Having a personal website is great for promoting yourself online. You have a space to talk about yourself and show off your work. Depending on your goals, people can reach out to you for all types of opportunities if they like what they see.
Structurally, personal websites are simple as they only need a few pages (however, nothing is stopping you from adding many), but what should you put on them? Regardless of your intentions for your personal website, here are some suggestions to add.
A Photo of You
Having a photo of you lets people know what you look like and assures visitors that you are a real person. Any photo works as long as it represents you well. Understandably, taking photos can be a challenge, but you can find resources for tips for taking good photos of yourself. You can also ask a friend or a family member to take one for you or you can even hire a professional photographer.
An “About Me” Section
The most obvious thing to have is a section containing information on who you are and what you do. Visitors can learn about you and determine if you have what they want. You can make your “about me” section as long as you want but you can cover the basics of this section with a paragraph or two.
Some things you can include in your about me:
- Professional background information: Describe where you got your education and what you studied. Also, describe the kinds of roles you have taken and in what fields you have worked or are working right now.
- Skills and experience: What are you good at? What do you have experience in?
- Awards and achievements: Include accomplishments that are worth mentioning and prove your value.
- Hobbies and interests: Add some information about your life outside of the professional world. Bonus points if they are related to your profession but unrelated ones are fine as long as they are appropriate.
If you need help with writing your “about me” page, there are online resources that provide guides on how to do that. You could also check out other personal websites for examples.
A Portfolio
If you have some examples of your work to show off, you can include a portfolio containing them. They can include school projects, side projects, or work you have done for clients. For each item in the portfolio, give them a title, and a description. If necessary, provide a link to the project that visitors can click on to learn more about the project or even try it if possible.
A Blog
A blog isn’t necessary, but it is a great way to prove your authority and experience. On your blog, you can create posts discussing:
- Personal stories and thoughts: Share your experiences with certain topics. You can describe how you felt and what you have learned from these experiences.
- Analysis of topics within your field of expertise: Discuss trending topics in the industry and share your findings. Provide a unique perspective on issues that interest people in your field.
- Tips and Advice: As an expert in your field, what information do you have to share with those who want to learn about it?
Another advantage of having a blog is creating opportunities to be found on the internet. Search engines will index your blog posts and there’s a chance that someone can stumble upon it. You can also share your posts in other places (where permitted) to promote yourself too.
Contact Information
If visitors want to know more and connect with you, it would be a good idea to include your contact information on your website. At the very least, an email is enough, but you can also include platforms like your LinkedIn profile. Ensure that this information can be easily found so that visitors know where to look if they would like to be in touch with you.
A contact form may also be a good idea as it makes sending you messages more convenient. It is not necessary, but it can improve the user experience.
How to Best Include These Elements on Your Personal Website
You might wonder what the best way to represent information on your personal website is. There is no “right” way, but some approaches work can work better than others.
For a simple personal website that does not have a lot of information, I like to keep it all on one page. This eliminates unnecessary navigation on your website. This also makes editing the website easier for editors and finding information easier for visitors.
However, Creating additional pages is fine though as long as there is a reason for it. One example of needing additional pages could be creating separate pages for each of your projects. This allows each page to focus on the project and show more details.
You could look into experimenting with presenting the information with different layouts as well. For example, for portfolios, you may consider using a grid style with three columns to present your projects instead of just listing them from top to bottom. Using columns and rows can add some more style to your website.
Overall, I would prioritize making these elements easy to find and accessible. There is no need to present them in a complicated way that prevents visitors from being able to find information about you or your work.
If you need inspiration, there are a ton of examples online. To start, you can check out this colorlib article that lists some examples of personal websites.
Conclusion
The above ideas are the most common elements on a personal website, but there could be other things you can include too. For example, if you created a website to seek employment opportunities, you can include a link to your resume. The additional elements you include depend on your needs and who you are. As well, be sure to keep your information up to date and polish up your content as necessary. As long as you have an online presence, visitors will be able to learn more about you by visiting your personal website.