As creatives we are always tinkering with our portfolio websites and trying to improve them. So in this post I’m going to talk about some essential pages you need to add to your portfolio website if you haven’t already. I’m not going to include the obvious pages like home, portfolio and contact. Every portfolio website should have those pages without even thinking about it. These are pages that you may not have thought about that can help with search engine optimisation, increase traffic and showing your potential clients more information.
Making sure your website is up to date is very important for any designer. Even if you are in full time work make sure to keep your portfolio up to date. It just makes things easier if you were to go for some freelance work or a new job.
Let’s get onto the 5 pages your portfolio website needs:
1. Helpful Links
This is a page that is essentially full of links or buttons. This page is great for sharing your social details and useful links on sites like Instagram. You may see that a lot of people use LinkTree for the same functionality. This is not great for retention and traffic. You want to divert as many people to your website as possible instead of a 3rd party service.
You can add any links you think people would need to know. So, for example, here are a few ideas for you to start with:
- Twitter Profile
- LinkedIn Profile
- Instagram Profile
- Facebook Page
- Online Store
- Downloadable Content
- Interesting Interview
- Popular Blog Post
You can see my own links pages here: https://www.christinewilde.co.uk/links
2. Frequently Asked Questions
If you have common questions that pop up from time to time it might be worth adding all of these questions along with your answers on one page. When you start working with new clients you can forward this page over to them. You can add information such as payment details, general project timescales, contact details, etc. This way your future clients have everything on one page. It also helps potential clients know certain information about you before they contact you. Adding work hours to this page can also rule out clients emailing you at 10pm with questions about their project. Even if they do email late at night they know they will not get a response until the following morning.
3. Case Studies
Case studies can help you to talk about the full scope of your previous projects. They can also help with search engine optimisation and increasing your website traffic. Case Studies should break down each project into great detail. Include reasons for doing certain things, progress images and final outcomes.
Personally, I tie my case studies into my portfolio. I make sure to take the time to write in-depth information for each project I’ve worked on. I can then write a blog post as an overview for that same case study. So in turn we are creating twice the amount of content and it is not just in one place on my website. Clients have multiple chances to see my process and work.
4. Testimonials
Testimonials from previous clients is a great way to increase confidence in any future clients. There is only so much you can say about yourself so let others say it for you. You can list testimonials that you’ve received through email, Google reviews, Fiverr reviews, what ever you think works best for you.
If you don’t have any testimonials yet then don’t worry they will come in time. If you’ve worked with clients in the past, reach out to them and ask if they could write a few lines about the project you worked on together. I’m now forwarding my Google Business review page to clients so I have a more ‘legit’ source of reviews. This will also help when people search on Google, they will see my reviews instantly.
5. Blog
This may be obvious to some but a blog is a very useful tool for your website. Not only does it bring in more traffic and help with SEO but it can also be a way for you to show progress of projects you are working on, reviews or case studies. Potential clients will see that you are keeping your website up to date and that you are active in the community.
The more content your website has the better but don’t over do it by writing terrible posts and spamming your website with them. Remember quality over quantity.
Are there any pages you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments below. I would be interested to know if any other pages work for you and your business.
