How To Make a Freelance Portfolio on Upwork

Every part of your Upwork profile matters, but some sections are typically more important. Your title and overview, for example, play a strategic role when it comes to capturing the attention of potential clients. Also playing a critical role? Your portfolio.

Your Upwork freelance portfolio is a highlight reel of your best work, designed to show prospective clients the great work you’re capable of. In fact, Upwork freelancers who’ve published a portfolio are hired nine times more often than those who haven’t.

Learn how to make the most of your Upwork portfolio with different types of projects and work samples and leverage it for your freelance business.

How to make a freelancer portfolio

Your Upwork portfolio is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to finding opportunities on the work marketplace. Upwork makes it easy for you to create your portfolio with an intuitive tool designed to empower you to showcase all types of work in your portfolio.

Highlight the work you’re proudest of—whether it’s sharing an impressive GitHub repository of your web development work, showing off your slick web design experience, or summarizing compelling case studies of your social media management achievement.

Here’s a tutorial on how to add portfolio items to your Upwork profile in four easy steps:

1. Log into Upwork
2. Add projects and more
3. Preview for clarity
4. Hit Publish

Tip: Creating a portfolio takes time. If you’re short on time, don’t be tempted to rush through it. Save your draft so you can come back to it later and pick up where you left off.

1. Log into Upwork

If you haven’t added anything to your portfolio yet, you’ll receive a popup reminder each time you log in to your account. Just select Portfolio and it’ll take you right to adding your first project.

2. Add projects and more

To stand out from others in your field, don’t be shy about showing off your expertise, skills, and unique style. Think of your portfolio as a sizzle reel of your freelance career. If you’re new to freelancing, use the portfolio to show companies how you can help them.

Play with new ways to package your information, such as in an infographic, a video about yourself, or a slide deck. Build trust by adding information like:

• Various projects that show off your range
• Projects that show the breadth of industries you’ve worked in or the depth of your specialization
• Awards, professional achievements, and accolades from past clients
• Case studies and the impact that your work had on the business
• An “about me” page that shows who you are beyond your resume

3. Preview for clarity

On the preview page, check out how your portfolio item will appear to clients. Be sure to:

• Provide relevant information to help the reader understand the challenges the client faced and how you solved their problems.
• Quantify your impact whenever you can. Example: My landing page redesign increased webinar signups by 438%, resulting in a sold-out event for the first time in company history.
• Use sharp, engaging images when possible.

4. Hit Publish

Happy with everything and ready to share with the world? Hit the Publish button. 

Continue adding more content by clicking the “+” symbol in the portfolio section of your profile.

‍Bonus: Easily share your portfolio with non-Upwork clients. Upwork generates a link for each project in your portfolio, so you can share the content directly with companies on and off the platform.

Upwork freelancer portfolio best practices

Your portfolio can sometimes tell your professional story better than your Upwork profile or proposal. Clients love to see real-world examples of your freelance work more than just read about it in your cover letter. 

While some talents may be more visual than others, your portfolio matters regardless of what your skills are. Upwork’s portfolio tools help you create a portfolio that paints a picture of your experience and highlights your expertise.

Here are five tips that can help you leverage your portfolio, regardless of your skill set.

1. Keep your target client in mind

Curate the portfolio on your Upwork account for the client you want. You may have a variety of work to share or you’re proud of; if it’s not relevant to the type of client you’re hoping to attract, don’t use it as a portfolio item. 

You may be as multifaceted as they come with your graphic design skills. But, if your current goal is to focus on logo design clients, then highlight your specific experience in logo design within your freelance portfolio. Show clients real examples of your logos in action, which will help them assess if your style matches their brand. 

When it comes to organizing your portfolio items, put your most relevant and best work front and center into the first three or four tiles. Remember: Focus on projects that are the most relevant to the type of projects you’re currently trying to win.

