portfolio website
Posted in: Blog

What is a Web Portfolio and How to Create One

Portfolio is a collection of completed works, projects and other documents that demonstrate your professionalism and experience. And, if earlier a portfolio was a folder with printed texts and layouts that were taken to interviews or business meetings, now you can simply create a web portfolio and share a link to the world.

The coolest thing about a portfolio website is that you not only show your art to literally the whole world, but also find curators, gallery owners, collaborators, sponsors or employers because your site is open 24/7. Therefore, today i will show you how to create an online portfolio or creative resume and give a short step-by-step guide to help you create your project.

 

Who needs a portfolio site and why

As i said, an online portfolio is especially useful for creative professionals: artists, copywriters, photographers, designers, architects and so on. If you use an online portfolio for work, then there are several of its advantages over a offline paper portfolio:

 

Availability: A website is an advertisement of your portfolio 24/7 for any person with the Internet.

Visibility: Animation, video, special effects – all these will help show your work better than a simple, static image on A4 sheet.

Easy to use: In one place, in just a few clicks, you can update sections, add new works, delete old ones, receive requests from clients through the feedback form and respond to their messages in the chat.

Building a reputation: A well-designed website will help your personal brand become even more popular.

 

How and when to use an online portfolio

Depends on the situation, but the most important thing is to decide on the purpose of creating such a website.

If you are applying for a vacancy, be sure to attach a link to your portfolio to your letter or resume. This will give the employer the opportunity to assess your experience and skills even before inviting you for an interview. In general, try to demonstrate work and skills that would be useful to a potential employer. And confirm your success with links to publications on the Web or make a separate page with your awards.

An online portfolio also comes in handy for employed professionals looking to demonstrate their value.

What does a portfolio site consist of?

online portfolio

The main element of an online portfolio is examples of work that you are proud of. But, depending on the type of activity, you can leave other blocks on the site that will help potential customers or your fans to learn more about you. For example:

  • Bio
  • Project plans
  • Recommendations
  • Awards
  • Publications in specialized media

How to make a portfolio website

If you are an experienced developer, you can write the code yourself and design your page. And if you are a beginner – create a website using CMS (content management systems) and website builders. In this guide, we will look at a service for creating websites from scratch on WordPressBluehost website builder. They wanted the service to be used by people from different fields of activity, so it’s not about complex settings.

if you create self-hosted WordPress website, find a list of WordPress hosting on Reddit.

Bluehost website builder offers three Plans “BASIC”, “PRO” and “ONLINE STORE” – the price starts from $2.95 per month with a Free Domain for 1 year.

And a nice bonus – Bluehost website builder already includes web hosting and an SSL certificate as a gift for one year, so you won’t need to activate any additional services. Therefore, to create a web portfolio, you only need to select the template you like and connect it to the domain. Don’t have a domain yet? Then let’s move on to the first step.

Step 1. Select a domain

The choice of a domain name determines how easy it will be to find your site. Therefore, the site domain should be catchy, short, and memorable. It depends on him whether your project will be remembered by an ordinary user, exhibition owner or HR specialist of a large art studio.

Today there are a huge number of domain zones – you will definitely have plenty to choose from ccTLDs (Country-Code Top-Level Domains) to Generic top-level domain (gTLD) thematic – everyone will find something suitable for themselves. We recommend that you pay attention to the thematic domain for creative people – the .ART zone. The web address in such a zone will become an understandable and concise addition to the creative pseudonym, surname or name of the creative association.

Trying to choose the best web hosting for your website? Here’s a list to help you sort the choices: Best Web Hosting reddit| Recommendations

For more recommendations on choosing a domain name for a web portfolio, read the post “How to choose the right domain for your site

 

Step 2. Select a template

The template is the foundation of the site. The appearance of the portfolio, layout, navigation features and much more will depend on it.

Bluehost website builder has a separate tab with templates for online portfolios: from minimalistic landing pages to multi-page business sites.

And don’t forget that you can always choose a different template or change individual details to customize everything to your style.

If you have any questions or difficulties in working with the service, do not forget about the Knowledge Base, where experts have prepared instructions for all occasions.

Step 3. Think over the structure

Having chosen a template, proceed to filling the site with important information. Let’s go through the main sections of the site together using the example of the a template:

Homepage. This is the first thing that visitors will see – so make sure your home page makes the right impression and is able to grab the visitor’s attention. Add a capacious, catchy headline, good quality images, and catchy text.

Page with works. Unfortunately, the “the more, the better” rule does not work here. Analyze your work carefully and show only the best you have.

Section “About me”. Tell us about your biography, education, experience – everything that made you a master of your craft.

Contact. Also, do not forget to indicate your phone number, links to social networks – everything that will help visitors quickly and easily contact you. Or leave a feedback form to process customer requests via email.

Step 4. Customize the template for yourself

It’s time to give free rein to creativity and make your site different from the rest. Which design do you like – calm, with pictures on a white background, or provocative and full of details? Do you want to add some unusual animations? Or make the page minimalistic? You decide! Bluehost website builder can be compared to a Lego constructor, where you create, move parts and create what you need.

The main thing is not to forget to use keywords for SEO-website promotion in search engines. Also choose high quality images.

Step 5. Check the site before publishing

Before publishing a portfolio site, ask your loved ones or colleagues to test it. It often happens that the look is “blurred”, so advice from a loved one will help you notice weaknesses in the design or text in order to quickly finalize everything.

Step 6. Tell us about your project!

Once everything is ready, tell the world about your work! For promotion, you can use social networks, art groups and communities, specialized forums or discussion columns on thematic news sites.

 

Do you have your own creative project? Write what you are doing and share a link to your project in the comments. And if you still don’t have a web portfolio, but you really want to create one, do it now using Bluehost website builder services.