What’s the minimum amount of writing I can put on my website?

Just because I work in the health care industry I happen to notice doctor’s websites and read them. Most of the ones I have read recently are usually a very short paragraph about themselves and the rest of the page is links or pictures of their specialty. I know it’s not the same line of work as you, but the point is that I like short descriptions of the person and would rather see pictures of their work.

I would put in a short paragraph about yourself and descriptions of your various services that are also short. It does not have to be wordy, but information is important.

How much writing is on websites for other graphic designers?

I would talk about your process. E.g. one of the things in the back of my mind if I’m thinking of hiring a graphic designer is if they’re going to be hard to work with. So yes the most important thing is seeing examples of your portfolio, but I also want to know that you can complete the job on schedule, deal with changes that may happen, communicate well, etc. I would talk about your experiences working on big and small projects, what your process is for producing creative work, instill confidence in your potential clients.

I forgot to clarify the above. Saying “I’m a good communicator,” “I’m organized,” “I’m reliable,” “I’m detailed oriented,” doesn’t cut it. You should use your words to SHOW how that’s the case. Tell stories (using fictional/redacted names where appropriate) that demonstrate examples that highlight these qualities.

If you’re a graphic designer, show off your graphic work, and add the call to action that you want your target audience to perform. Take inspiration off of similar websites. Just like you’d do for other web stuff ;)

Wow, great advice above.

I’d add a summary for each photo… something along the lines of, “This piece was commissioned by… who wanted to convey… and so I chose… colors/lines/details/etc. We collaborated on… elements and the end result shows…” for us non-graphic designer folks. Let us know what we’re looking at, why it matters, what you’re proud of and a brief glimpse into how you arrived at the end result.

I think it’s great, if you’re using a blog, to have some posts show things that interest or inspire you and why. Or even something that you don’t like and how you would do it differently. Those sort of posts give people a glimpse into you as a person.

Cool everybody. @gorillapaws: I was actually thinking of making some sort of graphic that lays out my process. @Cupcake: I appreciate the summary idea, too. Thanks all!

@serenityNOW A graphic would be cool, but don’t let it completely replace little stories that show prospective clients how you handle problems, adapt to changes etc. It’s one thing to see a graphic with an arrow that says update changes, it’s another to read a quick paragraph about how you handled a difficult situation and the project succeeded.