Web Designers: Marketing a Portfolio Site
The online portfolio is one of the most important assets for any web designer or web developer (not to mention other professions like photographers). A good portfolio site is capable of being the leading source of new clients, which is the lifeblood of any service-related business.
Although online portfolios are critical to the success of designers and developers, getting exposure for a portfolio site is difficult because there are simply so many of them. With so much competition it is critical that you consider how you will market your portfolio, rather than simply putting it up and waiting for people to come see it.
In this article we will discuss some of the basic things that you can do to get more eyeballs on your portfolio site, and ultimately more business.
1. Consider Search Engines
There are almost infinite topics that we could discuss about Search Engine Optimization, but one of the most important is simply building a search-friendly site. This doesn’t mean that your site will rank high, but it does mean that search engines will have no problems crawling your site to find all of you pages and to know what phrases it is targeting.
To make your site search friendly, use valid code that is clean and well-organized. This includes proper use of headings, and choosing not to do anything that will trick search engines or make it difficult for them to crawl your site.
2. Optimize Your Page Titles
The page title is one of the most significant factors for determining how search engines rank pages. Because of this you should take your time and give some thought (and research) to how you will be titling your pages. Try to use phrases that people are likely to search for.
Use specific phrases rather than targeting general keywords like “web design” or “web designer.” There is simply to much competition for general keywords to realistically have a chance at ranking at the top of the search engines.
A good strategy is to use specific keywords and phrases that will have less people searching for them, but also much less competition. You could use a phrase like “Drupal web development” and have a better chance to come up in the rankings for a specific search, and your site will be more relevant to those searchers.
3. Consider Localization
Optimizing a site for local traffic is a great way to cut out a lot of competition and prepare your site in a way that targets a specific audience. Most designers do not target a locality with their portfolio, so doing so can put you way ahead of the competition in searches like “Texas web designer.”
Probably the single-most important factor for achieving great search engine rankings is getting links from other websites. Getting links is like getting votes from other sites. As more sites (and high-quality sites) link to you, the search engines will give more authority to your site and ranking well should not be a problem.
Link building is critical if you want to have a portfolio site that pulls in a lot of search traffic. Here are some things you can do to get links from other sites.
Start a blog – Putting a blog on your domain is a very effective way to start getting links. Bloggers link to other bloggers quite frequently, so blogging and getting connected will certainly help here.
Social media marketing – social media sites provide outstanding opportunities for exposure to large audiences and link building. Articles that “go viral” will draw a ton of in-bound links for your site.
Link exchanges – Exchanging links with other designers and bloggers can also help.
Submit to galleries – If your site has a high-quality design you may be able to get a lot of traffic and links from web design and CSS galleries that showcase sites.
5. Create Something Amazing
In order to get your portfolio site accepted at design galleries it will need to be of very high quality. When designing and developing your portfolio site don’t rush and lose quality. Take the time to make it the best that you are capable of.
6. Give Something Away
People like to get things for free, so if you can give something away from your website (i.e. icons, stock photos, blog themes, etc.) you may be able to attract a lot of links and new visitors.
