The short answer

Build two or three complete demonstration projects for realistic businesses, and explain the decisions behind them. A thoughtful sample with a clear brief, working form, mobile layout, and testing notes is stronger than ten pretty homepages with no purpose.

Write a real brief

Choose a plausible client, audience, goal, constraints, pages, and success measure. Label the work clearly as a concept project. Do not invent a client quote or imply the fictional business hired you.

For each sample, show:

• The business problem and target visitor.
• Sitemap and primary action.
• Before-and-after only when you own or have permission for the original.
• Desktop and mobile views.
• Accessibility and performance choices.
• Working page or recorded walkthrough.
• What you would test after launch.

Google recommends responsive design as the easiest mobile pattern to implement and maintain (Google mobile-first guidance). W3C’s tutorials provide concrete standards for headings, images, forms, and page regions (W3C accessibility tutorials). Use those as project requirements, then explain what you did.

Add one real-world project carefully

Offer a narrowly scoped paid founding project to a small business or nonprofit you understand. If you volunteer, use the same written scope, deadlines, approvals, and handoff as paid work. Free should not mean chaotic.

Ask permission before displaying the finished work, metrics, or testimonial. Keep the testimonial in the client’s words. FTC rules prohibit fake reviews and incentives conditioned on positive sentiment (FTC reviews rule Q&A).

Make the portfolio easy to evaluate

Put your best relevant project first. State your role when other people contributed. Include a short service description, starting process, and contact action. Your portfolio’s own accessibility, speed, broken links, and mobile behavior are part of the evidence.

Sources and further reading

• Google Search Central: Mobile-first indexing best practices
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Tutorials
• FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule Q&A

A free next step

Not sure which business fits you yet?

The free Freedom Path Assessment can help you compare your strengths, schedule, income goals, and preferred way of working before you commit to a business direction.

Take the Freedom Path Assessment Free

Related Questions

• Should a web designer offer ongoing maintenance after launch, and what should a maintenance plan include?
• Should I specialize in one type of website or serve several kinds of clients?
• Who should write a client's website copy, and should web designers sell copywriting too?
• What should I test before I launch a client's website?

Related WAHMN resource

If you want to turn this website task into a service or build a stronger process for your own site, this system walks through the work in more depth. See Website & Landing Page Build System.