Why adding a portfolio page to your site could be good for business

Boost your Portfolio Page content with an inspiring Testimonial

It’s easy to say what you do, but showing is much more powerful. A portfolio page on your site gives your prospective clients confidence that you can deliver on the promises you make. Your portfolio content has the power to become one of the most engaging elements of your site.

The Power of Sharing Your Portfolio and Your Success

1. Showcase Your Work

   Let’s start with the obvious. A portfolio section on your site gives you the opportunity to showcase the work that you do. You might be a photographer that wants to show your extensive range of wedding photography. Or maybe you’re an architect or trade related business that wants to impress prospective clients with the quality of your workmanship.

   If the product or service you offer lends itself to a portfolio approach, you really should be doing it.

2. Targeted

   You can arrange your portfolio in any way you like but think about your visitors. Let’s suppose you sell Bathrooms AND Kitchens. If I’m only interested in Kitchens, I wouldn’t want to see examples of your bathrooms. In other words, organise your portfolio in a way that matches your service and products. Categorise your portfolio so that your audience can see what they want with a minimum of fuss.

   Spoon-feed them the content they want and you’ll have targeted traffic, rather than hopeful browsers.

3. Lead Generator 

   A great portfolio piece can result in sales. It can be the element that persuades someone to take the next step in your sales process. You can make the most of this opportunity by INVITING them to take an action. This can be as simple as a “Like what you see? Get in touch to find out more.”

   Or if you have one, now might be a good time to encourage them to download your brochure. If you can’t make a direct sale, capturing data is the next best thing.

Boost your Portfolio Page content with a strong Testimonial

You can enhance the strength of your portfolio by including a testimonial from the satisfied client. Not only do you have the pictures, but the words, direct from the customer will help tell a complete story.

You could take this a stage further and create fuller case studies for some of your showpiece portfolio items.

Should you include every completed project in your portfolio?

This is a crucial question to consider from the outset. For some, they take a ‘more the merrier’ approach, while others are slightly more strategic. For example, if you’ve decided to stop offering a particular product line or service I would remove it from your portfolio.

In other words only show the products that you currently offer. Similarly, there might be projects that you aren’t particularly proud of - if that’s the case, leave them out. Think strategically. Don’t see your portfolio as a dumping ground for everything. Think of it as a special place for your best work. 

Make your portfolio content shine

I’m doing to state the obvious here, but I think it’s important. Don’t undermine the intention of your portfolio by using poor photography or images. Nothing will sink your site faster. When you’re showcasing the best of what you do, you need to nail the detail.

If you’ve got a decent camera and follow some guidance you can create your own photographs relatively easily. But if you have the budget, you should certainly consider hiring a professional to capture the best possible images.

Make sure any associated text is checked and double-checked. You want the lasting impression to be that you are a professional business that delivers quality. A simple typo or glaring spelling mistake will get noticed for all the wrong reasons.

Over to you

A portfolio section could be a game changer for your site and your business. Get it right and you can give your prospects the confidence to take action.

If you’ve got a portfolio section on your site - share it in the comments. Or, if you come across a great example of a portfolio page, please share the link. We’re considering doing a follow-up post to share some of the best examples of portfolio pages in action.