How to Make a Beautiful,
Effective Personal Website
56% of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool—however, only 7% of job seekers actually have a personal website.
- Forbes Leadership Forum, 2013
1. Header - The First Impression
Your site header is the first section of your website, that people will see as soon as they land. A good header will draw people into your site.
If your website is your first date with a potential client, then your header is their first impression of you. The goal is to draw them in, like a giant magnet. What you'll need to include:
- Name - (You got this.)
- Photo - A medium to close-up shot is best. Positive and professional!
- Background photo/video - Use your own, or find a free one that fits you.
- Title (optional*) - A casual greeting or short and sweet line about yourself, your work, maybe your location.
And that's it! No more. Well done.
Good Site Header Examples
Let's take a look at three different types of good header sections.
"Hi, I'm Gary Sheng."
Greeting style
This friendly greeting, combined with the smiling image, makes Gary come across as natural and genuine, similar to what you would expect in a great interview or coffee table conversation.
Matt Potter
Just the name
Having no title in your header creates intrigue and invites curiosity. Make sure you support it with a beautiful, stimulating graphic - Matt goes with an exciting, self-made background video.
'Digital Copywriter'
Descriptive title
If you can express one concisely, a straightforward byline never fails. Melissa pairs hers - 'Digital copywriter, skilled in customer service and finance' - with a fitting image of a typewriter.
2. Personal Branding Statement
Next up is your personal branding statement. This communicates your own vision of who you are, what you do, and what value you bring to the table. It should powerfully encapsulate your uniqueness - it should describe only you, and nobody else in the world. It is what every lame, tasteless "about me" fails to be.
Once formulated, your personal branding statement can be cited anywhere, anytime - on your website, on social platforms, and in real conversations. It should make a positive, unique, and lasting impression on others.
Here are 3 questions to help you brainstorm yours -
- What are my most important causes, endeavors and abilities?
- What five or ten words would I use to describe my true self?
- What value do I ultimately try to create for others?
Read up on our 5 tips to write a strong personal branding statement. In short - be conversational plus classy, write your statement in detachable parts, and reflect your core values and uniqueness.
Strong Personal Branding Statements
Take a look at these three solid examples and what they convey.
Andre Tacuyan
Aspiring Product Designer
I knew at a very young age that technology and design weren't going to be just passions, they'd be who I am. If I could describe the past few years in one word, I would say it was an evolution. Just like a Pokemon. I enjoy building beautiful products that connect people with one another. With a goal to make the world more simple, open and connected, I'm working on making the future come faster.
Charla Caponi
Marketing Extraordinaire who solves problems.
I am a high-impact marketing executive with a track record for building brand awareness, revitalizing under performing brands, and driving powerful marketing strategies on an international scale. I've conceived and executed programs impacting 25+ countries worldwide for brands including 55DSL, Diesel, and American Eagle.
Samir Goel
Entrepreneur | Consultant | Public Speaker
The next 15 years are an opportunity to create a new global agenda encompassing compassion, sustainable decision making, and greater collaboration between all sectors. Innovation and social entrepreneurship have no small part to play in this transition. I aspire to be a part of this global movement by bringing together different sectors to collaborate and inspiring others to pursue their passions.
3. Resume - Show Off 'The Works'
"The Works" : A vague expression referring to 'everything'. (Yahoo Answers)
Now that you've introduced yourself properly with your header and personal branding statement, it's time to show off 'the works'. For you, that's a mix of components such as -
- PDF Resume (via link or button)
- Work experience
- Educational background
- Past and current projects
- Awards & accolades
- List of skills
The choice of what to include depends on what want to convey about yourself. If you're a brand consultant or business developer, you should present a list of marketable skills, as well all your projects and experience; if you're a writer or academic, a skill listing probably isn't necessary but you should include your education history, as well as links to your published work and any awards or honors received.
Let's see how some of these resume sections might look on your page, starting with 'Experience'.
Experience
For listing experiences and education, a vertical list works well because it intuitively reflects chronological order...
Happiness Officer
2015 - Current
List your position and tenure, then introduce the company, and summarize your accomplishments and contributions. Don't forget to pair a logo with your description!
Formula SAE Racecar Driver
2014 Season
Engineering student and racecar driver Amy Chambers list her experience in a vertical timeline. She goes into detail, and embeds a video link of her most recent project.
