Stop putting your contact info front and center on portfolio homepages

I've been looking through portfolios in this group for about 3 months now, and I keep seeing the same mistake. People put their email and phone number in huge text right at the top of their homepage. I get that you want to be accessible, but here's what happened to me. I had my email listed prominently and got 12 spam recruitment messages in one week. None were real design jobs. Worse, a former coworker told me she found my portfolio through a Google search and the first thing she saw was my phone number. She said it felt like handing out a business card before even saying hello. I moved my contact info to a small "get in touch" button in the top right corner. Now I only get messages from people who actually clicked through my work first. Has anyone else noticed this hurting their chances with real clients?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaelcoleman18d ago

Twelve spam messages? Rookie numbers, I got 23 before I learned my lesson.

webb.xena18d agoTop Commenter

23 spam messages is brutal @michaelcoleman, I can't imagine how annoying that must have been. It really shows how easy it is to scare people off when you ask for too much too fast. That's a rough way to learn the lesson but now you know what works!

brown.susan18d ago

You've nailed something that applies way beyond portfolios actually. It's like when stores put their sale signs in huge letters before you even see the product, it feels desperate and pushy. People don't want to be shouted at with your personal information right away, they want to see what you can do first and decide if they're interested. That's just basic human psychology, we don't hand out our phone numbers to strangers on the street so why would we do it on a website. Making someone click a button to find your contact info builds a little bit of intentionality on their part. They've already looked at your work and decided it's worth taking that next step.