5 Things Your Portfolio Website Needs Right Now With Examples

March 09, 2020

These things cannot be missing on the perfect portfolio website. Check out our tips that you can use right away.

Use your portfolio website as an opportunity to surprise and impress your potential customers. A good portfolio website shows all your work in one place and makes it easy to request a quote. Be unique and show your personal side. But how do you do this exactly? Below a number of tips to help to get you started.

What You (Don't) Do

State clearly what services you (don't) offer. Be specific, you can better specialize in one service instead of trying to keep everyone happy.

By clearly indicating what you are doing customers do not have to wonder what you can do for them.

The FAQ of Matchbox shows what they do and don't do

On this portfolio website Eva clearly states what she does

Show Your Best Work

Even if you don't have a lot of work to show, make sure you only show the best of your work. You should be proud of every project in your portfolio.

Also regularly update your portfolio. We understand that updating your portfolio takes time, but always make sure that you show recent work.

Also make sure you tell the context of each project and (if possible) give a look into the process. You could also share what the purpose of your project was, what your role was and possibly with who you collaborated.

Adam Brandon gives a sneak peak

Zef Cherry shows his work in detailed case studies

Tell Something About Yourself

The about-us page is an excellent opportunity to show why you are the right person for that one job and to tell something personal about yourself.

Do not write a whole biography but show what you have achieved and what achievements you are proud of.

Also place a photo on your about-us page. This allows your customer to place a face with you and make you look more personal. Use a professional photo (so no selfie at the pool).

Dani shows in a personal way what makes her happy

Boris Verks has a thing with anteaters. Sounds random but sure is personal!

Contact Details

If you want to receive leads from potential customers you have to make sure that you can easily be contacted. Whether you use a contact form, e-mail address or telephone number, make sure that your potential customers can talk to you.

Testimonials

Let satisfied customers share their experience with you in testimonials. Sure, you can explain what you are good at, but when other people say the same about you, it is much more powerful.

A short piece of text about the collaboration is sufficient. But if you really want to go all-the-way, add a name, role and profile picture to create extra confidence. With glowing reviews you might well be able to win over a doubting customer, so make sure you put some effort into this.

If you have worked for well-known customers, then it is certainly worth mentioning. However, make sure that you mention well-known clients. Name dropping only works if the names are actually recognizable.