10 Steps to Creating the Perfect Personal Website
If you create a portfolio site, you have several reasons: you are a freelancer - and you need to show people that you can and how you can do it, or you are a student (or unemployed) - and you search through the site of potential employers, or you work in the department a large company - and you create a corporate blog about the life of the company and show what your company does - no matter who you are, the main thing is that people will turn to you through the portfolio site (for help or to give you a job).
The logo is the first thing that the user sees. In the west, people are used to looking left to right, so the logo is usually placed in the upper left corner of the site in order to immediately understand who owns this site.
The logo is not required to contain the name of the owner, but only if you are not trying to promote your name - and use this idea for yourself. And be sure to make a logo link to the main page!
Here are some examples:
logo in most cases contains the address of the site ...
The user must first see what this site offers! Your subtitle should be short and informative, it sums up your activities.
What questions need to be answered when creating the subtitle:
It’s clear that Sarah Longnecker is making videos.
')
Personal portfolio on the site should determine whether the site is interesting to the user or not. People are interested to see your portfolio and services that you provide, to find out your interests.
Your portfolio should consist of high-quality pictures of your work, and should always contain a link to the work you have done. What skills do you need to complete such a project, and with what programs you have done this work.
It would not be bad if the client wrote a review. And your visitors will also be interested in what project you are working on now and at what stage you are now, they may want to see the history of creating some interesting project you have implemented.
Leigh Taylor has good screenshots of works, and also it shows the programs used.
The subtitle showed briefly what you are doing; now you can fully describe your entire range of services.
The main thing is to write, it is very clear what exactly you are doing: Web design, development, video, copywriting, branding, etc. You can also write your services more specifically, for example: corporate branding, church website design, development of Flash banners and so on ...
Chris Spooner clearly shows what makes design for print and for the web.
This is information about you. Let the visitor know who you are boyfriend or girlfriend, man or woman. Write how much time you do your business. The more detailed information you provide about yourself, the greater the chance that they will order this or that service or buy the product.
Feel free to show your face in a photo or even make a video about yourself. This will give potential customers a sense of confidence, because they will already represent with whom they are dealing.
Do not be afraid to show your awards and achievements, because you want the visitor to know that you know how.
Chikezie Ejiasi showed his photo, and also wrote how to pronounce his name.
This is one of the most important elements on your site! Do not hide this information! After all, when a potential client has reviewed your work and he liked what and how you do your work, he will want to contact you to order your services.
Your contact information should be visible and easily accessible. Let people know that they can contact you via e-mail, chat or telephone. Also use the form for quick contact with you through the site - this will facilitate the work of the client and allow him to quickly contact you (after all, he will not need to copy or click on your e-mail, then go to your mail manager and write you a letter from there) . Respect the time of your client.
The contact information should be: phone, e-mail, "chat rooms" (icq and the like), can be an address in social networks, as well as a contact form for quick communication.
Stuart Johnston has provided a classic format for submitting their contact information.
A blog is always good. A blog with your thoughts, your knowledge, your experience - shows what you know and can do. This will allow your site to dynamically develop.
Let people follow you, subscribe to the RSS feed of your new posts (articles). The number of subscribers will show how popular your blog is.
Let people comment on your posts, just don’t use capcha - this is a barrier to comment, minimize all barriers to writing a comment. To combat spam, you can use other methods that do not force the user to do additional work.
Chris Wallace has a blog that helps users on web design and allows them to participate in the discussion.
Ask yourself what you want from the portfolio on the site. Looking for a job? Attracting an audience? Maybe you just want people to know about you?
Each page should be a call to action , "Next Step." The best way to achieve this is a button that stands out from the overall picture. A link to a portfolio, a story about you or contact information should say - "Click here", "Look at my portfolio" or "Ask me a question".
Matthew Brown's uses for this button that stands out from the general background of the site.
Now that people are interested in you and your work, encourage them to find out about you on other sites. They will be able to chat with you on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, Habr , etc. Let them know more about you.
Sam Brown shows what sites he uses and allows you to explore it or even communicate in an informal setting.
The manner of presenting information is very important to you. You do not have to write dryly, as for a corporate website of a large company, add more emotions, because this is your personal website. Be friendlier. When you wrote all the text on the site, then read it again and, if possible, reduce the amount of text in two, do not strain users with a large amount of information, write clearly and clearly.
Marius Roosendaal uses a friendly and relaxing signal for users.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ - original
1. Logo
The logo is the first thing that the user sees. In the west, people are used to looking left to right, so the logo is usually placed in the upper left corner of the site in order to immediately understand who owns this site.
