Best websites to build your journalism portfolio
Making a great journalism portfolio is a key first step on the way to a career in the media. Here are the best websites you can use to build one.
CLIPPINGS.ME
Price: Free, upgrade to a £7.36 per month plan to get extra features.
This simple platform was created specifically for freelance journalists to be able to make easy portfolios. You can add multimedia files and upload PDFs and links, allowing for a lot of flexibility in how you want your work to be presented.
They also have a Writing Portfolio Guide which you can read here.
Clippings.me offers an open journalist directory to help you find journalists based on their location or specialities. Find out more here.
JOURNO PORTFOLIO
Price: Free to upload ten pieces, upgrade to £3.75 a month for unlimited articles. Students get 50% off their first year of any paid plan.
One of the best websites for making a multimedia portfolio where you can share links, PDFs, videos, social media, podcasts and more.
There are six different themes so you can play around with how you would like it to look. All you need to do is input the URLs to your articles and Journo Portfolio will automatically input the title, date, publication and content. Find out more here.
Example of a Journo Portfolio template. Credit: Journo Portfolio
LINKTREE
Price: Free, upgrade to £4.42 per month to get a wider variety of designs and collect data from your audience.
While not technically a portfolio website, Linktree offers an easy way to directly link to specific articles from your social media accounts.
You can categorise them into themes, use different templates to get the look you want, and provides an easy way to get readers engaging with your content. Linktree also provides analytics of how many people are clicking through to view your articles. Find out more here.
News Associates Linktree page, directed from Instagram.
MUCK RACK
Price: Free
Muck Rack automatically compiles and maintains your portfolio for you, pulling together articles from multiple sources to put them in one place.
You can customise it by adding your own bio and spotlighting your best pieces, but there is not much creative licence to be able to present it in the way you would like.
It has a feature where you can see the number of social shares for your article and which other journalists have shared your pieces. Find out more here.
SQUARESPACE
Price: £10 per month
You can build your own website by dragging and dropping in the features you want.
Although it is not specifically targeted at writers, Squarespace is good for incorporating designs and infographics into your portfolio. Find out more here.
Example of a Squarespace template. Credit: Squarespace
THE FREELANCE CREATIVE BY CONTENTLY
Price: Free
Specifically designed for freelance writers and journalists, you can upload your portfolio but also use Contently as a space for connecting with other journalists and freelancers.
You can display an unlimited number of stories or blogs, and Contently has a helpful rates database and rates calculator so you can make sure you are getting paid the right amount for your journalism. Find out more here.
WORDPRESS
Price: Free, offers a range of paid plans depending on which features you want.
WordPress is an adaptable platform to build any kind of website. On the free version you can create a simple blog, or you can pay to get a very wide range of different features and templates.
It is a great option for anyone who may want to develop a website into something more than just a portfolio and show off a range of different skills.
Plus, so many publications use WordPress that hosting your portfolio on here is great practice for navigating it in a journalism job! Find out more here.
Now you know the best websites to create your journalism portfolio, click here to read how you can make your stories visually appealing with Canva!