Have you heard the saying - if you have one copy then you don’t have any copies at all? Usually, we only think of backups when something happens and we lose important information.

But we should actually pay attention to already backing up the website at the planning stage. Backup is the only way to avoid problems that are sometimes created by circumstances beyond your control. If your database is backed up, you can simply restore everything. And your website will work again.

Experts suggest keeping at least three backups or copies in different places. If one backup version is somehow damaged, you will have other options.

Regarding storage places, it is not just computer hardware that you can use for this purpose. You should also consider the option to keep the data in a cloud and/or removable disk. Sometimes it might not seem to be easy, because of the fact that the file might be huge and may require a lot of space. In this case, you should carefully take a look at all information that is backed up. There is probably something that creates a huge amount of data, which you actually don’t need such as statistical data or anti-spam solutions.

In this article we have explained:

• What is the difference between WordPress database and WordPress site backups?
• How can they both be backed up?
• How can you restore the information from the backup?
• Backup automation or using the most popular backup plugins.
• How often should you update the backup of the WordPress site?

WordPress Database And Backup

There are two backup options. You can backup a WordPress database or WordPress site. The database does not include images and theme files. The WordPress database is just pages, posts, and comments. Backup of this part can be easily done by phpMyAdmin - a special program to manipulate the database:

Step 1

Enter the ‘phpMyAdmin’ administration panel.

Step 2

Choose the WordPress database on the left side of the panel:

Step 3

You will see all the content of your database in the central window.

Step 4

Choose the option ‘Export’ from the menu tab over the central window. Ensure that you choose the ‘Quick’ export method and leave the ‘SQL’ format:

Step 5

You will get the .zip file that should be stored on your computer or any other place that you have chosen for the backup of the database.

Restoring The Database

When something has gone wrong with your current database and you have to get back the one you backed up, follow these steps:

Step 1

Log in to ‘phpMyAdmin’ and choose the tab 'Databases'. Open it, and select the one you need to import to. Just open it by clicking on the name:

Step 2

When you open the folder, you will see all the content that is inside. If the folder is empty, there won’t be any data.

Step 3

Choose the tab 'Import' from the upper menu:

Step 4

A new window will open where you have to choose which file to upload by pushing the button 'Choose File'. Choose the backed up database file you have made earlier and stored. One more important thing in this window - make sure that the 'Format' field remains with the 'SQL' option. Click 'Go'. The restoration process has begun and it can take a while. There are two options possible at the end - the screen that shows the success message or the one that shows that something went wrong. If something went wrong, you should read the message and try to take the necessary actions as suggested.

Otherwise, you can ask somebody with knowledge of programming for help or just post your problem in the WordPress support forum.

WordPress Site Backup

All other information that was not mentioned above, but is part of your website, can be classified as a WordPress site. In this category, there are core installations, plugins, themes, different code files, and static web pages.

All this data is essential to run the website so it should also be backed up. The first thing to do is to ask your hosting provider how often backups are made. Usually, server keepers make backups for the whole server. It means that your website is also backed up.

The only problem is that it takes some time to get a copy of the site. Thus, there can be a situation in which your website is down and you cannot restore it quickly. This can cost you a lot of money if, for example, it is not possible for your customers to make any purchases on your site for a while.

There are three options for the WordPress site backup that you can do by yourself:

1. Ask the hosting provider about backup programs that you can use inside the server to make the backup manually. They usually have some. Cloudways for example allows you to set up automatic backups as often as you like, or manually back up your server with just one click.
2. Synchronize your site and server using programs that allow doing this. For example, there is an open-source program Filezilla that is a free FTP solution and allows you to transfer files between a local computer and the server;
3. Copy all your website files on the computer in one folder or in the cloud or on removable hardware. If the files are big altogether, you can compress them into a zip file and keep it that way to save space.

The same rule applies here - keep the backup in at least three different places to be absolutely sure that your whole WordPress site is safe.

Automatic Backups With Plugins

If you don’t want to be in control of everything manually, then you can create automatic backups by using the appropriate backup plugin. There are several options.

All you have to do is install the plugin as you usually do, i.e. access the ‘WordPress’ administration dashboard, choose ‘Plugins’ on the left side menu, and look for one of those mentioned below. When you have installed the plugin successfully, just configure the settings and your ‘WordPress’ site or database is backed up.

Most Popular WordPress Backup Plugins

Here is the list of the most popular ‘WordPress’ backup plugins:

BlogVault

BlogVault is the most reliable WordPress backup, staging & migration solution trusted by over 300,000+ websites. It can backup or migrate a 300 GB site without overloading your server ever.

It has the fastest website recovery tool (< 5 mins). BlogVault also offers Off-site Storage by enabling the upload of backups to Amazon S3, or Dropbox, or even downloading it to your local computer.

