A client looking for a video editor usually decides within a minute or two whether to keep watching. They open your site, press play on something, and judge the pacing, the sound and the taste. Then they look for proof that you can do the kind of job they have in mind, and a way to contact you.
That is the whole job of a video editor portfolio website. It does not need to be clever. It needs to load quickly, play the work without friction, show what you did on each project and make it easy to get in touch.
What a client checks in the first minute
Clients hiring an editor, colorist or videographer are usually asking a short list of questions:
- Does the work look and sound good?
- Has this person cut the kind of thing I need, such as ads, music videos, documentaries, YouTube content or short-form social?
- What did they actually do on each project?
- Who have they worked with?
- How do I reach them, and will they reply?
A portfolio that answers these quickly wins more enquiries than one that hides the work behind animations or makes the client hunt for a play button.
Lead with the reel
Put your strongest work at the top of the page. For most editors that is a showreel of 60 to 90 seconds, or a short selection of your best projects. Keep it current. A reel full of work from years ago tells a client you might not be busy, or might not have kept up.
A few practical points:
- Make play obvious. A visible play button or a clear "watch reel" label. Do not autoplay with sound.
- Cut for the client you want. If you want more commercial work, lead with commercial work, even if your favourite project is a short film.
- Consider several reels. A commercial reel, a narrative reel and a social reel let each client see the most relevant work first.
Project pages that show your role and your thinking
Editors often share the finished video and nothing else. That leaves the client guessing what you did. On each project, write a short note covering:
- The client and the format, such as a 30-second brand spot, a music video or a 20-minute documentary
- Your role: edit, colour, sound, motion graphics, or all of the above
- The brief or problem, in one or two sentences
- A decision you made, such as a structure you chose, a scene you cut or a pacing change that fixed the story
- The result, if you know it and are allowed to share it, such as where it ran or how it performed
This is where you separate yourself from other editors with similar reels. Clients want to see how you think, not just the final cut. Only share results and client names that you have permission to share.
Before-and-after comparisons work well for colorists. A split screen or a wipe between the log footage and the grade shows exactly what you contributed.
Hosting video without blowing your bandwidth
This is where many editors run into trouble. Video files are large. If you upload them directly to your website host and they play for every visitor, they can use a lot of bandwidth. Recent posts on X describe video makers going far beyond their plan's monthly bandwidth after self-hosting their videos on Framer, and getting overage warnings or charges.
The usual fix is to host the full videos on YouTube or Vimeo and embed them on your site. Visitors still watch on your page, but the video streams from the video platform, not your website host. Framer's own help article on bandwidth recommends hosting long-form or high-resolution video externally for this reason.
If you do want self-hosted video, for example a short silent loop in the hero, keep it short and compressed, and use a poster image so the video does not load until it is needed. Check your hosting dashboard after launch to see what is using bandwidth.
Vimeo is a common choice for portfolio work because its player can be set up without recommendations of other people's videos. YouTube works well too and may help people find your work through search.
Contact that reaches you
It sounds obvious, but test your contact form. Many templates ship with forms that are not connected to anything until you set them up. Send yourself a test enquiry before you publish and again after any changes.
Make contact easy:
- A short form asking for name, email, project type, timeline and budget range
- Your email address written out for people who prefer to email directly
- Your location and time zone, if you work remotely
- Links to any professional profiles you keep up to date
Two layouts: CUT and Half Light Film
getsites has two Framer templates built for editors. Both cost $49, and one licence covers unlimited sites.
CUT is a dark, cinematic portfolio for editors, filmmakers, videographers, colorists and cinematographers. It opens with a viewfinder hero, has a horizontal-scroll showreel gallery and a Works page that plays YouTube, Vimeo or self-hosted video when clicked. Projects run on the CMS, so adding a new one is a form fill. Because it supports YouTube and Vimeo, you can keep heavy video off your Framer bandwidth.
Half Light Film is built for a video editing studio or post house. Each film sits on a timeline where each clip's width matches its real runtime, so the work reads the way an editor thinks about it. It has a method section showing how the studio works, project timelines and an editor card that puts a face to the studio. Its contact form ships demo-safe, so point it at your own email address before you publish. It takes about a minute.
Pick CUT if you want a reel-first portfolio for an individual. Pick Half Light Film if you are a small studio and want to show method and team as well as work. See more options in our roundup of Framer templates for video editors.
Getting found
Most editing work comes from referrals and networks, but a portfolio site still helps people find you and check you out. Use your name and your role in the page title, such as "[Your name], video editor in [city]". Write project descriptions in plain text so search engines can read them. Add your site link to every profile you keep, and to the description of videos you post. Our guide on whether Framer is good for SEO covers the basic settings.
Launching the site is the start, not the finish. Update it every time you finish something you are proud of, keep the reel current, and send the link whenever someone asks to see your work.