Welcome back creative friends!
Hope the weekend treated you well. I’m pumped for today’s post because it revolves around the entity you’re reading this on — my online writing portfolio! I’ve decided to dedicate an entire post around why you should build your own writing portfolio and how to get started.
First things first, let’s get one thing straight: if you are a college student or young professional who has any kind of work floating about the interweb with your name attached to it, you need an online portfolio. An online portfolio serves as a home base for all your published work as well as original pieces of stellar content. We live in a digital age where it’s necessary to establish ownership of your work, regardless of where it is published, how long ago it was published, etc.
In my experience, several jobs I’ve applied for thus far have required applicants to insert the URL for their professional online portfolio, regardless of what industry they received a degree in.
One job application even said if you did not have an online portfolio, you need not apply.
Even as a journalism and PR major applying for journalism and PR-esque jobs, I’ve been to job interviews where the interviewer did not look at my physical writing portfolio and insisted I send over the link to my online portfolio.
So, now we’ve established the why. Now, how do you get started?
1. Choose your platform
I recommend using a self-hosted WordPress site. No, this is not wordpress.com. If a potential employer ever asks you if you know WordPress, they are NOT talking about wordpress.com. Most blogs and online portfolios are hosted through a web hosting service and use WordPress to power the website. WordPress is a valuable skill to learn, so don’t shy away from it simply because there are other hosting platforms with less tech-heavy features. Now, if you do have a wordpress.com site already, it’s easy to export your site into a file and import it into the hosting company of your choice so you don’t lose all your content.
2. Buy your domain
If you’re new to the website-building world, a domain name is the name of your site, best described as what comes before the suffix of your website address (ei: .com, .org, .edu, etc.) Even if you are a person who opts for privacy, you should absolutely purchase your domain name of your first and last name (if it’s available). I got lucky and madelineleesman.com was available, probably because I’m the only Madeline Leesman who exists. Trust me, I’ve looked through loads of public records websites and have yet to find someone else with my name. Now, if you’re one of the unlucky ones (which is most of you) who shares a name with some rando out in the world , (like my sister, where there is another girl in our town with her first, middle and last name spelled the same way) someone else out there probably has your name, and therefore, may already own your domain name. Maybe you’ve run into this already when trying to use your name for your Twitter or Instagram handle. Fear not, add in your middle initial, a prefix or suffix, hit “add to cart” and be on your way with your domain name.
3. Pick a theme
The biggest mistake I see with other people’s online portfolios is it looks too much like a blog rather than a portfolio. If you are a writer, do not choose a theme that is blocks of massive photographs covering the front page. Furthermore, white space is appealing to the eye and makes your material much more readable. Themes can easily be adapted to fit what you need for your site, as long as you pick one that is catered toward the type of content you will be posting. If you’re a photographer, a theme with an automated front-page slideshow would be a great idea. For a writer, a carousel of article titles with featured images is a better option. WordPress offers loads of free themes, so no need to spend the same amount of money you would on hosting for a theme.
4. Start collecting, organizing, and publishing content
Time to spider around and collect all your content. I currently have mine across about 8 or 9 different platforms and it’s taken quite a bit of time to collect all the articles, load them into WordPress with appropriate accompanying photographs, and post them in chronological order. Before posting, go into your website settings and set up different menus, categories, and tags you will use for your content. You can control comment settings, which can allow or disallow comments. Personally, mine are scheduled to disallow after a certain number of days because I don’t want to garner comments on writings or articles published elsewhere. And, if possible, remember to link back to the site where the work was originally published.
5. Link back to your site via other mediums
Want people to see your content? Start linking to your website on your social media channels. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook allow users to link a URL into their bio. Once your website is up and running without a “Coming Soon” page, ditch that complicated link tree link and post your clean, professional website URL instead.
I’ll conclude this post with a personal anecdote.
In my first few years of college, I wrote for a national publication where I submitted my own articles biweekly complete with my own photographs. This was work I did for free to boost up my resume as a writer. Once I left the organization, my photos were scrapped from the website and replaced with royalty free photos with no connection to the articles. My name was removed from the roster of contributors from the organization I was affiliated with through the website.
Essentially, my name, and articles, are “floaters” on their website without roots to a proper organization or writer. Needless to say, those articles look horrendous now without my photographs and the umbrella of the organization I wrote for.
Did this organization have jurisdiction to do this? Yes. Should they have given me some kind of heads up? Also yes. Did they? No. And praise Jesus I wasn’t about to link my articles from that website to my job applications. So while my articles are sitting stagnant on said website gathering dust, they’re basking in all their glory here on my home base.
And if you read my last post, you’ll know I’m a private person who doesn’t want a massive internet presence. If you feel the same way, I get it. But showcasing your work on an online portfolio amplifies your online presence, not the opposite, so don’t be afraid to take the leap.
Thanks for reading! Be back soon.
-M
