What is a Web Developer Portfolio?
A web developer portfolio is a collection of your projects that highlights your skills and is your space online to showcase your proudest web development achievements.
A portfolio is typically only created to attach to job applications, but it could also be the best place to start building your online presence.
Why Do You Need a Portfolio?
Job applications for web developer positions often require you to link to your personal website. Having a portfolio to include applications in general, required or not, is a good way to stand out from the competition.
How to Start Building a Web Developer Portfolio?
Before you begin building, take the time to fully understand these key aspects for your portfolio:
- What is the purpose of your portfolio? - Do you plan to use this portfolio solely to apply to jobs, to have a place online to post blogs, or to begin web development?
- How do you best describe your (desired) role? - Are you a front end, back end, full stack, or software developer?
- How do you want to portray yourself? - Do you want to have a professional, creative, minimal, or care-free tone for your portfolio?
Tip:
Take your time building your portfolio, do not worry about building a fancy website if you are just starting out with web development. Focus on building a basic portfolio at first and as you grow as a developer then start to take the time to "upgrade" your portfolio to better represent you and your skills.
Essential Sections for Web Developer Portfolio (+ Examples)
All types of portfolios require these key sections:
- Navigation Menu - Needed if your portfolio has multiple pages or a long homepage.
- Hero - The first thing visitors see, shaping their initial impressions of you.
- About Me - A brief introduction highlighting your background and expertise.
- Projects - Showcasing your best work with descriptions and links.
- Skills - A curated list of the technologies and tools you use.
- Contact - Making it easy for people to reach out.
Some of these sections can be difficult to approach. Let's dive into each one to describe what each section should include.
1. Navigation Menu
If there is a use-case for having a navigation menu on your web dev portfolio, you'll want to make sure you include hard-to-reach sections of your homepage or separate pages apart from your homepage.
Depending on the structure of your portfolio, sections/pages that are typically linked to can include:
- Projects
- About Me
- Blog
- Contact
Tip:
Font size for your navigation menu should be the same as your body text or slightly larger for readability. Avoid having a font size that dominates users attention to your navigation menu.
Navigation Menu Examples
While these navigation menu examples are quite similar in structure and design, your navigation menu can fit the design and tone of your portfolio.
2. Hero
A hero section is the most important section of your portfolio. It's where users will form their first impression of you and decide whether to keep scrolling keep scrolling.
Generally, it's recommended to include these elements in your hero:
- Introduction - Hi's, hello's, welcome's.
- Full Name - First and last name. If your name is difficult to pronounce, consider adding a playable soundbite for clarity.
- Role / Experience - Your title (e.g. Web Developer, Front End Developer, Back End Developer...) and years of experience.
- Tech Stack - The technologies you actively use.
Hero Examples
Your hero section structure and design will be determined by the tone of your portfolio. For example, if your web developer portfolio is purely meant to be a landing page for your online presence, you can get away with condensing all of your information and links into the hero section.
If your portfolio is to be primarily used to attach to job applications, you'll want to include other important sections like projects and skills beyond your hero section.
3. About Me
An about me section is good to include to further develop your visitors' interest, and can be done several ways:
- Small 2-3 paragraphs that summarize your accomplishments within your hero section.
- Brief section included in your homepage.
- Dedicated page that goes more in-depth about your profession and/or life.
About Me Examples
A detailed about me section or page is optional. Share only as much as you're comfortable with, keeping it focused on your career.
4. Projects
Projects are the second most important section of your web developer portfolio. The projects section is the main reason visitors come to your portfolio 9/10 times.
Each type of visitor wants to find this section for different purposes. Some of those purposes include:
- Recruiters - Want to see what problems you solved, how you solved them, and how you have grown as a developer across your listed projects.
- Clients - Want to find projects / previous work that closely resembles the work they expect from you.
- Developers - Search for your projects to see the types of projects you have made to potentially collaborate with you.
Generally, all types of projects (Websites or Web Applications) should include these elements for your showcase:
- Project Image - Home page, UI elements, visual representation of problem solved.
- Title
- Description - 1-2 sentences about the purpose of the project.
- Tech Stack - Technologies used to create, host, and maintain project.
- Links - Link to live website, and one to view code.
Projects Examples
Make sure your projects highlight your growth as a developer. Your first project you list should clearly show how your skills have evolved compared to the last projects you've worked on.
Not sure what to build? Check out Web Dev Project Ideas to Build a Standout Portfolio for inspiration and tips on creating unique projects.
5. Skills
A skills section is optional if you've already highlighted your skills within the projects section. However, if you haven't or have additional skills beyond those used in your projects, this is where you should list them.
You can organize your skills in a simple list or categorize them by relevance or recent usage.
Tip:
If you choose to list your skills using their icon, make sure to have an accessible way to view the name of the skill associated with the icon.
