Whether you’re into interactive action or stick
strictly to print, promoting your services online is an
absolute must for designers. More than just a virtual
portfolio, a website creates instant credibility and
additional marketing opportunities. Recent graduates,
freelancers, and design studios large and small
have all found great success—and new work—using
the web to sell themselves.
But even more important than presenting fabulous
visuals on your site is understanding how to
communicate with those using it, says Ilise Benun,
author of the book Self Promotion Online. “Self promotion
is not about you,” says Benun. “It’s about
what clients need to see in your work. You have
to help them understand how you can solve their
problems.” Keeping your site simple, personal, and
useful to those visiting it will help potential clients or
employers keep you in mind.
Easy does it
Although it may be difficult for designers to hold
back, an online portfolio is not the place for visual
gymnastics. “You have to always be thinking and
asking, ‘What would be easier?’” says Benun.
“‘Don’t make me think’ is the key to anything
online.” Also consider the mindset of visitors, says
Louise Fletcher, president and co-founder of Blue
Sky Resumes, a company specializing in online
portfolio development. “Busy hiring managers,
recruiters, or design directors just want to know if
you’re the answer to their problems. This means
they want to easily get to your site and quickly see
what you can do for them.”
A few layout guidelines will help visitors stay
focused. Keep the navigation bar present and in the
same location on every page, ideally in the upper
left-hand corner. Leave lots of white space. Don’t
be afraid to use color, but make sure to give it purpose—
for example, highlighting the icons that are
clickable. And don’t get clever with excessive graphics
or animation. It may turn people off.
Speak up
Don’t be afraid of words. “A lot of designers don’t
use enough text,” says Benun. “It would be fine if
they were marketing to a strictly visually oriented
market of other artists, but many of their prospects
are literally oriented marketing people.” For this
reason, it’s a good idea to hire a copywriter to get an
outsider’s perspective on what to say about what you
have to offer.
Additional design, marketing, or programming
input will also help you clarify your message. Either
enlist another professional to assist or show a rough
design around to see how your site is perceived. The
overall look should refl ect your style, but when it
comes to the content, it’s important to be objective,
says Fletcher. “You have to step outside yourself and
view your portfolio as an advertisement for a product,”
she says. “Then make the product desirable and
easy to buy.”
Make it scream “you”
A website sells your unique approach for solving
a client’s problem. So include a mission statement
explaining exactly what you do. This can be up to
two paragraphs that Benun describes as “What you
do, what you specialize in, what are the challenges,
and what are the solutions that you offer your clients.”
This will help visitors realize immediately if
you’re right for them.
Brag about your clients. A lot of people will
want to see a complete list to understand where they
would fit in. If your clients can be categorized into
several industries, divide them that way. You can use
the same approach for your work samples, dividing
them by industry, client, or project type. If a certain
project needs an explanation, include your strategy or
brief along with your work. This is a great option for
more complex projects.
Be selective
Choosing samples of your work is probably the most
difficult decision for designers due to the usual overwhelming
urge to show everything. Resist it, says
Benun, who suggests displaying a few images for a
few clients, which, by clicking on a piece, will show
additional work for that specific client. “Each level
should show a little more,” says Benun. “Don’t give
them too many options. This should be just a taste
of your work.”
The purpose of an online portfolio is to
stimulate conversations that can be continued in
person, agrees Peleg Top of Top Design in L.A., who looks at designers’
websites first to decide if he’ll bring a freelancer in
for an interview. “Its main purpose is to help get you
in the door for a face-to-face meeting where you can
show original printed pieces,” he says.
Go ahead: Have fun
Don’t forget to have a little fun with your presentation.
There should be no doubt about the personality
(or personalities) behind the site. Add whimsical
touches if they fit your perspective. Use images of
your staff or work environment. Choose language
and a visual tone that’s appropriate for the projects
or job you want to find. Finally, be memorable.
Anything you can do to make your work stand
out from the other websites a potential client or
employer sees in a day gives you tremendous equity.
Draw a crowd
For a larger company, it might be most beneficial
to list your site with a search engine or on a design
directory to drive traffic to your site. Top notes that
getting listed turned his firm’s site into its most
important business development tool. “Our URL is
everywhere,” says Top. “It’s listed on many search
engines as well as in a few specialized industry
directories so we get ‘random’ viewers who often
turn into clients.”
If you’re a smaller company and just want to be
listed in a Google search, make sure to design with
that in mind. “Most or all of the Flash sites are not
going to be picked up by the search engines,” cautions
Benun. “Create a site that’s HTML and has
Flash elements or create a Flash site that’s a mirror of
one that has all the codes.”
Love the blog
Another way to make your site more visible is to
make it a resource. Louise Fletcher recommends
increasing traffic and credibility by starting a blog.
“Search engines love blogs and people will find
your site that way—plus you can link to other blogs
and get traffic coming to you,” she says. However,
Fletcher notes that designers must stay focused
on business issues. Another option is a links page
that includes organizations, vendors, interests, and
inspirations. If your links page provides this service,
other designers and sites will link to you.
Even more effective is creating an e-mail newsletter
you can send to a list of contacts and potential
clients. This is a designer’s chance to shine. Content
for these e-mails can run the gamut, from business
tips garnered from years of experience, to new work
you want to show off, to industry topics that merit
discussion. Whatever you choose to do, it should
provide useful information to your mailing list and
make you look authoritative.
Extend yourself
A well-conceived and well-received website serves as
an extension of yourself. When potential clients call,
you can direct them to the site for visuals to accompany
your conversation. In an interview, leave your
URL for additional examples you might not carry
in your portfolio. By performing the all-important
marketing tasks, a website becomes a designer’s most
valuable tool—leaving you plenty of time to work
on projects from your slew of new clients.
