Creating a Portfolio Website
These days when it’s easier than ever to create a website, every artist (or in our case – animator) needs their own professional portfolio website to show off their work.
That’s the way you get noticed, and eventually hired.
The problem is that most people are intimidated by the process and often resort to having their work shown on free websites (such as Wix) which aren’t very professional looking.
In this section I’m going to take you step by step and show you how to create a portfolio website with your own domain name (johnAnimator.com).
We’ll go through everything from buying your own domain name to installing free Wordpress templates to make the site look awesome.
Step 1: Choosing a Hosting Service
When using your own domain instead of a free site, you’re going to need some kind of hosting service.
Hosting just refers to the place where your site is stored. It’s usually cheap and you only need to pay once a year. There are many hosting companies out there, most of them are decent.
My favorite one is Blue Host (this is the one I use for the Bloop Animation site), since it’s one of the most used ones out there and they have great customer service. They’re also very cheap.
To get started with Blue Host and follow along with the steps in this section simply go to bluehost.com (or your chosen hosting site).
Step 2: Getting a Domain
I’ve already explained the importance of having your own domain name, so now we’re gonna pick one.
After pressing the Sign Up Now button you’ll have to provide a domain name.
Enter whatever name you want in the ‘I Need a Domain Name’ box and press next.
If that domain is available you should be directed to the payment screen. If the domain isn’t available you will be offered some alternatives such as ‘.net’ or ‘.org’ versions of your desired domain name, but I would try find a ‘.com’ if possible.
If you’re using your own name (since this is a portfolio site) it should be available.
Some suggestions in case it’s unavailable:
- johndoeanimation.com
- johndoeportfolio.com
- johndoereel.com
- johndoeart.com
You get the gist…
Step 3: Paying
You usually get a better deal for signing up for a longer period. Blue Host, for example, will charge you around $7/month if you sign up for a year, but if you sign up for 3 years in advance you’ll pay only around $5/month.
I signed for only a year because I didn’t want to commit to a service provider before I knew what they are like, but you can choose whatever time period works for you.
Other providers might have different offers, but they are all pretty similar.
Step 4: Activating WordPress
After finishing payment, you will be logging in to your account. There, under the ‘Home‘ tab you should see a button named “Install WordPress” in the ‘Website‘ box.
After that, you’ll be walked through a few self-explanatory screens and at the end – WordPress will be installed on your site.
It’s important to understand that WordPress is just the platform on which themes can be installed. Those themes determine the way your website will look and function.
Step 5: Installing a Theme
WordPress comes with 3 themes already included. To activate one of them go to Appearance ->Themes.
Then pick the theme you want to use and click on ‘Activate‘.
These themes are free, and are not bad, but if you want to have an amazing looking portfolio, I suggest checking out our Best WordPress Portfolio Themes list.
Also check out our step by step video tutorial on how to install a WordPress theme.
Step 6: Adding content (Placing your demo reel on the home page)
There are a few ways to have your demo reel displayed in the Home page, but the easiest one just to get started is to go to Posts -> Add New.
Give the post a title (such as “My Demo Reel“) and in the content box just paste a YouTube/Vimeo link. When you’re done, press ‘Publish‘ (the blue button on the right).
You can play around with the design a bit to make it nicer, but keep in mind that you want to have your reel front and center on the HOME page of your site.
Don’t make people click on some “demo reel” tab. Have it be the first thing they see when opening your site.
The main purpose of this portfolio site is to show off your work, so don’t forget that.
