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5 Reasons You Need a Portfolio Website and the Best Tips to Build One

By | Elaine Bennett | Editor in Chief, Bizzmark Blog

If you’re amazing at what you do and you know that others respect your talent and hard work, then there is really no reason not to have a personal website. In the digital age, your website serves as your best marketing tool and an online resume that anyone can take a look at, and decide to get in touch. Not to mention that you can always you your website as a presentation tool whenever you’re speaking to potential clients.

Instead of sending them a shared folder with your work or having to explain everything about yourself and your work, you can just send them a link to your amazing, professionally made website. If you don’t think that sounds amazing, rest assured that your potential clients will. Still not convinced? Good, because we have a list of reasons why you do need a portfolio website, plus the best tips you can use to build a personal website that will take your career to the next level

Build online brand visibility and attract clients

In a world where clients and customers are scouring the web for products and services, you don’t want to be the only professional who doesn’t have an online presence. After all, are you supposed to get new clients through phone calls and newspaper ads forever? Are newspaper ads even a thing anymore? Regardless, it’s important to embrace the digital revolution and build a personal website to enhance your online visibility.

This is not only important for client engagement, but also for Google and how it ranks your website in the search results. Naturally, your goal should be to rank high in your niche, so optimizing your site with the relevant keywords and dishing out new content every once in a while is a good start. This will elevate your online visibility and inspire potential clients to check out your site and your work.

Showcase your amazing work

Speaking of, your personal website should act as a box of goodies that potential clients can explore until they find a product or a service that fits their unique needs and goals. But to do that, you need more than a list of services, you need a portfolio. Now, there are two ways you can go about this: you can build a portfolio website, or you can choose to build a separate portfolio landing page.

Both are viable options, and the main thing to remember is that your work should be front and center whenever someone comes to your site. You want to position your work strategically so that it complements the content on your site and the introduction of your personal brand. 

After all, people are not just interested in your work – they are also interested in the person behind the talent. What’s more, don’t overwhelm your visitors, rather, pick just a few projects you’re most proud of and display only those to keep the visitor engaged. 

Create a personalized experience to evoke emotion

More than anything else, visitors want to see that there is a person behind the brand, they want to get to know you and see who the talented individual is who managed to spark their interest with their amazing work. If you want to make your portfolio website truly stand out and be memorable, then you need to personalize their experience.

You can start from the top and create a personal domain name using your own name plus a relevant keyword, and finishing it off with a TLD extension like .me to make the site as personal and memorable as possible. Personalize the copy as well and make it feel inviting through a friendly yet professional tone of voice. Speak plainly and don’t sound corporate. Use a mix of written content and visuals to paint a picture for the visitor, and emphasize your personalized approach to every client and their needs.

Create a professional image and start earning more

One of the biggest reasons why you would want to build your own personal website is so that you can finally remote that label of the “freelancer”. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the moniker, it’s just that being a freelancer without a personal website often means that you rely on those freelancing platforms where clients come to find cheap labor.

If you want to start earning more and cut out the middleman, then you need good web design and a personal website where clients will get that “agency” feel rather than an “affordable freelancer” feel. With a personal website, you will be taken more seriously, and you will be able to finally start charging your real worth. 

Future-proof your career in a changing world

Last but not least, building a portfolio website means future proofing your career and securing your position in your niche for the long term. You can’t expect to keep getting clients through word-of-mouth alone, and should any of the platforms you rely on shut down, you want to have a strong safety net to fall back on. 

Your website is your safety net, and more than that, it is your ticket to bigger and better things down the road. Make sure that your website keeps evolving over time, introduce new services and better packages, and use it to drive your communication with clients forward.

Wrapping up

If your goal is to achieve new professional heights in 2021 and beyond, then you need to build yourself a portfolio website. With these tips in mind, go ahead and build an amazing website that will elevate your standing in the industry and help you ensure long-term success.

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