How to Make a Portfolio Website on WordPress Blog
A portfolio website is often considered as a catch-all for all of your creative work. Whether you’re a graphic designer, photographer, or artist, you can put your work on display and allow potential customers to see what you can do. Creating a portfolio website is relatively simple. You’ll want to have a look at the following elements:
Themes Made For Portfolios
The first and most critical step to creating a vibrant portfolio website is to find a theme made especially for portfolios. When choosing a theme for your portfolio website, make sure to look for those with an immersive and unique user experience. A great theme should allow for customization and integrate well with the major platforms (e.g. WordPress, Shopify, Vue, etc.). Keep in mind that your theme should behave consistently across all devices (e.g. desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile).
Design, Content, And Functionality
When designing your portfolio website, make sure to think of a vertical slice of the web audience you’re after. Your theme should allow for content rearrangement so that you can display the content in the most engaging manner. In terms of content, you may want to consider using a content management system (CMS). A CMS allows for easy blog article publishing and rearrangement. You can also incorporate other content, such as product listings and gallery pages.
Navigation And Sidebar
An essential part of any theme is the navigation and sidebar. The former is used to display links to major categories (e.g. services, products, blog posts, etc.) while the latter provides an area for content to be displayed.
Header, Footer, And Call To Action
A header, footer, and call to action are other important parts of any WordPress theme. Your header should be consistent with the overall design and experience of your website. The footer should contain all the necessary information (e.g. copyright, license, privacy, contact details, etc.). Your call to action should appear at the top of each page. For example, you could have a ‘get in touch’ button that leads to your contact details.
A Great Website Begins With A Great Plan
A good website plan is often the key to a successful website. Your plan should form the basis of your design and functionality. You can’t just throw a bunch of content up and expect it to work. Instead, you’ll want to consider what user experience you want to enable – whether that’s a simple or a complex task. Once you have a clear idea of the experience you’re after, you can start to flesh out the details. A great plan should also include how you’ll measure the success of the site. Without clear measurements, it’s easy to drift off into the sunset and assume that everything is going well.
Visual Style
Your website’s visual style should match the overall vibe and tone of your site. Matching the style of your site can be tricky, especially if you’re not a designer. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire someone to help you. A great designer can take your existing plan and give it a polished finish that seamlessly blends with your brand. If you’re on a tight budget, look for themes that offer a minimalistic design with a modern twist.
Mobile First
A great deal of research has been devoted to designing for mobile users. This trend is known as mobile first design. The reasoning behind this approach is that desktop and laptop users have different needs than mobile users. Designing for mobile users first means ensuring that all of the content is laid out in a way that is conducive to scanning on a small screen.
Accessible
A great deal of research has been dedicated to designing for those with disabilities. An accessible website means ensuring that the information on your site is easily understood by all of your target audience. When creating content for an accessible website, it’s important to think of the question ‘Is this easily understood by all of my target audience?’
Secure
An increasingly important aspect of a website is security. Hackers often target personal information, so it’s important to ensure that all communication is kept secure. To that end, you should look for themes that are secured by default or have security features that can be easily enabled.
Reliable
Another important aspect of a secure website is reliability. Hackers and spammers often attempt to crash websites or post irrelevant links in an effort to get the visitor to leave. A great deal of research has been dedicated to designing for reliability. This trend is called the Dontpanic Principle. The basis of this principle is to make sure that your website doesn’t fold under the weight of plenty of content.
Simplicity
Simplicity is often considered as a key part of a minimalist design. A cluttered website with a lot of complexity is often considered ‘heavy’ and ‘bloated’. A great deal of research has been dedicated to creating websites with a minimalistic design. The idea is to design something that is straightforward and easy to use.
As you can see, there are a number of different elements that form a great website. Incorporating all of these elements into one cohesive whole can be difficult. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire an experienced web designer to help you bring your plan to life. With a little planning and research, you’re sure to come up with a great website that serves your needs and the needs of your target audience.