Looking for help with building my online portfolio

Hi Everyone. I have over twenty years as a graphic designer, communications specialist, photographer, etc., and don’t have a lot of free time. I need to (finally) create an online website/portfolio but it’s not so easy to catalog and build for myself. I start and then get lost in organizing folders and feeling overwhelmed. I think I need to hire someone to help me or find a site that just asks me for jpegs, links, and other digital formats. I would be grateful for recommendations and advice. Thank you all, you talented and amazing creatives! :blush:

I’d say you have three options.

  1. Use a third party such as Behance. Pros: cheap/free and easy. Cons: not as professional as a branded site with your own domain.

  2. Use a third part such as Wix or Squarespace. I’ve seen some very nice sites done on these platforms. Pros: nice looking sites, more involved than the Behance route but less involved than building a site from the ground up. Cons: fees could be a con (not sure how they compare to having your own site), you’re locking into the vendor’s ecosystem.

  3. Hire someone to build a proper website for you. Pros: highest level of ownership, you can do anything you want (or anything you can afford), add a blog, add a store, completely customize for you, low recurring fees (just the domain name and hosting), potentially cost effective if you use a low cost/no cost theme. Cons: potential expensive depending on what you want to do and how much customization is going on, the WordPress dashboard can seem a little overwhelming at first, need for training on the backend so you can manage the site.

Which of these is best for you depends on what your goals for the site are. If you’re just looking to have someplace to post work samples, option 1 could be fine. If, on the other hand, you run your own business, option 1 won’t be professional enough. You really need to have a branded site.

All of that said, I can agree with you that building your own online portfolio can be overwhelming when you get down to selecting the work, putting your best foot forward, and presenting a cohesive story.

Good luck.