Scotland Writing Retreat – Visit our remote creative haven in the Highlands

How to Build an Online Marketing Portfolio in 10 Minutes

Written by Monica Shaw

The short answer to how to build an online marketing portfolio: sign up with our easy marketing portfolio builder and get started immediately. Here's the longer answer! ...

When I first started freelancing, the question I got most often from potential clients was: “Can you send me some samples?” If you’re in marketing—whether that’s content marketing, copywriting, digital marketing, advertising, or social media strategy—your ability to show polished, proven work quickly makes all the difference between landing a project and losing it.

That’s exactly why you need an marketing portfolio website. It’s your professional storefront. Instead of scrambling to email scattered PDFs or links, you can share one clean, professional site that highlights your best work, your services, and your story. It also subtly reflects your professionalism, organizational skills, and your ability to sell yourself as well as you sell your clients' messages.

And here’s the good news about marketing portfolios:

You don’t need to be a designer, coder, or SEO expert to build one. There are myriad website builders out there that can help. But a word of caution: if you try to do this with a tool like Squarespace or Wordpress, you'll be entering a world of pain. 

two men are sitting in a bowling alley talking to each other and one of them is holding a pipe .

The problem with the big name website builders is that there are literally so many options, theme choices, plugins, and so on that it's easy to get bogged down in design choices. Suddenly you find yourself having spent hours or days on a marketing portfolio without getting anywhere. 

So that's why I recommend using Writer’s Residence to get your portfolio off the ground quickly. You can literally create a beautiful online marketing portfolio in just 10 minutes, freeing up time to get actual paid work rather than faffing with tech.

So what do you need to build your online marketing portfolio? It's not rocket science! 

What to Include in Your Online Marketing Portfolio

Before we get into the 10-minute build, let’s make sure you know what belongs in your portfolio. A strong marketing portfolio website should include:

  • Your Bio: A short, professional introduction (with a personal touch) about who you are and what you specialize in. (Get inspo from these writer bio examples.)
  • Samples of Work: Blog posts, ad copy, email campaigns, case studies, or social media content you’ve created, ideally with some numbers to back it up (here's a great example of how a marketing portfolio sample should look). 
  • Resume/CV: Highlight your experience and credentials, tailored to marketing.
  • Services Offered: A simple list of what you do—content strategy, SEO writing, paid ads management, etc.Contact Information: Make it easy for potential clients to get in touch.
  • And if you have them - client testimonials! (Learn more about how to get and use client testimonials.)

The goal is to keep it simple, clean, and easy to navigate. Remember: clients don’t want to hunt for proof. They want to see your best work fast. Check out these examples of online marketing portfolios for inspiration.

example of an online marketing portfolio built with writer's residence

Step-by-Step: How to Build an Online Marketing Portfolio in 10 Minutes

Here’s how to build your site quickly using Writer’s Residence, which was designed specifically for marketers and professional writers.

1. Create Your Account (1 Minute)

Sign up for a free 30-day trial at Writer’s Residence.

Tip: If you have your own domain name, you can connect that later!

2. Add Your Profile & Bio (2 Minutes)

Upload a professional photo (headshot or a friendly candid).

Write a short bio that includes:

  • Who you are
  • What you specialize in (e.g. “I help brands grow through SEO-driven content marketing and email strategy”)
  • A touch of personality to make you relatable


3. Upload Your Marketing Samples (3 Minutes)

Choose 3–5 strong pieces of work (don’t overthink this—quality beats quantity).

These might include:

  • A content marketing blog post that ranked on Google
  • An email campaign that boosted engagement
  • A case study for a client project

Upload PDFs, links, or paste text directly. Writer’s Residence handles formatting beautifully.


4. Add Your Resume (2 Minutes)

  • Copy/paste highlights from your CV.
  • Or to make it easy, just upload an existing resume as a PDF or .docx
  • Focus on marketing-related roles, achievements, and measurable results (e.g. “Increased organic traffic by 45% in 6 months”).

