{"id":40806,"date":"2020-07-09T09:51:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T14:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/layout\/?p=40806"},"modified":"2023-03-23T09:57:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T14:57:09","slug":"client-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/client-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"The Client-Converting Portfolio: 22-Point Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This guest post was written by Preston Lee, founder of Millo. To learn more about Millo,\u00a0visit their website<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are primarily two philosophies regarding portfolios I\u2019ve seen among agencies and freelancers in my experience over the last decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First are agencies who have a portfolio primarily because they believe they should. Their portfolio looks nice, makes them feel good about their work, and gives them something simple to send clients who happen to ask for examples of former work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll call this a \u201cshowcase portfolio<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second are agencies who use their portfolio as a way to get clients, as a sales tool\u2014not a place to highlight how talented they are. These agencies focus the content and structure of their portfolio entirely on what clients want to see and hear in order to hire the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll call this a \u201cconversion portfolio.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showcasing vs. Converting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where the \u201cshowcase\u201d agency spends entire afternoons working on the JavaScript animations to make their images slide onto the page in a really slick way, the \u201cconversion\u201d agency spends the afternoon honing the copywriting that convinces a client to sign a check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where the \u201cshowcase portfolio\u201d includes dozens of creative projects from the agency\u2019s history, the \u201cconversion portfolio\u201d focuses on just a handful of the most applicable projects to their core target client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cshowcase portfolio\u201d says \u201cwe or I\u201d a lot. The \u201cconversion portfolio\u201d says \u201cyou,\u201d speaking to and about the client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cshowcase portfolio\u201d is used as a way to get more blog readers, email subscribers, or Instagram followers in addition to new clients. The \u201cconversion portfolio\u201d has one goal: getting more clients<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why \u201cShowcasing\u201d is the Default<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve seen examples of what we’re talking about\u2014portfolios that focus way more on their looks than they do on their ability to convert a client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s not like anyone intentionally<\/em> says to themselves or their boss \u201clet\u2019s design a portfolio that looks really amazing, but has a terrible conversion rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another reason \u201cshowcasing\u201d seems to be the status quo in portfolio design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we were to ask you to brainstorm ideas for a new portfolio right now, what would you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d ask Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While asking Google may be a fine starting place, what happens far too often is an agency then pieces together the \u201cperfect\u201d portfolio from a wishlist generated by looking at dozens of other portfolio sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So if a fancy \u201cshowcase portfolio\u201d you find through a Google search has social media buttons to build their following, it\u2019s only natural to say \u201cah, yes. We should include our social buttons too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And thus continues the cycle of focusing on features and aesthetics instead of conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing Better Than the Status Quo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The mission today is to help you and your agency stand out from the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll do that by sharing a simple client-converting portfolio checklist complete with everything you should (and shouldn\u2019t) do when designing a \u201cconversion portfolio\u201d and winning more clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Checklist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The checklist is broken down into a few key factors that will impact how successful your portfolio is at converting visitors into paying clients. These factors will have the biggest impacts on your conversion rate. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n