For Australian freelancers, consultants and independent professionals, the question of whether to invest in a portfolio website design or maintain a strong LinkedIn profile is a practical one with a specific answer that depends on how your clients find and evaluate you.
What LinkedIn does well
LinkedIn is where professional relationships live. It is a network of people who know you or know of you, and a platform for demonstrating your expertise to an audience that is already inclined to take you professionally. If most of your work comes through referrals, professional networks or recruiters, a well-maintained LinkedIn profile is often the more immediately impactful investment.
LinkedIn also offers discoverability within its own platform — people searching for specific skills, roles or expertise within professional networks will find you through LinkedIn in ways they would not necessarily find a standalone website. For employed professionals looking to be headhunted or referred, this internal discoverability is often more valuable than organic website traffic.
What a portfolio website does well
A portfolio website gives you full control over how you present your work. You choose the layout, the projects you showcase, the way you describe your process and the calls to action. LinkedIn's structure is standardised — your profile looks broadly similar to every other LinkedIn profile. Your own website can be as distinctive as your work.
A website also ranks in Google. If potential clients search for your specific skill set combined with your location — "brand designer Melbourne" or "freelance copywriter Sydney" — a well-optimised portfolio website can appear in search results and attract clients who have never encountered you through a mutual connection.
How to decide which to prioritise
If your clients primarily come from referrals and professional introductions, optimise your LinkedIn profile first. Keep your summary concise and specific, your experience section accurate and detailed, and your skills endorsed by genuine colleagues. A portfolio website becomes important when you want to expand beyond your existing network.
If you want to attract inbound clients through search — people Googling for someone with your specific skills in your location — then a portfolio website is essential. LinkedIn alone does not give you this capability.
The case for having both
For most established freelancers and consultants who are serious about their practice, both serve different and non-overlapping functions. LinkedIn maintains your professional network and enables referrals within professional communities. Your website attracts inbound search enquiries and presents your work in the most controlled, compelling way possible. The two together create a more complete professional presence than either alone.
Mahdi designs and builds high-converting business websites at Web Like Web, specialising in WordPress, UI design and creating sites that are both beautiful and built to rank.
