Putting it online, free

1First, what "putting it online" actually means

Right now the file is on your computer. Nobody else can see it.

Putting it online means copying that one file onto somebody else's computer that is always switched on, and getting a web address that points at it. The three companies below will do that for you, for free, for a file this small.

You do not need to understand anything else.

2One preparation step, for all three

Put your index.html in a folder on its own. Call the folder whatever you like — portfolio is fine.

All three hosts want a folder rather than a loose file, and doing this first means the same starting point whichever you pick.

The filename matters and it is the commonest thing to get wrong. It must be exactly index.html — all lower case, no spaces, no (1) on the end from a download. If it's called anything else, you get a blank page.

3Netlify Drop — easiest, start here

Verified 2026-08-14. Netlify refreshed Drop in July 2026 and the signed-out behaviour changed. Sign in first — the steps below assume you have.

1. Make a free account at netlify.com and sign in. (You can drop without one, but if you're not signed in your site gets a temporary password on it until you claim it, which defeats the point of having a link to send people.)
2. Go to app.netlify.com/drop.
3. Drag your folder onto the drop zone.
4. Wait a few seconds.
5. It gives you a web address ending in netlify.app. That's your portfolio. Copy it.

No files to organise, no settings. If you only try one, try this one.

4Vercel — also quick

1. Make a free account at vercel.com.
2. Choose to add a new project and upload your folder.
3. Press deploy and wait.
4. Copy the address it gives you.

A few more clicks than Netlify. Worth it if you already have an account.

5GitHub Pages — a free address with your name in it

The longest of the three, and the only one that puts your own name in the address.

1. Make a free account at github.com. Pick a username you'd be happy having in your web address — it becomes part of it.
2. Make a new repository. Repository is just their word for a folder. Name it portfolio. Set it to public — Pages needs that on a free account.
3. Upload your index.html into it.
4. Open the repository's Settings, find Pages in the sidebar under Code and automation.
5. Under Build and deployment, set the source to Deploy from a branch, and pick your main branch.
6. Wait. GitHub's own documentation says changes can take up to ten minutes to appear. Make a cup of tea rather than assuming it broke.
7. Your address is yourname.github.io/portfolio.

A variation worth knowing: if you name the repository yourname.github.io instead, your address becomes just yourname.github.io with nothing after it. Slightly cleaner, and you only get one.

6If something goes wrong

The three things that go wrong are all boring, and none of them means you broke anything.

The page is blank. The file got renamed. It has to be exactly index.html, all lower case. Check for a stray (1) or a capital I.

The address says 404. You're too early. All three take a moment; GitHub takes up to ten minutes. Wait and reload.

Netlify asks for a password. You dropped it without signing in. Sign in and claim the site — that's what the password is for.

None of these is fixable by knowing more about computers. They're all filename, patience, or account.

7Updating it later

Same as putting it up, and this is where the one-file thing pays off.

• Netlify — drop the folder again onto the same project.
• Vercel — upload the folder again.
• GitHub Pages — upload the new index.html over the old one; the address doesn't change.

Do this every time you make something new. Module 4's whole argument is that your portfolio is the proof-of-work artefact, and a portfolio last updated in March is evidence about March.

8What you have now

A web address you can put in a pitch. That's the thing Module 0A §3 assumed you had when it said "one relevant piece of work — a link, not an attachment."

Total cost: nothing. Total time: about four minutes, plus the tea.