The online portfolio is one of the most important assets for any web designer or web developer (not to mention other professions like photographers). A good portfolio site is capable of being the leading source of new clients, which is the lifeblood of any service-related business.
Although the importance of the portfolio site is obvious, having an effective one requires that people actually see it. Having a great portfolio is one thing, but getting it seen is another. There are so many designers out there that competition is very stiff and without marketing your site it is likely to get very little attention.
Here we will go over several tips that can help you to get more out of your portfolio site by increasing its exposure to potential clients.
1. Build a Search Engine-Friendly Site
SEO (search engine optimization) is a huge topic that could never be covered in one brief article. However, one of the basics of optimizing a site for search engines is to simply make it easy for the search engines to crawl the site so they can accurately determine what the site is about.
Creating a search-friendly site is all about making it easy for search engines to crawl through your site and determine what it is about. This involves things like using heading tags and opting against any questionable tactics that may trick or confuse search engines.
2. Optimize Your Page Titles
The page title is one of the most significant factors for determining how search engines rank pages. Because of this you should take your time and give some thought (and research) to how you will be titling your pages. Try to use phrases that people are likely to search for.
Since there are so many sites out there already that are about web design-related topics, it’s best to pick more specific phrases that can narrow down the amount of competition you have and increase your chances of ranking high.
Try using a specific phrase like “custom WordPress themes.” This will be highly relevant to the services that you offer, plus it will give you a better chance of actually getting search engine traffic since there will be less competition for your keywords.
3. Consider Localization
Optimizing a site for local traffic is a great way to cut out a lot of competition and prepare your site in a way that targets a specific audience. Most designers do not target a locality with their portfolio, so doing so can put you way ahead of the competition in searches like “Texas web designer.”
4. Build Links
Link building is probably the most important aspect of marketing a website. Search engines see links like a popularity contest, and sites with a lot of links from quality websites are going to be respected by the search engines, and thus very likely to rank well.
Anyone that aspires to build a site that gets lots of search traffic will need to focus on link building. Here are a few ideas of ways to get links to your portfolio site:
Start a blog – Putting a blog on your domain is a very effective way to start getting links. Bloggers link to other bloggers quite frequently, so blogging and getting connected will certainly help here.
Market your site and blog via social media – SMM is a great way to get links. Articles that draw a lot of attention from social media users will generally get a lot of links.
Reciprocal links – You can exchange links with other websites, just don’t go overboard and do this with hundreds of sites or it will put up red flags for search engines.
Get your site featured in design galleries – There are hundreds (maybe even thousands) of web design and CSS gallery sites that showcase excellent work from various designers. You can submit your site and if it is good enough you can build a lot of links this way.
5. Create Something Amazing
One of the best things you can do to promote your site is to simply make it special. A great portfolio design will market itself quite well. Take your time and make something that is reflective of your best work.
6. Consider Giving Away Freebies
One popular way for designers and design bloggers to gain exposure and links is to give things away for free. You could give away a free template or theme that you designed, an icon pack, Photoshop brushes, or just about anything thing else that will be useful to others.
Steven Snell is a web designer and freelance blogger. He maintains a gallery of designer portfolio sites and a gallery of e-commerce websites.