Why You Need a Personal Website
A LinkedIn profile is a resume. It's formatted like everyone else's, it shows up in search results alongside your competitors, and you control almost nothing about how you're presented.
A portfolio website is something else entirely. It's a gallery, a pitch, and a story—all in one package, presented exactly the way you want. It's where you control the narrative.
Whether you're a designer sharing visual work, a developer showcasing projects, a writer building a body of work, or any other kind of creative professional, a personal site signals that you're serious about what you do. It's the difference between renting space on someone else's platform and owning your own corner of the internet.
Starting with Vision
Before you write any prompts, get clear on what you want. The best portfolio sites have a distinct point of view. They don't try to be everything—they have a vibe.
Are you minimal and refined? Black and white with lots of whitespace? Or are you bold and experimental, with surprising layouts and unusual typography?
The answer should reflect both your personal aesthetic and the kind of clients or opportunities you want to attract. A designer targeting luxury brands should present differently than one targeting tech startups.
Prompt:"Create a modern portfolio website for a graphic designer. I want a bold, high-contrast black and white theme with pops of neon lime green as an accent color. Include a hero section with giant typography for my name, a masonry grid gallery for my work, and an 'About Me' section that explains my background and approach."
The Core Components
Almost every effective portfolio has four essential parts. Each one plays a specific role in moving visitors from "who is this?" to "I want to work with them."
The Hero: First Impressions
Your hero section introduces you before anyone scrolls. It should answer two questions immediately: who are you, and what do you do?
Don't be clever at the expense of clarity. "Visual storyteller crafting narratives through design" is vaguer than "Graphic Designer, based in Brooklyn." You want visitors to understand within three seconds what you're about.
The Work Section: Show, Don't Tell
This is the core of your portfolio. Your projects, presented well, are more persuasive than any amount of text describing your skills.
Use a grid layout that treats your work with respect. Each thumbnail should be high-quality. The grid should be organized in a way that showcases your range while maintaining visual coherence.
About: The Human Behind the Work
People hire people, not skill sets. Your about section should give visitors a sense of who you are, what drives you, and what makes your perspective unique.
This doesn't mean writing your autobiography. A few well-crafted paragraphs that connect the dots of your career—where you've been, what you've learned, what you care about—are more compelling than a detailed chronology.
Contact: Make It Easy
If someone wants to work with you, don't make them hunt for a way to reach out. Your contact information should be obvious and easy to use. A simple form, an email address, social links—whatever fits your workflow.
Customization and Iteration
The first version BYOB generates won't be final. That's fine—it's not supposed to be. Think of it as a starting point you can refine.
Adding projects:"Add a new portfolio item to the grid called 'Brand Identity for Finch.' Use a placeholder image for now, but describe it as a complete rebranding project for a fintech startup including logo, color system, and marketing materials."Refining the visual style:
"The accent color feels too corporate. Change it from blue to neon lime green (#ccff00). Also, add a subtle zoom effect when hovering over project cards—they should scale up about 5%."
Each refinement takes seconds. Experiment freely until the site feels right.
Expanding Beyond Basics
Once your core portfolio is working, consider adding depth that positions you as more than just someone with a nice grid of images.
SEO: Getting Found
A beautiful portfolio is useless if no one finds it. Search engine optimization isn't mysterious—it's about giving Google the information it needs to understand what your site is about.
Prompt:"Optimize the site for SEO. Add meta tags focusing on 'Freelance Graphic Designer' and 'Brand Identity Design.' Set up proper Open Graph images so the site looks good when shared on LinkedIn and Twitter. Make sure all images have alt text describing what they show."
Beyond the technical basics, the best SEO strategy is simply having good content that people want to link to. Case studies, blog posts, and a portfolio of impressive work all contribute to your site's authority over time.
Build It
Your portfolio will improve as you add projects and refine your presentation. Every new piece of work is an opportunity to strengthen your case.
BYOB removes the technical overhead so you can focus on what actually matters: showcasing what you do. You don't need to understand CSS grid or responsive design. You describe what you want, and it gets built.
Start with the basics. Get something live. Then iterate as you learn what resonates.
Start building your portfolio