Boo Boo Loc: Mass

Hi I would like to create a website, and my friend suggested that I try "Wix.com" I just tried, and it seemed difficult to me. I've never created one and expected it to be pretty easy..maybe I'm just "dumb" so to speak when it comes to this. Has anyone used this site before to create their own website? If so any suggestions? Maybe I need one of those dummy books..lol

seeSAW Loc: Western Mass

I have and it does take some work but they give you all the tools to set up a good site.

Click on my link to see mine. :roll:

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Take a look at FatCow.com, I used them and it was very easy to navigate and get operational.

LuckyshotCT

The process of setting up sites can be daunting and tedious. As well, setting it up currently so as to be viewed on all browsers and platforms as you intended can filled with challenges.

If your primary intent for thew website is to post your photos, there are a number of sites designed for that purpose. With a variety of prices, ranging from relatively inexpensive to show a limited number (overall disk space the delimiter) to pricier for professionals who intend to sell photos from the site, the options are available. These sites have a number of preset backgrounds and the ability to customize.

I use one of the sites to post photos and am pleased with it. In fairness to the website companies, I won't list it here. A web search will bring up the names of many of them. You can look at what each offers and make choice.

morriscowley Loc: sydney australia

Starting a web sit with very little experience is far from easy. It is not just not about having a nice looking home page but the work necessary at what they call the "back end" This where key words play an important place and really from my experience a specialist can be of help. There are specialists and then there are specialists and although the word may be the same some just take your money but give poor results. I spent several thousand dollars with one "specialist" and never got past page 30 on Google. Was contacted by a company in India who charged me $800.00 and after three month I went from page 30 to page 2 on Google. I was asked to write four articles about my product because I knew more about the subject than they did, they just worked on my experience..

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

In today's world with blogging, it's very easy to get to the top of Google. Google loves fresh content, so a simple blog post a day can get you there, probably faster than three months if you follow a few simple Google rules, and much less expensively.

Also, if you piggyback on someone else. For example, I piggyback on WordPress. It's the largest blogging platform with hundreds of thousands of themes, plug-ins, widgets (and wadgets, gidgets and gadgets), and you can piggyback while still having your own URL. My photography blog is at http://russelrayphotos2.com/ but I have piggybacked on wordpress.com, so Google loves me. I can publish a blog post and have it at the top of a Google search within hours, mainly because Google now knows that I publish "fresh content" at least once a day, usually twice a day, and sometimes three, four, or five times a day. Those Google bots stop by all the time, as indicated in my site statistics.

WordPress is kind of like Photoshop. It's the defacto standard so there are billions and billions and billions of books, tutorials, videos, and support forums for it. If I have a question, I can post on the WordPress forum and have a correct answer and many ways to accomplish the task in hours, sometimes even minutes.

Additionally, when you get indexed regularly by Google, other people find you, too. I recently had a blog post about SeaWorld that was picked up by a travel agency in New York. See http://newyorkcity.yourtraveladvisor.info/new-york-city/go-arts-entertainment-for-may-6-12/ and scroll down to the bottom where you'll see "Mouse here for related links." I'm the first link.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Download various browsers and see how your site looks on them. It does make a difference.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

check out Zenfolio, it has loads of nice preset pages and is quite affordable to almost every budget.

Steinmetz Loc: Oregon based

Recently went from Apples' mobile me gallery $99/year to Smugmug -- for $150/year for a commerce pro site... they just raised the price. But the support is phenomenal & 24 hours 7 days a week. Here is a gentleman that takes uses videos and you will have a website up in 90 minutes . !! You do not have to be a wedding photographer... it is applicable to anything you want...

http://photographyontheside.com/complete-wedding-photography-website-tutorial-step-1

there are 8 Steps ( do as he does and then you can later go back and make it more to your liking )

I am truly happy with these people; and, regardless of some people complaining when they upped their price after 10 years... it is still a bargain for what one is able to do with the site...
through developing a website on smugmug and you will not go wrong for all you get... I have branded my site but still can do more... just have not taken the time as I am out shooting.. ;=)

In regards to different browsers, although this might be or could be the topic of another forum, if you open up several browsers on your computer, lets say safari, firefox or internet explorer, take a jpeg picture file with a color file of adobe RGB 1998 color space and drag the file through different browsers; and, then do the same thing with a jpeg file that has the color profile of sRGB. I have found that the adobe RGB 1998 color file stays truer to color than does the sRGB color profile that everyone is using or that everyone says is best for the web. Check this out.. ;=) I observed that the sRGB colors changed more than the adobe RGB 1998..... interesting.

LuckyshotCT

I use Smugmug as well, but as an amateur. I spend less per year as I do not need all the professional options.

Also, while looking (after the end of Apple's Mobile Me), I g ave Zenfolio a look, but liked Smugmug for my needs.

For another, it may be perfect.

Steinmetz Loc: Oregon based

Another comment about choosing a "website" area...
After users were given ample time of APPLE's closing on July 1, 2012 their Mobile Me gallery service ( $99/year cost )
I searched prior to that for a year, As usually my researching time cost me... money and time. I should have went with SMUGMUG sooner -- my reason I believe they are the most "photographer friendly site " on the web, bar none. I wish I had started with them to begin with... would have made more money... As I mentioned before herein, follow Ryan Oakley advice... and try a free trial period while you build the site with SmugMug... Ryans free online video tutorials will guide you step by step to get a professional site...
and SMUGMUG people will also assist you or answer any questions 24 hours / 7 days a week...

http://photographyontheside.com/complete-wedding-photography-website-tutorial-step-1



Various "sites" have been mentioned, but there are MANY, many more -- ipage, justhost, hub, fatcow, bluehost, inmotion, hostgator, greengeeks, webhostingpad, hostmonster, SMUGMUG, vistaprint, godaddy, etc.....

If you have spent any time at all looking into hosting services, you know that many of the sites use industry jargon and terminology that may be difficult to understand. Some of the best web hosting sites, however, not only offer clear information and frequently asked questions, but excellent, knowledgeable and available customer support for all of their clients. Whether you choose to use a free site builder or to install a premium site-builder of your choice, you should have access to top-notch-customer SUPPORT TO HELP you with any glitches, issues or questions you may have. That is again why I chose smugmug.. A major competitor of smugmug is zenfolio ... which I have not personally used... but have seen a bunch of smugmuggers mover over to Zenfolio.. each has to make their decision... and for different reasons..

FilmFanatic Loc: Waikato, New Zealand

I hear lots of adverts for Squarespace. Have not used them but it sounds good on the ad

Coops Place Loc: Chicago Area

I just created a website using WIX. At first it can be difficult, but each time you work on the site, it becomes easier. That's the learning curve. I started out using a model website that someone else already created. This became my starting point. Working with the model, I seen how all the tools worked. I now post a picture each day and update my previous picture page. It has be up a running now for about 7 days.

My webpage is http://coopsplace.wix.com/coops-place#!home/mainPage

morriscowley Loc: sydney australia

Helpful information on web site design. My web site was put up some 5 years ago and the suggestions you made were not known to me. Such programmes are still not known to me, but will look more closely. Great flower photos, How did you get a black background, with a black board and a cut flower or by photoshop.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I presume you're talking about the black backgrounds on my flower photos on my photography blog. I did it in Photoshop CS6. I actually tried cardboard, felt, silk, etc., out in the field. Total waste of time and effort.