Every person who works on the design and development of a website needs to have a portfolio web developer. It's a resume, but so much better! 

If you are a web designer or developer or both, the best way for you to showcase your talent is by presenting clients with your website. However, you can’t just give clients links to all the sites you’ve worked with. That would be like giving them a task of getting to know you. 

What you can do is put these outputs on a resume like most people looking for jobs. Of course, since you are an expert in web development, a highly technical task, you can’t just send out a piece of paper with your outputs. 

Your resume should be higher-level and that’s where the portfolio web developer comes in. 

What goes on a portfolio web developer?

Basically, an online portfolio is just a resume. But this resume would showcase your ability to design and develop a website. 

Just like any resume, it should have your name on it. 

The online portfolio’s banner should be your name. Make it big and memorable. This way, even people who are just passing through the website and merely browsing, would be able to remember your name. Or if they don’t remember it, they should at least be able to say, “That name sounds familiar,” when they happen to hear your name somewhere. 

Think of yourself as a brand. In fact, consider yourself as a brand. You need to sell your services. But the first step to that is attraction. You should be able to attract the attention of the users so that buying becomes a possibility. 

Of course, it’s hard to attract people with just your name. That’s why you also have to share what you need—in the briefest way possible. 

Go straight to the point. Tell them that you are a web developer who possesses an advanced skill in responsive design (or whatever expertise you have). 

Brevity is crucial. People who use the internet want everything to be fast-paced. You have to know that the competition is fierce. People will not stay long on your page. If they don’t get what they are there for, then they will leave. There are plenty of other fishes in the sea. And if it wasn’t clear, the sea is the internet. 

If you have a problem with writing a brief description about what you do, then commission someone to do it for you. There is nothing wrong with asking people for help in creating your portfolio. 

Design takes center stage

When you create your portfolio, you need to think like you are actually creating a website. All the elements that make a website great should be present on your portfolio.

Let’s start with the basics—color and font or fonts. You need the portfolio to showcase your personality. That personality is your personal brand. At the same time, you can’t just be heedless with your design. 

What does this mean? It means that you have to make sure that there is compromise between what you want and what is actually needed. The latter refers to the design principles that should be adhered in order to showcase a great user interface design as well as the user experience design. 

The UI and UX designs are what make today’s websites great. 

There was a mention of how technology makes everything fast-paced earlier. The UI and UX designs are ensuring that the people navigating the site can do so without dilly-dallying. 

The user interface, for example, should be neat and easy to the eyes. If it’s not neat, then it could provide confusion among the web users. Again, if they are confused, they would most likely leave the site. 

It has to be attractive, too. If it’s not pleasing to the eyes, people will just look for another site that can be considered beautiful. 

On the other hand, the UX design is on functionality. People should be able to go to the page they want to go to without having to press too many buttons. Again, when there are too many things, people might just get confused. 

So, what do those two designs matter in the creation of the portfolio? Because you need to exercise intelligent discernment in the UI and UX designs of your portfolio. 

People who look at your portfolio should not leave confused. They should leave quite satisfied and with the feeling that they should definitely call you for a project. 

Show off your work

Now, this is the meat of your portfolio. There should be a section on the portfolio dedicated to your body of work. 

Showing off the right projects could lead to great deals in the future. 

This is an important section of your resume. You want to be able to show your best work to prospective clients.

But what is considered the best work?

The projects you include on your portfolio should relate to what you said you do on the introductory page. 

In our example, we noted that the portfolio owner was a web developer with advanced skill in responsive design. 

That means you should showcase your projects that highlight responsive design. Perhaps you can show one website that you did on various screen platforms. 

Responsive design is the ability to create a site that would fit any devices. This means that a site is just as attractive when you open it on a phone or a personal computer. 

That range would be good on the portfolio. 

It would also be to your advantage if you show various projects that indicate the range you have as a developer and designer. That means you can do various types of websites. You can do a serious one and a funny one. 

For example, if you want to showcase the work you made for a charitable organization, you should also present the work you have done for a leather shoe store. Show your diversity when it comes to projects. This implies that you will be up for anything. 

Curating a portfolio

However, if you are applying for a specific job, make sure your portfolio is curated with the purpose of getting that job. 

How do you do that?

Instead of showcasing your wide range, show your expertise. This doesn’t mean that you should only present one type of work.

This only means that you show more outputs that would relate to the project you are trying to get. However, you also include a smattering of projects that show range. 

It would also be a good idea if you could include in your list of projects, the things that you did for yourself. This would include sites that you created just because you are passionate about creating beautiful things. 

This part would tell prospective clients that you love designing and that you actually do the job because you enjoy it and not just because you are paid to do it. 

Passion is also a turn on for employers. Of course, you have to be sincere about this. People can see through disingenuous characteristics. 

Make your portfolio an extension of yourself.