Until recently, a resume and cover letter were enough to land you your dream job. Today, things are different.
Until recently, a resume and cover letter were enough to land you your dream job. Today, things are different.
After researching dozens of personal websites, I’ve discovered there are seven things you should include on your personal website:
1. An about me section
2. Contact info and social media accounts
3. A portfolio describing the work you do
4. A resume
5. A blog
6. Testimonials or praise from customers, clients or supervisors
7. A recent photo
Before we explore each of these components in greater detail, let’s consider why you’re building this site. Think about the goal you’re trying to achieve with your personal website.
In many cases, people want a personal website to help them grow within their profession. That might mean building credibility by publishing articles on emerging trends, or it could be a place to showcase your skillset to perspective employers.
Your personal website gives you a platform to share all your information, both formal and informal more broadly than you could with a resume or even with a Linkedin profile.
With your traditional resume, you are only able to share academic details, your hobbies, your skills, and personal information. Your personal website gives you the platform to share more than that. It explains who you really are in a better and comprehensive way than a simple resume.
Alright, it’s time to dive in! So what exactly are the components of a personal website?
The 7 components of a personal website
1. About me
Your about me section is where you introduce yourself to your visitors. Think about what you want to communicate here. Are you looking for a new role? Maybe you have a small business you’re running. How do you want to brand yourself? You have complete license to share exactly what you want to share on this site. Be clear about what you’re about and what your site’s about.
Often this is the home page or “landing page” of your website. It’s the page people see first when they get to your website. For an example of a personal website about me section, click here.
2. Contacts and/ or Social Media Information
If you’re sharing information about yourself and have engaged your visitor, it’s important to give your visitors a way to contact you. At a minimum you should include an email address in your contact section. If you’re worried about collecting a lot of spam, I recommend you set up a free email account that you use with this site.
Most hosting companines like the one I use, Bluehost, offers a free email with your hosting package. I forward this email to my gmail account so that all of my emails come to one central box.
I’ve had a personal site for seven years and have not been overwhelmed with spam.
You may also consider adding links to your social media profiles. There are a lot of free plugins that are very easy to use. I include links to my active accounts only.
For example, I have a facebook account, but I look at it only once or twice per year, so I wouldn’t add this to my contact section. I am much more active with Linkedin and Twitter, so I include those accounts here.
Finally, I include a way for people to schedule a 15 minute introduction with me using a tool called calendy.
3. Portfolio
The portfolio section is important, too. Think about what you put here through the lens of a visitor to your site. Why did they find you? Do you run a business, have a great cause, or are you a great candidate for a job?
Your portfolio will be interesting to your visitors if your include information about you that’s relevant to them. Include a portfolio that showcases your work.
For example, if you are a photographer, post a gallery of your work. If you’re a sales person, share a description of your skills and awards you’ve earned. If you run a small business, consider sharing a profile of your company and the services you offer. This is a great place to link to relevant videos you may have posted.
4. Resume
A personal website is not complete without your resume — especially if you are looking for a new role. A recruiter may review the websites of many candidates.
If you have a resume page on your site, a visitor can quickly see the highlights of your academic qualifications, your skills, recognition you’ve received and the roles you’ve held.
If you have your resume posted on your website in a way that’s easily downloaded, the recruiting professional can download.
An easy way to give visitors access to your resume is to provide a link to your dropbox account or to your google drive account. These folders can be locked so visitors don’t have access to your other files in these drives.
5. Your Blog
A Blog is something important to add to your personal website. A well-designed blog helps you share information with others. The aim of the information should be to demonstrate your skills and knowledge to educate others.
I find that writing my blog – and I don’t post consistently on my personal site – helps me clarify my thoughts about important topics in my industry and business.
6. Testimonials
If you’re looking for a way to establish credibility in your space quickly, consider having a testimonial section on your personal site. This is a place where you can include short quotes from those you’ve worked with, or you could include full throated recommendations from colleagues, supervisors or customers.
On my site, I refer visitors to my linkedin profile for this type of information. I find this platform is pretty robust.
Over time, I will consider migrating some of these comments to my site. Of course, I recommend getting permission from the person you’re quoting before publishing their comments on your site.
7. Your Picture
Who are you? Although you have given a lot of information about you, your visitor will benefit from seeing your picture. It humanizes the site and the information you’ve provided.
If you’re looking for a position, you should include a professional head shot. This can be the same photo you use on Linkedin. This will give you a consistent look across platforms.
If you choose, you can include more fun photos, too. These photos further humaize your site and make you more approachable.
BONUS: Company-specific page
If you run a business, either place links to your company website on your about me page and your contact page, or include a separate section on your website that hightlights your company.
This page should clearly show what the visitor can expect by working with you and exactly why they should do so. This section should also have a clear call to action – something you want the visitor to do as a result of visiting this section of your website. Examples of the call to action may be to give you thier email address so you can send them information they’re requesting, to schedule a quick introductory meeting, to like your company facebook page, or to follow you on social media.
Your personal website is a tool that will help you achieve your professional and personal goals. Keep uploading any information that your readers will find relevant and useful.
Updating the data is also essential. Outdated information on your website will give your visitors a negative impression of your site and of you.
Best of luck with your new personal website!