8 Software Developer Portfolio Website Mistakes

After reading this short article, you will know which mistakes to avoid when creating your software developer portfolio website.

1. Placing source code on your website

I have seen it only once so far, but it was bad. The source code to all the files in a project was put in scrollable boxes scattered on the page. Just don’t do it.

2. Creating too much pages

It is enough for each project to have a brief description of what it does and what stack it uses. You do not have to create separate page for each project.

3. Adding irrelevant information

Some things are more suitable for a personal website or a blog or even instagram profile. Portfolio is mostly professional, so consider not putting your children or family here.

4. Making it mobile unfriendly

It applies to basically any website out there, but remember to make your portfolio mobile friendly.

5. Putting too much in it

I’ve seen some portfolios that are turned into a game, where after visiting, you drive or walk around discovering more and more info about the person. This is not good unless you are a game developer, but even then, it is hard for me to imagine hiring manager going through effort of discovering all information.

Some portfolios contain so much animations that they should also have an epilepsy warning. Keep your animations subtle.

6. Making it wider than screen

This one is a small detail, but may make your portfolio look less professional. Remember to check if on any page on your website, there is no sideways scroll. It is especially annoying on mobile devices, where your finger never really moves in perfect vertical line.

7. Making it unreadable

This is an issue of user experience. Keep colors in good contrast, use mostly neutral colors, and vivid colors to highlight elements.

8. Not resizing images

Convert images to be web friendly and use only the necessary amount of pixels. This way your website will be faster to load.