BackWPup

This plugin creates a .zip file with all the information that keeps your website running. Free and premium versions are available with different levels of support accordingly. All storage options are available, although some of them such as ‘Google Drive’ are only available in the premium version.

All-in-One WP Migration

With this plugin, it is possible to export everything: database, media files, plugins, and themes. A mobile version is also available, which is not common among this kind of plugins. Easy backup and storage of data directly to ‘Dropbox’, ‘FTP’, ‘Google Drive’, ‘One Drive’, and some other services.

Updraft Plus WordPress Backup Plugin

Also provides easy backup and data stored directly into the most popular clouds. Although the range differs depending on whether you use the free or paid version of this plugin. With Updraft, it is possible to send all data by email, as well as to set up an automatic backup schedule.

BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy backs up all files, media, themes, and plugins in one downloadable zip file. Provides scheduled backups as well as an easy system for restoring all information in case something happens.

Most Popular WordPress Database Backup Plugins

It is possible to backup only databases in WordPress. There are also several plugins for this:

• WP Migrate DB - should be used together with the database management tool ‘phpMyAdmin’. That is why this plugin is more appropriate for use by developers. It can migrate smaller data by identifying strings and replacing them;
• WP Database Backup - manual and automated versions available for database backups. It is possible to set up a schedule and keep data in different places: clouds, as well as e-mail. The plugin also allows you to exclude some tables from the overall backup.

When and how often to do the backup?

Back up should be done before updating WordPress or plugins. That is a must if you want to keep everything in the right order.

Otherwise, the frequency of updates depends on how often you change something on the site. If your last change has not been backed up, you will lose it. If you are ready for this, you cannot back up the site after every change. Just set the time frame that is acceptable for you. And now it is time for you to share your experience.

How do you do backups? How often? Or are you someone with strong nerves who feel lucky?

How cool would it be to have a huge collection of high-resolution photos that you can access to find the perfect image for your website? And how great would it be if that collection was totally free – like a personal resource to tap into whenever you like?

It would be amazing, right?

Well, Unsplash is that resource. In this post, we’ll tell you all about Unsplash. Then show you, step-by-step, how to find and add stunning photos to your site. From top to bottom, we’ll cover:

• What Unsplash is;
• Why you should use Unsplash;
• The Unsplash Licence;
• How to add Unsplash Images to your website manually;
• How to add Unsplash Images to your website with a plugin;
• How to add Unsplash Images to your website with the Visual Composer and Unsplash integration.

Before we get into all of that good stuff, though, let’s talk about why images are so important to your content.

The Difference an Image can Make

We’ve all heard the old adage, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ It's about as cliche as cliches come. But like many cliches, it’s true – an image can convey a message or meaning more effectively than words do.

That’s not to say you should abandon words in favor of images. Copy and audio can be powerful tools. However, when it comes to getting your content to stick in the mind of the viewer, nothing beats visuals.

According to molecular biologist John Medina, when we hear information, we’re only likely to remember 10% of it three days later. Add an image to that information and we remember 65% of it.

That’s why images perform so well as a content marketing tool. Check out these statistics from marketer Larry Kim:

• Posts that include images produce 650% higher engagement than text-only posts;
• Articles with images get 94% more views;
• Facebook posts from brands that included images earn 87% of all engagements;
• Tweets with images get up to 18% more clicks, 89% more favourites, and 150% more retweets;
• 51% of B2B marketers prioritise creating visual assets as part of their content marketing strategy.

There are dozens of more stats we could throw at you, but you get the point: images are great. And Unsplash is the best place to find them.

What is Unsplash?

Unsplash is a platform where photographers can share high-resolution images and make them freely available for commercial use.

Co-founder Mikael Cho explains how the platform came to be in a post on the Unsplash blog:

"It began as a Tumblr blog with ten photos we had leftover from a photoshoot. Instead of letting our photos sit dead in a hard drive somewhere, we thought it would be better if they were put to use to move other creative projects forward. A freelance designer could grab an image to pitch a mockup or demo. An entrepreneur strapped for cash could put a website up with a nice background photo to attract potential customers.

We believed the good from giving our images away would far outweigh what we could earn if we required payment or credit."

That was back in 2013. Today, Unsplash has over 1.2 million photos available, which receive over 13 billion photo views and 64 million photo downloads a month.

Every month, a community of over 158,000 photographers uploads more than 65,000 photos across multiple categories, from fashion and nature to business and experimental. And the exposure they get far surpasses what’s possible on social media.

Why use Unsplash?

There’s a fine line when using stock images which are crossed the moment a stock image looks like a stock image.

What we mean by that is your images need to look natural.

For example, let’s say you needed an image of someone reading from an iPad. Which image makes a better impression?

This?

Or this?

The first one has its place, but it's not as natural as the second image. It’s colder and harder to relate to. And if a person can’t relate to an image that you post on your website, they’re not going to relate to you.

