Building a Modern Portfolio with Astro
A dive into how I built my portfolio using Astro, exploring its benefits, performance features, and why it's an excellent choice for static sites.
When I decided to rebuild my portfolio website, I wanted a solution that would be fast, easy to maintain, and SEO-friendly. After exploring various options, I chose Astro, and here’s why it proved to be a good choice.
Why Astro?
Astro stands out from other frameworks with its unique features:
- Zero JavaScript by Default: Ships no JavaScript to the client unless explicitly needed, resulting in incredibly fast page loads
- Component Islands: Allows mixing multiple frameworks while keeping each component isolated
- Built-in Performance: Automatic image optimization, asset bundling, and CSS scoping out of the box
Key Features of My Portfolio
1. Performance First
My portfolio achieves perfect Lighthouse scores thanks to Astro’s built-in optimizations:
- Automatic image optimization
- Minimal JavaScript shipped to the client
- Efficient asset bundling
- Responsive design patterns
2. Blog System
The blog you’re reading right now is powered by Astro’s Content Collections, providing:
- Type-safe Markdown handling
- Automatic slug generation
- Easy content management
- Built-in pagination
3. SEO Optimization
Every page is optimized for search engines with:
- Automatic meta tags
- JSON-LD structured data
- Sitemap generation
- Social media cards
Development Experience
Building with Astro has been refreshingly simple. The development workflow is streamlined with:
- Hot module replacement
- TypeScript support out of the box
- Clear error messages
- Excellent documentation
Project Structure
My portfolio follows Astro’s recommended structure, organizing code into clear directories for components, layouts, pages, content, and assets. This structure makes it easy to maintain and scale the project as it grows.
Performance Results
The results have been impressive:
- 100/100 Lighthouse performance score
- Sub-second page loads
- Excellent Core Web Vitals
- Minimal JavaScript footprint
Why Choose Astro?
Astro is particularly well-suited for:
- Content-focused websites like blogs and portfolios
- Static sites that need minimal interactivity
- Performance-critical applications
- SEO-optimized websites
The framework shines when you need to:
- Deliver content quickly
- Maintain excellent SEO
- Keep development simple
- Ensure great performance
Conclusion
Building my portfolio with Astro has been an excellent decision. The framework’s focus on performance, developer experience, and modern web features has resulted in a fast, maintainable, and user-friendly website.
If you’re considering a framework for your next static site or portfolio, I highly recommend giving Astro a try. The combination of modern development features with excellent performance makes it a compelling choice for modern web development.