You’ve got an idea of your own portfolio website? You’re a great designer, but only few people know that, you are a freelancer who wants to show up in the web with your works and have people contact you or you’re a student afraid of never getting hired? Then you have to build up that online presence in the web. Take note of below basics of promoting you on-line which is essential nowadays if you’re a web designer, developer, writer, gamer or any other type of creative or just a weird person intending to show everyone you are not like others.

1.First thing to be seen is your LOGO.

It is better to put it in the top left for Western people to easily read it or in the right top for Arabian and other world who reads from right to left. With nice, vivid logo people at once will know who is the owner of the site.
As well as your name it can be your nick or whatever you like and are recognizable by others. One click on your logo should lead to your home page – this is one of the things on-line surfers expected. Your photo or picture beside is also a great idea.

2. Thought over tagline will help to get to know what it is you do. Tagline is the usually the second thing people see. It got to be curt, pointed and snappy, making it easy to know what you do.

Ask yourself before writing a tagline:

- you are a designer, writer, developer, rock or electronic musician, cooper whatever?

- the product that you create or your activity or the things that you destroy?

- where are you from – country, city, street

- are you looking for a job or do you yourself can hire a number of guys?

3. Frankly speaking within a few seconds many people click on your PORTFOLIO to determine not loosing time whether the website is interesting or not. You previous creations is of utter importance for the decision of your professional qualities and for understanding what you’ve been up to in the past.

Choose big nice best-quality images for it, easily accessible to the online surfer – some trouble with the image can just make the one get on further passing your precious site with images getting stuck unopened.

If you are a web-designer a link to the web you are currently working on is a great decision (it’s a common convention that people expect). Describe vividly each project, including the different skills needed to make this or that project of yours.

If you’ll have some testimonial from your client it’ll be a great goal achieved right off the mark. You can also describe the stages of making your project, letting people see what it starts from and what it become after your productive work.

Leigh Taylor displays nice clear screenshots of previous work and indicates what software was used during development.

4. Your services should be carefully chosen.
Next step after your tagline is services you propose on your website. They are needed for details of what you do and with what you can help others. No one will guess what you do based on your portfolio, and with the help of good described services you will not leave them wondering whether you offer this service or that.

Clearly express yourself and put it accordingly: Web design, development, video, copywriting, branding, etc. If you do something specific show it: new companies design and unique style, music website design, flash banner advertisements and others.

Check out clear indication of the services.

5. Tell about yourself as much as possible within this item. People should understand whether they are on man’s or woman’s website, you can openly share info about you, where you are from, what businesses you own and what plans for future you have, share your opinions and ideas about the world around you.

Your picture will help a lot, show yourself if you are not afraid of camera. The potential clients will see you and will know who they will work with, your credibility can get higher.

Show all awards and recognition that you have – that’s what people wait from you – prove that you are good at what you do.

6. One of the most important elements of your portfolio is your CONTACT. Sometimes it is not full enough and it embarrasses pretty much. Sometimes it is hidden or neglected. And imagine a case your portfolio was studied carefully, all info taken into consideration and you can get hired – it’s obvious this is only contact that can help here.

You should have full and easy accessed contact info – there’s no reason to hide it somewhere. Possibility of on-line chat or kind of message board on which the clients can leave their inquiries is also a great idea. Your e-mail should be easily reached or you can have a special form for users to contact you (and they will not have to copy your e-mail and open their mail clients to send you inquiry) everything will be on your web page in contact info. Now on-line forms are very common practice, it usually contains name, email address, website URL, details of inquiry etc.

This is a kind of easy to use contact form and usual full contact info.

7. Next integral part is your blog. This is important to show your current ideas and your experience. In a blog you talk about the things you like, you explain how you like what you do and what you do about it in that exact moment. This is your life thread and it also help to promote you avoiding lying static.

After subscribing on your website the users can enjoy your RSS, read new posts on your blog and let know about them and you others, which is utterly important for your site popularity.

Comments for feedback should be enabled. It’s better to make it possible to comment without subscribing and not to use Captcha software, which can easily turn off from commenting. Anti-spam plug-ins will help users not to do additional things.

This an example of a blog which contains web design related topics for discussion in the circle of people working in this industry.

8. Do not forget to insert CALL to ACTION on your web site. This will lead to whatever you want to get from your personal portfolio website. You may want to be hired, attract millions of blog readers, or just to show people that you are not like others or can do what others can not.

Building up your website make sure each page will have a call to action, a “Next Step”. Easiest way to accomplish that is to use special button called “call to action” which shoul be clear, standing out of the rest of the page. It can be linked to your portfolio, blog or contact page and put something like “hire

Here call to action button is standing out and easily seen on the of the website.

9. It’s good to use social networking websites
Upon having people interested in you and in your projects let them follow you on different websites. They can be any – LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Soma.fm etc. Have a number of friends to call on and make as much as possible of social networks.

Example of clear links to other websites that used, allowing the users to stalk the owner of the website.

10. Use your own style in communication and be free in using your everyday language
Show everyone that it is not some ordinary website with trite and stale info and backward owner. Use your personal slang and cool expressions. Be emotional and openly express yourself. Be friendly, clearly and precisely put what’s on your mind. After writing the text for your website read it once again and make sure it is not too long and complicated.