Wanting to start a website

[spooner]

I have been looking in to starting a website for myself to try and get my name out there and i was wondering for those of you that have already started a website, was it easy to do? do you have to have any special programs to do one?

I was thinking of using bludomain to create and host one for me. is this a good idea?

[KenJulio]

Check out some of the sponsors, smugmug and creative motion design. Pricing will be similar and CMD do have specials that they run.

[Cajungaltx]

Check out portfoliositez.com - $16/month for full site - online ordering, etc - their customer service is phenomenal.

Some folks have some customer service issues/response issues with Bludomain. One of my favorite photogs - Mindy Harmon - has a Bludomain and has had NO issues.

But - if you do a search - you'll get plenty of info.

Either - they are super easy to setup.

[jubb]

It's Possible to do run a photography website using the blog software wordpress. You can check out my website down there in my signature for an example. I know that flash websites look a lot prettier, but they don't get ranked as high in google searches. The wordpress system is nice cuz you can download plugins that help you optimize things for search engine optimization. I'm currently working on my SEO right now. As far as hosts, I've been really happy with bluehost, they let you host unlimited websites on one account for a cheap price. I'm hosting about 8 on my host for 8 bucks a month. Definately Check out the sponsors to help out the forum though.

[photoguy88]

i also suggest wordpress if you have no experience building websites it's simple to use and their are a ton of how to videos on youtube you can watch that will help you.

as for hosting i personally like hostgator you can host as many sites as you want for 10 bucks a month and their customer service is awesome

bluehost is good too

[Redneck]

I think your first step should be thinking about what you really want and need.
Building a basic website, especially with the so called website builders that many companies offer, is pretty easy. However, if you are a photographer then you probably want to host, present and sell your work online which is something that isn't easily realized with the regular hosting providers. So I would recommend going with one of the photo hosting providers because their services are usually tailored to the needs of photographers. I'm with smugmug.com and couldn't be happier, don't know the others like zenfolio or portfoliositez or CMD or ... though.

[Flea77]

Is setting up a website easy? Pretty much. But that is like asking if taking a picture is easy. Sure, turn on the camera, set it to auto (p), point it at the subject and press the shutter release. How easy is that?

When I set up my website I had specific goals that I wanted my website to achieve. I wanted to be in the top five results for specific keywords on Google for starters. No matter how nice the website is, if no one ever sees it, it is worthless. That part of website design is NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Before you even start sit down and make a list of all the things the website needs to accomplish, then beside each of those write out how it will accomplish that task. It takes a lot of research, planning and then work to make a website more than a glorified business card which no one will ever see unless you send them to it.

An example, I just shot a job for a woman from Colleyville Texas yesterday, had to look up where that was! She was going to be in my area and contacted me through my website. I did not know her, she did not know anyone I had ever known, I never advertised in the area and did not even know where she was. But that was a lot of work getting the website to that point (when I say a lot, I mean months of SEO, 20+ hours a week to start).

Allan

[clayhilda55]

It is not easy to maintain a website because it needs optimization or marketing. A website not knows by your targeted clients is useless. You will need to learn to do SEO or hire someone else to do it for you. I have a website and my clients are almost from the internet hence; I could say that it is all worth it.

[jstevensphoto]

I use Photobiz.com. $25 a month for max of 600 photos. It's a flash site so the client viewing and proofing will not work on a mobile device like an iPhone or iPad. I'm not a marketing/internet wiz, so it helped to have their step-by-step guidance while setting it up. Great customer service. Good luck