2. Leverage your portfolio to tell a story

Aim to make your portfolio exciting, not just a copy of your “Employment history” information. By thinking of each piece as its own story—whether you use words, images, reports, or something else to do so—you’re more likely to get people to pay attention to the projects you want to share with them. 

Here are a few different ways to approach each example:

• Case studies. Write a short story about a challenge you’ve solved or a business you’ve helped.
• Snippets. Include excerpts of your work—you don’t need to use the entire project, especially if it’s large or complex. For example, you could include a summary of a longer document or share a preview or clip of a larger piece of work.
• Screenshots. Take screenshots of your work, such as spreadsheets, research documents, apps, social media posts, or even anonymized Google Analytics campaign results.
• Results. Create a visual representation of your successes using diagrams, charts, or graphs.
• Testimonials. Have former clients vouch for your skills by requesting a testimonial. Add these to your portfolio items and make them visually appealing. 
• Samples of your personal work. Portfolio samples don’t necessarily need to be a piece of paid work you’ve done. Consider creating a small number of relevant work samples, especially if you aren’t able to showcase previous projects.

Sometimes you can’t use your past work in your portfolio; maybe you don’t have permission to show the project, or the nature of your work is confidential. If this is the situation you find yourself in, focus on other sections of your profile and the proposal to showcase your experience and skills.

3. Showcase each freelance service you provide

If you have more than one area of expertise, your portfolio should reflect your range of skills. If you have specialized Upwork profiles for each service, even better. 

For example, let’s say you’re a writer who loves to work on blog posts. But you also have a copywriter side and love writing website copy or landing pages. To show potential clients how multitalented you are, upload three to five portfolio items that show your latest blogging and copywriting projects. 

Each one will be categorized separately with its own unique project description. You can also assign a relevant specialized profile or Upwork project to each item.

4. Provide additional information for each portfolio item

When you’re ready to add items to your portfolio, provide as much information about each piece as possible by painting a clear picture of your role in each project. This can include selecting the relevant specialized profile and Upwork job and tagging the portfolio item with applicable skill tags.

Use the project description text box to write a brief but interesting story about how the project came to be. For example:

• Explain what your main task or deliverable was
• Describe how you tackled the client’s problem
• Highlight the skills, tools, and technologies you used to fulfil the client’s requirements
• Include any other important details about how you nailed the project goals
• Keep it short and concise; one or two short paragraphs should do the trick

You can also link the items in your portfolio with past projects. This draws clearer connections between projects, portfolio pieces, client feedback, and client ratings, which can help verify your expertise, build credibility for potential clients, and give these items more visibility on your profile.

5. Update your freelancer portfolio regularly 

As you hone and improve your skills, make sure you keep your Upwork portfolio up to date with your best work. 

You don’t want prospective clients to see obsolete projects that don’t truly reflect how good you’ve become. Revamp old project descriptions to call out the skills and expertise that are currently more in demand or delete them all together. If you feel that these projects are still relevant, refresh your presentation to make your portfolio items look shiny and new again. 

As you finish new projects, reach out to your clients to ask permission to share them in your portfolio. As soon as a client gives permission to use the finished project, upload it to your portfolio and point it out to the next client to come your way.

Elevate your work with Upwork

The benefits of a solid portfolio of your freelance work on Upwork can include higher profile views and better-quality job invites from potential clients. You can also build increased confidence in your abilities and professionalism—even if you’re an Upwork newbie. 

Through your portfolio samples, clients will get a glimpse of your capabilities, relevant skills, versatility, and overall work experience. It can help them see why you’re the right fit for their projects, and how you can help them achieve their goals. As a new freelancer, your portfolio can set you apart from other newbies with no portfolio and help you win your first job. Clients are more likely to hire you if you can show them your skill level and work. 

As we mentioned at the very beginning of this guide, freelancers who’ve published a portfolio are hired nine times more often than those who haven’t. This means you’re more likely to get more work on Upwork if you create and maintain a high-quality portfolio. 

Ready to get started? Log in to your Upwork portfolio and elevate your freelance business on Upwork.