How To Create A Freelance Portfolio Website

As a freelancer, you want to stand out and catch a prospective client’s eye. A portfolio website is crucial for expanding your freelance opportunities. After you’ve had a few pitches accepted and secured some bylines, a freelance portfolio website serves as a digital space in which all of your work lives and can be easily accessible to prospective editors, readers, and potential clients. But how do you make one? 

Whether you decide to code from scratch or use a platform like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress, there are some best practices you should follow.

We spoke to a few freelancers with experience for this step by step guide on how to make a freelance portfolio website.

Step 1: What Do You Want To Communicate

Before you start designing your website, you should assess what your goals are for your website. 

“Think about what are the bullet points of what you want people to take away from looking at your site,” Nika Simovich Fisher, a freelance writer and designer, advises. 

You should think about the best methods for your website to convey your various skills. For instance, if you’re looking for both freelance journalism and copywriting gigs, you need to ensure that your professional website states that you have experience in both fields.  

“Writing a strong bio is a very important thing,” Sanjna Selva, a documentary filmmaker and journalist says, “It’s good practice as well.” 

Your bio doesn’t have to be too long. However, it should address these things:

• Your beat.
• Any notable bylines.
• Your general interests.
• Any awards or notable accomplishments. 

Step 2: Choose A Platform

After you’ve decided what exactly you want to convey with your website, it’s time to do what many find the hardest part: design the thing. Thankfully, for those of us who find web designing a bit challenging, there are seamless platforms that have ready-made templates. Media workers gravitate towards platforms such as Wix, Squarespace, and Cargo. 

Dan Q. Dao, a freelance culture writer, says that for his website, he used Squarespace because of its “user-friendliness and simplicity yet dynamic visual templates.” 

“Since I’ve been using it, the company has improved a lot of its design customization even more through ‘liquid’ design tools that allow you to drag and drop elements into place,” he says. “Squarespace has also merged with Google Domains, bringing all of my website hosting and domains under one roof.”

Even if you use one of these templates, as Dao notes, customization is key. Ultimately, you want your website to stand out.  In addition to adding a photo of yourself, there are different methods of personalizing your portfolio.  

“It helps to add a bit of your personality to your website, whether that be a fun font or logo for your personal brand,” Emily Safron, a freelance writer, says. 

Step 3:  Legibility Is Key

“Show some personality, but don’t overcomplicate it,” Dao advises.

While it’s understandable to try to make your website very flashy, going too far may make it harder for prospective clients to reach you. 

Fisher recommends that media workers use “really legible typography”  and have a “clear contrast between the text and background.” In addition, she advises that email addresses are on the first page of the website. Fisher suggests that freelance journalists prioritize having a “clear navigation.” 

“A website could be a single page, definitely,” she says. “But if you have multiple pages, having that clearly labeled at the top so that people know how to move around on the site.”

Jessica Farthing, a freelance writer who also teaches courses and has her own newsletter, says that she makes sure that her website communicates 

“I have a clear explanation of my services and the different things that I provide,” she says, noting how her website has a newsletter signup page, information on her courses, and a general contact page. 

“Writers are my clients as well as companies who need contact as well as editors so that’s a lot of different types of people,” she says. “But on my site, there’s a path for each of those people to find what they need.” 

Step 4: Curate Your Work

At the start of your career, you should definitely put as many clips as possible on your website. However, as you get more bylines and a range of experience, curation is best. 

“Put your best work—or the work you want to do more of—up front where people can easily find it,” Dao says. “To attract the type of gigs you want, put the spotlight on your similar pieces and stories.” 

“All of the photography and backgrounds are mine,” Selva says. “It’s a way of me still being able to showcase my art and my work on every page.” 

Step 5: Regularly Update

Dao suggests that writers update their portfolio websites on a quarterly basis. “It’s a small housekeeping thing but it helps show you are still active and available,” he says. 

In addition, you should also regularly update your contact information and any social media profiles you want to add. 

There’s always the option to hire a web designer. But if you want to do it yourself, this guide can come in handy.

 

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