6 Important Things to Remember Before Building a Portfolio Website Using WordPress

6 Important Things to Remember Before Building a Portfolio Website Using WordPress

WordPress is arguably the best platform for building a portfolio website. Even with little to zero knowledge of coding or web design in general, you can make your portfolio using WordPress in minutes. However, before you get started, here are nine things you should remember while building a portfolio website using WordPress.

1. Premium Themes Are Always Better

While you can always make do with a free WordPress portfolio theme, you should try to get a premium one. They come with more design and layout options, fonts, plugins, and a lot of other premium features.

And unlike the free ones, you can also use the page builder, that comes with the theme, as you like. You will have no restriction whatsoever. You can find plenty of high-quality portfolio templates by visiting a WordPress themes gallery created by professional designers.

2. Some of the Themes Can Be a Bit Overwhelming

There will be a wide range of template options for you to choose from when you visit a theme gallery or store. Almost all of these themes will have a one-click demo option where you can get a full demonstration of how the website looks and interacts with the users.

Use this option to get a more accurate look at the website before buying it. Some of the themes might be a bit overwhelming for you or your audience. Try to pick something user-friendly. Also, make sure that the website will not test the visitors’ patience or website navigation skills.

3. Optimize Your Images

Optimizing your images will help increase your website loading speed. If you are not careful with your image resolutions, you will weigh down the entire site. Due to the large sizes of high-quality images, it will take your website a lot more time to load.

As a result, you are likely to lose a lot of visitors. A slow loading speed will also affect your Google search rankings. It is, therefore, necessary that you optimize your images. Doing so will help increase your loading speed without deteriorating the quality of your images.

4. Do Not Abuse the Page Builders

With the help of a page builder, you can create your portfolio as you like. You simply need to drag and drop each element you need onto the canvas, and your website will be ready in no time. As easy as it sounds, using a page builder requires a certain bit of finesse, especially if you are new to web design.

Without proper design knowledge, you are likely going to make a mess out of your website. From misplacing the elements to not maintaining proper symmetry, a lot can go wrong.

Therefore, you should follow the theme’s layout or style as you design the web pages. Avoid using the page builder if you are not confident about using it. You can use the page builder on a blank template once you gain a bit of web designing experience.

5. Keep Your Portfolio Organized

Your portfolio is likely to have a lot of different types of work. Even if the website is focused on one specific skill of yours, there is bound to be some diversity in your work. Hence, you should consider arranging your work categorically.

You will have the option to do so on most of the portfolio themes you will be using. Arrange your work according to its type, difficulty level, clients, or any other way you think is suitable.

6. Check How It Looks on Mobile Devices

All modern WordPress themes are responsive. You do not need to do anything separately to the style or layout of the mobile site. The theme will take care of this for you. However, you still might want to change a few things here and there for the mobile or tablet look.

This is why you should check how the website looks on mobile devices. Afterward, you can select a specific screen size and make necessary adjustments to it. Once you make an adjustment, be sure to check the mobile view to see how it looks.

These nine points are just some of the more important ones that you need to remember while making your portfolio on WordPress. And as you start working with WordPress, you will get to learn more about the platform and find out more interesting things about you. You will also learn to improve your skills as you continue exploring more and more themes, as well as different plugins.