I already shared six personal websites that make you want to build your own. But since then, I have come across many more good examples. So let’s look at some more.
Pratul Venkatesh: pratulv.com
This is a good place to start if you are wondering what a first personal website can look like. Pratul calls it a “BrainLOG,” and the design reflects that: clean, simple, straightforward. No noise. There are small images, smooth navigation, and a quote at the bottom of the page that feels like a genuinely personal touch rather than a design decision.
His about page has a section called “most important messages I want to share with everybody,” tucked into a dropdown menu. He writes about science and technology, but also about addiction, productivity, and the things he is working out in his own life. There is a CV, a photos page, a contact form, and links to his socials, all in plain sight at the top.
It is not trying to impress anyone. It is just a place where someone has put what they think and what they know. That is exactly what a starting point looks like.
Josh Ghent: joshghent.com
Possibly the most bare-bones website design I have seen. Only text. No pictures. Chronological and straightforward. And yet I spent longer on it than I expected to, because he posts consistently, and the ideas are good.
The thing I did not know about before visiting Josh’s site was the “now page.” Most websites have an about page. Most have a contact page. Personal websites often have a third link that says “now,” which tells you what the person is focused on at this particular point in their life. The concept was popularised by Derek Sivers, and there is a whole directory of people’s now pages at nownownow.com.
I had not heard of this before, and it turns out to be a genuinely useful source of personal websites to browse. Worth bookmarking for that reason alone.
Brent Austgen: brentaustgen.com
This is where things get more informational. Brent is a Decision Scientist and Staff Researcher who works on power grid resilience. His blog has technical posts with code and maths that are not exactly light reading.
But then there is the Minecraft farm post. He used Python, SciPy, and NumPy to optimise crop yields in a video game, applying the exact same mathematical framework he uses for national energy infrastructure.
This is what I mean when I talk about infotainment. It is a fun read for the right audience, and it shows genuine skill at the same time. You do not have to choose between accessible and expert.
The other thing worth noting is a small section of his site called “Brent Runs Lowvel 2025,” where he logs the places he has been running and tracks his personal bests. Nobody asked for this. It serves no obvious professional purpose. But it is the kind of thing that makes a website feel like a person lives there, and it is a good reminder that a personal website can also just be accountability for yourself. If you write down a goal and put it somewhere public, it becomes real, even if nobody visits.
Ruslan Osipov: rosipov.com
Ruslan has been writing in this domain for fourteen years. The design is nothing special. When I landed on the site, the articles were just there on the front page, no clicking through required.
There are no pictures on the first post I read. Just words, and good ones. The site has been running since before any of the current conversations about “personal branding” or “content strategy” existed, and that shows in a good way.
The takeaway from this site is straightforward. Good writing is good writing. You do not need a fancy website. You need a place to put your ideas, and then you need to keep putting ideas there. Fourteen years of that adds up to something that a polished but empty site never will.
Duncan Gates: duncangates.me
Duncan is a developer, and his site reflects that in all the right ways. The main page scrolls cleanly through his CV, a map of places he has travelled, his skills, libraries he uses, and projects he has built. If you are in data science, web development, or anything adjacent, that is what you want your site to do: show the work.
The one criticism is that his blog feels like a separate website. The design shifts, the tone shifts, and the connection to everything else on his site is not obvious. It is a small thing, but it is worth thinking about when you are building your own: your blog and your portfolio should feel like they belong to the same person.
For anyone working in a technical field, this is the model to follow. Your website is the place where your skills can speak before you do. A standard WordPress template does the job, but if you can code, your site is also the place to show that.
What These Have in Common
None of them chose a niche in the traditional sense. None of them are optimising for a keyword or writing to an algorithm. What they share is that they are clearly made by someone with more than one thing going on, who decided that was reason enough to publish.
The format barely matters. What matters is that the person behind the site is identifiable. You read a few posts, and you understand who they are, what they care about, and how they think.
That is the actual idea for your personal website. Not a list of sections to fill in. Not a content calendar. Just: be a recognisable person, and put that online.
If you are still figuring out the basics, I wrote about why to build one and how to actually get it set up. Both will still be there when you are ready.