Portfolios showcase your best work samples, demonstrate your skills, and add flair to your usual résumé and overall job application. If you opt for digital portfolios, there are already several ways to create one. You can design portfolios using templates in presentation and slideshow apps. You can also explore online graphic design tools that have drag-and-drop features and ready-made layouts.

Today, however, we are going to talk more about personal websites as they are a much popular trend when it comes to portfolios. Everybody seems to have a website where they display their projects, right? Even so, here are three reasons why you should not hop on this trend and utilise a digital portfolio platform instead.

1. Usability problems

Creating a personal website may require substantial effort and time even with the help of website builders. Although you can easily make a website with these apps, choosing from hundreds of templates may be overwhelming for first-time users, which can lead to terrible design mistakes. Moreover, if you want a unique theme or some extra features, you may need to code it yourself.

A digital portfolio platform frees you from usability worries. Sign up for an account, add your projects, fill out the necessary info, and you are all set! Its customisation functions may be limited, but this can be an advantage, too. Keep reading to know why!

2. Over-customisation

You can personalise a website in any way you want. Website builders also provide you with various themes ready for use to help you realise your branding. For all that, you would still have to consider the design aesthetic as you do not want a complicated layout, and this is one common problem with personal websites. 

A digital portfolio platform presents your work straightforwardly. There are no complex design elements that may distract potential recruiters; it is the content that matters. Nonetheless, in portfolio platforms like Outwiths, you can still build your personal branding by uploading a video résumé, getting creative in the “About Me” section, or decorating your projects with artistic cover images! Read this related article to learn more about Outwiths, the first digital portfolio platform specially made for STEM talents.

3. Accessibility issues

When you want to add or remove a project from your portfolio website, you would typically need a laptop or computer, more particularly if the changes involve coding. Further, editing websites can affect the content, for example, a chunk of blank space could be left out, or the mobile view would not be as user-friendly as it seems.

A digital portfolio platform allows you to readily make changes, whether you are using your desktop, smartphone, or tablet, and without any coding necessary.

Conclusion

Overall and over time, portfolio websites are more difficult to set up, maintain, design, and access (along with presentation apps and other graphic design tools, actually). If you want efficiency and effectiveness, we definitely recommend that you ditch a personal website and decide on a digital portfolio platform in showcasing your projects. Besides, digital portfolio platforms are designed for that particular purpose, aren’t they? *wink*
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