5. Customize Your Design (1 Minute)

  • Pick one of Writer’s Residence’s clean, professional templates.
  • Add your brand colors or keep it simple with a minimalist design (check out our free header templates).
  • Your site is automatically optimized for SEO and mobile.

🎉 Done! In 10 minutes, you’ve built a professional marketing portfolio website that you can send to clients immediately.

Real Story: Stephanie’s 10-Minute Portfolio Turned Into Career Momentum

Here's a success stories from Stephanie, a digital marketer whose company shut down after she’d been there for over a decade. Suddenly, she was job hunting in a world that looked very different from when she’d started. I encouraged her to try Writer’s Residence, and in just 10 minutes, she had the basics of her online marketing portfolio live. From there, it became easy to keep adding: case studies, client testimonials, and even a blog to show her thought leadership. Within a few weeks of launching, she had three freelance clients and four job interviews lined up. Her quick start turned into a career relaunch. Check out her portfolio for inspiration

online marketing portfolio sample


Example Layout of an Online Marketing Portfolio


Here’s how a finished portfolio might look:

  • Homepage: Professional photo, intro headline, a few client testimonials if you have them.
  • Marketing Portfolio Samples: Blog articles, social posts, and case studies.
  • Resume Page: Professional experience and credentials.
  • Contact Page: Simple form + email address.

The key is simplicity—busy marketing managers don’t want to dig for information.


How Do You Present a Marketing Portfolio?

This is one of the most common questions I hear. And the truth is, if you build your portfolio with a dedicated builder like Writer’s Residence, the question is answered for you. You simply send a single link to your marketing portfolio website, and everything—bio, samples, resume, and contact info—is neatly organized in one place.

How Do You Create a Marketing Portfolio?

If you’ve been wondering “how do you create a marketing portfolio?” the simplest answer is: use a dedicated website builder like Writer’s Residence. Unlike DIY platforms where you waste time with plugins and formatting, WR is designed specifically for writers and marketers. That means you can focus on what matters—your work.

Tips for Making Your Portfolio Stand Out


Once you’ve got the basics live, you can enhance your portfolio with a few strategic touches:

  • Add Testimonials: A line or two from past clients builds instant credibility.
  • Highlight Results: Frame your work around outcomes (e.g. “This campaign increased newsletter subscribers by 30%”).
  • Niche Focus: If you specialize (say, SaaS content marketing), make that front and center.
  • Keep Updating: Refresh samples every few months to showcase your latest, best work.


Why Use Writer’s Residence (Instead of DIY or Generic Tools)

When I created my first portfolio, I wasted hours tinkering with WordPress and Squarespace. They’re powerful, but they’re not designed with writers and marketers in mind. I wanted to focus on my work, not on plugins or CSS.

That’s why I built Writer’s Residence. It’s a portfolio builder just for writers and marketers, with:

  • A 5-step setup (profile, homepage, samples, resume, design).
  • Clean, professional templates.
  • Built-in SEO tooltips so your work can be found on Google.
  • Privacy options (keep drafts or client-only samples hidden).
  • Free trial + ongoing support.

In other words, you can look polished and professional without losing a whole weekend to tech setup.

One last thing... 

If you do take the plunge and create an online marketing portfolio with Writer's Residence, you'll be working with one of the friendliest website builders around. And I don't just mean the tech - we have the best customer support around, and you'll have a first line of contact with me, a marketing writer who feels your pain! So if you need help, advice, or a pep talk, just drop me an email and I'll get right back to you!


Monica Shaw

I founded Writer's Residence alongside my own journey as a professional writer in 2008. Today, I continue to work as a writer among other side hustles that contribute towards my freelance lifestyle. I write for other businesses - white papers, research reports, web content, and other forms of copywriting - as well as for pleasure on my own personal websites, eatsleepwild.com and smarterfitter.com.

Ready to share your online writing portfolio?

Don’t forget, we’re on hand to help you launch your portfolio during your 30 DAY FREE TRIAL.

Get started for FREE