Creating the “Perfect” Portfolio

Study Analytics

Any web professional should use their website’s analytics to find the marketing strategies that will best meet their particular goals.

A goal may be gaining clients, gaining authority and recognition or just ranking better in search engines (so that clients can find your portfolio more easily).

In this section, we’ll focus on Google Analytics because it is the most popular analytics program, it is completely free of charge, and it is (most believe) the most useful analytics tool.

The ideas presented here are very general, though, and can be applied to many other analytics programs.

  • Map Overlay
    For some, this data might be completely irrelevant. However, it can be quite helpful in most situations, not to mention fun to check out. The map overlay shows how many visitors you get from each country, as well as each state or province when you zoom in. Knowing where the majority of your visitors are from, you can tailor your design and functionality to meet their needs. For example, if many of your visitors come from non-English-speaking countries, providing a translation tool on your portfolio may be helpful.

  • New vs. Returning
    This features compares the number of your portfolio’s new and returning visitors. Do visitors never come back to your website? Or are they impressed enough to make return visits? Many people look around widely before deciding to hire someone. If you see that someone constantly returns to your portfolio, you may be in the running for a competition.

  • Time on Site
    We have already discussed why this is important: the longer someone stays on a website, the more likely they will take action. This feature shows recent trends and whether time spent on your website is increasing or decreasing.
  • Depth of Visit
    How many pages deep into your website does each visitor go? Do people take the time to really check you out? If you see little depth in visits, you could probably be doing more to guide visitors to more content or portfolio pieces.
  • Traffic Sources
    Almost everything in this section is important for your online portfolio. Does your traffic come mainly from search engines, a few specific websites or affiliates? Analyze your referrals and determine if they are right for your portfolio. A great review of your services on a large website will benefit you much more than a forum post that will eventually die out. Make sure the referrals are useful to you professionally and are relatively permanent.

Of course, Google Analytics has more features than what we’ve mentioned, so look into it thoroughly and figure out ways to improve your portfolio’s performance.

Portfolio Showcases

Below are a series of showcases, divided by profession: graphic design, web design, web development and mixed (i.e. professionals who do multiple things).

Note the best and worst features in them, and think how you would improve them.

Remember that whatever you don’t like about them reflects your personal design style and habits. This may help you discover your own style and create your own perfect portfolio.

Graphic Design

These are portfolios by designers and design studios that focus on print design, as well as web design related to logos and brand identity. Many graphic designers also do web design, but most stick to their specialty.

Web Design

These are portfolios of web designers and web design studios. These individuals offer solutions designed specifically for the web, and they may do a bit of coding and logo branding as well.

Web Development

These are hard-core coders who create massive content management systems or database connections or who just code websites.

Mixed

Most professionals prefer doing a mix of things: coding, graphic design, web design, content creation and marketing. Because many skills are needed to create a website, web professionals who know them all (or many of them) might appeal more to potential clients.

Further Resources

Conclusion

Many resources, showcases and guides are available to walk you through the process of creating a great portfolio. However, the perfect portfolio is one that is specific to you, that showcases your best work and that features techniques that the end user will find convenient and impressive.

Keep track not only of your own progress as a professional, but of the progress and growth of your portfolio as well!