How To Build a Software Developer Portfolio And Why You Need One

You will typically pay for the ability to submit a proposal and these jobs will often be for lower amounts than what you would normally charge. After your presentation, the shop owner won’t understand the difference between what you’re going to build and what someone else can build, for less money, in a CMS such as WordPress. They are simply left with your word that your product is “better” without any understanding as to why. This is often because, as developers, we tend to think that we are selling code and products to clients. The fact of the matter, however, is that we are selling solutions to clients’ problems.

Each featured project includes a case study, so anyone who’s interested can take an in-depth look at Martin’s work. When you place the cursor on the “Explore Case Study” button, a colorful preview image appears on the screen, juxtaposing the darkness of the homepage. The preview image then slightly shrinks but stays on the screen behind the name of the selected project, which is displayed over it. Every case study contains many large photos, enabling viewers to fully immerse themselves into Martin’s creative world.

What is a good freelance portfolio website like?

Not only does he nail the basics we mentioned above but he’s added a little extra touch that shows off a bit of his creative personality and piques visitors’ interest. Freelance UX and UI designer, Stef Ivanov, has worked for more than 100 companies throughout a 13-year career, and there’s a great selection of his work on show in his portfolio. Leave your email address, social media links, or a contact form in an easy-to-find spot on your site. If done well, a potential client or employer can understand how and why you do the things you do which will give them a much more informed impression of you and the way you work. That being said, it’s considered good practice to include an « About » section on your site.

If you have enough time, this is a great way to learn how to work with these tools. Also, if you’re a good designer, you can easily create a beautiful, modern-looking website this way. For my clients, this means faster turnarounds and less work, since they don’t have to hire an entire team of developers. Thus, I can offer my services to a larger audience with a bigger budget span. You’ll not only learn how to build practical, real-world projects but also get feedback for your work from your clients to boost your confidence as a web developer. Full-time jobs have us spend half of our days working for somebody else.

• These developers can never rest easy and know that they’ll have a steady flow of business and, quite often, spend many years working at reduced rates.
• For some, we’ve pointed out some neat features employed in the portfolio.
• The selected preview photo then enlarges pushing the other works towards either side of the screen.
• The website she designed for this full-service creative studio is just one of the numerous impressive projects from her extensive portfolio.

I strongly, strongly, strongly believe that this is one of the main reasons why many small businesses fail. When you’re providing dev services to a client, however, all the client is going to care about is how much value they receive out of it. Most people starting a business for the first time are used to working traditional jobs.

What should a software developer portfolio contain?

For a full step-by-step tutorial, check out my post on how to create a portfolio website on WordPress. That said, now is a good time to think about how you’ll build your portfolio website. It allows you to build, customize, and manage your website more easily – especially with dynamic content like project samples or blog posts. If you are new to freelancing and you want to make some extra money online, make sure to follow my guide on how to create an Upwork profile that gets you hired faster.

By now, you should have a clear idea about what types of clients you want to attract. You should know what tools and programming languages you’ll use to build your projects. I’ve always known a lot of self-employed freelancers in service-based businesses already before I became a web developer. They work in graphic design, photography, coaching, personal training, etc. Furthermore, your portfolio site can help you land your first job on an online freelancing platform.

Developers must get their administrative affairs in order when starting up

That way, https://trading-market.org/ are more likely to remember it and less likely to misspell it. To speed things up a bit, you can use a front-end library like Bootstrap. It’s simply a collection of CSS and JavaScript that lets you build a responsive, great-looking website much faster. If you’re not familiar, WordPress is a Content Management System , a piece of software you install on your web hosting.

We’ve listed 25 of the most inspiring and engaging web developer portfolios to provide guidance and inspiration. Maxime Bonhomme is a full-stack developer and former technical lead at Everpress. For his web developer portfolio, he uses a minimalist interface by relying on text content and white space to emphasize important information. Ram Maheshwari focuses on front-end development for websites and web applications. With a simple and easy-to-use menu bar, his portfolio explains his credentials and work without going into excessive detail.

In essence, your portfolio should be so much more than your software developer resume. Its scope is much wider, stretching to your entire online presence—your LinkedIn, Github, StackOverflow, social networks, personal website. Either way, an easy way to impress hiring managers and make your mark in the coding world is by ensuring you’ve got a slick portfolio website to your name.

The reason I’m stressing this is that good reviews mean that your marketing won’t need to generate as many phone calls for your to make money. While these types of services aren’t a good way to get rich, they are a good way to start building up a portfolio of work while getting paid for doing so. The truth, at the end of the day, is that a client won’t hire someone if they don’t see value in the services being provided.

References & Where to Learn More

The same naysayers are then surprised at the fact that they actually make web developer portfolio examples doing so. These won’t be high end clients (you’ll typically only be doing very basic web design). As with the other services discussed above, it’s important to do a good job for your customers, to provide quality service, and to get good reviews. Again, while not a long term solution, this is a good option for getting started.

The colorful interplay and stark contrast between these three shades steals the viewer’s attention from the get-go, fully immersing them into Dot’s story. Transitions from one page to the next are particularly fun – they are designed as two concentric circles that cover the entire screen before revealing the content. Sofia Papadopoulou is a visual designer and creative director. She created several award-winning websites, including those for Plato and Dot Lung.

I will say though, that each of these books went a long way in changing my outlook and making me better at business. One of the most common habits among super-successful people is continuous learning – so get to it. My suggestion would be to set aside some time every morning during which yo improve yourself through learning. The best way to deal with the separate number issue is to sign up for Google Voice – which is included with any free Google account. This allows you to add a second VOIP number to your cell phone. You’ll be able to receive calls, make calls, and text from this number.

After all, they want to see how you can solve a business problem for them – fast and hassle-free. If you know the tricks of the trade, you can make sure that your portfolio website does all your marketing on auto-pilot. Having a personal website means your clients can always find you and reach out to you. Expressing your experience and abilities to build meaningful projects helps build trust with your clientele. You can start making money as a freelancer almost right away if you know what you’re doing. Adding testimonials, if you have them, is probably the best way to provide social proof about your work.

This leads to two horrible things – decreased profits and unhappy customers. The moral of the story is this – monitor your analytics and write more on the topics that are proving to be popular and stop writing on the topics that are not popular. You’ll be surprised how many potential customers pick up the phone and call you as a result of you providing useful information.