The second image here is from Unsplash.

Because Unsplash attracts the best photographers, you get to choose from images shot by people who know how to craft photos to capture attention and create emotion. Images that don’t look false or staged.

You're also guaranteed images that look as good on an iPhone as they do on a 50-inch 4K TV – an important factor in the age of multiple screens and responsive websites.

The Unsplash Licence

Photos on Unsplash are available under the Unsplash License. This is similar to Creative Commons Zero license, but with added restrictions to prevent images being used on a rival service.

From Unsplash: All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing for service.

Adding Unsplash Images to Your WordPress Website

When you find an Unsplash image that you’d like to add to a post or page on your website, you’re free to download and use it how you want, as many times as you want. There are three ways you can do this:

1. Download the image from Unsplash and manually upload it to your site.
2. Use a third-party WordPress plugin.
3. Use the built-in Unsplash and Visual Composer Integration.

How to Add Unsplash Images to WordPress Manually

Step 1: Go to Unsplash.com and search for an image using the search bar or categories.

Step 2: Download the image that you like from Unsplash by clicking the download icon that appears when hovering over an image, or by clicking the image and hitting the Download free button in the pop-up.

You don’t have to credit the photographer, but if you want to help them gain more exposure, copy the link from the ‘Say Thanks’ pop-up that appears after you download the image.

Step 3: Compress your images using a free site such as TinyPNG or Compressor.io. This step is important because large image files are a common reason for slow loading websites – a dislike of both visitors and Google. As these stats from Unbounce prove:

• 46% of people say waiting for pages to load is what they dislike most about browsing the web on mobile;
• A 100-millisecond delay in load time can cause conversion rates to drop by 7%;
• Pages that load within two seconds have an average bounce rate of 9%, while pages that take five seconds to load have a bounce rate of 38%.

Step 4: This step is the same whether you’re adding an image to a page or a post. Note: For adding images to backgrounds or carousels, go to the Appearance section of your dashboard. From there, follow the documentation of the theme that you’re using. Go to Pages (or Posts) and click Add New.

Step 5: Click on the Add Media button (to upload an image in a particular place on a page, move the cursor to the correct place within the text editor before clicking Add Media). Your Media Library is where all of your images are stored.

Step 5: In the Media Library, click on the Upload Files tab, then drag-and-drop, or select your Unsplash image from your computer.

Step 6: Before you click on the image and hit the Insert into page button, add alt text, caption, and description text to your image. Then check the image is the correct size by clicking on Edit image.

Step 7: From the Edit box, use the Scale Image and Image Crop options to make sure your image is exactly how you want it to appear on your website. Once you’re happy, click Save, then Back.

You’re now ready to insert the image onto your page.

Fairly straightforward, right? WordPress tends to do a good job of keeping things simple.

Where the manual method does fall short, though, is when you have to source and upload multiple images.

If you’re a prolific blogger or are building a new website and populating it with images, going back and forth between Unsplash and WordPress become a bit of a slog. Especially if you have to edit the size of the photo every time.

If you plan on being a regular visitor to the Unsplash library, the following methods may be better suited.

How to Add Unsplash Images to WordPress with a Plugin

WordPress plugins are a lot like apps on your smartphone – there’s one to solve every problem. For uploading Unsplash images to your posts, the best plugin option is Instant Images, which gives you access to photos from your WP dashboard.

Here’s how to add it to your website:

Step 1: Go to Plugins > Add New and search for ‘Instant Images.’

Step 2: Click on Install Now. Once the plugin has installed, click on Activate.

Step 3: Instant Images will now appear as a menu item under Media. Click on Instant Images to adjust the plugin settings and search for photos.

Step 4: When you’ve found the image that you want, click on it to import it to your Media Library (if you want to edit the alt text before adding an image to your Media Library, click on the gear icon).

Step 5: Add images to your posts and pages from the Add Media pop-up in the text editor, as shown in the manual upload method.

If you don’t already have images in your Media Library, an Instant Images button will be added to the text editor from which to find and add Unsplash images to your content via a pop-up.

Once installed, Instant Images is a quick and simple way to get quality photos. But if you’d rather avoid installing a plugin and keeping track of updates, the next option is your best bet.

How to Add Unsplash Images to WordPress using Visual Composer

Before we show you how to add Unsplash images to WordPress in Visual Composer, let's talk a little bit about the feature itself.

What is Unsplash Integration?

The Visual Composer Unsplash integration is a way to access the Unsplash library directly from your website editor.

We created the feature to streamline the process of finding and adding Unsplash images to your website. It does this in two ways:

1. By giving you access to Unsplash from the Visual Composer Hub.
2. By making images available in different file sizes to eliminate the time-consuming task of manual compressing.

Are all Unsplash Images Available?

