5 Factors that Make for a Compelling WordPress Portfolio Site

Written by Christopher Jan Benitez
Written by Christopher Jan Benitez
If you want to attract more clients online to hire you for your services, then you need to showcase your best works. You can put your best foot forward by using WordPress to design your portfolio site. This post features the best tips and advice on how you can build a portfolio site that will compel your target clients to hire you on the spot.

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5 Factors that Make for a Compelling WordPress Portfolio Site
Image source: Pixabay

If you want to acquire more clients for your business, then you need to put your best foot forward. And what better way to do that than by creating a beautiful portfolio page?

It can help attract potential customers, educate and guide them through the buying process, and also give value to your current customer base. Your website also gives your audience a peek of what you have to offer and shows how you unique you are as a person and as a brand.

For example, a look at these creative personal sites and it’s hard not to get blown away by their portfolio. It doesn’t matter if you’re a designer or an SEO specialist – an attractive portfolio site will resonate with your target audience and gives you a better chance at landing a job.

But with all the compelling WordPress portfolio sites available out there, how do you make yours stand out?

As brands, you need to create an excellent website that is visually appealing and functional. After all, the purpose of a website is to catch people’s attention towards you and your products.

So here are some factors you need to consider when making your portfolio using WordPress.

1.Website Responsiveness

Mobile phones and devices are quickly taking over our audiences’ browsing habits. In fact, over 20% of Google searches are now performed on a mobile device. Also, 61% of people give better opinions and interact with brands more if they offer a good mobile experience.

Because of this, you must consider a responsive design for your website that adapts to all screen sizes, no matter what the device your users are on.

A responsive website helps maximize user experience and makes them stay longer to know more about you and your services. Users with seamless experiences navigating your site can easily read the text, fill out forms, and even place orders.

Check out ways of improving your site’s responsiveness here.

2. Website Loading Speed

Website Loading Speed
Image source: Pixabay

A website’s loading speed greatly affects user experience. In fact, it has been included by Google as one of the most important ranking factors.

Statistics show that a second delay can cause a 7% drop in your conversions. To avoid these, you need to consider to make changes and fixes that will help you increase your site speed.

Start with a good hosting service that ensures your site responds quickly to queries. Check if your hosting service offers side caching and if they use a more recent version of PHP. Your templates should also be clean and well coded. If the sample versions take long to load, better choose another one instead.

Find out more tips on how to speed up your website’s loading process here.

3. Beautiful and practical layout

A site’s functionality trumps a beautiful facade every time. People like simplicity and predictability and they expect certain elements to be seen easily when visiting a site.

Because of this, you must consider how people will navigate through your website without any issues. Add a navigation bar and a category list and a search box in the sidebar to make it easier to locate the content they need.

It is also essential to create a homepage that has all the key elements they need to know about you and your services. Or better yet, create a ‘Start Here’ page which sums up the benefits they will get when they visit your site. Having both on your website can get more people to see the value of your content and also direct them to parts of your site that will fit their needs.

See more tips on how to create a beautiful website and improve the user experience.

4. Highlighting best content

Highlighting your best content on your web page helps attract the right audience to your brand. It also helps you understand which content resonates best with your brand.

A good way to check for your best content lies in analytics. You can check Google Analytics to show which pages have the most views and which articles are topping the charts.

It’s also an awesome way you to fill your content calendar. The insights you get from your analytics will tell you which topics need improvement and which ones you can convert and repurpose.

See how you can maximize your content with Google Analytics here.

5. Brand alignment

Brand alignment
Image source: DepositPhotos

Your website should be a reflection of who you are as a brand. From your logo, your color scheme, your content, and your message, your website should be aligned with who you are and what you do.

Keeping these things aligned will help in strengthening the image you are portraying to your audience. It will reflect your authenticity and your unique voice.

One way you can establish your brand is through blogging. Here you can talk to your audience in a way that they can relate to. It also helps build a stronger relationship and create engagement and loyalty with your followers.

Get more tips on how to establish a strong brand with your website here.

Wrapping it up

Creating an effective portfolio site using WordPress boils down to one thing: it’s all about creating an excellent user experience. You want prospective clients to see who you are and what makes you different from the rest. Following the tips above will allow them to experience what you can offer, which immediately put you above the rest.

This article was filed in our archives.
Written by Christopher Jan Benitez
Christopher Jan Benitez is a freelance writer who helps businesses achieve their goals through the creation of smart content. When not writing about WordPress and digital marketing, he geeks over professional wrestling, binges on burgers, and consumes copious amounts of coffee.

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2 Responses

  1. Page speed is definitely a big one – nothing is a bigger turn off to potential clients than a website that loads slow as a snail! Anyone can make a site that looks pretty, but you’ve gotta know what you’re doing to make one that loads in a reasonable amount of time as well.

  2. Hi Christopher, You’ve listed out some solid points for portfolio themes. I just want to let you know that I’ve developed a portfolio theme that I believe resembles the point you stated – wordpress.org/themes/portfolioo/

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