How To Create a Personal Website in 9 Steps

To design a personal website, get clear on your purpose, choose the right website builder, and employ user-first design to engage your target audience.

For as long as the World Wide Web has existed, personal websites have been one of the best ways for small businesses and solopreneurs to establish an online identity. Although social media platforms can help facilitate connections and job leads, they don’t afford the kind of customization options that a personal website has. The DIY ethos of a personal website is the perfect vehicle for conveying a unique presence and showcasing expertise.

Learn why personal websites are a good idea and how to step into the process of website creation.

What is a personal website?

A personal website is a set of web pages that is an expression of your identity. In the early days of the web, personal websites were places for sharing hobbies and pictures of pets. As the internet matured and easy-to-use website builders emerged, the personal website became more of a personal advertisement for one’s professional self. The site pages describe who you are and what you do—your skills, experiences, passions, and personality—presented in an engaging format.

Unlike social media profiles like LinkedIn, which box you in with limited customization options, a personal website offers more control over the content and web design. Personal websites have other useful purposes, allowing you to:

• Curate an online portfolio. Show and tell your best work.

• Turbocharge your résumé. Add value to your résumé with links to projects you’ve worked on, items from your online portfolio, relevant images, and other multimedia.

• Build your personal brand. Fine tune your page layouts, typography, images, and writing style to convey your personal brand.

• Open communication channels. Share contact info to cultivate leads and new career opportunities.

Why create a personal website?

Personal websites are a great way to present a creative professional’s personality and vision. They are popular across the career spectrum: job seekers, freelancers, and solopreneurs have strong incentives to publish a personal website too.

There are many compelling reasons to create a personal website:

• Showcase expertise. Establish yourself as an expert in the field.

• Curate your best work. Display your best work in an organized and professional manner.

• Brand customization. Get full control of how you promote your personal brand identity.

• Increase visibility. Allow potential clients, employers, and collaborators to find you through search engines.

• Improve accessibility. Leverage the 24/7 accessibility of the web to extend your availability by providing a Contact page for easy outreach.

Essential components of a personal website

A personal website should have a combination of these essential components:

• Homepage. If you’re just starting out, this might be your website’s only page. (There’s nothing wrong with starting with a one-page website.) Regardless, put careful thought into the design of this page so that it makes a strong first impression.

• Easy navigation. The best personal website examples will be concise and easy to navigate. A hamburger menu can be used to simplify navigation to the various pages.

• Ways to get in touch. Include a Contact page (or contact information) to make it easy for potential clients or employers to get in touch with you. Consider also adding call-to-action (CTA) buttons throughout to encourage visitors to reach out.

• Information about you. Include a short professional biography, telling your personal story and strategically presenting your skills and experiences.

• Portfolio or résumé. Document your professional accomplishments and show your best work—whichever is most relevant to you. A new job seeker, for example, might highlight career achievements, while a freelance graphic designer might curate a portfolio website to showcase their work to new clients.

• Testimonials. If you’re selling products or services, add some testimonials to the website footer to appeal to prospective customers.

• Blog. Use this space to show off your writing skills and visual style. But keep the content tailored to your target audience and overall goals.

How to create a personal website

1. Define the purpose
2. Choose the right website builder
3. Look for inspiration
4. Select a template style
5. Customize the web design and content
6. Make it mobile-friendly
7. Optimize for SEO
8. Test before publishing
9. Promote your site

Here’s a basic step-by-step guide to creating your own personal website:

1. Define the purpose

The goals of your website will guide your content and site structure. If the goal is finding clients, add an easy-access contact form and testimonials to build credibility. If the goal is showcasing work, include a portfolio with detailed case studies, image and video galleries, and explanatory descriptions. To build an online presence, add blog posts that share your thoughts and promote your business, and a bio and résumé on the About Me page.

2. Choose the right website builder

Pick a web hosting option and website builder that you’re comfortable with. The platform should have a robust infrastructure for reliability, performance, and security. This includes considering the type of hosting and security features, such as multi-cloud hosting for uptime and security monitoring. The Shopify platform provides tools like a world-class website builder to customize and launch a professional website while simplifying the process so you can focus on bringing your ideas to fruition.

3. Look for inspiration

Before designing and building your own website, you can draw inspiration from the best personal website examples from your field. Notice how they are tailored to the individual’s target audience, how effectively a homepage can grab attention, how typography conveys a sense of style, and how the writing style balances a professional tone with some degree of personal voice.