They sure are. The Unsplash you see under ‘Stock Images’ in the VC navigation bar isn’t any kind of ‘lite’ version. It’s the full, live Unsplash website.

The only differences are that you’re using it in the backend of your website rather than in your web browser. And rather than downloading images to your computer, they’re sent directly to your Media Library.

Downloading and Adding Unsplash Photos with Visual Composer

Step 1: Click on the Stock Images tab from the Visual Composer Hub.

Step 2: Search for your free stock images in the search bar by entering keywords. For example, if you’re looking for images of fresh seafood, you might enter the ‘seafood market’.

Step 3: Click on the image you want to download and choose your file size: small, medium, or large (for your website, smaller files are best).

Your image will be sent directly to your Media Library.

Step 4: Use Visual Composer image elements to add Unsplash images to your website from your Media Library. Images will automatically resize to suit the size of the content block.

Unsplash photos work for every Visual Composer element that lets you use images:

• Blog posts
• Web pages
• Backgrounds
• Banners
• Carousels

Wrapping up

Using high-quality images across your website makes your content more engaging and memorable.

With Unsplash, you get access to world-class photography in every category you can think of, for FREE. What’s more, you get to use those this photography however you please to make an impact.

Follow the steps in this post to find and add Unsplash images to your website.

If you use images rarely, the manual upload method will serve you fine. If you use images often, go with the Visual Composer Unsplash integration to save you time and effort, and keep 1.2 million beautiful photos at your fingertips.

Job growth for UX designers is projected to increase by 22% in the next ten years. Which means you’re in demand.

Companies are looking to hire people like you. Of course, you don’t want them to hire people like you. You want them to hire you.

And how do you do this?

With a killer portfolio. One that acts as a highlight reel of your best bits so that hiring managers are left in no doubt who they need.

In this post, we’ll show you how to make a UX portfolio website from scratch, including:

• What to include in your UX portfolio
• How to present your portfolio
• What type of site to go for
• What you need to do before putting your portfolio live

But before we get into all of that. Let’s get the big question out of the way...

What makes a good UX portfolio website?

The ultimate aim of a portfolio website is to land you work. So what makes a good UX design portfolio is what impresses the people looking to hire you.

According to a panel of UX recruiters and hiring managers attended by Usable Interface’s Kyle Soucy, a UX portfolio website should...

• “Demonstrate your passion.”
• “Be CLEAN and really highlight your work.”
• “[Be] a demonstration of your UX chops not just a place to put artifacts. Tell the story of how you got to the solution your sharing, but don’t be long-winded.”
• “Keep it brief.”
• “[Be] a way to get in the door. Once you’re at the interview, have 3–4 projects to walk through.”

Hiring managers want to see that you know what you’re doing and that you’re passionate about UX design. Keep these quotes in mind as you build your portfolio.

What to put in your UX portfolio

Your UX portfolio is a showcase of your skills. But it’s also there to give recruiters an insight into the person behind the work.

What interests you? Are you a team player? Do you attend industry events? Do you volunteer at industry events?

What you put in your portfolio needs to give a complete picture of you.

Show your best work only

How many projects you include on your UX portfolio website depends on where you’re at in your career. But that should always, ALWAYS be your best work.

And not just the projects you’re most proud of, but the ones that relate best to the industry you’re looking to work in.

• If you’re an experienced UX designer, stick to 3-5 projects that appeal to whoever it is you’re trying to impress.
• If you’re a junior or are lacking experience, 1-2 projects will suffice. If you’re worried about your portfolio being thin on the ground, beef it up by picking a website to redesign as a personal project. Do you think you could make improvements to the Airbnb or Nike website? Go ahead and make a concept site.

If you’re dealing with NDAs, focus on process images and black and white wireframes rather than the finished project. If images are important to the process, blur out any identifying information.

Tell stories of the project

According to UX recruiter, Tom Cotterill, each project in your portfolio should include:

• The problem
• Who you worked with
• What tools you used
• Discovery phases (how did you go about solving the problem)
• The process you used to overcome the problem: lo-hi wireframes, prototypes, sketches, personas, user journeys, and research
• The final outcome

It’s the classic case study format. And it works perfectly to give your work context.

Product Designer Simon Pan’s portfolio is a great example of telling the story of a project, taking the reader from the challenge to the results with the help of personal insight and images.

Niya Watkins’s portfolio is another good example, providing an overview of each project, before breaking it down into sections showing sticky notes and wireframes.

While it’s important to give your perspective on things, don’t get too wordy with it. We’ll talk about how to present your work soon, but it’s important to keep it concise. You work in a visual industry, let images do some of the talking.

Try to include one or two images with every stage of the project.

And you shouldn’t forget another important element of projects...

Credit the team

In all but concept design projects, you’re part of a bigger picture. Make sure you talk about the team and how you worked with them to overcome problems.

