How to Create WordPress Developer Portfolio: Guide by Rocon

If you’re a freelance developer, an agency partner, or someone interviewing for full-time positions, your WordPress developer portfolio is usually your initial and most significant impression. Clients and hiring managers in today’s competitive online world are not simply searching for technical capabilities — they need to see practical applications, issue-solving, and a solid grasp of user experience.

This in-depth guide will walk you through the most critical aspects of a stunning WordPress developer portfolio, planning and displaying your work, what to utilize, and how to turn your portfolio into a client and job magnet.

You can have all the skills under the sun mentioned on your resume — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, theme development, plugin development — but without specific examples to show, it’s all theoretical. A portfolio bridges the gap by showing your skills in action.

• Demonstrates that you can build working, beautiful sites
• Demonstrates that you have client goals and user needs in mind
• Highlights your skill set: from theme customization to plugin development and e-commerce integration
• Delivers SEO-optimized content to be found naturally
• Establishes credibility and expertise in your area

No matter whether you’re a new developer with a few personal projects or an old developer with a history of clients, your portfolio must keep pace with your skill level and experience.

Yes, the obvious answer is WordPress itself! Building your own portfolio site on WordPress shows that you’re not only confident using the platform but capable of managing everything from hosting to plugin integration.

Here are some tips:

• Use a custom theme or child theme to show your development skills.
• Avoid generic themes if you’re targeting clients who want original work.
• Optimize for speed, mobile, and accessibility — all of these are part of your deliverables to clients.
• Host on a stable platform (Rocon is a great example of a managed WordPress host that’s optimized for developers and agencies).
• If you’re interviewing for employment, make sure the site is professional-looking, loads in an instant, and doesn’t contain broken links or incomplete projects.

Your portfolio should be more than a static showreel. It should be a sales and branding tool. Here is a rundown of must-have pages and sections:

Homepage Your homepage is your elevator pitch. It should convey at a glance:

• Who you are
• What you do
• What you do differently
• Use a clear headline like: “Custom WordPress Developer Specializing in Performance-Driven, SEO-Friendly Websites”
• Include a brief intro, CTA (such as “View My Work”), and maybe even a testimonial or client logo for credibility.
• About Page Tell your story. Explain your history, your passion for WordPress, the kinds of problems you help solve, and your approach to development. It’s where people come to meet you as a person.

Suggestion: Include a photo of yourself — makes your brand seem more human.

Portfolio/Projects Page This is where you add the meat to the bone. Embellish 4–8 of your best projects with:

• A video or screenshot
• A one-sentence summary of the client’s challenge or goal
• Your role in the project
• What problem or challenge you fixed
• What toolset and tech you utilized (e.g., WooCommerce, ACF, REST API)
• The result (e.g., decreased load time, 2x sales, improved UX)
• Create individual case study pages for each project and link from the portfolio page for some extra SEO flavor.

Services Page Simply list the services you offer:

• Custom WordPress theme creation
• Plugin creation
• Site migration
• WooCommerce installation
• Site speed optimization
• Security hardening
• Maintenance plans
• SEO integration
• Have a short description of what’s included and how the client will benefit.

Testimonials or Reviews Page 

Social proof builds trust. Gather testimonials from past clients or employers and lay them out in a plainformat. Include names, images, and links if present for authenticity.

Contact Page

Keep it easy for people to reach you. Include:

• A contact form
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Links to your LinkedIn, GitHub, or Twitter

Bonus: Include a calendar widget (like Calendly) so potential clients can arrange a call on the spot.

Don’t show off flash sites — choose projects that showcase variety in:

• Types of businesses (e.g., e-commerce, non-profit, education, SaaS)
• Functional complexity (e.g., membership, multilingual, booking system)
• Technical depth (e.g., custom plugins, headless WordPress, API integrations)

If you can’t use client work, create mock projects that address real-world problems. For example:

• A mock real estate website with a custom property listing plugin
• A WooCommerce storefront with a custom shopping cart
• A performance-oriented blog with a custom Gutenberg block
• More than showing a paycheck, initiative matters.

While few clients can read code, technical recruiters, agencies, and other developers most certainly can. Sharing links to your GitHub, Bitbucket, or even specific Gists can reflect your problem-solving and software craftsmanship.

