Discover red-flag platforms where not to host your portfolio when looking for a job as a creative. Leverage my recommended creative portfolio hosting sites to win the hearts of your recruiters and land your desired job in no time.
You aren’t getting replies from job recruiters because your portfolio hosting site is a turn-off.
Over the years as a top hiring manager at Adilo, I’ve discovered that a killer resume can’t achieve much when hosted on the wrong platform.
Some hosting platforms make you look unprofessional, others can bury your work under a pile of ads, and a few might even scare off potential employers.
I see this often when hiring, and it’s a big mistake creatives make that forces employers to throw away their applications without even looking at them.
So, in this post, I aim to streamline your job-hunting process as a creative—designer, writer, photographer, or developer.
With over 14 years of recruiting experience with top SaaS companies, I’ll walk you through the worst places to host your portfolio and the best platform to get the job.
Let’s get started
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Your portfolio should be public and quickly accessible. Remember you’re trying to show your work to the world—be intentional about it.
- Most hiring managers don’t consider Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook as reliable sources for assessing creative work.
- Many brands and agencies browse Behance to hire freelancers or full-time employees. So, it’s your chance to pitch your expertise and get hired.
- Perhaps, you’re a video creative and need to showcase video works, use platforms that let you brand your playlist and won’t distract your potential employer.
- Adilo allows you to record your video up to 4K quality, giving your video crystal-clear visuals, perfect to attract recruiters and earn the job.
Where Not to Host Your Portfolio When Looking for a Job As a Creative
Creatives wonder why they aren’t getting jobs despite being talented and qualified. Perhaps, you’re one of those creatives, I’ll tell you why;
You’re most likely hosting your portfolio on these red-flag platforms:
Netlify or Vercel
Netlify and Vercel are excellent tools for developers. But, if you want a professional, user-friendly portfolio that attracts recruiters, skip these platforms.
Most creatives are drawn to Netlify and Vercel because of their free hosting plan and I get that.
However, these free plans come with some errors and limitations. For one, your portfolio link turns out like this: https://share.zight.com/KouR4eBW.
Sadly, this doesn’t portray professionalism and will likely be ignored by recruiters. Whereas, a customized portfolio link gives positive validations about you and your expertise.
So, instead of seeking ways to hack these limitations, I recommend you avoid Netlify and Vercel.
Google Drive Especially If You Made It Private
Google Drive isn’t ideal for hosting a portfolio.
And things even get worse when creatives set accessibility to private.
Each time I put up a job opening at Adilo, I received hundreds of applications from creatives for a role requiring just two creatives. At such a moment, it’s impossible to request access from an applicant whose portfolio link is private, so I immediately move to the next applicant.
In fact, no recruiter has time to deal with this when tons of other creatives are waiting in line.
Oftentimes, creatives forget to turn on accessibility on Google Drive because files are automatically set to private. Hence, to avoid this silly mistake, stay clear of Google Drive when hosting your portfolio.
Your portfolio should be public and quickly accessible. Remember you’re trying to show your work to the world—be intentional about it.
Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms including TiKTok, Instagram, or Facebook effectively promote your work and offer excellent visibility and engagement.
However, they’re red-flag platforms where not to host your portfolio when looking for a job as a creative.
Besides, most hiring managers don’t consider Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook as reliable sources for assessing creative work.
Unfortunately, a lot of creatives send Instagram profiles as a portfolio, that’s lazy work and there’s so much that could go wrong with it—Instagram is not a creative portfolio site, stop using it as one.
You can’t organize projects into categories such as case studies, client testimonials, or downloadable CVs on social media platforms.
Plus, as a recruiter, I expect a distraction-free, easy-to-navigate portfolio from creatives and other recruiters would appreciate that too.
But, this is not achievable on social media.
Why?
Social media platforms are cluttered with advertisements, memes, personal updates, and unrelated content that makes your portfolio distractive and unprofessional.
My Recommended Creative Portfolio Hosting Sites
About 85% of hiring managers say a well-organized online portfolio positively influences their hiring decision.
This means you’ll most likely be selected for a job when you share a structured portfolio.
Hence, as an expert job recruiter, here are my recommended creative portfolio sites:
Dribbble
Dribbble is a leading platform for designers, illustrators, and digital artists to showcase their work, connect with industry professionals, and find job opportunities.
I recommend this platform as it allows creatives to create visually appealing portfolios where they can upload high-quality images, GIFs, and case studies of their work.
Also, it functions like a social network, enabling likes, comments, and shares on your work. This helps you gain visibility among other creatives and recruiters.
In addition, Dribbble offers a job board where companies post listings specifically seeking design talents.
Best For:
- UX/UI designers
- Graphic designers
- Illustrators
- Branding and logo specialist
Behance
Behance, owned by Adobe, is one of the most popular and versatile creative portfolio hosting sites for creatives across different industries.
This platform lets you create a detailed project portfolio, including images, videos, and text descriptions.
Also, it seamlessly integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, etc.), facilitating easy uploading and showcasing of projects/portfolios.
Many brands and agencies browse Behance to hire freelancers or full-time employees. So, it’s your chance to pitch your expertise and get hired.
Best For:
- All creatives are welcome on this platform.
