Case studyWebsite design and build
A portfolio a scout can find
Nikola Nikolov is a young Bulgarian goalkeeper building a professional career. Most players at that stage have an Instagram profile and a folder of clips. He has a website he owns, live since June 2026.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google from 10 reviews
See the website work or tell us about the project. We work with clients worldwide, and scoping is turned around in about five working days.
The problem
A folder of clips is not a professional presence
Young footballers present themselves through Instagram and a highlight reel sent over WhatsApp. That fails in three specific ways, and each one costs the player an opportunity he will never hear about.
- A social profile is not searchableWhen a scout searches a player's name, a website can rank. A profile behind an app largely cannot, and the search is the moment a stranger decides whether the player is worth ten more minutes.
- A link is a first impressionAn agent opening a website sees a career presented deliberately. An agent opening a shared video file sees a file. The information can be identical and the impression is not.
- Nothing is in one placeStats in one message, clips in another, background in a third. A portfolio puts the career in a single link that can be forwarded without explanation.
- The platform can change under youReach, formats and rules move whenever the platform decides. A site the player owns does not.
Scope
What was built
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Career stats | The numbers presented clearly, so a scout gets the picture without asking for it |
| Highlights | Video section for reels and match footage, which is what actually gets watched |
| About | Background, training history and ambitions, written to be read by a professional rather than a fan |
| Blog | Progress updates, so the site is current rather than a snapshot of one season |
| Contact | A direct route for clubs and agents, with no intermediary and no form nobody answers |
Built on WordPress, fully responsive, and made to load quickly on a phone, because a scout is as likely to open it on a sideline as at a desk. The same approach at a larger scale is on the Silvi the Artist build, and the wider roster is on the case studies index.
Questions
Answers about personal brand sites
Yes, and for anyone whose career depends on being taken seriously by a stranger reading a link: athletes, artists, consultants and founders. The build is the same shape each time. What changes is what has to be proved on the first screen.
Because the player keeps it. The site, the domain and the content are his, he can move hosting without rebuilding, and nobody can change the terms underneath him. A hosted profile builder is quicker and rents you your own career.
For a name search, yes, and that is the realistic target. A personal site will rank for the person's own name because almost nothing competes for it. It will not rank for a competitive term, and we would not claim otherwise. The value is that the right link is there when someone who has already heard the name goes looking.
Yes. The blog and the stats are editable without touching code, which is the reason the blog exists at all. A portfolio that cannot be updated is out of date by the end of the season and stops being worth sending.
Website work is scoped individually, because a five section portfolio and an 870 product store are not the same job with a different number on it. You approve the scope and the figure in writing before anything starts, and if a brief is not a fit for us we say so plainly.
Why it works
The smallest build on the portfolio, and the clearest
One job, done properly
This site does one thing: it makes a young goalkeeper look like a professional to someone who has never met him. Every decision followed from that. No animation that delays the stats, no gallery that buries the video, no clever navigation for five sections.
Speed is a courtesy to the reader
The person opening this link is often standing at a pitch on a phone with poor signal, deciding in seconds whether to keep reading. A site that loads fast on a bad connection is not a technical achievement, it is basic respect for the situation the reader is actually in.
What we would not claim
No signing, trial or contract is attributed to this website, and none will be. We built the presentation. What a club decided afterwards is not ours to take credit for, and a case study that implied otherwise would be worthless the first time anyone checked.
See the HoneyBee and Co. build, which is our own brand rather than a client, the social media management plans if the channels need running too, the UGC portfolio for filmed work, or the shop.
Client reviews
What clients say, word for word
“Working with Velena and Dragos has been one of the best decisions I have made for my business. They built my entire ecommerce website from scratch, with over 870 products and worldwide shipping, and the result is exactly what I had hoped for.”
Silvi, SILVI The Artist. Client testimonial.“I've known Velena for many years and she is a great content creator and reliable. I highly recommend her. Looking forward to hiring her again.”
Alex, Newmiuz. Google review, 5.0.“Velena was a pleasure to work with, she worked solely with the brief provided and was even ahead of her deadline. The content produced was clean, professional and on brand. We would love to work with Velena again in the very near future.”
Lauryn Middleton, Social Media Manager, Smirk. Client testimonial, October 2023.Every review is reproduced word for word. Read them all on the reviews page.
Monthly plans
Social media management, done for you
Small Business Social Pack
£149 per month
12 static posts, 1 platform, content creation done for you
View Small Business Social Pack- Most chosen
Rolling monthly, 2 months notice, no setup fees. All plans on the social media management page.
Who you work with
One team, from the first brief to the last hand off
Velena Nikolova
Co-Founder and Creative Director
Velena leads the filming and the edit, so the idea and the execution never pass between strangers. A lifestyle creator with 13,000 Instagram followers, featured in Women's Health. More on the about page.
Dragos Nistor
Co-Founder and Business Strategist
Dragos runs the brief, the schedule and the delivery, and is on camera for couple and male led work. Named a LinkedIn Top Entrepreneurship Voice in 2024. More on the case studies.
Need a site people can be sent to?
Website work is scoped individually, and you approve the scope and the figure before anything starts. If the channels need running as well, social media management starts at £399 a month.
Prices are in pounds sterling and no VAT is added. If you are ordering from outside the UK your card issuer sets the exchange rate, and anything due in your own country is outside our invoice.