How to Write Better Copy for Your Design Portfolio

Design Copy

Many designers out there literally hate almost anything that has to do with writing. But the truth is that design is all about storytelling and communication just as writing is, and so writing the perfect copy for your design portfolio should not freak you out.

Design conveys messages through visual hierarchy while writing does the same via the perfect choice of words as well as paragraph structure. Combine and using these two disciplines when creating your design portfolio will help you to mesmerize your target audience as you communicate your story.

Why is Text Important in Your Design Portfolio?

The first thing you should bear in mind is that your website is most likely going to receive a lot of non-designer visitors, either via ads or search engines. These set of audience may be impressed by your breathtaking designs, but they need to know more than images.

You see, most of these potential clients don’t know jack about design as you do. They don’t even know what makes one designer different from the other, what styles they want, etc. All they know is that they need a creative professional to work for them.

They will be browsing your site to assure themselves that you are fit for the project they have in mind. And the best way to convince these non-designer clients is by demonstrating – via your well-written design portfolio – your credibility as a professional. An excellent copy can help you to achieve that as it helps in convincing clients that they are making the right decision by hiring your services even if they don’t know what they want yet.

As you can see, you can take your design portfolio to another level by using copy, which shows your thought processes as well as your communication and problem-solving skills. Potential clients will know more about you and be more willing to work with you over another designer whose portfolio is full of nothing but pretty images.

How Then Do You Write Your Copy?

Now that you know writing the perfect copy for your design portfolio will drive leads for new business opportunities, here is how to write flawlessly, starting from the home page of your website:

Home Page – Introduction

They say, “First impressions matter a lot,” and this is true when it comes to the “Home” page of any website. This is the first page that your online visitors will land on, and so it should have carefully-constructed text which incorporates multiple conversion factors.

These factors should encourage these potential clients to either get in touch with you or check out the other pages of your site while enthralling them with your unique story.

Do not be excessively extravagant or conceptual; a couple of well-constructed lines will suffice. Your potential clients need to understand what you are all about pretty quickly, or they will lose their patience and click away to a competitor’s website.

The following elements are crucial and must be included on the home page of your design portfolio website:

Heading
Slider Content (via the use of themes with sliders)
Featured Items
Testimonials from Clients
Opt-in Form to Receive Email Newsletters

The “About Us” or “About Me” Page

If you have piqued their interest on your “Home” page, the next page most prospective clients will visit is the “About” page. This is where you get to add more information about you, and the best way to do this is by separating it into several pieces, starting with:

Who You Are and Why You Ventured into the Design
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Explaining what you do in a clear and simple language

The “Services” Page

This is where you display the service(s) you offer and how you provide them. An excellent “Service” page should include the following:

An eye-catching headline (which bears your #1 keyword)
A subheading (created for each of your offers)
A brief paragraph – or two – that describes each of the services you offer as well as a call to action to contact you after each one.

Some creative professionals recommend creating one page per service area. If this is the route you want to follow, the content on each service page should display the following:

A super-catchy heading (with bears your #1 keyword)
A brief description of the service on that particular page
Three or more “Feature Items” which draw undivided attention to the compelling and highly unique elements that you incorporate into the service you provide

Use Casual Language

Casual forms of communication do a lot more than formal ones. When you keep things too formal, mental barriers are reared up between you and your prospective clients. So, do away with formalities when writing the copy for your design portfolio.

And this usually means using a conversational tone. Talk to your potential clients as if you are talking to an individual using the word “you.” This has the power to hold the attention of the reader while they subconsciously read or “listen” to what you have to say.

Always go straight to the point so that readers who love skimming content won’t miss a beat — front-load all the benefits – in bullet points and beside attention-grabbing images – as well as relevance.

And on a final note, remember these when creating the perfect copy for your design portfolio:

You should only sell a story that you know thoroughly
Always think “salesmanship” when penning down every word
Ensure the structure of your copy appeals to people who are easily distracted
Let your copy appeal to both the emotions and business brain of prospective customers

So, now that you know how to create the perfect copy for your design portfolio, it’s time to sit down in front of your computer and start pounding away!