Setting up a Portfolio Site: Look Professional - Look Legit
If you are a photographer, stylist, or a designer, you need more than just a blog. You need a part of your online presence that provides a quick review of your work. Clients shouldn't have to scroll through all of your blog posts to find past work. When you have a blog and a portfolio site, it can be even more challenging to have everything look good and work together cohesively. How do you know which platforms are best for you?
Here are a few of my recommendations for the creative just getting started:
1. Squarespace
Squarespace just recently added a bunch of great templates for portfolio sites. Their selection and back-end makes it easy to create a cohesive site in little time. Their back-end is wonderful to work with, but does take a bit of time to figure out. However, their support is excellent, and they are extremely reasonable and affordable with their pricing. This is a great option for beginners to intermediate creatives and for those who want a pretty site, but are limited on time and patience.
2. Wordpress
Wordpress offers a lot of different options for creatives. You can purchase one of dozens of themes for sale at Themeforest or Graph Paper Press. Many of these themes makes it fast and easy to get a professional site up and running. Wordpress has an awesome back-end and dozens of plug-ins at your fingertips. Wordpress is a favorite of many creatives for it's usability and capabilities. This is a great option for beginners to advanced creatives, and is easy to maintain. However, it does take a little bit of time to set up initially. Wordpress is also one of the cheaper options for a portfolio site.
3. A Photofolio
Photofolio is great for photographers who need a cohesive site that works on all platforms, makes it easy to upload photos, and is simple to maintain. Customization, however, is limited. You can pick from a few different layouts, and change only a few things on each site. However, it is clean and professional, making it a favorite among professional photographers. This is a great platform, if you are limited on time (but not resources) and you want a site that looks professional and is easy to maintain.
Stay tuned for more tips and hints about setting up online in a series by Melanie Burk from Fifth & Hazel. Image by Michael Cina.
Aug 20, 2012
Reader Comments (6)
Thank you for this! I sat down today to think about setting up a portfolio site for my writing, design, and photography. I admit I was overwhelmed from the get-go. Starting with the platform makes the monumental project feel approachable.
Now just to jump in.
Thanks for this post! What about http://www.behance.net/
Did someone try it out?
I'm seeing this everywhere on Pinterest these days!
One of the draw backs to these themed sites is that the interface is starting to look the same. While a website needs showcase your work, sometimes it feels like a missed opportunity to do something more creative with your own brand. After all, as creatives it seems like the easy way out.
I agree with Susan. Over the past few weeks I've seem more and more of the same. If you are a creative of any type your site (no matter blog or portfolio or combination) needs to stand out from the rest, you should be different and outside of the box not a cookie from a cookie cutter but still true to your brand. This is something I'm working on right now.
I recently set up an amateur portfolio on Jux (www.jux.com). It's free and I love its largeness.
Again, very little customization (virtually none), but it's very user friendly.
Once I improve my photography skills and am able to invest in a better camera, I will definitely look to creating a more professional portfolio. For now, it meets my needs.
You could also try www.madewithcolor.com they have a discount code right now : MYMWCSITE10