Employers need UX designers to be team players. Crediting those you worked with lets them know you have those skills.

A part about you

While recruiters aren’t particularly interested in whether you’re married with kids, they do want to know about you as a UX designer.

Your about page should talk about…

• Your passion for UX design
• How you got started
• Your education
• A line about your interests and where you live
• Your contact details

You can also use this page to your mention work experience and any awards and recognition you’ve gained.

Google’s Rahul Jain does this well with his about page.

Should you include a picture on your about page?

Most UX designers do.

Our recommendation: think about the industry you’re looking to work in.

For example, federal government hiring managers won’t want to see a photo on your portfolio to avoid any kind of discrimination. In more creative industries, though, a photo won't harm.

Add a blog

Including a blog on your UX portfolio website is a chance to show your knowledge of UX design and demonstrate your authority.

It also tells employers that you’re an active part of the UX community – sharing, collaborating, and networking with others.

Another thing adding a blog to your portfolio site does is get you noticed. Take a look at these statistics from HubSpot’s research:

• Websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages (that means more pages ranked in Google)
• Websites with blogs get 97% more links
• Websites with blogs get 67% more leads

Bottom line: blogging is great for SEO. If a recruiter is using Google to search for UX designers, a blog will get you found.

Your contact details

Make it easy for people to get in touch. A contact page needs to be nothing more than:

• Your email address
• Phone number
• Links to your social media profiles
• A contact form for visitors to contact you via the site

How should you present your UX portfolio website?

Okay, so we’ve established what’s going into your website. Now you have to present everything in a way that appeals to visiting recruiters and hiring managers.

There’s one simple rule to doing this…

Keep it clean.

Of course, we’re preaching to the choir here. Clean design is what you do for a living.

Expect a hiring manager to stay on your website for around 30-60 seconds.

There’s a chance they may stick around longer than that, but only if they get a clear idea about you and the projects you’ve worked on in those 30-60 seconds.

So every second count.

Keep navigation clear and simple

Your UX portfolio website is as much as a demonstration of your skills as your projects. You make it easy for visitors to get around shows that you know how to create enjoyable experiences.

Keep navigation to the top right of the page and visible on every page. This is the easiest way for visitors to find what they’re looking for in a hurry.

If you decide not to include a link to ‘Home’ in the navigation, make sure that your logo links back through to your home page.

Paul Lapkin’s single-page WordPress template portfolio is a good example of navigation done well, taking the user to the relevant section when they click on a link.

Jeff Bae uses a “hamburger” menu for his portfolio. This promotes a clean look whilst being familiar enough for desktop and mobile users to use without fuss.

Be consistent

Pick a format and color scheme for your project pages and stick with it.

Across all of his work, Simon Pan keeps everything formatted in the same way. Images are the same place down the page, text and quotes are in the same colors and fonts, and the story follows the same path.

Consistent formatting breeds familiarity. It means that, once a recruiter has read one page, they can check out another and know exactly where to find the information they’re looking for.

When it comes to the color scheme, follow the 60-30-10 rule.

• 60% of your site should be a dominant color (usually white)
• 30% should be a secondary color
• 10% should be an accent color

To use Paul Lapkin’s UX portfolio website as an example, black is the dominant color, white is the secondary color, and gold is the accent color. And that’s consistent across the site.

Make content skimmable

Time for a somewhat depressing statistic: a user will only 20% of the content on your page.

All that hard work and only four-fifths of what you write will be read. But that’s the way of the modern reader.

And there are a couple of reasons for it.

1. Blue light from screens makes it harder to read for long periods. Eyes get fatigued quicker reading words on a phone or laptop than they do reading on paper.
2. People are looking for a specific piece of information and they don’t want to read through an entire page to find it.

Your job when presenting your portfolio is to write for the skimmers. This means pleasing the eyes before you engage the mind.

Here’s how to do it:

• Use bullet points like this for lists
• Use lots of white space
• Break up content with headings and subheadings
• Write in short, 2-3 sentence paragraphs
• Use bold text to highlight key points
• Use simple language
• Stick to 2-3 fonts across your portfolio

If you’re looking for an example of skimmable content, look no further than the post you’re reading now.

Which platform should you use for your UX website?

There are dozens of choices out there, but we’d recommend one of:

• WordPress
• Wix
• Squarespace

These platforms offer the best templates and the most complete features.

If we were to recommend just one, it would be WordPress.

WordPress is open source and free to download. It also powers a third of the internet which tells you everything you need to know about its credibility.

With WordPress, you’re not tied to any hosting provider and you’re not restricted in the size or complexity of your website. Although, you can get started easily and launch the free version of Visual Composer and the Starter theme on verified WordPress managed cloud hosting by Cloudways in just 1-click.