Consultant
New York, NY
Ahmed Mirza chooses to highlight his location and activities with a more casual, unconventional vertical list entitled "some things I'm working on".
Education
... But a horizontal list can also work nicely, if your items are few enough to fit in one or two lines. This also prevent visitors from having to scroll down in order to view the entire section at once.
New York University
2012 - 2016 (expected)
If you're a current student, briefly describe what you're studying, and your expected year of graduation.
Bringham Young
2008 - 2012
Describe any programs or organizations you were involved in, and any honors or awards you may have received as well.
Nipmuc High School
2004 - 2008
High school can by all means be included; middle school and earlier are not typically necessary.
Projects & Passions
Whether directly related to your work or not, sharing your projects and passions is a great way to express your initiative, creativity, and that extra edge of personality and "wow" factor that potential clients and collaborators are always looking out for.
Provide an image or icon for each project, with relevant links.
Elaine Mau
Innovation Consultant
Elaine showcases a series of her work-related projects, each one concisely described and beautifully illustrated.
Sam Bays
Digital Strategist
Sam has his hand in a diverse mix of projects, from digital consultancy to career coaching to personal fitness. Impressive!
Hirofumi Ono
Venture Capitalist
Fumi is a venture capitalist, but proudly lists his marathons - any adventurous spirit would feel an instant connection.
Emily Penn
Skipper & Explorer
Emily's projects actually have their own landing pages - each one sounds like the exploration of a lifetime!
4. Add Quality Content
"Content is king" - grand words spoken by Bill Gates in 1996, which have since become a marketing slogan and reality. It's true - in an online context, content is the reason why people use search engines to begin with. Websites earn high rankings in search results, by having good content that people engage with.
The same principle applies to your personal website. The content you choose to include should be relevant to you, valuable to your audience, and visually appealing to attract visitors. We can't stress that last point enough. There is so much beautiful site content out there today - if yours looks like an error message from 1990, it simply won't compete. Content must be VISUAL. Content must be AWESOME.
Content Types
Let's think about content in three types - static, interactive, and ongoing - and then look at examples.
Static Content
Static content - such as beautiful header photos and image quotes - is timeless and reliable. It also helps balance out longer, busier content. For instance, too much rich media will overwhelm your visitors, and probably decrease page loading speed too.
Ongoing Content
'Ongoing' content sections - like a blog or social feed, or certain apps - are ones you update regularly. These are powerful ways to keep your audiences in the loop. Give them fresh, meaningful updates based on your unique thoughts and activities.
Add a Media Gallery
Media galleries let us all tell powerful visual stories of our lives and work. Think about Facebook or Instagram - photos and videos transcend barriers. Whatever your site goals are, adding a gallery is universally one of the best ways to engage your site visitors deeply and instantly.
Categorize, curate, and add captions to guide and entertain your visitors. Keep any gallery capped at 40 or 50 items maximum, otherwise it looks too overwhelming and no one will want to touch it.
Write a Blog
A blog gives you the chance to express yourself and reach others. You can share your passion, ideas, and expertise with anyone, whether it's your closest friends or new audiences across the world.
You will attract and keep readers if they find your blog a valuable source of information. So start by having a clear idea of who your target audience is - then, produce your best writing to address their hopes and needs. Aim at a regular posting schedule, and encourage feedback and interaction.
Learn more here about how and why to blog, including some free tools, design tips, and ways to drive traffic.
You will definitely want to pair an email list with your blog. You’ll get to grow and lead your readership with it, engaging them in a direct and meaningful way.
Embed Third-Party Applications
If you have quality content hosted on other 3rd-party apps, why not integrate and share it on your personal website? A good website builder or web designer can help you do this easily.
Here are some possibilities, among many more platforms you might be using -
Pinterest
Nancy Garcia - named one of San Francisco's top pinners - includes a minimal, straightforward Pintereset embed section on her site.
Slideshare
Michael Seibel presents slideshows of his advice on starting a tech company, plus an introduction of the renowned startup incubator Y Combinator.
Soundcloud
Mike Ellison lets you stream his music directly from his page; you can also follow any of the embedded links to check out his Soundcloud profile.
