clients and why they have landed on your website in the first place.
Next, determine what differences your various ideal clients have. This will come in especially handy in the next step.
Related: 3 Ways Translators Can Improve Their Website Copy and Appeal to Their Ideal Clients.
As you write your website content, speak less about yourself and more about your ideal clients. In fact, speak directly to them (using "you" as much as possible, as though you were writing an email to them). Conversation copy is key. You don't want to come off as stiff or unapproachable. Talk to your clients through your copy the way you would if you met them in person.
By writing to your clients and not just talking about yourself, you will show that you have their interests in mind and that you understand them and what they need.
3. Use your design elements to lead your ideal clients down the path that's right for them.
Now that you've figured out what differences your ideal clients have, you can use these strategically in your web design.
So many translators and interpreters I talk to feel overwhelmed or deflated when they realize how very different their ideal clients are.
Don't!
It's actually a very good thing to know your clients' differences so that you can appeal to them the right way.
Instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, you can take a more targeted approach by creating a design that appeals to your different clients and leads them in the direction you want them to take.
Here's how to do that.
As your copy is used to sell your services, your design is meant to complement that copy and to guide your potential clients from point A to point B on your website.
Consider what it is you want your clients to do after they've landed on your website and read your headline and the copy above the fold (the part of your site that someone sees before the point where they have to scroll down to read more).
My advice: create some "choose your own path" options.
This is where your clients will start down the path (that you create for them) that would most appeal to them according to those differences you laid out in your Ideal Client Profile earlier.
For example, if you have ideal clients in three different fields or industries, you could lead them from point A (your home page) to point B (a Services page that is meant specifically for them).
To do this, use images and brief copy that appeal to your clients so that they know where they should click next.
Here are three examples of translators who've done this really, really well.
Beth Gardner (this is from Beth's copywriting website)
Each of our colleagues shared here chose their own way to send their ideal clients down the paths that would appeal to them most. And they each did it with succinct copy and design elements that complement that copy.
Once your clients head down their respective paths (i.e., click to the next page on your site), they should land on a Services page or similar that appeals to them and is meant only for them.
How do you know if your Services pages appeal to your ideal clients?
Refer back to your Ideal Client Profiles and focus on what's most important to them. Speak to their challenges—and how you can help them overcome them—as well as to their goals and how you can help them reach them.
4. Always include a call to action (CTA).
People like to be told what to do next when it comes to website navigation.
Do you want to lead your clients to your About page to read more about you? Or do you want them to head to your Contact page and get in touch with you about their next project or assignment?
My suggestion: do both.
People like options. And you can't possibly know what everyone will want to read or see once they land on your website.
Your CTAs should stand out. If they appear as text in the body of your web copy, hyperlink them to the appropriate page of your site and make them bold. Or use a button that links to the right page.
The easier you make it for clients to take the next step, the more likely it is that they will.
So that’s how I would approach appealing to multiple types of ideal clients on your website.
The key is to hone your copy and design to reflect your expertise and how well you know your ideal clients so that you can lead site visitors to their own conclusion: that they need you.
