How to Make an Amazing Writing Portfolio (+ Examples)

Having a writing portfolio is beneficial when demonstrating your writing skills. In fact, among many other freelance specialities, writing is one of the easiest to kickstart a freelance career. 

So, what is a writing portfolio? It is a portfolio that gathers examples of your previous writing projects. Many writing portfolios have a niche. There are many niches you can consider as a freelance writer. For example, copy editing, SEO writing, and content writing. 

These prospects are important for your writing portfolio because your clients and potential employers always want to see proof of your writing skills. 

What are the better ways to showcase your skills other than having a writing portfolio?   

In this article, we will walk you through the steps of creating a writing portfolio, with examples attached in the article.

Having a writing portfolio is not only about showcasing your writing skills but also about branding yourself. As mentioned in the introduction, each writer has a niche. But clients need to know how you are different from other competitors. After all, the copyediting industry is extremely competitive. 

What does a writing portfolio look like? Here are four essential components you can include in the portfolio: 

• Diversity – many writers struggle to demonstrate their niche because there are many content categories. Writing portfolio examples often include various styles, genres, and publication types. 
• Content and tone – Each sample on the writing portfolio needs to have a professional technique. A professional writing sample includes a good writing style, punctuation, and grammar.
• Tailored towards the audience – Your writing portfolio website needs to be tailored to the audience, but at the same time should also show off and correlate with your niche. 
• Focus on your brand – Your writing portfolio examples need to focus on other marketable attributes, such as content marketing, testimonials, and storytelling.   

Having a writing portfolio entails many different professional directions. Here are three professional routes that can benefit from having a good writing portfolio: 

• Become a self-employed/freelance writer
• Become a professional writer for an industry
• Become a contract writer for any companies

Step 1: Choose a suitable writing portfolio website. 

There are many popular writing portfolio websites other writers use. Each platform may have its advantages and disadvantages, so choose what you desire. 

Step 2: Create an authentic author biography.

Having an authentic author biography allows the clients to know you better. Having a biography also sets you apart from other writers. As mentioned earlier, the writing industry is competitive, so unique personal characteristics will help you stand out from the crowd.  

Step 3: Select your best works.

Select your best works to represent your skills in your writing portfolio. Of course, whether it is your best work or not depends on your experience. Remember to update your best work consistently.

Step 4: Categorize your writings into different categories.

Usually, a writer can write in various styles and categories. For instance, a content writer can write about travel, medicine, lifestyle, and many more. Categorizing your writings into different categories on your online writing portfolio helps the readers navigate their preferred content easily. Remember, think from a reader’s perspective. 

Step 5: Design the layout of your portfolio.

The layout of your writing portfolio depends on your personal preference. Typically, your portfolio shows links and images of your writing samples. You can also organize your portfolio layout by genres, content, and styles.

How to make a writing portfolio? If you still don’t understand how to make a portfolio, have a look at these websites to see the best writing portfolio examples:

1. Cake

If you are looking for portfolios for job search, Cake has a vast collection of portfolios, including writing portfolios. You'll find content writer portfolios that don't just show the articles, but explain the results of the writing, such as "achieved 50k monthly views" or "improved SEO ranking to page one." It's an excellent reference for learning how to market your writing skills as a job seeker.

➡️ See writing portfolio examples at Cake

2. Clippings.me

Specifically built for journalists and freelance writers, Clippings.me is the standard for organized and clip-based portfolios. You can find examples of how to categorize your work by niche (e.g., Travel, Tech, or Politics). It's a fantastic resource for learning how to use clear thumbnails and punchy headlines to make a massive library of articles feel manageable and professional.

➡️ See writing portfolio examples at Clippings.me

3. Medium

While Medium is a publishing platform, many writers use their profile page to showcase their best long-form written pieces. By looking at top writers here, you can learn how to keep your writing engaging, even with long articles. It's perfect to see how to build a personal brand through consistent storytelling.

➡️ See writing portfolio examples at Medium

4. Substack

Similar to Medium, you can also find collections of writings on Substack. You can see how writers turn their expertise into a serialized portfolios, or find examples of niche newsletters, from tech analysis to personal essays. It's a great place to learn how to engage a community and see examples of diverse types of writing.

➡️ See writing portfolio examples at Substack

5. Copywriting Examples (By Harry Dry)

If you are into marketing or sales writing, Copywriting Examples is a curated gallery of the world’s best copy. While it's not a list of personal portfolios, it shows "Best-in-Class" examples of landing pages, ads, and email sequences. It’s an incredible resource for learning how to keep your writing concise, persuasive, and focused on the "call to action."

➡️ See Copywriting Examples by Harry Dry

Here are the five best portfolio sites for writers. You can consider these five websites when building your online writing portfolio:  

1. CakeResume

CakeResume is a platform that offers resume and portfolio building tools. CakeResume’s portfolio-building tool is easy to use and customizable. You can freely choose your style, color, format, and layout for your writing portfolio.

2. Wix

Wix is a popular platform for freelancers and self-employed individuals. Wix offers many sample writing portfolios on its platform, and it also has integrated SEO, marketing, and email marketing tools. But some functions are limited for paid users.

3. WordPress

WordPress is the most ancient content management platform, and many decade-old bloggers often mention WordPress as their starting platform. WordPress is known for its excellent SEO tool, and they offer a dedicated portfolio splash page. However, WordPress is known to be the most challenging platform to navigate for beginner freelancers. It takes time to learn and even code with CSS.

4. Clippings.me

Clippings.me is a designated platform for freelance journalists. You can add links, embed multiple media sources, podcasts, and PDFs. If you want to gain more client attraction, they also offer using a journalism directory. You can easily make your writing brand using Clippings.me. If you are a regular writer, you will need to upgrade to a premium membership to write more than ten articles.

5. Pressfolios

If you are looking for an easy to start online writing portfolio, Pressfolios is your choice. Unlike WordPress, Pressfolios don’t require you to code. Anyone who wants to write can start their writing career on Pressfolios. Pressfolios only offers free access for 14 days, and you have upgraded to the Pro version to integrate custom domain names.

💡 Add social proofs to increase credibility.

If you are a freelancer, you should understand the importance of social proof. Any business owner would understand the importance of social proof and credibility. In short, social proofs are validations from your previous and current customers.

An easy way to demonstrate social proof on an online writing portfolio is to gather testimonials. Testimonials are statements from previous and current customers on your service. Testimonials also increase your credibility and trustworthiness.

💡 Keep the writing portfolio design clean and simple.

The truth is your writing portfolio does not have to be fancy or stylish. Many digital writing portfolios have a strong focus on design, but it is often costly (because you might need to hire a designer or spend a long time working on the design yourself). Instead, focus on having a simplistic design. After all, readers visit your website for the content, not the design.

💡 Showcase your achievements in your biography or include a resume.

Although your writing portfolio is not a resume, many recruiters and potential employers may still be interested in your achievements outside of writing. 

The recommended section to include your achievements and resume is in the about me section. In this section, you can introduce yourself as a writer and showcase your achievements at the same time. 

💡 Check for grammar or spelling errors.

Having articles without grammatical mistakes is a self-serving requirement to fulfil. As a writer, you understand the importance of having high-quality work in the writing portfolio. High-quality articles often have good content, style, and punctuation.

Check your sentences and read them out loud. If you need facilitation in grammar and spelling, you can also check out grammar tools. For example, Grammarly is a tool known to help with improving grammar and punctuation.

💡 Continually update your portfolio.

As a writer, you are likely to be writing every day. With such a high writing frequency, what you have written in the past year is likely considered outdated. Update your writing portfolio website regularly to keep the audience engaged and satisfied.