The logo is not required to contain the name of the owner, but only if you are not trying to promote your name - and use this idea for yourself. And be sure to make a logo link to the main page!
Here are some examples:
logo in most cases contains the address of the site ...
2. Subtitle
The user must first see what this site offers! Your subtitle should be short and informative, it sums up your activities.
What questions need to be answered when creating the subtitle:
- Who are you? Designer? Writer? Developer?
- What are you doing? Website design or game development?
- Where are you from? A country? City?
- Profession: Are you a freelancer or do you work in a studio? Or maybe you're looking for a job?
It’s clear that Sarah Longnecker is making videos.
')
3. Portfolio
Personal portfolio on the site should determine whether the site is interesting to the user or not. People are interested to see your portfolio and services that you provide, to find out your interests.
Your portfolio should consist of high-quality pictures of your work, and should always contain a link to the work you have done. What skills do you need to complete such a project, and with what programs you have done this work.
It would not be bad if the client wrote a review. And your visitors will also be interested in what project you are working on now and at what stage you are now, they may want to see the history of creating some interesting project you have implemented.
Leigh Taylor has good screenshots of works, and also it shows the programs used.
4. Services
The subtitle showed briefly what you are doing; now you can fully describe your entire range of services.
The main thing is to write, it is very clear what exactly you are doing: Web design, development, video, copywriting, branding, etc. You can also write your services more specifically, for example: corporate branding, church website design, development of Flash banners and so on ...
Chris Spooner clearly shows what makes design for print and for the web.
5. About
This is information about you. Let the visitor know who you are boyfriend or girlfriend, man or woman. Write how much time you do your business. The more detailed information you provide about yourself, the greater the chance that they will order this or that service or buy the product.
Feel free to show your face in a photo or even make a video about yourself. This will give potential customers a sense of confidence, because they will already represent with whom they are dealing.
Do not be afraid to show your awards and achievements, because you want the visitor to know that you know how.
Chikezie Ejiasi showed his photo, and also wrote how to pronounce his name.
6. Contact information
This is one of the most important elements on your site! Do not hide this information! After all, when a potential client has reviewed your work and he liked what and how you do your work, he will want to contact you to order your services.
Your contact information should be visible and easily accessible. Let people know that they can contact you via e-mail, chat or telephone. Also use the form for quick contact with you through the site - this will facilitate the work of the client and allow him to quickly contact you (after all, he will not need to copy or click on your e-mail, then go to your mail manager and write you a letter from there) . Respect the time of your client.
The contact information should be: phone, e-mail, "chat rooms" (icq and the like), can be an address in social networks, as well as a contact form for quick communication.
Stuart Johnston has provided a classic format for submitting their contact information.
7. Blog
A blog is always good. A blog with your thoughts, your knowledge, your experience - shows what you know and can do. This will allow your site to dynamically develop.
Let people follow you, subscribe to the RSS feed of your new posts (articles). The number of subscribers will show how popular your blog is.
Let people comment on your posts, just don’t use capcha - this is a barrier to comment, minimize all barriers to writing a comment. To combat spam, you can use other methods that do not force the user to do additional work.
Chris Wallace has a blog that helps users on web design and allows them to participate in the discussion.
8. Call to action
Ask yourself what you want from the portfolio on the site. Looking for a job? Attracting an audience? Maybe you just want people to know about you?
Each page should be a call to action , "Next Step." The best way to achieve this is a button that stands out from the overall picture. A link to a portfolio, a story about you or contact information should say - "Click here", "Look at my portfolio" or "Ask me a question".
Matthew Brown's uses for this button that stands out from the general background of the site.
9. Use Social Networks
Now that people are interested in you and your work, encourage them to find out about you on other sites. They will be able to chat with you on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, Habr , etc. Let them know more about you.
Sam Brown shows what sites he uses and allows you to explore it or even communicate in an informal setting.
10. Language and communication
The manner of presenting information is very important to you. You do not have to write dryly, as for a corporate website of a large company, add more emotions, because this is your personal website. Be friendlier. When you wrote all the text on the site, then read it again and, if possible, reduce the amount of text in two, do not strain users with a large amount of information, write clearly and clearly.
Marius Roosendaal uses a friendly and relaxing signal for users.
Other tips:
- Let people know where you're from. Many customers prefer to work with people from the same city or at least one time zone.
- Check code validation - it matters more. Do not write what you do valid sites if your site does not pass validation.
- Make pictures of links where you need it. Most users are used to clicking on pictures.
- If you do not have a portfolio, then create a wordpress theme, a beautiful icon or develop a Twitter account, etc. After all, there is a big difference between the site with at least one work in the portfolio and without.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ - original
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/53498/
All Articles