Starting A Web Site

kevy73

Senior Member
good and free don't usually go well together.

What kind of website were you after?

Free: Flickr, DeviantArt, Fotki, photobucket etc
Not free - Smugmug, Zenfolio etc....
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
You could do WordPress hosted at wordpress.com. They don't allow you to have your own domain name on the free service, but you could do something like jayhunter.wordpress.com. Using WordPress, you can try different free/pay themes and plugins to get the look you want. WordPress is the route that I'm going for now.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Honestly, if you're not quite yet willing to invest into your own domain and have someone code it/use an existing platform like wordpress, just stick to a Facebook page. Those sadly look more professional today than a free wix/wp/etc site, and you get to engage with your audience far easier.
 

Don Kondra

Senior Member
Over three years ago I fell for the old "on sale" with ipage.com, signed up for three years and purchased a domain name from them.

It wasn't long after that I discovered weebly.com which offers pretty well the same thing for free. Both sites require an additional purchase for a domain name.

When my ipage web site came up for renewal just recently (at the regular rate), I felt it was simply easier to pay than move all the information to weebly.

To be clear, my main work is furniture making so it was worth it to me to have a domain name, ie., donkondra.com

I am a part time product photographer so having a domain name reading - donkondraproductphotography.weebly.com is not a big deal. The "free" part means they get to insert their name in your domain address.

My work for photography comes mainly from word of mouth and it is adequate that I have a web presence without having a unique domain name.

Both sites use the same drag and drop type creator. You basically pick a theme and drag and drop elements on to a page and populate them with text/images.

Give weebly a try, what can you lose ? :)

If you like it, you can decide later if you want to spend the additional money on a domain name.

With all due respect, sites like wordpress are not on the same level.

Cheers, Don
 
Facebook is the way to go when you are first starting out unless you have a webmaster working for you that understands the web and how to get traffic to you. Facebook you already have a market. Your friends. Get them to like your page and to share it. Good way to get your name and work out to be seen by many.

You have a web site setup and running. how are you planning to get people to see it? Let's say you are from Batesville, Mississippi. Have you ever seen what happens if you Google "batesville mississippi photographers"? You get About 39,600 results. People rarely go past the second page to look at results. How do you get on the first or second page? I spend 3 years rewriting my page to move it up in the ranks. I had a Google expert assisting me and I worked for a web hosting company. Googel my last name Kuykendall and you will see my site. Today it is #2 behind a wikipedia article. I was #1 for several years but now it does vary some but always in the top 5 out of About 585,000 results.
Start with a good well stocked Facebook page (Not your personal one) and see how it goes. You can always add a page later.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Exactly. And not even the most-thorough CEO tags and meta will put you above google hits for the existing BIG names behind whatever photography you're trying to sell. I've done my searches and mine never came up anywhere.
 
As a seasoned web developer, I can tell you that if you want to promote your brand on the web, there are really only two effective ways to do it... Social Media, or your own website. The first is free, and the latter involves money to host, and expertise to implement.

There is no shortage of reasons why major companies have big presences on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +... even though they have plenty of resources for hosting their own site. But even social media is not without what I would consider to be a significant investment (your time).

No matter how you go, you will need to invest time in promoting your site, and adding content that, simply put, gives people a reason to want visit your entity in the first place, and to return to it regularly. If your not willing to do that, just walk away. Just throwing something up someplace and leaving it there in the hopes many will discover you is simply a waste of time.

But if you have the time and energy, social media, as many have mentioned above, is the way to get started. It is something you can grow at your own pace, and to test the waters so to speak. It is a timely way to add content and to interact with your customers and prospective customers. And after a modicum of success, you can always put up a site later and crosslink to/from the existing presence you have built.


HTH
 
not even the most-thorough CEO tags and meta will put you above google hits for the existing BIG names behind whatever photography you're trying to sell. I've done my searches and mine never came up anywhere.

For the most part, Google these days is too smart for meta-data. Anyone can tag a site with whatever they want, that doesn't mean the searcher will find what there looking for there. Google has known this for a long time.

Content and validity will get you ranked well by Google. This means your site will need plenty of content that is inline with your meta-data. While creating this content is more of an art than a science, you can start with just the basics of journalism (who, what, where, when, why, and how).

Validation is created by marketing your site. As I mentioned previously, you can't just throw something up there and expect it to stick. Other sites that contain information about (and links to) your site will provide Google the validation it needs to take it seriously in the rankings. Facebook discussions, Twitter feeds, and Google+ communities, where you interact with others interested in your brand, service, or product are the easiest and most cost effective methods for providing this validation. Other sites supporting similar interests that link to your site are also desirable, but much more difficult to generate.

HTH
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
For the most part, Google these days is too smart for meta-data. Anyone can tag a site with whatever they want, that doesn't mean the searcher will find what there looking for there. Google has known this for a long time.

HTH

And someone not head-over-heels into making a photo business will even bother with half of that, hence, no real reason for half-azzed site.
 

Bourbon Neat

Senior Member
In answer to the OP, I have a question. What is your motive in having a website? Lots of folks will answer your question with a preconceived notion of their own thinking which may differ drastically to your intentions. With a more informed question, you may get the answer your looking for.

Can anyone tell me a good site where you can build a free photography Web site
 
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