4. Select a template style

Choose a website template with page layout options, colors, and typography that matches your personal brand guidelines and content needs. Some common template styles include minimalist design, one-page websites, web portfolios, blog-focused templates, and templates with interactive or unique typography. Explore these Shopify themes to get an idea of the possibilities.

5. Customize the web design and content

Start building out your site by writing your bio or About page, describing the samples of your best work, writing your first personal blog post (if you’re including a blog), and adding contact information.

Once you have a sense of your content, you can begin customizing your template design, adjusting certain elements to align with your personal brand:

• Color scheme. Consider the basic principles of color psychology, which is the study of how colors affect human behavior and emotions. To find the perfect colors that match your brand personality, ask yourself: Am I lively and energetic? Calm and sophisticated? Cool and analytical? You can play with different combinations using an online color palette generator tool.

• Typography. The best fonts for your brand and intended audience might vary drastically from someone else’s site, so don’t be afraid to experiment until you find one that works for you.

• Imagery. Consider adding an eye-catching full-screen image on the homepage. It instantly grabs attention, communicates brand identity, and invites engagement. Just make sure the image is high quality, sized appropriately for web and mobile display, and is relevant to the audience.

Remember to approach each element with user-first thinking. Who is likely to be visiting your site, and what do they need to see? Then make it easy for them to find their way.

6. Make it mobile-friendly

With 62% of web traffic coming from mobile devices these days, it’s essential that your own website is mobile-friendly. When you make your site adaptable to multiple screen sizes, you are using responsive design. Use a website builder with built-in responsive features, like flexible grids and scalable images, so the website appears and performs consistently on many device types. Using a mobile editor will automatically optimize the design for both desktop and mobile. Tweak the design so that your text is still legible and the menus easy to navigate.

7. Optimize for SEO

Prepare your site for search engine optimization (SEO) to improve your ranking in search engines. Find the right set of keywords for your website by asking yourself: What searches do I want to show up for? Use a keyword research tool to help, eliminating irrelevant topics and focusing on core themes. Then, analyze topics to uncover nuances in keyword types, user intents, and search queries. Keywords should appear organically (never forced) within headings, subheadings, body text, image alt text, and meta descriptions.

If your audience is local, add location-based keywords to improve visibility in local search results. If your business involves in-person work—for example, if you offer painting lessons—include localized phrases like “painting lessons in [your city].”

Dedicated SEO tools can walk you through a personalized SEO plan, from composing alt text for images to indexing your personal website on Google. How intensive the SEO process becomes can depend on the frequency of your name being used and the level of competition in your industry. If your name is common, targeting long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) can help you differentiate your site from similar ones.

8. Test before publishing

Preview your website to check for typos, broken links, and functionality. Get second opinions from trusted friends and family members. Make the necessary tweaks before hitting the publish button. Ask questions like:

• Does the website clearly communicate my personal brand and expertise?

• Does the site have a cohesive visual language, including color scheme and font choices?

• Is it easy to navigate?

• Is the content readable?

• Are the testimonials persuasive?

• Is the contact information easy to find?

• When you view the site on your phone, does it feel mobile-friendly?

9. Promote your site

Once your personal site is up, get the word out via:

• Social media. Post about your new site on your personal social media accounts with a CTA that inspires friends and family to share your site, send referrals, or sign up for your newsletter.

• Email marketing. Share your website with your email contact list and consider asking people to pass your website along to others. Add a link to your website on your email signature as well.

• Guest posting. If you plan on maintaining a blog on your site, ask other professionals in your industry if you can write a guest post on their blog in exchange for a post on your blog. This way both parties receive backlinks, which can positively affect search engine rankings.

• Business cards. Add your site URL or QR code to your business card that links to your personal site.

Personal website FAQ

What makes a great personal website?

A great personal website is designed to be clear and engaging. It features compelling body copy reflective of your skills, experience, and credibility. It should be mobile-friendly, optimized for search engines, and updated often.

How can I create my personal website?

Define your message, choose a suitable template, add your own website content, and customize the design so it works great on desktop and mobile. Also make a wise choice of your website infrastructure—one that is easy to use, reliable, and secure.

Is it worth making a personal website?

Absolutely. A well-designed personal website is a great personal tool for showcasing your work, sharing your story, and connecting with potential customers, employers, and clients. Use it to build relationships and position yourself as a thought leader.