Skills Examples
6. Contact
A contact section is optional, but it shows your ability to build essential website functionality for businesses.
This section should also provide other actionable options for visitors to contact you, like including links to your socials and your email address in plain text so they can keep it on file.
Contact Examples
Tip:
If you choose to include a contact section, make sure that all addresses and links you provide stay up to date.
Portfolio Design & Structure
It's important that you have chosen the tone you want your portfolio to convey before designing your web dev portfolio. This will heavily influence most aspects of your portfolio like its color palette, font choice and layout.
Designing a professional portfolio
Designing a portfolio includes a few steps, these steps can be done in any order:
- Selecting a color palette
- Choosing a font
- Wireframing a basic layout
Selecting a color palette
A color palette is a collection of colors that will be used throughout your web developer portfolio. Colors typically have an associated use-case. For example: a dark black will be used for title text, and a lighter black can be used for body text.
Tip:
Color palettes can be tricky, if you are just starting out try not to worry about perfecting a color palette.
The best way to get started with a color palette is to choose three colors:
- Primary Color - Used for call to action buttons (Contact Me, View Live Website...).
- Background Color - Dominant color that defines overall theme of your portfolio.
- Text Color - Main color used for body text and headings.
Let's say you choose #4902FF because it stands out. You can use this color to build the rest of your palette:
- Find Shades & Tints - Enter your selected color into a color tool like ColorHexa or Color Hex. Look for the Shades and Tints section.
- Select a Background Color -
- For a light theme, use #FFFFFF (white) or a very light tint of your primary color.
- For a dark theme, pick a deep muted version of your primary or near-black for contrast.
- Choose a Text Color -
- If your background is white (#FFFFFF), use a dark color like near-black or a deep shade of your primary color.
- For a dark background, use white or a very light shade for better readability.
Example: If your background color is #FFFFFF, you might choose #060016 as a text color.
Finalizing Your Palette
Using just these three colors, you have a functional palette. To take your color palette further, consider:
- Using a color contrast checker to ensure readability.
- Adding accent colors for highlights.
- Sticking to 2-3 main colors to keep your design cohesive.
Coming soon: A great portfolio isn't just about content-it sometimes needs a stunning design too. Web Developer Portfolio Design: Fonts, Colors & More will help you choose the right fonts, colors, and layout for a polished, professional look.
Structuring a professional portfolio
Your web developer portfolio is only as good as your structure, you can have a fancy website with dazzling animations but if visitors can't find the information they are looking for it means nothing.
The structure for a portfolio can be broken down into three elements:
- Page Structure - One page vs multi page portfolio.
- Content Heiarchy - Order of your sections
- Navigation & User Flow - How a user navigates throughout your portfolio.
Build a strong, job-ready portfolio with How to Structure a Web Developer Portfolio (Step-by-Step)—-from layout to must-have sections.
Page Structure
Your portfolio's page structure does not need to be meticulously planned from the start-you can always add pages as needed. However, as a general rule, avoid including pages you're unsure about keeping long-term
Most web developer portfolios do not have enough content to justify multiple pages beyond the homepage. However, if you decide to expand, here aere some good options:
- Projects Page - A more detailed list of all of your projects, beyond just the highlighted ones.
- About Me Page - Dedicated page to speak more about your background and personality, making the portfolio feel more personal.
- Contact Page - Dedicated page for a contact form and links to your socials.
Content Heirarchy
Content Hierarchy simply means how your portfolio sections are laid out.
Your hero section is the most important section of your portfolio, thus it should be the first section visitors see at the top of your webpage.
Recommended Content Heirarchy:
Selecting Your Best Projects
Focus on these key factors when selecting your best projects to showcase:
Quality Over Quantity
A few polished projects that are complete is better than a long list of unfinished ones. Ideally you sould be aiming for 3-5 strong projects that best reflects your skills.
Relavance to Your Goals
The projects you choose to showcase should reflect the type of work you want to attract. If you want to land full stack roles, showcase complete web applications. If you want attract web developer work, focus on building mobile-responsive websites.
Live Demo or Screenshots
When you can, always provide a live link or detailed screenshots. Employers/recruiters usually do not want to set up a project just to see what it does.
Demonstrate Impact
Recruiters value projects that solve real problems. If your project stands out, promote it for free on your socials. Even a small user base adds credibility and gives you metrics to showcase on your resume.
Conclusion
A portfolio is one of the best first project for a web developer starting their career. It does not need to be fancy from the start--just focus on getting a basic site up and running, then refine it as your skills improve.
By following all of the sections above, you should be able to get a site that effectively showcases your skills, experience, and projects. Keep iterating on it as you grow, and don't be afraid to update it regularly to reflect your latest work.