A freelance portfolio website serves as a window into your world of expertise and experience. It’s a crucial tool to showcase your skills, past projects, and professional journey to potential clients and employers.
Whether you’re a freelance writer, graphic designer, web developer, or any kind of small business owner, a well-crafted portfolio can help you stand out from the crowd and attract the right opportunities.
This guide will walk you through the process of creating a professional portfolio website, exploring various platforms and methods to get you set up.
Best of all, this requires no web development experience.
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Quick Guide: How to Build a Portfolio Site
- Choose a platform. The first step is to decide which platform you want to use to build your portfolio site. We recommend choosing between WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, depending on your preferences, needs, and budget. Each platform has its own pros and cons, so you should compare them before making a decision.
- Choose a domain name and a hosting service. A domain name is the address of your site on the web, such as www.libertylancer.com. A hosting service is where your site’s files and data are stored on the web. You can purchase a domain name from a domain registrar, or get one during initial setup with a website builder (included with certain memberships or for a fee).
You can also choose a hosting service that suits your needs and budget, or use a fully hosted platform that includes hosting in its package. For example, WordPress requires you to find your own hosting service, while Squarespace and Wix include hosting in their plans (at a higher cost). - Choose a theme or template. A theme or template sets the general design and layout of your site. It provides a base structure and style that you can customize to fit your preferences. You can choose a theme or template that showcases your work in the best way possible, such as one that’s responsive, minimalist, or creative.
Each platform offers a variety of themes or templates to choose from, including many designed specifically for portfolio sites. You can browse through the available options and select the one that appeals to you the most. - Customize your site. You can use the platform’s editor to change the colors, fonts, images, backgrounds, and other elements according to your style and needs. You can also add, edit, and organize your portfolio content, such as images, videos, text, and links. If you need them, you can also add other features to your site, such as a blog, a contact form, social media buttons, and more.
Each platform has its own editor and features that you can use to customize your site. For example, Wix has a drag-and-drop editor that gives you more freedom and flexibility to customize your site, while Squarespace has a structured editor that limits your options but makes it easier to create a consistent and professional-looking site. - Publish and promote your site. The final step is to publish and promote your site online. You can preview your site before publishing it to make sure everything looks good and works well. You can also test your site on different devices and browsers to ensure it’s responsive and compatible.
Once you’re happy with your site, you can publish it with a click of a button. You can also promote your site by sharing it on social media platforms, adding it to your resume or business card, and submitting it to online directories and portfolios.
Pros and Cons of Having a Portfolio Site
Having a portfolio site offers numerous benefits, but there are also a few downsides to keep in mind. Here are the key pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Showcases your work to potential clients globally. | Requires regular updates to keep content fresh and relevant. |
| Increases your professional credibility and personal brand. | Can demand time and effort to set up and maintain. |
| Allows you to control your online presence. | Might need financial investment for hosting, domain, and design elements. |
| Provides a point of contact for networking. |
Despite these challenges, the importance of a portfolio website in today’s competitive freelance market can’t be overstated. It’s an investment that can reap substantial rewards over time.
Different Ways to Build a Portfolio Site
There are several platforms and methods you can use to build your portfolio site. Each comes with its own pros and cons, and the best choice for you will depend on your specific needs, skills, and budget.
WordPress – Cheap but With a Learning Curve
Key Features:
- Open-source software that is free to use (although you’ll have to pay for hosting and a domain which can be had for quite cheap).
- The most flexible platform for portfolios, allowing you to create custom designs and functionality.
- Offers a wide range of customization options for portfolios.
- Has a large community of users and developers.
- Offers thousands of plugins and themes for portfolios.
- Provides access to the source code.
If you want to build a website for your portfolio, WordPress is my top choice. It’s a powerful and flexible platform that lets you customize your site’s look and features, while only having to pay for hosting (since WordPress itself is free).
You can choose from many themes that are made for portfolio sites, or tweak them to match your preferences. You can also use plugins to add more functionality to your site, such as galleries, forms, and SEO tools.
WordPress can grow with your freelance business. You can add more content and features to your site as you need them, such as a blog or an e-commerce option. WordPress also helps you rank well in search engines, making it easier for clients to find you.
WordPress might seem complicated at first, but there are many resources around the web to help you learn it. Especially in the long-term, it’s well worth learning how to use WordPress, since it’ll reduce your site’s running costs and give you the ability to add the exact look and feature set you desire. However, if you’d prefer to save time and hassle while paying a little more, one of the two options below will likely be right for you!
Discover how to set up your own WordPress portfolio site by reading our full guide.
Squarespace – User-Friendly Platform with a Higher Cost
Key Features:
- Starts at $16/month
- Offers a wide range of templates for portfolios.
- Provides a drag-and-drop interface for easy customization of portfolios.