Some templates limit what you can do on Wix or Squarespace. Some limit what you can do on WordPress too. But with a tool like Visual Composer, your portfolio becomes a blank canvas for you to create exactly how you want it.

WordPress is free forever and both Wix and Squarespace let you create a site for free before signing up. So have a play around to see which platform you’re most comfortable.

Single page portfolio or multi-page portfolio?

Single page UX portfolio websites have grown in popularity in recent years and for good reason.

A one-pager splits content into small chunks and makes everything easy to digest. There’s very little clutter and the linear navigation is perfect for scrolling with thumbs.

But it’s not great for SEO. A multi-page site gives you more URLs (including a blog), which makes it easier to get found in search results.

Multiple page portfolios also give you more room for scaling. Crucial if you’re looking to add to your list of projects.

There’s no right or wrong option here. But think about how you plan to present your content and make information accessible to users.

If blogging and SEO are important to you, go with a multi-page UX portfolio. If your site is targeting a specific industry and is likely to remain static, a single-page UX portfolio will serve you well.

Before your UX portfolio goes live

If you’re satisfied with how your UX portfolio website looks and you’ve got all of the information you want on there, you’re ready to launch.

But before you do, check (and double-check) the following things:

• Spacing: Is it consistent across the site?
• Images: Do any look blurred, stretched, or pixelated? Have they been compressed (uncompressed images slow page loading speed)?
• Logo: Does it look blurred, stretched, or pixelated?
• Typography: Is it consistent across the site?
• Links: Do they all work?
• Spelling and grammar: Are there any mistakes?
• Cross-browser and device appearance: How does your portfolio look on other browsers and devices? Does it resize as well on a smartphone as it does on a large monitor?
• Headings: Does your content follow the correct heading structure: H1 to H6?
• Meta titles and descriptions: Does every page have a title and description? Do they include keywords (words related to your work, e.g. ‘UX designer’, ‘digital designer’)? Are they the correct length (under 70 characters for titles, under 160 characters for descriptions)?

Have a couple of friends or family members look over your portfolio. Ask them to check for errors and test the usability or your site.

If they’re happy and you’re happy, you’re good to go.

Summary

Creating a UX design portfolio that shows off your skills and personality is the best way to attract the attention of potential employers and land your dream clients. Investing in a website over a PDF gives you the chance to build your personal brand on your own platform.

• Pick out your best projects and give them narrative
• Use a blog and about page to add personality to your portfolio
• Keep the layout and content simple and clean
• Perform checks, get feedback, and make tweaks before publishing

Do these things and the 30-60 seconds a recruiter does spend on your site will tell them everything they need to know: you’re the right UX designer for the job.

What your portfolio website needs

There are no rules to dictate what your portfolio website should include, but there are certain things visitors will expect to see to learn more about you and your work:

Portfolio

The obvious one. Your site should lead with your best work. You can choose to make your portfolio the homepage of your website or have the homepage provide an overview, with your work given a dedicated space, but your work needs to be prominent.

Studies show that it takes as little as 50 milliseconds for a visitor to form an opinion about your website, so you need to use this page to impress them instantly.

You can do this with strong copy:

With strong imagery:

Or with links to your work:

However you decide to design your portfolio/homepage, give people a reason to stick around.

About

Your visitors want to know about the person behind the work. Use this page to sell yourself and your accomplishments, but don’t get too wordy.

Keep things concise. Give a brief introduction, then get into focusing on what you do, what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved, and why your accomplishments matter.

Include a photo too — people like to put a face to the name. Designer Irene Demetri’s website, You and I Graphics, is an example of an about page done well:

Contact

If your work resonates with visitors, there’s a good chance they’ll want to get in touch. A contact page shows people all of the ways they can do this.

Your contact page should include an email address, contact form, and social media links. If you’re happy being contacted by phone, you should include that too.

As well as having a dedicated page for this stuff, you should place social links prominently throughout your site and place your email contact in the footer so it’s visible on every page.

Also, it is worth considering these optional extras.

Blog

A blog is a great way to keep people in the loop with what you’re doing and establish authority by providing useful content. It’s also a great way to increase traffic to your website and improve your search engine ranking.

Studies show that websites with blogs receive 97% more links and have a 434% better chance of being ranked highly on search engines, so it’s certainly something to consider. That said, you should only add a blog if you plan to add fresh content consistently. An outdated blog can give the impression that your site has been abandoned, and you don't want to give that kind of impression.

Resume

In terms of getting work your portfolio does most of the talking, but creating a page for your resume won’t do you any harm. A resume gives potential employers details on your work experience and educational background — things that might swing a job opportunity in your favor.

Category pages

Category pages are a good way to put the focus on specific areas of work. For example, a photographer might have additional pages showing “wedding” and “portrait” photos, or a designer might show off “logos” and “brochure design”. Categorizing your work makes it easier for people to find what they’re looking for.

