Most personal pages have no place for thanks. The usual layout runs name, positioning, portfolio, contact, done. Adding a gratitude homepage section around Thanksgiving is the cheapest single change I know of: it costs almost nothing to maintain, and it turns a page that reads like a CV into one that shows how you got here.
"Gratitude homepage" is a low volume search, which suits me fine. The people who look it up have already decided to add one. They want to know where it goes and how much to write. Those are the two questions below, plus a note on what separates a credit from an acceptance speech.
## Who this section is actually for
Visitors are not auditing your network. They are quietly working out three things: whether you built this alone, how much of the work was collaborative, and whether you mention other people's names when you get the chance.
A credits on homepage block answers all three at once, and it does it without you claiming anything. Saying "the identity system was Ming's, I did the type" is more convincing than a line about being detail-oriented, because one of those can be checked.
There is a second reader too: the people on the list. A name in public lands differently from a private message, and it travels. Several of the strongest referral paths I have watched start with someone being thanked somewhere visible.
## Where a thank you section goes
Three placements work. Pick based on how much room your page has left.
| Placement | Form | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Footer, one line | Four or five names under a "Thanks" heading | Most pages; invisible to first-time visitors until the end |
| Its own section above contact | Two to four lines, each with a date | Pages with a long portfolio that need a break |
| Inside the updates feed | One post in November, then archived | Pages that already publish monthly |
A short block that gets read beats a complete archive that does not. Three recent entries with dates do more work than a full list nobody scrolls to.
## How to write it without sounding like an acceptance speech
Write what the person did, not what they are like. "She drove the rewrite when I had run out of ideas" reads fine. "An inspiration to everyone" does not, and it makes the rest of the list look padded.
Write down one decision they made for you. This is the line most people skip, and it is the only one a stranger can picture.
Keep it to two lines. A credit that runs past three lines starts reading like an obituary.
Leave off adjectives for the first pass. Add one back if the line feels cold, then stop.
## Fifteen minutes, five names
Start with these five: whoever got you into the work, the person who gave you advice when you changed direction, whoever covered for you on a project, your first paying client, and one person you never thanked properly.
Then cut it to five. Six reads as a list you did not edit.
## FAQ
- Does this look like name dropping? Only when the names are famous and the reason is thin. Name plus a specific action reads as credit. Name plus an adjective reads as networking.
- Do I need to ask first? No, unless you are naming a client who has not gone public about working with you. That one is worth a message.
- How many people is right? Four to six. Three looks thin, ten looks like film credits.
- Should I take it down after Thanksgiving? Keep it, and date it. A block that stays put for a year reads better than one that reappears every November.
## Before Thanksgiving
Open your page, add a section called "Thanks", and write four lines. Twenty minutes covers it, and the part you cannot postpone is the list itself: another month and you will have forgotten who covered for you in March.
On dynamic-profile.shop adding a section does not rebuild the page, so you can drop it in and move it later without redoing anything. Start from the [homepage](/). If your page has not settled yet, [Homepage: 5 Must-Have Sections](/blog/homepage-5-must-have-sections) is the shorter checklist. For the argument that all of this belongs on one page instead of scattered across profiles, see [Everything on One Page](/blog/everything-on-one-page).