A personal website is a great opportunity to showcase your personality and skills. We’re going to look at what you need to do to create a personal website that represents you best and helps you achieve your goals.
How to create a personal website
Step 1: Understand why you want to create a personal website
Consider the theme and purpose of your personal website. Maybe you want a place to blog about your travels or a place to post your creative writing. Or you might want a platform to promote your burgeoning baking business, a channel to get more clients as a freelance web designer, or a copywriting portfolio to help you land a new full-time job.
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Whatever your reasons for creating a personal website, it’s important that you take the time to think about your interests and how you want to present them (and yourself) online.
If your goal is to get more business, your personal website can play an important role in marketing your skills and talents and building your career.
For example, this personal one Website for Fabio Formata clearly conveys his skills as a filmmaker and video designer. It’s a great example of how focus leads to a stronger personal website.
Once you know what you want to communicate about yourself, you can specify the type of website you will create. This can be anything from a simple home page consisting of an “About Me” section and contact information, to something more complex like an e-commerce site where you sell products you create.
Step 2: Determine your target audience
Most websites cater to people with specific interests. Knowing who you’re trying to reach is just as important as why you’re building a personal website in the first place.
This personal website – built in Webflow for professional soccer player Liucija Vaitukaityte – focuses on videos, stats and other content that would appeal to her fans or general enthusiasts.
Like Liucija , ask when creating your website; What is the story you would like to tell about yourself? What common interests do you share with your target group? If your website is geared towards self-marketing, what skills are potential customers looking for when they land on your page? Find out your audience and decide what information you want them to gather from your website.
The content you write, the images and graphics you include, and the way the site is organized should all be designed to appeal to your audience.
Step 3: Choose the type of personal website you want to create
Now that you know what you want to express and who your target audience is, let’s get down to the basics Dig into categories that personal websites fall into and which ones are best for you.
One page website
A personal website doesn’t have to be a big undertaking. To stake your claims on the internet, a simple home page can be the perfect option.
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This one-page website for DJ Daniela Monroe, built in Webflow, features her Soundcloud tracks and links to her active social media accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Single-Page -Websites typically consist of an “above the fold” home page with additional sections such as “About Me” and contact information. These types of websites are primarily informational and don’t require complex functionality.
If you have an active social media presence that serves as your main online hub, a one-page website might be all that You need a personal website for your website.
Blog
Creating a blog is relatively easy and a good choice for your first personal website. It allows your website visitors to clearly understand your unique perspective and skills, and most importantly, to engage with you in a more personal way.
To begin with, you need to ask yourself if you enjoy the art and craft of writing. The prospect of creating unique blog posts, writing them, and sharing them with your audience should excite you. In order to have a successful blog, you need to maintain a regular publishing frequency and consistently target your audience.
Adelaide Perr’s blog is a great example. It not only covers cycling, but also talks about overcoming understandable life struggles – which makes it appealing to a wider audience.
Blogging is a saturated field. But the best bloggers share authenticity and love for what they write about. Start a blog about what’s most important to you.
Portfolio
Portfolios are aimed solely at showcasing your skills and talents to others. If you’re in a field like photography, design, writing, or any other creative work, a portfolio is essential. Your personal portfolio will publicize your expertise, build your personal brand and help you attract new clients.
With an About section, services, featured projects and a way to get in touch with us; This website for designer Glenn Catteeuw has everything a portfolio needs – all presented through a modern and eye-catching design.
A portfolio has more elements to manage than a simple blog or one-page website. But even for beginner web designers, there are easy ways to create one. Webflow has a number of portfolio templates that you can use to get your own portfolio up and running in no time.
Step 4: Prepare your content
We recommend to take a content -first approach to your web design. This way you know what you want to include and can design your website to do justice to that content. You don’t need final drafts of everything to get started, but creating a raw copy will give you a more accurate idea of what your website will look like when it’s finished.
Your opening landing page
Consider your opening landing page or homepage as your first impression. Start with a meaningful headline, accompanying text that expresses who you are, and a powerful image to launch your homepage.
The following personal website for actor Gaius Charles begins with large text and dramatic imagery that draws visitors in and leads them to learn more.
An about me
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You want to let people know who you are and what you stand for. Let your visitors learn about your background. Add information about yourself that aligns with your overall goals.
From author and physicist Chris Ferrie’s portfolio, this About Me does a great job of highlighting his key strengths and past experiences .
Your “About Me” page doesn’t have to be too long. Just share relevant information about yourself, your skills and anything else you want site visitors to know about you.
Photos and other visuals
There is a delicate balance between visuals and text. No one wants to sift through endless blocks of scripture or see a bunch of photos without context.
Use images that tell your story and complement the text. If you want to go beyond that, hire a graphic designer to create custom illustrations or hand-drawn lettering to add a little personality.
Featured Projects
If your personal website is intended to act as a portfolio or resume, it should include examples of your past work. Find projects that bring out the best in what you do and capture the essence of your skills and talents.
Testimonials and testimonials
This is more applicable to a portfolio or small business website with a marketing aspect.
Get quotes from colleagues and others , for which you have worked. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can use the recommendations collected there as a starting point. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you’ve worked with who might have good things to say about who you are as a professional.
Blog
If you want to integrate a blog as part of your personal website, it’s a good idea to have a few articles in a row before you start it. Regular posting will keep people coming back and wanting to see what’s new. Using a content management system (CMS) makes it easier to post updates and make changes.
Step 5: Optimize the content for search engines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes it easier for web crawlers to scan your content and determine what it’s about. Good SEO includes both the technical work behind the scenes of your website and the strategic use of words and phrases that you want to rank for in organic search results. It’s always a good idea to do some SEO legwork before you start incorporating content into your web design.
Quality content is a big part of search engine optimization. Your writing should contain some depth and important details. By adding a blog that you keep updating, you get another stream of content to present to web crawlers scanning your site.
Search Engine Optimization can be a bit tricky if you’ve never done it before before. If you want to learn more about it, check out SEO and Webflow: The Essential Guide.
Step 6: Find your inspiration
Perhaps your favorite website uses color combinations that you like. Or maybe there’s a cool and stylish font you’ve seen that would work perfectly as a headline in your web design. It’s okay to be influenced by other people’s designs and take what you like to shape your own visual aesthetic. Not sure where to start? Check out these 22 inspirational web design trends
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