Designing your website

10-15 years ago, unless you had a deep understanding of HTML and other coding languages, designing a functional website that didn’t look like it was made using Microsoft Paint was almost impossible. But we’ve come a long way.

Today, it’s possible for anyone to create a professional, high-end website without so much as looking at the code. In fact, by combining WordPress with a tool like Visual Composer, you can do it without any technical expertise whatsoever.

Installing WordPress

WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com, which is hosted by WordPress and limited in functionality) is free to download and easy to install.

By going to WordPress.org and clicking Get WordPress, you’ll be taken to a page where you can download the latest software. You’ll also find step-by-step instructions on completing WordPress’s famous five-minute installation.

If you’re looking for an even easier way to get up and running with WP, hosting providers like Cloudways, One.com and Bluehost offer 1-Click WordPress installation and Auto WordPress installation respectively, essentially doing all of the work for you.

Creating your website with Visual Composer

Once WordPress is installed, you’re ready to create your website. There are two ways you can go about this:

1. Use a template from WordPress or a third-party provider
2. Use Visual Composer

There is a third way, which is to have a custom theme made by a web designer, but that won’t be free (unless you know a design that owes you a favor).

You can see from the subheading that we’re pushing you towards option two, Visual Composer. This is because (aside from the benefits, which we’ll get onto soon), free templates are massively over-used and limited in design functionality. By choosing a template and not being able to customize the layout or color scheme in the way you would like, you’re going to have a hard time standing out.

Visual composer lets you create something unique, that matches the picture you have in your head. It’s also free forever, which is rather useful for creating a free portfolio website.

Benefits of Visual Composer

• Installs over WP’s basic editor. Visual Composer can be installed with the click of a button like any other WordPress plugin, transforming the standard backend into a powerful design platform with an easy-to-use interface.
• Drag-and-drop functionality. Create your website using a method you’re familiar with — no coding needed.
• Build your website completely from scratch or get the ball rolling with an included template. VC has a huge library of templates for all kinds of design preferences that you can customize to suit your own portfolio. If you’re looking to get your website up and running quickly, choosing a template is the way to go.
• Use our free templates if you need some inspiration or just want the job to be done quickly. Take a look at some our templates here.
• 100s of elements and widgets to create and edit content blocks including text blocks, buttons, images, and icons.
• Edit any element of your site, from colors and fonts to size and location of content
• Test and preview design elements before publishing
• Custom CSS to tweak how your site looks and performs (if you’re feeling adventurous!)

Installing Visual Composer

1. Go to https://visualcomposer.com/download/ and enter your email address to download the latest version.
2. Open your WordPress Admin panel and navigate to Plugins
3. Select 'Add New' (upper left corner)
4. Select 'Upload Plugin' (upper left corner)
5. Choose to upload visualcomposer.zip from your computer and click 'Install Now'
6. WordPress will install the plugin automatically
7. Click 'Activate Plugin' to finish the installation

Once it’s installed, go wild — play around with the various templates and elements to craft a site that best displays your work. To help you along, check out the tutorials in the Visual Composer Help Center.

Tips for creating a website that stands out from the crowd

So now that you’ve got the software, here’s what to do to create a portfolio website that a) people want to visit, and b) gets you to work.

Show off your personality

A portfolio website is all about you — your work, your style, your identity. Inject personality into your design and content. Write how you talk and use good headshots to give visitors an insight into you. Personality provides warmth and builds trust — the opposite of what a faceless, bland corporate website brings to the table.

Give people a reason to stay

As mentioned earlier, you don’t have long to create a positive first impression. When someone lands on your website, give them a reason to stay by getting your most important content — who you are and what you do — in early. The quicker you hook them in, the more likely it is that they’ll stick around to check out other parts of your site.

For years, this meant cramming all of the good stuff in above the fold (the part of your site before the users scroll) but mobile has changed all that. Scrolling is now the done thing, which means you get to take visitors on a journey.

Keep it clean

According to Econsultancy, 95% of users agree with the statement: “Good user experience just makes sense.” And it does, because 88% of people who suffer a bad experience are less likely to return to a website.

The best way to provide a good user experience is to keep things clean and simple. Focus on a concise design that limits distractions and is easy to navigate, on mobile and desktop.

Keep pages consistent to avoid confusing users and use plenty of white space. White space (the areas on a page left blank), helps focus the reader’s attention on the content so that distractions are avoided. Crazy Egg research shows using it around text and titles increases attention by 20% — significant when you’re trying to make people look at your work.

Use powerful imagery

People remember images more readily than words and a good image has the ability to build trust and modify behavior. Use photography to your advantage to break up text and add to your story, but do it wisely. While a powerful image can create a connection with a visitor, a generic stock photo can do more harm than good.

