A personal website sets you apart from every candidate who submits only a CV. It's a living document of who you are, what you do, and what you're building. Unlike a PDF, it can be updated, linked to, and searched.
You don't need to know how to code. Here's how to build one in an afternoon.
What Your Site Needs (and What It Doesn't)
Essential:
- Your name and a one-line description of what you do
- A short bio (3 to 5 sentences)
- Your key projects or work samples
- A way to contact you
Nice to have:
- A CV download link
- Links to LinkedIn, GitHub, or other platforms
- Short case studies of your projects
- A simple blog or writing section
Don't need:
- A flashy design or animations
- Multiple pages (a single, well-organized page is fine)
- Anything that takes more than 2 seconds to load
Clarity beats creativity for professional sites. Your visitor should immediately understand who you are and why they're looking at your site.
Tool Comparison
| Tool | Best for | Free tier | Setup time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion + Super.so | Simple, clean sites fast | Notion is free; Super has a free tier | ~1 hour |
| Carrd | Clean one-pagers | Yes (limited features) | ~1 hour |
| Framer | Design-forward, modern | Yes (Framer branding) | ~2 hours |
| Webflow | Full design control | Yes (Webflow subdomain) | ~4 hours |
| WordPress.com | Blogging + longer content | Yes (WordPress branding) | ~2 hours |
| GitHub Pages + template | Developers / tech roles | Completely free | ~1 hour with template |
Recommendation for most people: Start with Carrd or Framer. Both have clean templates, free tiers, and require no coding knowledge. You can have something professional up in under two hours.
Building with Carrd (Step by Step)
- Go to carrd.co and create a free account.
- Choose a template. "Profile" or "Portfolio" templates work best.
- Replace the placeholder text with your name, description, and bio.
- Add your projects, each with a brief description and a link or image.
- Set up a contact section (link to your email or LinkedIn).
- Publish on a Carrd subdomain (e.g., yourname.carrd.co) on the free tier.
- Optional: connect a custom domain (e.g., yourname.com) for ~$10/year via Namecheap or Google Domains.
Total time: 1 to 2 hours.
Writing Your Bio
This is where most people get stuck. Keep it simple:
- Line 1: What you do or study, and where.
- Line 2: What you're interested in or working on.
- Line 3: What you're looking for or building toward.
- Line 4 (optional): A human detail, something that makes you memorable.
"I'm a final-year economics student at the University of Cape Town, focused on financial inclusion in Southern Africa. I've spent the past year studying mobile money adoption in rural communities and writing about what the data tells us. Currently building a research portfolio and looking for fellowships in development economics. When I'm not in spreadsheets, I'm playing chess badly."
Simple. Human. Specific. That's enough.
Showcasing Projects Without Impressive Titles
You don't need to have worked at a famous organization. Projects include:
- University research papers (link to a PDF or abstract)
- Volunteer initiatives with a brief description and outcome
- Workshop or event you organized (include numbers: "attended by 45 students")
- Any writing you've published, even on Medium or LinkedIn
- A dataset you built or analysis you ran
For each project, write: what it was, what you did, and what came of it. Two sentences is enough.
Keeping It Up to Date
A portfolio that hasn't been updated in 18 months is worse than none. Commit to updating it every 3 to 6 months. Add completed projects, new certifications, writing, or experiences.
Your personal website isn't a finished product. It's a living signal. The act of building and maintaining it demonstrates the kind of initiative that scholarships and employers are looking for.