The best portfolio websites do a few things well: they show a small selection of your strongest work first, explain each project in a sentence or two, load quickly on a phone, back the work up with what clients said, and make it obvious how to get in touch. Everything else is decoration. Here’s how to get each one right.
1. Put your best work front and centre
The work should do the talking. A gallery of twelve strong projects beats forty of mixed quality, because visitors judge you by the weakest piece they see. Cluttered portfolios, with animations, sliders and effects competing for attention, often feel like they’re compensating for the work.
Speed belongs here too. Large, uncompressed images are the most common reason portfolios load slowly. Export images at the size they’re displayed and in a modern format such as WebP, and check the result on a phone with Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
How should you display work on a portfolio website?
Group projects by the kind of work a visitor is likely to want, such as branding, websites or illustration, and lead each one with a single strong image. Then give each project its own short page: what the client needed, what you did, and what happened as a result. Three short paragraphs are enough. A visitor who can see your thinking as well as the finished piece is far more likely to get in touch.
If you want a model, our own showcase works this way: a grid of projects, each opening into a page that explains the brief and the result.
2. Let your personality show
Your portfolio is where clients decide whether they’d like working with you. Write the About page in your own voice, use a real photo, and say plainly what kind of work you want more of. The words matter as much as the visuals: they’re how a visitor works out whether you’ll understand their project.
3. Make it accessible on every device
Many visitors will see your portfolio on a phone first, so images, text and navigation need to work at every screen size. Keep the menu simple. Use readable fonts at a comfortable size, and save decorative scripts for headings, if anywhere. Check that text meets the WCAG minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1, and add descriptive alt text to your images, which helps screen reader users and search engines alike.
Show fewer projects, explain each one well, and make the next step obvious.
4. Feature what clients say
A short quote from a client, with their name and company, does a lot of work. It tells a visitor that someone else trusted you and was glad they did. Put testimonials on the relevant project pages as well as on a reviews page, so the praise sits next to the work it’s about.
5. Keep it fresh, and make it easy to get in touch
Add new projects as you finish them and retire old ones that no longer represent you. If you write a blog, a realistic schedule you can keep beats an ambitious one you abandon. And end every project page with a clear call to action, such as “Start a project” or “Book a call”, so a visitor who likes what they see has somewhere to go.
How we can help
We design and build portfolio sites for creatives and studios, and we’ve shown our own work the same way for years. If you’d like a portfolio that properly represents your work, have a look at our web design services.
FAQs
How many projects should a portfolio website show?
Usually between eight and fifteen of your strongest pieces. Fewer, well-explained projects make a better impression than a long gallery of mixed quality, because visitors tend to judge you by the weakest piece they see.
What should a portfolio project page include?
A strong lead image, a sentence on what the client needed, a short description of what you did, and the result or the client’s feedback. Finish with a call to action so a visitor who likes the work can get in touch.
