A portfolio website is one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to showcase your work.
Although you have a physical portfolio, having a portfolio website is essential to make your work sing.
But not everyone has the web design skills to build a compelling, simple, and easy-to-use site. That’s why you need to know how to create a portfolio, fill those knowledge gaps, and make your portfolio site stand out.
Why Create a Portfolio Website?
Your portfolio is the most important vehicle that will let you get noticed, get an interview, or be hired in a job or freelance project that you want.
Also, whatever your goals are, having a portfolio website can help represent who you are and the kind of value you offer:
1. Curate your best work
The thing is, not every employer or client will have to spend hours trying to analyze every single detail you’ve placed on your site.
That’s why you should curate your best work. After all, your portfolio is like a CV. That’s why your content should be up to date and be clear on what people can do.
It’s a platform where you can showcase your professionalism and talents, allowing you to display these talents and skills to the world.
Remember that if you don’t put your work out there, no one can see your work and ideas. More importantly, prospective employees and clients can’t see your work.
2. Make it easy to navigate
This tip is pretty common sense, but it’s still worth mentioning again. Users will be immediately be turned off and leave if your site is challenging to navigate.
If you can’t put out easily and quickly for people to contact you, then it won’t matter how good your work is. A lot of people will grow frustrated and move on to your competitors.
That’s why your portfolio must be easy to navigate. You may want to simplify or streamline the menu items. Consider consolidating your pages and make your navigation process simple instead of being too smart about it.
Create categories and divide your work into segments. That way, it’s easier for the person browsing through your portfolio site, which an essential aspect of your work.
Before coming up with your online portfolio, it also helps you browse through various portfolios for inspiration. That way, you can figure out how you can beautify yours.
3. Get a domain name
It’s also essential that you name your website. If you want your site portfolio to attract clients and gain your credibility online, getting a domain name is necessary.
For your portfolio site to succeed, your domain will play a key role in it.
Doing so allows you to define your brand, give first-time visitors a first impression, and help you with your SEO rankings.
Adding a domain name also adds an extra edge to your business, showing how passionate you are with your work.
This enhances your credibility, showing that you’re a trustworthy brand, person, or company.
4. Create fresh content
Adding content to your site is incredibly helpful. One of the best ways to enhance your search engine ranking is to keep a blog that’s up to date.
Ensure that all your posts there are relevant and links to what you do. Google also loves video content, and so does your visitors. Therefore, coming up with short, engaging content in your site could let people on your website stay longer.
It also helps you look for examples of portfolio websites where case studies explain how work will be completed.
You may want to include the client’s goals there, explaining how you can manage and fulfill them by demonstrating a step by step approach.
5. Practice SEO
If you genuinely want your portfolio site to stand out, then crafting one isn’t enough. It would be best if you also made sure that people can find it on search engines.
If your portfolio site is quite challenging to find on Google, then it’s a massive waste of time and resources on your part.
6. Do have a mission and vision
Before you build your site portfolio, then you need to know what your mission and vision are. Or the reason why you need to set up a portfolio in the first place.
Once you know what kind of message you want to send, you need to start creating it. For instance, a portfolio of an interior design will look a lot different if you compare it with a web designer’s portfolio.
It also helps that you know your clients as well as your objectives. Then, build your portfolio accordingly.
7. Pick projects that offer the best results
When building the portfolio of your website, you need to be selective. You don’t have to list every detail or any insignificant project you’ve dealt with in the past.
Ideally, you need to pick projects that provide you with the best results and then place these on display. You might also opt to divide them into categories to make it look more organized.
Ideally, put some emphasis on the types of projects you want to work on in the future.
8. Showcase any awards and recognitions
Having great recommendations from previous clients is always a huge plus, so if you can include it on your site, the better.
The same thing goes for certifications and awards. It would help if you showcased them to your audience to make you look more trustworthy and reliable.
Social proof is one of the best ways to win over a prospective client.
Over to You
Building a portfolio site is one of the best steps for potential clients to find you and pick you over a sea of experts in your field.
It’s also a great way to promote your work out there, displaying your success and capabilities.
Remember that a high-quality, well-made portfolio can make a difference. It allows you to stand out from the rest of the pack, ensuring that you can win clients and projects.