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How to Make a Portfolio Website

A portfolio website is often the first thing a client or hiring manager sees. Here’s how to make one that shows your best work clearly, in an afternoon.

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1. Decide who it’s for

Before you collect anything, write one sentence about who should read your portfolio and what you want them to do. “Hiring managers for front-end roles, who I want to invite me to interview” leads to very different choices than “local businesses who need a photographer.”

That sentence decides what goes first, what you leave out, and what your contact button says. Check every later choice against it.

2. Choose three to six of your best pieces

Fewer, stronger pieces beat a long list. Readers skim, and they judge you by your weakest work as much as your best. For each piece, ask:

  • Is it close to the work I want to be hired for?
  • Can I explain what I did, not just what the team did?
  • Does it show a result, such as a launch, a metric, a client, or an award?

Put your strongest piece first. Many readers never scroll past it.

3. Write a short story for each piece

A screenshot alone doesn’t explain your thinking. Give each project a few sentences that cover:

  1. The problem: what needed to change, and for whom.
  2. Your role: what you did yourself, and with whom.
  3. The approach: one or two decisions you made and why.
  4. The outcome: what happened, with a number if you have one.

Keep it short enough to read in under a minute. Link to the live project, the code, or a longer case study for readers who want more.

4. Write your introduction

Open with your name, what you do, and who you do it for, in one or two lines. “I’m Sara, a product designer who makes complex finance tools easy to use” works better than a list of adjectives. Add a short about section further down for your background, and a photo if it fits your field.

5. Pick a design that gets out of the way

Your work should be the focus, not the template. Look for a design that:

  • reads well on a phone, where many people will open your link first;
  • loads quickly, especially on mobile connections;
  • has clear headings and enough contrast to stay readable;
  • uses motion lightly, and respects visitors who turn motion off.

You can browse Portify’s portfolio templates and preview each one on desktop, tablet, and mobile before choosing. Every template is built to these rules.

6. Make it easy to contact you

Put a clear contact link at the top and again at the end. An email address and one or two profiles you actually use, such as LinkedIn, GitHub, or Dribbble, are enough. If you’re job hunting, add a link to your CV.

7. Publish it and share the link

Publishing is the step most people put off. A good portfolio online today is worth more than a perfect one next month. Once it’s live:

  • add the link to your CV, email signature, and social profiles;
  • open it on your phone and a friend’s, and fix anything that looks wrong;
  • ask one person in your field to spend five minutes reviewing it.

8. Keep it current

Set a reminder to review your portfolio every few months. Swap in newer work, remove pieces you’ve outgrown, and update your introduction when your goals change.

The fast way: Portify

With Portify you pick a template, add your details or import your CV, watch it come together in a live preview, and publish on a free link. You can export the source code at any time, or deploy it to your own Vercel account. Create a free account to start, or read what to put in a portfolio first.