How To Make a Personal Website

We’ve tested 50+ website builders for personal websites. Squarespace emerged as the best personal website builder, offering the right balance of ease of use and features.

Squarespace Overview (2:41)

You can think of Squarespace as the Apple of website builders. It’s intuitive and thoughtfully designed; all features are polished; the templates are beautiful; it’s a secure platform; and the editor is flexible and customizable enough to meet the needs of most personal websites.

These are the best Squarespace features for personal sites:

• Beautiful Website Templates: Squarespace is known for its clean, modern, and responsive website templates. They have over 180 of them—all free, all beautiful. And many of the Squarespace templates are suitable for personal websites.

A personal portfolio site template

• Intuitive Drag and Drop Editor: Squarespace’s Fluid Engine editor lets you drag and drop blocks anywhere in a section. The blocks snap to an (adjustable) underlying grid. This makes it structured and easy to handle while being plenty customizable. (See the video above for a demonstration.)
• Powerful Features: You’ll get everything you want for your personal site with Squarespace. It has powerful capabilities for blogging, e-commerce, scheduling, galleries, portfolios, and even podcasting and online courses. Moreover, it also has the marketing tools you might need.

Our tutorial is designed to help you create a personal website using Squarespace. However, it’s tool-agnostic enough for you to follow along using a Squarespace alternative.

Step 0: Seek Inspiration

Begin by examining others’ personal websites. Take notes on their structure, layout, typography, colors, tone, how they introduce themselves, and everything in between. Screenshot or save what you like.

A personal website example (made with Squarespace)

Step 1: Pick a Template

Choose the template that already feels close to your vibe: a minimal résumé template, a full-bleed photo journal template, a portfolio-first template, or a blog-centric one—Squarespace has them all.

Squarespace's Personal & CV Templates

If any template doesn’t seem to fit or requires extensive editing, you can use Squarespace’s Blueprint AI or choose a template and delete all the pages to start from scratch.

If you already have the dream website layout, content, typography, colors, etc., in mind, you’ll quickly build it with Squarespace’s Fluid Engine editor. Additionally, Squarespace is optimized to make tasks like switching layouts, choosing a well-balanced color palette, and writing website copy quicker and easier.

Step 2: Set Up Your Page Structure and Navigation

If you are starting with a template, you’ll have some default pages. Keep the ones you like and delete the rest.

Then, add new pages. Click the plus (+) icon to add pages such as “Home,” “About,” and “Contact.” You can choose from blank pages, portfolio pages, blog pages, or other pages, depending on your needs.

Must-Have Pages For a Personal Website:

• Home: A welcoming introduction with highlights of who you are, what you do, and what visitors can expect from your site.
• About: A longer-form bio with a photo, sharing your background, story, mission, and personal or professional journey.
• Contact: A page with a simple form or direct email, plus social media links.

Nice-to-Have Pages:

• Blog / Notes: A space to share your ideas, essays, tutorials, or personal updates in your own voice.
• Reading / Watch List: A curated list of books, articles, podcasts, or shows you’ve enjoyed or recommend, revealing your inspirations.
• Résumé / CV: A downloadable or online résumé that details your skills, education, work history, and accomplishments.
• Photo Gallery / Store / Speaker Kit: Visual portfolio for creatives, a shop for products or services, or a kit with speaking topics, bio, and media assets.
• Now Page: Inspired by Derek Sivers’ nownownow.com, this page is regularly updated to show what you’re focused on right now: current projects, goals, and interests.

For Navigation:

• Add a logo (text-based is fine), remove unnecessary elements (such as login links), and include social media icons (like Instagram). Here’s a clean navigation header:

• Keep your main navigation simple, with a maximum of 5–7 items. Use dropdowns when the navigation becomes too busy. For example, all the social media links can go under ‘socials’ for cleaner navigation.
• Avoid hard-to-read typography or clever-but-confusing links. Visitors shouldn’t have to “solve” your site. The best navigation is the easiest to use.

Step 3: Add Personality with Fonts & Colors

Open Site Styles in Squarespace:

• Pick a clean, readable font for body text (Helvetica is a safe bet) and one accent font for headings.
• Choose one base color and an accent color that align with your brand. Use the accent color sparingly for buttons, links, and highlights.
• Keep backgrounds clean. Let whitespace breathe. A clutter-free site always looks better.

Here’s a nice personal website that uses fonts and colors to add personality to the site:

Step 4: Complete Your Pages

Fill all your pages with relevant content and sections. For example:

Example 1. Create a warm homepage

Include:

• Hero line: Who you are + what you care about.

• Hook: 2–3 sentences fleshing it out.
• Call-to-action: “Read my story,” “See my projects,” or “Let’s talk.”
• Other sections: Add sections that lead to other important pages of your website. For example, a portfolio section that showcases the best work and has a CTA to the portfolio page, or an online classes section that briefly tells about your best courses, etc.

Avoid walls of text. Break with sub-headings, quotes, or photos.

Example 2: Create a Simple ‘About’ Page (With a Friendly Photo)

A sample 'About' page

If, like most personal sites, yours is built for career goals, include:

• A short intro, preferably addressing the potential client’s or employer’s needs in first-person language (e.g., “I bring your products to life” in the sample text).
• A photo of yourself to bridge the digital gap. Ideally friendly, not brooding.
• Contact info or a form.
• Highlights like awards or big-name clients.

Tip: Use image masks or shapes to give your photo a more designed feel. Apply accent color to text to tie everything together. Squarespace offers a wide range of options for you to choose from.

Side Note: Check out these ‘About Me’ pages for design and content inspiration.

Step 5: Check the Mobile Experience

Squarespace auto-generates mobile layouts, but always test:

• Are galleries stacked correctly?
• Is the font legible?
• Is the spacing tight or too loose?

You can tweak sections individually to clean up mobile-only quirks.

Step 6: Get a Custom Domain

All Squarespace annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year. So, if you don’t already own a domain, use the free credit. [Note that ]

A safe bet for the personal website domain is yourname.com. However, it can also reflect your profession (e.g., juhilwrites.com) or personality (e.g., homsweethom.com).

Side Note: If you have a domain registered with another registrar, you can connect it with Squarespace. You can also transfer it to Squarespace and manage everything from one place.

Step 7: Review Everything, Publish, and Keep It Fresh

Before publishing and sharing your website with the world, go through it one last time:

• Check for typos and broken links.
• Test every page on both desktop and mobile.
• Ensure all buttons and forms function properly (such as contact forms or newsletter sign-ups).
• Preview your site as a first-time visitor—does it quickly explain who you are and what you do?

Once live, don’t let it go stale.

• Update your “Now” page or blog regularly.
• Add new projects, clients, or skills to your résumé or portfolio pages.
• Refresh your homepage or photos periodically to keep things current.

Your personal website is a living project—it should grow as you do.