A portfolio website (or folio website / project website) is a popular choice for creatives and home improvement sector – after all they need to showcase their work to potential new clients.

It is the most important part of a creative website and therefore it needs to be planned carefully and strategically for best way of showcasing work.

Who needs a folio website?

There are 2 main sectors that need to showcase work:

- Creative Websites such as designers, photographers, artists

- Home Improvement websites such as builders, architects, interior designers.

Consultants can sometimes showcase a folio of case studies which is a bit different to the tips in this blog post (perhaps a great blog post idea for the future!)

Tips (and examples) for creating a great folio website:

1. Decide how to categories your work before you start. The main options are:

- By project

- By service provided

- A combination of both

A good example is a graphic designer that offers a few services – logo design, print & packaging. They can show case by project / business and include all work created for this client of show a folio for each service. The service approach will be easier if a visitor to the site is only looking for a logo for example, but a client project approach is good to showcase a full set o services and how it works together. My suggestion is to have a combination – a gallery for each service as well as a few selected projects to showcase.

2. Simple easy to navigate.

Don’t over complicate it! make it simple and easy to navigate. Add filtering if more than one page and make it easy to navigate between projects and back to main folio page.

3. Simple design – focus on your work.

Avoid frames or un-necessary graphics – simply show your work and let it speak for itself.

4. Quality over quantity

Showcase your best work not all your work. It is often tempting to show you have many clients, at some point it is not important as visitors can see you have experience, and it is better to highlight your best work.

5. Showcase the type of project you want to work on

If you have a preferred type of project (for example a photographer wanting to work with food businesses) it is best to showcase this type of work to attract similar clients. T does not need to be you niche and only thing you show but needs to be highlighted.

6. Explain the process.

Where possible, add works to support the folio object – from a short title description (if a gallery) to a few paragraphs about the process, he client and the result. This is not only great to show your experience but also a good contributor for your website SEO.

7. Select your ‘hero’

For project type folio with a few items it is important that the ‘cover’ of the folio that will make the visitor click to view more is carefully selected to represent this project.

8. Include client feedback.

For project folios include a testimonial from this client to support the result and to add social proof to your work. If the review is on LinkedIn or Google link back to it but include a quote on your site.

9. Include a call to action.

Asa visitor browses through t your folio they will want to get in touch – make it easy for them to do so without searching too hard. Add a call to action to folio landing page and scatter within project pages.

10. Display in multiple places.

As your folio is the main part of your site don’t rely on visitors to navigate to the folio tab, help them by adding a fed on home page or on a relevant receive page.

11. Update your folio often!

Do not neglect your folio – make sure you allocate time to update your folio with your latest and best work to keep your site fresh and up to date.

A good tip s to include an Instagram feed that is usually up to date in between website updates.

12. Add Pin

Ad a Pinterest integration widget to make it easy for visitors to pin your folio to their Pinterest board. This is especially important if they are doing research and will make it easy for them to get back too you.