Notion
Notion is a versatile productivity tool that allows users to create customized digital spaces, which can be customized to serve as a personal portfolio.
This platform made it on my list of creative portfolio hosting sites because it has advanced customization features and gives complete control over your portfolio layout.
It offers creatives various templates, layouts, and embedded media to reflect their unique style. Notion’s drag-and-drop interface allows for easy organization of your portfolio.
On this platform, creatives can include text, images, videos, embedded files, and even client testimonials.
Best For:
- Ideal for all creatives including multi-disciplinary creatives.
Video Playlist
You would need a video playlist portfolio as a video creative—filmmakers, video editors, motion graphic designers, animators, and content creators.
A video playlist is a structured collection of videos grouped on a single platform.
It allows potential clients, employers, or collaborators to browse your work in an organized and accessible way.
Perhaps, you’re a video creative and need to showcase video works, use platforms that let you brand your playlist and won’t distract your potential employer.
Best video hosting platforms include:
Adilo
Adilo is an unlimited, ad-free online video hosting platform for creatives, marketers, educators, and businesses.
This platform is an excellent choice for creatives who want to maintain complete control over their video content.
Its user-friendly interface and ad-free streaming make it perfect for video creatives. It offers premium all-in-one video hosting including recording, editing, customization, and sharing from a single dashboard.
Adilo allows you to record your video up to 4K quality, giving your video crystal-clear visuals, perfect to attract recruiters and earn the job.
Its key features:
- Free plan
- Ad-free streaming
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- 4K recording quality
- Unlimited recording
- Unlimited video length
- Adilo is 100% web-based
- In-built screen and video recorder
- No special equipment or external software is needed
- Multiple format like MP4, MOV, MKV e.t.c
- Embed your video anywhere
- Advance analytics
- Extensive third-party app integration
- No watermarks inclusion
Vimeo
Vimeo is also a video hosting platform that is excellent for video collaboration. It allows you to host high-quality videos ad-free. Video creatives mainly use this platform to build their portfolio and show expertise.
With Vimeo, you will experience fast-playing videos and video customization features. This allows you to categorize your video to suit your expertise.
Its key features:
- Supports 360-degree videos
- HTML5 video player
- Advanced video analytics
- Custom call-to-actions
- Privacy controls
- High-quality content
- Automatic video transcription
Wistia
Wistia is a video hosting platform for creatives that allows you to embed high-quality videos with a customizable player.
It also comes with a video recorder feature called Soapbox, which enables you to record, create, and share videos easily.
Its key features include:
- No ads display
- Lead-generated tools like in-video forms and calls-to-action
- Record both screen and webcam simultaneously
- Analytics tools
- Customizable video player
- Channel content management (CCM)
- Third-party integration
FAQs
How can I make my portfolio stand out?
In addition to a professional portfolio hosting site, keep it simple and easy to navigate. Don’t overwhelm it with content, simply highlight your best work. Also, include a compelling “About” section and contact details.
What should I prioritize when choosing a portfolio hosting platform?
Before selecting a portfolio hosting platform, I recommend you look out for:
Custom domain
Professional appearance
Customization features
Easy navigation
Fast loading speed
Mobile-friendliness
Is a PDF portfolio acceptable for a job application?
A PDF can be helpful for specific applications but shouldn’t replace an online portfolio. Many recruiters prefer links over attachments.
Final Thoughts on Where Not to Host Your Portfolio When Looking for a Job As a Creative
Job hunting mistakes such as wrong portfolio hosting sites can deprive you of many job opportunities.
Unfortunately, many creatives are ignorant of this.
Your portfolio hosting sites give recruiters a positive or negative first impression about you because it reflects your expertise, commitment, and credibility.
However, with my shared guide, you now know where not to host your portfolio when looking for a job as a creative. In addition, I encourage you to maximize my recommended list of creative portfolio hosting sites and improve your chances of getting hired.
Experience: Happiness Hassan is an SEO content writer and strategist with over 7 years of experience helping brands boost visibility, engagement, and sales.
Expertise: Whether it's keyword research, crafting content, or fine-tuning on-page and off-page strategies, I’ve got you covered. My goal is beyond driving traffic but making your users experience a win-win for everyone!
On the coaching side, I’ve trained countless writers to turn their passion into profitable SEO careers. I help them navigate the SEO path, standing out in even the toughest niches and cashing in on their skills.
When I’m not geeking out over SEO, you’ll find me deep in the world of self-development. As a dedicated student of continuous growth, I write about my growth journey, sharing insights to help others unlock their potential.
Education: Complementing my BSc. Geography and Environmental Management from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, I have honed my skills as an SEO content writer and strategist through comprehensive training at Northpad, where I gained expertise in crafting optimized content to boost search engine visibility. As a certified student of Jobberman Soft Skills Training, I developed strong communication and problem-solving skills, which complement my SEO proficiency.
My dedication to continuous personal learning and online training keeps me updated with the latest industry trends, enabling me to create content that aligns with the ever-evolving demands of search engines and user experiences. I stay connected with top experts to ensure my strategies remain current and effective.
I'm a serial enterpreneur with over 14 years of experience in digital marketing and SaaS.
Currently leading the ADILO team and building a strong brand @BigCommand