5. Back Yourself Up With Testimonials
"To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved." - George Macdonald
Recommendations add a dimension of credibility and appeal to you. Back yourself up with two to five references. Don't be afraid to ask for them if you don't yet have any.
Keep testimonials short and sweet! It's great that you're great, but even so, no one wants to read more than a few sentences about how great you are. An epic Greek poem, a Shakespearean love sonnet - not the right place. We're looking more for a haiku, or a fortune cookie here.
Overdo them, and they will backfire on you; serve them light, and testimonials will delight.
Presenting Your Testimonials
Present your testimonials in a paragraph, moving slider, or horizontal listing (shown below). Include professional headshot for your referrers if possible, with their positions clearly indicated.
Anna Kraskovskaya
Product Manager
Strikingly is super user-friendly, free to use, and an effective way to drive interest towards you with just one link."
Charla Caponi
Marketing Executive
"With not a lot of tech skills and little time, Strikingly was the perfect option for me to bring my CV to life, and highlight the projects I have spearheaded.
Kyle Potter
Photographer
Strikingly provides the tools for me to display my high-definition content in a bold and truly striking way."
6. CTAs -
Let People Take Action!
A beautiful site will turn heads your way - but an effective site will also move people to action.
The Call-to-Action is your closer, your dealmaker. Insert appropriate CTAs onto your site, especially towards the end, after your site visitors have seen what you are about and developed a positive understanding of you.
What type of CTAs to use, and where and how to place them, will again depend on your goals for having a personal website. But here are some common CTAs -
- Email and social media buttons
- Contact and feedback form
- Signup form for email updates
Let's examine these CTA examples in more detail.
Add Email and Social Buttons
Place big, juicy buttons to let people contact you via email, social media and other platforms like LinkedIn or Youtube. Make sure to embed links into the icons, so visitors can reach you in one click.
Adding a social feed helps as a form of contact CTA, but you'll still want social buttons at the bottom of your site because they're more focused and obvious, leading your site visitors to clearer actions.
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
7. SEO & Sharing
We're almost there - well done making it so far. By this point your site should be more or less completed, and it's time to share it with the world.
You'll want to perform a few SEO (search engine optimization) tweaks - we especially recommend investing in a custom domain - and then, let's go through a final checklist to make sure the most important elements of your site are all in order.
When everything is ready, you'll share your site across social media and to your email contacts, in addition to adding your site link in a few other places.
SEO Tips
Doing a bit of search engine optimization will make your site more highly ranked and visible on Google, Bing, Yahoo and so on. This step is important for those of you whose goal is to be found by recruiters or new audiences.
Take a look at Quicksprout's chapter or Moz's beginner guide to learn more about SEO. Otherwise, here are some easy but effective SEO tweaks -
Write a descriptive title
The title is the main thing your viewer will notice in their search results. Make it attractive - “Johnny’s Bakery – Fresh Baked in San Francisco”, not just “Johnny’s Shop.”
Add image descriptions
Since search engines don’t understand images, image descriptions help them index your images and by extension your site. Also known as adding HTML “alt” tags.
Put keywords in headings
Search engines give additional weight to headings, so you should add descriptive keywords into them. For instance, “About Johnny’s Bakery” is better than “About” .
Page description and meta tags
Fill in as much info as you can for your page description and meta tags. Your description should be several sentences long, with several meta tags.
Social & Email Sharing
No point playing it small, after all the work you've put into your site - time to blast it out there! Shout out on social media, send an email out to all your relevant contacts, and add your site link into your email signature as well as any other platforms you're on.
The first time you share your site is important. Pick a good timing for maximum visibility and impact, such as the weekend or a weeknight after people get off work.
Shout out on social media!
"Morning everyone - Check out new website! (www.mysite.com) "
"Here's my newest blog post - if you want more, please sign up and follow me at (www.mysite.com). Thanks guys!"
"I've updated (www.mysite.com) - how do you guys like the new layout?"
Add your site link everywhere.
From now on, your website is your online front, your office, your home. So publicize it everywhere you can!
LinkedIn, Elance, Youtube... Add your site link to your profile, on all other community platforms you're on.
Send out an email -
"Hi -- (everyone),
I've created a new personal website - (www.mysite.com). Hope you have a look, and let me know if you'd like to set up a conversation!
Sincerely,
----------
Me
(www.mysite.com)
