If you're a creator a portfolio website can be a great way to show off your work and win new customers. In this article I'm going to share with your how to create a portfolio website using the WebStarts website builder.

To create a portfolio website you're going to want o start of by creating an account at WebStarts.com. You're also going to want some quality images of your work. You can't go wrong hiring a professional photographer but the camera on your phone will work well too.

The first thing you're going to do when signing up for a WebStarts account is select a website template. You can search for a template by category, or you can search by functionality. For example, you can select a template with an integrated blog or ecommerce store. All the templates WebStarts provides are 100% customizable and can be changed at any time. So don't be afraid to make a decision. 

When signing up for a WebStarts account you'll be asked for your name, email address, and select a password. WebStarts is based in the cloud, so there's no software to install, just login from any connected device.

After you've confirmed you've confirmed your sign up information you'll be prompted to choose a web address. This is where you can choose to use either a free .webstarts.com address or use a top level domain name like a .com, .org, or .net web address. Keep in mind if you choose the option to use a top level domain name you'll be required to subscribe to a paid plan before it can be connected.

For the sake of getting started select the option to skip the web address step. This will let you skip to the dashboard where you can begin making edits and changes to the pages of your website. You can always go back and change your free .webstarts.com web address later by clicking the edit icon to the right of the web address displayed on the dashboard.

To edit the content of the pages of your website you're going to want to hover over the thumbnail image of your website and click Edit Site. This will open the page editor to the home page of your site.

Each page of your site is divided into sections. The top section is called the header, the bottom section is called the footer, and the space in between is called the body. Design elements are all the things you put on a page like text and images. Dragging design elements into the header and footer appear in that same location on each page of your website. That way people who visit your site always know where to find your logo, site name, and website navigation.

You can add all kinds of design elements to your website but in the case of making a portfolio webiste a gallery is perhaps the most important. Both galleries and slideshows are terrific design elements you can add to your website for showing of images of your work.

To add a photo gallery to your website alll you need to do is use the smart handles to create a little space and then drag the photo gallery into that space on your page. The photo gallery will be prepopulted to give you an idea of what it will look like.

Once you've placed the photo gallery where you want it to appear, click the edit icon to swap out the default photos with the images of your work. Click on the trash can icon to delete the placeholder images and click add photos to add your own images either from your local computer or the file manager.

You can add both photos and videos to a gallery. You can give each photo and video it's very own title and description that will be displayed when someone clicks on a photo or video displayed on your published website.

You can change the appearance of your gallery by clicking on the style icon. This will let you do things like add a border, adjust the space between your images, add effects, and a whole lot more.

Clicking on the settings icon will let you change the image scaling, number of columns, as well as enter the exact height and width of the gallery in pixels. This give you the finite control required for a pixel perfect design.

A slideshow works in many ways like the gallery. Create some space on your page, drag the slideshow where you want it to be displayed, and then click on the edit, style, and settings icons depending on whether you're adjusting the content, appearance, or properties of the slideshow.

Now that you've created a slideshow and photo gallery to show off your work lets talk about some of the other content you may want to add to your website. First and foremost is a way to contact you, so a contact page is a must. A contact page at minimum should have a contact form someone can fill out to communicate with  you via email about your products and services.

To add a contact form to your page drag and place it where you want it to appear. Click on the contact form and click the edit icon to change the fields that appear on your contact form. Under the form settings you can ensure you have entered a good email address where the contents of the form will be sent upon being submitted. You can even select a page to send people to upon submitting the form.

In addition to a contact page you may want to consider an about page. This is a page that often time includes photos of yourself or team members, their titles, a brief biography, and maybe a founders story. A founders story is simply a summary of what gave you the idea to get started, the things that happened on the journey, and the likes.

In addition to having a gallery or slideshow on your home page you may also want to consider a headline that talks about what it is you do. Features and benefits of your products and/or services. A call to action, this is usually a button or link people click that answers the question "What do I do next?" after skimming your home page.

When building a portfolio website with Webstarts I recommend adding a blog so you quickly and easily create supporting content. It's great for keeping your website interesting, fresh, up to date, and it's the type of thing that helps you get found on search engines like Google when people are searching for products and services like yours.

If you're selling your products from your website you can add a store as well. When you add a store with WebStarts you're automatically able to begin accepting credit card payments. The full featured store application can do just about everything you've seen from an online store including give you the ability to sell products with variants, digital products, issue coupon codes, custom shipping regions, and hundreds of other features.

Creating a portfolio website with WebStarts is fun, easy, and best of all it's free. If you have't signed up just visit WebStarts.com and click on the button that says "Get Started - It's Free".