Already have a better idea of what a web development portfolio is and why it’s important? Let’s look at a few tips for creating an engaging portfolio that will impress visitors and (hopefully) lead to many lucrative job offers.
1. Use a Custom URL
When you start to set up your portfolio website, be sure to purchase your own domain and customize the URL to something memorable. While you can get a free subdomain, having a customized domain conveys professionalism and will impress prospective clients/employers.
Having a portfolio gives you the opportunity to show off your unique personal brand. That extends to the URL as well. The best thing to do is use your name and indicate what you do in the URL, which makes it easier for people to remember. For example, a Web Developer named Olivia Garcia could use OliviaGarciaWebDeveloper.com — very simple and memorable. And if for some reason the recruiter or hiring manager can’t recall the website, all they have to do is search for her name and the portfolio will pop up in the results.
When setting up your website, don’t forget to buy an SSL certificate to make your website more trustworthy and secure. If you send a prospective client or employer a link to your portfolio and their browser blocks it because it’s not secure, you’re probably not going to get an interview, let alone get hired. Consider the little details as you prepare your portfolio; they’ll pay off in the end.
2. Show Your Personality
When building your portfolio, it’s important that you do it in a way that shows off your personality. Employers hire people, not portfolios. While the primary function of a portfolio is to display your best work, the secondary purpose is to give visitors a chance to get to know you; the more they know, like, and trust you, the more likely they are to hire you. That means your portfolio should blend together both the professional and personal.
While you can display your personality throughout your website through personalized branding and copy, one of the best ways to communicate who you are as a person is through the About page. The About Me portion of the website gives you the opportunity to humanize your portfolio. In this section, you should provide a bit about your background, your values and interests, why you chose to study web development, what type of projects you’re most passionate about, and what sets you apart from other Web Developers.
As you’re creating the About Me section, don’t forget to include a picture of yourself. Having a photo on your portfolio will make you much more relatable — people are more likely to trust you if they have a clear idea of what you look like, as opposed to some faceless person on the Internet. Try not to use a selfie; it doesn’t look very professional. Of course, you don’t need to go out and get professional headshots taken — a cell phone picture in a well-lit area taken by a friend or relative will suffice.
3. Have a Target Market in Mind
When creating your portfolio, you should work with an ideal client or employer in mind. You’re not trying to appeal to all of the companies on the face of the earth; you’re attempting to find employment that matches your skills, expertise, and interests. So if you’re passionate about building WordPress sites for small businesses, be sure to say that. Or if you want to leverage your 10 years as a Med Tech to work as a Web Developer in the healthcare industry, state that plainly. Or if you only work in back end web development, be sure to include that.
Be clear about your specialty and what type of work you’re looking for. Putting these kinds of specifics on your portfolio will help weed out those employers or clients who don’t meet your requirements. It’s better to let potential employers view your portfolio and screen themselves based on what you’re looking for instead of going through a lengthy interview process only to find out you’re not a match.
4. Limit the Number of Samples
When choosing samples to use in your portfolio, you might be tempted to include every single thing you’ve ever created. You must resist that temptation and create a curated collection of your best work that targets your ideal client. If you provide too many samples for visitors to look through, they could become overwhelmed and simply move on to another candidate. Try to limit the number of samples to just four or five; that will give potential clients a good idea of what you’re capable of without inundating them.
You should also be sure that the samples you include are relevant to your target market. If your goal is to work as a Web Developer in the healthcare industry, then include examples that pertain to that field. Those who are open to working in a variety of industries can include a broader set of examples to showcase the breadth of their experience. Regardless of who you’re trying to appeal to, make sure your portfolio pieces align with your current web development career goals.
5. Provide Relevant Education, Skills, and Experience
While the samples on your site do speak for themselves, you also need to note any relevant education, skills, and experience you may have. Of course, the keyword here is relevant. You don’t need to include a long list of everything you’re capable of doing. You should only reference those that are relevant to working in web development, focusing specifically on those that pertain to the type of job you’re applying for. Also be sure to reference which programming languages you’re skilled in and any web development classes that you’ve completed.
6. Offer a Downloadable Résumé
This suggestion might seem a bit anti-tech, but Human Resource Managers will greatly appreciate you providing them with a downloadable résumé. While those responsible for hiring will certainly look at your portfolio website to see if you’re qualified, they often still rely on printed résumés to take notes when narrowing down candidates and conducting interviews.
7. Include Social Proof
While portfolio samples are the most compelling evidence of your skills, you can back those up by providing social proof like testimonials and case studies. Getting social proof is easier than it sounds; for testimonials, all you have to do is ask former employers, clients, instructors, etc. to write a few sentences about you and your work. You can then pick out the best quotes and post them on your website along with the name and title of the person who provided each one.
Case studies are far more in-depth (and convincing) than testimonials. To create a case study, you’ll need to provide information on five things: the client, what problem they were facing, project details, what work you completed, and the results. Case studies are best used by Web Developers who already have experience working with clients; if you’re just starting out, you can simply stick to testimonials.
8. Optimize Website Performance
Optimizing website performance might seem like an unimportant detail, but it could have a huge bearing on whether you get hired or not. Imagine a potential employer coming to your portfolio website to view your samples, but it takes forever to load. What do you think their reaction will be? They likely won’t want to hire a Web Developer who can’t take the time to optimize their own website. To avoid this, optimize image sizes, reduce the number of plug-ins, minimize the number of JavaScript and CSS files, use website caching, and set up lazy loading. You can also use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to run a performance test on your site and receive recommendations for improvement.
9. Ensure Responsive Design
You also want to make sure that your site is responsive and works just as well on a cell phone as it does on a laptop. Web Developers, of all people, should recognize that we live in a mobile age — more than half of all website traffic worldwide comes from people on mobile devices. A potential employer could very easily be looking through portfolios while on their cell phone. Consider what would happen if they found your site and it didn’t adapt to their device; you’re automatically taken out of the running for a web development position. Make sure to cover all your bases and develop a mobile-responsive portfolio site.
10. Encourage Communication
The point of your portfolio isn’t just to show off what you’re capable of; your ultimate goal is to encourage visitors to take action after reviewing your work. Do you want them to call you and set up an interview? Or email the details of their project to receive a quote?
Be clear about what you want visitors to do and make it easy for them to get in contact with you. Include only those contact methods that you’re comfortable sharing; if you don’t want to provide your phone number, that’s perfectly understandable. But do make sure you at least include an email address and don’t rely solely on a contact form — very few people consider filling out a form as a reliable contact method.
Build Your Portfolio Through Web Development Classes
Are you struggling to create a web development portfolio? Maybe you don’t yet have the skills or body of work necessary to start pursuing a career as a Web Developer. If so, then you should consider building your portfolio as you learn the necessary skills through web development classes provided by Noble Desktop. Noble Desktop offers a wide array of live online web development courses that cover foundational programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and Java plus essential tools like Git, Bootstrap, React, VS Code, and Node.js.
If you’re looking to switch careers and become a Web Developer quickly, your best choice would be to enroll in a bootcamp. These accelerated educational programs are designed to prepare students for a new career in just a few short months. With their abbreviated schedules, focus on skills acquisition, and affordable tuition, web development bootcamps are considered an excellent alternative to a traditional college education. You can even find web development bootcamps available live online, which are the most convenient choice for those who are learning as they continue to work full-time.