- Offers built-in SEO tools for portfolios.
- Provides access to analytics tools for portfolios.
- Offers e-commerce functionality for portfolios.
- Allows you to begin a blog right away with features like scheduling, tagging, comment moderation, categories, and drafts.
Squarespace is a simple and elegant website builder for portfolio sites. It’s an all-in-one platform that provides hosting and management for you, but at a higher price than WordPress.
You can create a slick portfolio site with Squarespace without any design or coding skills. The templates are professional-looking and responsive, meaning they work well on any device. You can also customize your site with various features and style options, such as colors, fonts, and layouts.
Squarespace has built-in tools for SEO and e-commerce that can help your site succeed. The platform helps you rank well in search engines, and it has features like metadata fields and sitemap generation. You can also sell products or services from your site with Squarespace’s e-commerce features, such as product pages, inventory management, and secure payments. However, Squarespace is less flexible and customizable than WordPress.
Wix – Fully Hosted and Managed with a Limited Free Plan
Key Features:
- Starts at $16/month
- Offers a wide range of templates for portfolios.
- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to customize your portfolio.
- Built-in SEO tools that help your portfolio rank higher in search engine results.
- Provides access to analytics tools that help you track your portfolio’s performance and make data-driven decisions.
- Offers e-commerce functionality that allows you to sell products or services directly from your portfolio.
- Has an extensive template library that includes designs for every type of portfolio, from photography to web design.
Wix is a simple and convenient website builder that helps you create a portfolio site with little hassle. It’s a fully hosted platform, so you don’t need to find a web host or install any software. Wix offers a variety of templates for portfolio sites, and you can adjust them to match your style and needs.
Wix has a free plan that lets you create a basic website with up to 500 MB of storage and bandwidth. However, your site will have Wix ads and a Wix-branded domain name. If you want to remove the ads and get a custom domain name, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Wix has many features that can enhance your site and make it more engaging, such as parallax scrolling, video backgrounds, and animation effects. You can also add a blog, a contact form, social media buttons, and more to your site with a few clicks.
Free Alternatives
GitHub and Jekyll
You may have heard of GitHub in the past. In essence, it’s an online repository for developers to host and iterate on their code without having to worry about losing any of it.
While they already offer this awesome service for free, they also offer a more unknown service ever since the company’s inception – GitHub Pages. Here you are able to set up a website completely for free, with hosting included, though you’ll need a little more time and technical knowledge.
Adobe Portfolio
If you’re a freelancer with an active Adobe CC subscription, you can use Adobe Portfolio for free, a service Adobe offers that allows you to create a portfolio gallery or splash page. From what we’ve seen, however, it seems this is primarily an option for freelance photographers since the themes are all highly visual and photo-based.
You can set this up either as a subdomain such as yourname.myportfolio.com, or purchase your own domain and have a branded URL. At $9.99 monthly for a basic plan, it’s hard to recommend by itself, but if you’re already a Creative Cloud customer (or could do with Photoshop & Lightroom) it’s worth checking out.
Tips for Building a Portfolio Site
When creating a portfolio site, it’s crucial to remember that its purpose is to showcase your skills and projects in a clear, concise, and visually appealing manner. The following tips can help you achieve this:
- Keep it Simple: A portfolio site should be easy to navigate, with a clean design that puts your work front and center. Avoid unnecessary clutter that may distract visitors from your projects.
- Show Your Best Work: A common mistake is to include every project you’ve ever worked on. Instead, focus on showcasing a few of your best pieces that demonstrate the breadth and depth of your skills.
- Tell the Story of Each Project: For each project you include, provide context. Explain the project’s goals, your role, the tools and technologies used, the process you followed, and the results achieved.
- Make Your Site Easy to Navigate: A portfolio website should be user-friendly. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, with a clean layout and clear calls to action.
- Include Client Testimonials: If you have positive feedback from previous clients, include it in your portfolio. Testimonials can greatly increase your credibility.
- Keep Your Portfolio Updated: Regularly update your portfolio with your latest work. An outdated portfolio can give the impression that you’re not active in your field.
FAQs – Building a Portfolio Site
No, many platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace offer user-friendly interfaces and templates that don’t require coding knowledge. However, if you’re a developer, you might prefer a more technical platform like GitHub Pages and Jekyll.
Ideally, you should update your portfolio whenever you complete a significant project that demonstrates your skills and capabilities. Regular updates keep your portfolio fresh and relevant.
Your portfolio should include examples of your best work, a bio or about me section, a list of services you offer, testimonials from clients if available, and contact information.
There are a number of tips you can consider to make your portfolio stand out, focus on showcasing high-quality work, presenting it in a visually appealing way, and telling the story behind each project. Additionally, ensuring easy navigation and providing clear contact information can significantly enhance user experience.
