How to make your freelance portfolio stand out

Having an online presence gives creative freelancers the opportunity to showcase their skills and information, and to connect with potential clients and other freelancers. Having a portfolio will improve your networking and allow you to stand out from the crowd, show-off your best work to clients, and share the successes of previous work. But knowing how to create a portfolio as a freelancer can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. Being creative isn’t the only way to make your portfolio stand out as a freelancer, so consider how else you can set yourself apart from the competition.

Choose a template for your freelance portfolio

Having a clear, well-structured portfolio will make it easier for clients to see your previous experience. You can find free templates to use online to create your portfolio, expanding into more complex templates when you have more experience to add and when you understand how to create a template from scratch.

You will want your portfolio template to be easy to get around, make it clear and concise but also unique and distinguishable. The help of a templated portfolio will allow you to broadcast your freelance skills quickly and effectively, rather than building a portfolio from scratch, which will take more time and money.

Once your portfolio has been set up, why not share it on the Freelance Directory where you can showcase your skills from your portfolio, and find other freelancers who are looking for work. The directory is a great way to display your freelance skills and connect with creative freelancers.

Use images to showcase your business skills

Having lots of photographs or examples of your work is a great opportunity for you to pick out your best pieces rather than having a limited choice. Depending on your freelancing skill, you will need to decide which images are the most eye-catching and demonstrate your strengths. These will be the first thing that people see so make sure that these are your best product pieces.

Selecting featured images will further show perspective clients great aspects of your work, and you can always change this with the more images you have; don’t choose all your work to display as people may get overwhelmed by the amount of content. You should aim to have between 8-15 images in your portfolio to really engage prospective clients. This is enough to show your skillset without illustrating everything that you do. These should be high quality images and have a professional look of the business.

Create an ‘About me’ page

Creating an ‘About me’ page will draw people in as well as let potential clients know who they will be working with. This is a popular aspect of an online portfolio, with people being able to find freelancers through key words associated on their about me page.

You will more likely get freelance work with this page since you can list what you enjoy, how you got into your expertise, and what you hope to get out of working with different clients. If you have any company values, don’t forget to list them as this will help clients understand your business better.

A strong opening sentence will help draw in potential clients and illustrate who you are and what you specialise in. This shouldn’t be long as a portfolio is all about showcasing your freelance skills and services. When writing this section, make sure that you include your education and work experience, so clients know what skills you have learned along the way to becoming a freelancer in that area.

Include client testimonials in your portfolio

Client testimonials are positive aspects to include on your portfolio as they will make you a more trustworthy and reliable freelancer. These comments are usually short and sweet but will highlight the benefits of using your services and what you did well for them at the time of engaging you.

Don’t include too many testimonials as you don’t want your portfolio becoming a reviews page. There is no limit on how many to include but you do not want to make your homepage untidy, some are better than others too so only select the best and most relevant ones to display. If creating an online website portfolio, why not create a client testimonial section so that they are all in one place and potential clients can look at your portfolio without being overwhelmed with customer reviews.

Once the work you have done is completed, don’t be hesitant to reach out to your current clients to ask for a review, as feedback from clients will help you to improve in the future too. If you want to put more time into your client testimonials, why not create video testimonials to engage with clients. Promoting these testimonials on social media will further engage with clients who will be more likely to buy your services through watching videos.

Share your freelance portfolio on social media

Social media provides an advanced platform to share your portfolio, the fast-paced environment is sure to get your portfolio noticed by suitable clients and will give you the ability to network with freelancers too. Add a link to your profile of your portfolio so people can easily locate it and find out more.

LinkedIn is a great social media tool to promote yourself as a freelancer, with many people posting about their business and business experiences. Other than a CV, a LinkedIn profile is the second most commonly reviewed material when looking to hire someone. Make sure you fill in all your details to complete your profile as this will make you stand out and clients will be able to find you more easily when searching for relevant talent.

Having an up-to-date portfolio will help you as a freelancer to reach out to potential clients and secure job offers. Your portfolio is key to highlighting what you do as a freelancer, what your daily rates are, and how you keep your current clients by showcasing your relevant skills. By adding the above to your freelance portfolio, clients will be more likely to take you on as you’ll stand out not only from your experience but also presentation.