Create A Portfolio Website With These 10 Resources
Simply Hired Staff
Sometimes your resume doesn’t quite tell the whole story. People in creative industries such as art and website design have long understood the value of maintaining an online portfolio. But as more job seekers head online with digital consumer products, it’s become more common to build a website to show your track record within your field, regardless of your career path.
If you think it would be valuable for your job hunt (or help you demonstrate leadership skills), it may be in your best interest to hop online and develop a portfolio site or blog.
Here are several free and low-cost website creation resources that can help you create a portfolio website.
WordPress as a Portfolio or Blog
WordPress hosts 26 percent of the Internet, making it one of the most popular website development platforms available. You can use the free and simple version, WordPress.Com, or the more complicated and customizable hosted version, WordPress.Org.
WordPress is a great platform for developing a simple portfolio with a free website theme or starting a blog that others can find and follow via social media and RSS feeds. You can also learn more about the platform as you go, making it a great resume-booster if you have an interest in website design and development.
Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix as Portfolios
Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix are all quick website builders that allow those without a lot of website design experience to drag and drop a website together.
Each company has a free and paid version available, and each features a website design process that is arguably much more user-friendly (if less robust) than a WordPress installation.
Social Media Sites As Portfolios
If you’re creative about it, you can also use social media platforms to organize your work. Many writers organize their clips with Pinterest as a free and easy-to-navigate way of highlighting their work. LinkedIn also has a portfolio function that allows you to add projects with team members so that you can easily showcase and describe a project of any kind in your LinkedIn profile.
Industry-Specific Portfolio Ideas
Within specific industries, you’ll also find a lot of free and low-cost portfolio site ideas. For example, writers may prefer a writer-specific site on Contently and Clippings.me. Graphic designers, on the other hand, may want to check out Coroflot and Behance Network.
The best way to find a portfolio site that suits your needs is to read blogs and websites within your industry and see what your peers tend to use to showcase their work. Then consider your unique experience and needs and choose the option that makes the most sense to you.
Do you have a portfolio? Link to it below!