That's not to say there isn't good stock photography out there, there is. Visual Composer lets you pull images from Unsplash — a free stock image site that curates high-quality photos from talented photographers. Other good free image sites include Gratisography, Negative Space, and Death to Stock. You can also use a free graphics editor like Canva to create custom imagery.

Where possible, though, try to use original, custom photography. Especially on key pages like your homepage and about page.

Get testimonials

If you have clients that are willing to say nice things about you, use their words to sell yourself. Testimonials create social proof that backs up the quality of your work. They're a proven way to add trust and authenticity, increasing leads and conversions.
Tailor content to your audience
Who is your website aimed at? What kind of people do you want to hire you? Figure out who your audience is, what their interests and motivations are, and tailor your message to them.

For example, a wedding photographer might aim their content at young couples looking to celebrate their big day by talking about the magic and importance of weddings.

Speak to your audience in their language, demonstrating your authority as you do.

Add fresh content

This is an easy thing to do if you’re adding a blog to your website, but even if you’re not, consider freshening up your website every so often. The reason is: Google loves fresh content. Keeping your website up-to-date gives Googlebot (the tool Google users to crawl and index web pages) the new and/or updated content it looks for and gives you a better chance of ranking higher in search results.

Beyond Google, fresh content also keeps your site relevant to visitors, showing them that you’re active.

Make it SEO-friendly

Search is where a large percentage of your traffic will come from. Optimizing your website and content for search engines gives you a better chance of showing up in search results when people enter keywords related to what you do.

For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you could target terms like “wedding photography,” “marriage photographer,” or “wedding photoshoot.”

Enter terms related to your niche into a free tool like Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMRush to find keywords to target and place them throughout your content in:

• URLs
• Page titles and descriptions
• Headings and subheadings
• Body content
• Image alt text
• Links

Design for mobile

With Visual Composer and most modern WordPress themes, mobile-friendliness comes as standard, so this isn’t something you’ll need to worry about, but it’s worth approaching the design of your website with mobile in mind. Mobile is now more popular than desktop and the way people interact on smaller screens (scrolling with thumbs rather than a mouse) is different. Make sure your portfolio is responsive so that it works seamlessly on every device.

You can test how your site works on mobile using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

And, to complement these tips, check out this blog post on building a strong online presence as an artist, which provides valuable insights and tips that can help you enhance your visibility in the digital world.

The things you’ll need to pay for

While building a website is free, hosting it online, unfortunately, isn’t. To put it live, you’ll need a domain name and hosting.

It’s possible to purchase these things separately or together. We suggest you pick up your domain name from your hosting provider as it’s cheaper and less hassle.

Choosing a domain name

The name for your portfolio website should be one that’s easy to find and promote and one that fits with your business. Not every domain you search for will be available so you may need to get creative.

Here are a few tips for picking the right name:

• Keep it short — avoid anything that can be mistyped or misspelled
• Make it memorable — a name that’s easy to remember is easy to share
• Make it easy to type — avoid slang words and alternative spellings (kleen as opposed to clean, for example)
• Use keywords — try to fit what you do into your name
• Stay clear of numbers and hyphens — they’re too easy to misplace and forget
• Go for .com if possible — it’s the most popular top-level domain (TLD) and the go-to for most people typing in your web address. If your service is confined to one place, you should also consider registering the TLD for your area, .co.uk, .au, .us, etc.

Choosing a web host

To save you the hassle of scouring the internet for a web host, we’ve listed our recommended options here. By far the easiest way to get started is to launch the free version of Visual Composer and the Starter theme on verified WordPress managed cloud hosting by Cloudways in just 1-click.

These are based on over 10 years of experience with various web hosts, with packages tested personally by us. They also offer the Visual Composer plugin as standard, making it that little bit easier to get your portfolio website live.

However, if you’d prefer to choose a web host of your own, here’s what any provider worth your time should offer:

• 99% or higher guaranteed uptime
• Security features to prevent your website from falling victim to hackers. You’ll also want an SSL certificate (the “s” in https) so that data sent over your website is encrypted.
• 24/7 support via phone, email, or live chat
• Backup options to ensure your content is safe in the event of a disaster
• Affordable pricing with packages to suit your budget
• Money-back guarantee in case you change your mind

If you’d like to read in-depth about choosing the right host for your website, we’ve covered everything you need to know in this blog post.

Summary

With WordPress, you can create a powerful, visually striking portfolio without any kind of technical expertise, for free. Yes, you will need to pay for a domain and to host your website online, but the actual process of building your site won’t cost a dime.

Follow the instructions in this post to install Visual Composer and start playing around with templates designs, focusing on the key elements: portfolio, about, and contact. Have fun with it — there are no free trial expiry dates or impending platform costs to worry about here, so take your time and build a site you’re completely happy with before going live.

And if you need help from us, we’re right here.