Online graphic portfolio: how to do it correctly

For those who work in the graphics sector, having a curated portfolio is essential to find new customers online. Here are some tips for creating one.

If once having a CV was enough to offer oneself to potential employers, in today's evolved and multifaceted professional universe there are many other ways to present oneself to the public and hope to attract the best collaborations. Especially if you work in the creative sector and you deal with graphic design you will surely have found yourself faced with the need to create an online portfolio to use as an effective business card . A well structured and compelling portfolio is not just a list of the projects you have completed and it is not even a simple resume with a concise list of training, cooperation and professional background.

It is much more: it can be considered a complete showcase of your professionalism and personality, it must be taken care of in the smallest details to really serve its purpose of capturing interest and generating profitable interactions.

But what are the main steps to take when you want to create an online graphic portfolio with a strong appeal ? Here are the main questions to ask yourself to build it and some valuable practical tips.

·         What do you want to show to potential customers?

·         How do you want to show the content in your portfolio?

·         What else do you want to know about yourself?

·         Make your graphic portfolio visible

What do you want to show to potential customers?

Graphics are your daily bread and instinctively the first thing you think about when you start creating your portfolio as a graphic designer is its visual appearance. But there is a previous step that you have to face: you will have to sit down and dedicate yourself to a strategic analysis that leads you to identify some essential points to proceed, including the study of the competition .

First of all, what are the works you would like to show to the public and why? Whether you have a large archive of works already carried out or just a few personal projects to exhibit, try to think, first of all, how you want to position yourself on the market . Not all designers deal with the same type of activity and above all each one has a unique character and an unmistakable style. Make sure to select from your creative works, those that best express who you are, what you can do and what you would like to do in the future , by inserting varied case studies in portfolio that show the full range of your skills.

Do not forget, however, that the portfolio is not a static work, far from it: whenever you want to modify it, update it or make it more relevant to what you do in the present moment, you can retouch it to ensure that it always looks like the professional you are and that you become in the time.

How do you want to show the content in your portfolio?

After the essential phase of analysis and tactical selection of your projects, you can finally dive into the graphic creation of your portfolio. Again, don't lose sight of the fact that the portfolio you create will have to reflect your point of view on the design sector and be pure expression of your personal brand. Factors like layout, organization, colors and fonts will have to represent your way of doing graphics. Minimal, eccentric, innovative, unconventional or essential: whatever your personal touch , also include it in the visual form of your portfolio.

If you work or want to work mainly in a certain commercial sector, be sure to clarify this concept too through the graphic elements of your portfolio: in short, as already highlighted, first decide how you prefer your brand to be perceived from the outside and only in a second. moment you create the graphic container that is a direct materialization of your personal style .

You can decide to create a website-portfolio completely from scratch or to use useful templates available on the net that provide you with a customizable base and you can also freely take inspiration from the portfolio of the best designers in circulation, always keeping in mind that copying is incorrect as well as an absolute nonsense for your purely creative work.

What else do you want to know about yourself?

A well-organized portfolio is nothing more than an excellent marketing tool: it must have the effect of catching the attention of potential customers , keeping it alive and leading it to a conversion that is a contact or a cooperation proposal. Obviously, you have maximum freedom of expression when you create your showcase on the web, but how to create an online portfolio that is clear, easy to use and captivating ? By integrating some fundamental sections in it.

First, before you even go into the details of your portfolio, make sure you build a homepage that transparently communicates who you are and what you do. Use original graphics, strong engagement copy or interactive features that act as an irresistible hook for anyone who happens to be on your landing page, but don't underestimate the power of simplicity and a good user experience of a website: offer clear indications to the user on how to continue browsing and where to find the information he seeks, to encourage him to continue exploring your online portfolio.

The section dedicated to your works is undoubtedly the core of your portfolio and special attention should be paid to it. Therefore, do not limit yourself to showing a simple graphic, a mock up, a logo or a rendering, but tell each of your projects with the right amount of detail, describing the path that led you to its realization and also adding (when available) feedback. customers satisfied with your performance. Each single graphic project will thus enjoy a life of its own and will narrate not only a graphic but a small professional success.

Finally, you can use the "About" section to talk more extensively about your biography and your work background: enter here any type of training course, certificate and significant collaboration you have in your luggage and take the opportunity to open a breach on yours too philosophy and work and personal values ​​that motivate you . Each point will help shape your personal branding .

It is then crucial to enter all the references that a potential customer can use to get in touch with you. Email, telephone, social accounts, Whatsapp, contact form, Messenger, Telegram: enter every possible way of contact and a clear call to action that invites you to use it to reach you.

Make your graphic portfolio visible

Once you have created your designer portfolio and have finished every detail to the best, to make it a real ace in the hole you will also have to think about how to promote it online, to provide it with the right visibility and convey good traffic volumes.

At the base of the visibility of each website, and also of your portfolio, there is obviously search engine optimization . Working on your work on the SEO side is an essential step, to make sure that it appears in excellent positions on the search results page and actually reaches the attention of the customers you are interested in intriguing. You will have to take care of the most technical SEO part of your website, verifying that it is built according to the most advanced code-level best practices and that it enjoys good fluidity and loading speed.

You will also need to perform good keyword research to understand which are the best keywords to use in your content, i.e. those most relevant to your work and which also enjoy a good volume of monthly searches: use them wisely in the key points of your website, such as the home page and the main metadata of the website, i.e. tags titles, headings, alt text of the images and so on. Also consider adding some keywords that can intercept local search queries , if you also want to be found in the area where your office or business location is located.

As you proceed with the work of optimizing your digital portfolio, always keep in mind the high volume of searches that are carried out nowadays from mobile, and do not underestimate the importance of a mobile-friendly version of your portfolio . The layout of the entire layout of the site will have to be reworked accordingly, but it is impossible in an era dominated by mobile devices to think of creating a virtual space that is not responsive and 100% usable even on the move.

In addition to trying to grow in terms of positioning in an organic way, you can also decide to take advantage of the benefits of online advertising and start performing campaigns on platforms such as Google Ads , to combine the advantages of organic positioning with the power of paid advertising on engines. of research.

Social media can also be a further means of disseminating your work : you can in fact decide to open one or more social accounts, choosing from those that may be more in line with your work as a graphic designer. In addition to the more classic Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, for example you could decide to insert your profile also on platforms specifically dedicated to the world of creatives , such as Behance or Dribbble: these are online spaces where you can publish your works, interact with other users , receive feedbacks and, why not, establish fruitful working relationships.

Once you have understood what to show to your audience, how to enclose the best of your professional quality in a well-made portfolio and found the right channels to promote it and make it a valid entry point for always fresh flows of new potential customers, you will have your hands an excellent support that will allow you, today as in the future, to move with greater security and with ever-increasing possibilities in the ocean of opportunities offered by the world wide web.

Posted By : Abdul Rimaaz

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