Before hiring someone, any client needs to see the real potential of the future employee and even some projects completed by him or her. This logical need is the base of what web designers name portfolio, it is the website where a freelancer or an agency are presenting the services provided, obviously added up with an exhibition of the best items created and a contact form. By visiting the portfolio, a client could form a correct opinion, based on existent evidences, no matter how persuasive the owner of it may be.

Many people consider that putting a portfolio online is the last thing that could be done, from now they will be waiting for customers to request their services. Unfortunately, the situation is very different; the launching of portfolio is only the beginning of a long time effort and a rather easy one if you are using a portfolio WordPress theme. Nowadays, the client has become more important than he was considered a few years ago and his satisfaction is considered an absolute priority of any service provider.

In order to have a successful portfolio, you have to create it according to some rules, nothing very complicated but quite useful, even before launching some tough decisions should be made. Here are the stages of creating and launching a good portfolio but the possibility of gaining clients is strictly related to the quality of items exposed. More exactly, a photographer may have the best portfolio ever created, but if his photos are just decent and have nothing to impress the on-lookers, there are few chances to be profitable.

1. Before effective launching

   a. Make a clear selection of your works

   

    

   Being photographer, logo designer, web designer or any other specialist, it is highly probable that you keep, in your computer, the files of the previous projects. The main constituent of a portfolio are these and before uploading, it is better to select the best ones and eventually, classify them

   b. Select a proper domain name and a good hosting
   
   

   The domain name is very important for both search engines and people. To be on the first page, for specific keywords, it is mandatory in order to be visited then eventually contacted and the domain name plays an important role in the hierarchy of the websites.

   A domain name that is related to the services offered has many chances of being put in the text box of a search engines, or else a strong branding campaign is required to make another name famous.

   The problem of hosting is obvious, anyone wants a website that will be visited regularly, from without any additional delays or other kind of issues.

   c. Design the layout/ buy a theme/ hire a designer
   
   

   Here comes one of the most difficult parts of this program. Depending on each one abilities, the website must be created, a web designer may design the layout himself but, to avoid any subjectivity, he could hire another designer to do it.

   Others could simply select the proper theme for their website, the Internet is full of market places where fabulous ones are sold. The manner of making the website is important but it’s not capital, what really matters is how attractive and useful it is for visitor

2. After launching

   a. Upload only the best items
   
   

   At this stage, the portfolio is online and ready to be accessed by potential clients. Under these circumstances, its owner must have selected the items to upload (the first stage) and now he is just uploading the best of the best.

   If the man/agency behind portfolio offers multiple services, the items exposed must be well classified, in this way the visitors aren’t disoriented.

   b. Create a “testimonials “page
   

   It isn’t a secret or a bad remark, but the common individual isn’t very qualified in judging the value of various online services and products, it could happen that a nice guy likes all the portfolios he is visiting but a more fastidious one won’t appreciate any work. A smart portfolio owner will create a special page, a “testimonials” one where previous clients may express their consideration. Using this pattern, the visitors understand that here is the portfolio of a reliable and serious expert; much more, anyone can contact the persons from “testimonial page” to verify the value of truth of the statements. This level of transparency surely satisfies even the most incredulous clients.

   c. (optional) Subjoin a blog
   

   Many people probably wonder why it is optional to create a blog. The advantages of having a blog near your previous items and contact page are huge as the possibility of posting the manner of work, gaining the appreciation of other experts that are visiting the blog and very important, be more appreciated by the crawlers of the search engines that are madly in love with fresh content.

   d. Verify it periodically
   

   There is nothing more amateurish work than having a portfolio that isn’t fully working. Can anyone image the expression of a client who wants to contact the blog owner but the contact form isn’t working? It is recommended to check it periodically, often is safer.

   e. Promote it everywhere
   

   It is the latest item, but by far it’s the most important, it’s a mistake made too frequent – to launch the portfolio and wait for the clients. The Internet is a crowded place and there are tons of better portfolios, but usually the clients are gained by the most active ones, not by the best. No matter which modalities someone may use, being social media or paid campaigns there is a single requirement to follow: a great amount of visitors that must be converted into clients.

   The conclusion is pretty simple; a portfolio without any substantial promotional strategy is a nice project, but clearly, unprofitable.

Lief is one of the creative designers at DesignArticleWriters, he love to play with tools commonly useful for designers and media lovers. You’ll find him playing with Photoshop, Youtube and Youtube to mp3 in his free time.