A Developer Portfolio in One Link: What to Show (and What to Skip)

Gurjeet Singh — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 13:04:56 +0000

I've looked at a lot of developer portfolios. The ones that get replies are rarely the most impressive. They're the easiest to skim.

A recruiter or client usually has three questions:

What have you built?
Can you do what I need?
How do I reach you?

If your portfolio answers those in about ten seconds, you're ahead of most people. Here's how.

One page beats five links

"Here's my GitHub, my LinkedIn, my site and a Notion doc" gives the reader four chances to give up. One link that shows the important things gives them none.

You don't need a framework, a build step or a domain to renew. A single page is enough to start.

What to put on it, in order

1. A one-line intro. Say what you do and for whom.

Full-stack developer building booking tools for small teams.

2. Two to four projects. For each one:

What it does, in one sentence
The stack
A live link or repo
One number if you have it ("used by 40 tutors")

3. Skills you'd actually use on the job. Not every tool you've touched once.

4. Experience and education, short.

5. How to reach you. Email, LinkedIn, GitHub, and a booking link if you take calls.

Order matters more than polish

Lead with the project that best matches the jobs you want, not the one you're proudest of. If you want backend roles, don't open with a landing page you styled.

Show a result, not a stack list

"React, Node, Postgres" tells me what you used. "Built a booking app in React and Node, used by 40 tutors" tells me what you did.

No numbers yet? Describe the problem you solved in plain words.

Small details that make you look careful

All links work (check them monthly)
Screenshots aren't blurry
The page loads fast on a phone
Your photo or avatar is the same everywhere
No "coming soon" sections

A JSON-LD snippet for your own site

If you host your portfolio yourself, add structured data so search engines can understand who you are:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "ProfilePage",
  "mainEntity": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Your Name",
    "jobTitle": "Full-stack developer",
    "url": "https://yourdomain.dev",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://github.com/yourhandle",
      "https://www.linkedin.com/in/yourhandle"
    ]
  }
}
</script>

It won't make you rank overnight, but it removes guesswork about which profiles are yours.

Where to put the link

GitHub profile README
LinkedIn contact info and About
X and other bios
Your resume header
Your email signature

Free options

If you don't want to build and maintain a site, a link-in-bio page can work as a lightweight portfolio. Full disclosure: I'm the founder of LinkPre, which does this. The free plan has links, skills and analytics, and Pro adds projects, experience, certifications and a booking calendar for $1 a month. Use whatever fits you. The advice above applies to any tool, or to a hand-built page.

Quick checklist

[ ] One-line intro
[ ] 2 to 4 projects, best-matching first
[ ] A result or number for each
[ ] Skills, honest and short
[ ] Contact and booking link
[ ] Link placed on GitHub, LinkedIn and your resume

What's the first thing you look at on a developer's portfolio? I'm curious what recruiters and hiring managers here actually skim for.

DEV Community: Gurjeet Singh