Here’s how to make this part shine:

• For each project, include a “View Code” button that links to a relevant repo.
• Organize your repositories with clean README files that explain what the project is, how to run it locally, and what technologies you used.
• Keep your commit history clean and informative. Use messages like fix: resolve caching issue on homepage instead of vague ones like stuff.
• Use branches wisely to show you understand Git workflows like feature/, bugfix/, and hotfix/.
• Don’t forget to highlight your work on custom plugins, block development (Gutenberg), REST API integrations, or complex theme logic.

Blogging isn’t just for marketers. It is a powerful tool for coders to:

• Explain how you solve actual real-world technical problems
• Show thought leadership
• Improve search engine rankings
• Attract the right kind of clients and recruiters
• Build your personal brand

If you don’t know where to start, begin blogging about:

• Tutorials: e.g., “How to Create a Custom WooCommerce Checkout Flow”
• Behind-the-scenes: e.g., “My Process for Speeding Up a WordPress Site That Loaded in 8+ Seconds”
• Tech explanation posts: e.g., “Why I Use WP_Query Rather Thanget_posts”
• Reviews and tools: e.g., “Comparing ACF vs Meta Box for Custom Fields in 2025”
• Case studies: e.g., “How I Assisted a Nonprofit Increase Donations by 200% With WordPress”

Use plain language, include images and code examples, and don’t be shy to inject some personality. If you want to distinguish yourself in an ocean of programmers, giving away knowledge is among the best means of doing that.

Just being impressive is not enough – you need to convert visitors to clients, co-creators, or employees. Here is how to turn your portfolio into a conversion engine:

Clear Calls to Action (CTAs):

• Use action verbs like “Let’s Work Together,” “Get a Free Quote,” or “Schedule a Call.”
• Mirror your CTA throughout the site — on homepage, projects tab, and bottom of blog posts.

Trust Builders:

• Add a short quote or testimonial on your homepage.
• Use recognizable client logos (permission obtained).
• Include any certifications (e.g., WP Engine Agency Partner, Google Certified).
• Lead Magnets (Optional but Powerful):
• Offer a “WordPress Performance Checklist” or “Website Audit Template” for free.
• Collect email addresses to email a future email campaign or newsletter.

Live Chat or Chatbot:

• Implement tools such as Tawk.to or Drift to offer instant contact options.
• This is especially useful if you are an agency or freelancer looking to increase conversions quickly.

Conversion Tracking:

• Have Google Analytics installed with conversion goals.
• Use Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity to observe the manner users interact with your pages.
• A/B test different versions of your contact forms, CTAs, or service copy to discover what performs optimally.

Your portfolio must feel like a sophisticated expression of your personality — direct, assertive, and professional, with ample chances to bond.

An outdated portfolio is like handing someone a business card with an old phone number — it does more harm than good. Clients and employers want to see that you’re active, evolving, and up to date with current best practices and technologies.

Here’s a simple system to keep your site fresh:

Quarterly Portfolio Review Checklist:

• Add new projects (with screenshots and a short write-up)
• Remove or update old work that no longer reflects your level of skill
• Update services to reflect what you’re currently offering
• Update testimonials with fresh feedback
• Be sure to test for broken links or outdated plugins

Content Refresh:

• If you have a blog, attempt to write or refresh posts at least once every 1–2 months.
• Go through older blog posts with new insight, updated tools, or improved screenshots.

Reflect Your Growth:

• Include certifications, new skills you’ve acquired (e.g., FSE, block editor customization, Laravel integration), or skills in new JS frameworks such as React if relevant.
• If you’ve spoken at meetups or WordCamps, include those in a new “Speaking” or “Press” section.

Embody Your Personality:

Your portfolio is your personal brand — let it reflect your design sense, voice, and values.

• Add some touches of light like a blog entry on “Lessons I Learned Freelancing” or a “Now” page that lets you know what you’re currently working on.
• Your portfolio will grow as you do. Think of it not as a one-and-done resume, but as a living, breathing professional storefront.

Your WordPress developer portfolio is your online handshake — your “Here’s how I can do it, and why you want me to” — executed so that others do believe you. It creates credibility, opens the door, and earns you projects you’d really love to get hired on.

Freelancing, interviewing, full-service shop or otherwise, your portfolio must showcase not only technical skill, but professionalism, innovation, and bottom-line results orientation.

Treat it like your most important project — because it is.