How to Create a Digital Portfolio

Creating a digital portfolio of your best work to show
prospective employers increases your chances of landing your next job,
regardless of your occupation. Learn how to create a digital portfolio that
includes a professional, engaging website showcasing your best work.
What Exactly Is a Digital Portfolio?
A digital portfolio is an online collection of your work
experience, education, skills, work samples, and honors that you can use to get
work from potential employers and recruiters. When you apply for a job, your
portfolio contains your best work samples and serves as an additional source of
information for hiring managers. Many professionals, including graphic
designers, photographers, illustrators, and writers, use digital portfolios.
What to Include in a Digital Portfolio
What you include in your online portfolio website is
determined by the nature of your work. Creating a design portfolio, for
example, is not the same as creating a website for copywriting. Generally, job
seekers of all types include the following items:
1. About me: This section provides a brief overview of your
background and previous work. Put this biography in paragraph form on your home
page to introduce yourself and your work experience to potential clients.
2. Accolades: Any honors, awards, grants, or other
professional recognition you may have received as a result of your work are
included here.
3. Contact information: You can include a link to your
contact information or a contact form on your website for potential employers
to fill out.
4. Résumé: Include a list of your previous employment
experiences. Include a list of your previous work, a downloadable résumé, or
both.
5. Skills: While your skills can be listed on your résumé,
if your profession requires specific job-related skills (such as proficiency in
specific software), you can create a separate section to list your relevant
expertise.
6. Work samples: The main draw of your portfolio site is the
work samples, which allow recruiters to see your creative process. This section
may include writing samples, case studies, artwork, or photography, depending
on your profession. Include any collaborators with whom you've worked on
specific projects.
How to Create a Digital Portfolio
Making a professional website is a simple and enjoyable task
that can help you land your next job. To create your digital portfolio, follow
these steps:
1. Make use of a website builder. If you have little
experience creating a website from scratch, consider using an online portfolio
template or a beginner-friendly website builder. These web design tools provide
extensive multimedia customization and can save you a significant amount of
time when creating your portfolio.
2. Determine your layout. You want a simple user experience
for your website design. Create a visually appealing portfolio page layout that
reflects your style, complete with eye-catching fonts, colors, and simple
headings designed for easy scrolling and clicking.
3. Select your content. A homepage with an About Me section
and clickable headers or a table of contents should be included in your
portfolio content. Include sections for your work history, downloadable résumé,
best work samples, awards, and a contact page.
4. Make use of search engine optimization (SEO). Use
industry keywords in your content to increase the likelihood that people will
find your digital portfolio online. Create an HTML-based website so that
viewers can interact with your portfolio from a variety of apps and web
readers. Discover more about SEO strategy.
5. Include a link to your social media accounts. Link your
digital portfolio to your social media accounts once you've completed it to
increase your online visibility. You may want to set up professional (rather
than personal) social media accounts to promote your work to new clients.
6. Provide links to job search engines. Connect your digital portfolio to online job search websites and accounts to broaden your job search.
7. Make frequent updates. Creating new content for your digital portfolio and related social media accounts on a regular basis allows you to stay current with current trends in your field, eliminates outdated content after a long period of time, and increases user engagement.