Your website portfolio is a vital part of your website and is essential for a service provider. When you’re splurging on a luxe hotel, you don’t just read reviews—you obsess over photos and picture yourself right in that place.
The same goes for your potential clients. They want a sneak peek into your genius before they commit—from more than your social feed. Your website portfolio is your golden ticket to quickly converting clients (that you want to work with!).
As a brand and website designer, I regularly update my portfolio page and encourage my clients and all service providers to do the same. A curated portfolio is one of the most important tools for attracting your ideal clients.
Let’s dive into website portfolio examples from my own clients, my top website portfolio tips, and what to include on your portfolio page.
Why You Need a Website Portfolio
Your portfolio is more than pretty. It’s the heart and hustle of your brand. This is your DNA on display, your magic in pixels. It’s not just where you prove you’re not just another name; you’re THE name in your industry.
A portfolio is how you will build a sustainable and solid brand. It’s evergreen, shows your experience and capabilities, and demonstrates to new clients what they can expect if they choose to work with you.
Also, your clients want to know you’re effective before working with you. You can prove your value and why you’re the go-to in your industry by displaying your jaw-dropping success metrics, case studies, and raving client reviews within your portfolio.
Website Portfolio Tips
Here are my website portfolio rules of thumb to follow to create an exceptional portfolio page:
Curate, don’t crowd
Your portfolio reflects your expertise, so curate it with care. There is no specific set number of projects that you have to have on your portfolio page, so when choosing which projects to highlight, make sure you pick projects that resonate with your brand’s soul.
You also want to think about the types of clients you want to attract. This is probably going to evolve and change over the lifetime of your business which means your portfolio pieces need to evolve and change to match.
You don’t have to show every project
Showcase only your most exemplary work that appeals to high-end tastes. Remember, it’s okay to not display every single project that you’ve ever worked on. Instead, choose to show projects that reflect more of the work that you want to book. We want to go for quality over quantity when it comes to deciding which projects you’re going to showcase.
A great example of this is Virtual Venue Tours. Virtual Venue Tours has developed high-quality, interactive 3D tours of wedding venues, which enable potential clients to visualize their wedding and see what makes their service unique.
Your website portfolio projects can do the same for you. Seeing your work on display allows prospective clients to see your unique skill set and also determine if they resonate with it.
Keep your navigation bar clear
Your navigation bar on your portfolio needs to be easy to find, clear, and accessible. It should be simple to find where your portfolio is located and for the user to explore and navigate both your portfolio and your overall website.
Also, you’ll want to make it easy for leads to find your pricing, different service offerings, and where they need to go to book a time to chat with you.
Have clear CTA’s on your portfolio page
As prospective clients look through your portfolio page, make sure that you clearly state the next step to take. You don’t want to have a lengthy portfolio page that displays all your incredible projects only for your new leads to be confused as to how they can move forward working with you.
If your portfolio is set up more like a case study, you can have call to actions or buttons to your contact page scattered throughout so someone doesn’t have to scroll far before they can reach out.
If it is set up more as a gallery, be sure to have a call to action at the bottom that allows people to continue through the process instead of just ending at your footer.
What You Need to Include on Each Portfolio/Project Highlight Page
When building out your portfolio/project highlight page, make sure that you include the following:
Introduce the client
We like to get to know humans. Always check with your client first, but if possible, include a professional headshot and the name of your client’s business or logo.
RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
Download our case studies + client experiences to review the impact of our website design and brand strategy services have beyond the stunning deliverables you’ll find in our portfolio.
These all provide visual proof that there is a real person behind the words and build trust and confidence in you and your business.
Share the client’s transformation
You don’t just want to introduce your client; you also want to make sure that you share their before-and-afters, how they went from Y to Z, how they felt after working with you, etc.
While this may feel easier for some industries than others, I can promise you that every person you work with, regardless of your service, is going to go through a transformation.
This can seem more cut and dry, like a brand going from one design to another, but can also look like your clients lacking confidence at the start and being able to show up and their true selves at the end.
Share the service(s) they booked
New, prospective clients reading your client transformation stories will want to know what services your client booked to obtain the results you mention.
Make it clear in their transformation story what services you provided so that new clients can also envision what their own transformation might look like and know exactly which services they need.
Narrate the journey
Make the client journey a saga that new prospective clients can’t resist reading. Be sure to include the need, the results, the service they booked, the ‘aha’ moment, and mention where the client was before working with you and what hurdles you conquered.
Visual samples
Include any visual samples that you have whether these are metrics, photos, before and afters, etc. Your portfolio is the perfect place to show and tell. While your words, and theirs, are going to have a lot of weight, show is the actual transformation and end result they got.
Their own words
Include your client’s testimonial and also share what they have to say about working with you. You can shorten this to pull out specific pieces that speak to the most important parts of working with you if the reviews are too long to include.
Ready to Build Your Website Portfolio?
A website portfolio is a crucial part of your website and I hope you found these website portfolio examples and tips helpful for building yours.
I’ve seen portfolios being overlooked far too often even though their significance can’t be understated, so with that being said, if you don’t yet have a website portfolio that shows the value that you offer, then let’s chat.
You can click here to learn more about my services here or you can head over here to get in touch.
