 Photography and the Web Part II
(Portfolios)
This is going to be a four (4) part article on why using a website for your photography and/or photography business is one of the most effcient and cost effective ways to promote your business. Thee following articles topics will cover how to easily start your online presence with minimal cost to you: Part 1: Why a website? Part 2: Portfolios (September/October 2008 issue) Part3: Search Engines & Social Networks (November/December 2008 issue) Part 4: Blog/CMS/E-Commerce (January/February 2009 issue) Part 2: Portfolios: Where should you start if you're looking to showcase your work? So everyone online knows of at least a couple of image hosting websites. If you’re reading this right here on whitespider, then chances are you have some of your work hosted with us. There are some of the unfocused image hosts such as image shack or flickr, as well as the art only sites such as deviant art or whitespider. But what are these to you REALLY? Ask yourself, what is the overall goal and purpose of your images being on the internet? You want them to be seen, but by who? I know hosting on flickr is very easy, and it allows you to easily embed your images on any blog or profile site out there, but who really gets to see them? In addition to that, how will someone find your images on a site filled with an endless amount of different image categories ranging from beautiful art to someone’s underexposed shot of a friend chugging beers? Deviant Art is dedicated to every branch of art, which is a definite plus, and Whitespider is dedicated specifically to photography. But will people really be searching for you here even? If you want your images seen by clients it is a MUST that you have your own online portfolio. I’m not going to rule out throwing up your images on these sites, or even making a Myspace page dedicated to your photography because let’s be honest, exposure is always a plus. But it’s essential for anyone to have your OWN personal portfolio on the web to showcase your images. A place where you don’t have to worry about poor placement, being hard to find, or having to compete with anyone elses photos on the same page. Where you can really showcase your images exactly how you want them on the page and give your potential clients a real peek into why you’re the right person for the job. How do we do this? Here is the breakdown. Every website needs a name, this is called a domain name. “www.yoursite.com” Something related to your business is always a plus because search engines like Google and Yahoo use this name among other factors to show you in the search results. Domain Names can be purchased at a number of different places, the most widely used being Godaddy.com. Not only is a domain name required for hosting, but it’s one of the best bargains on the web at around $10-$15 each if they have yet to be registered. Website Hosts are where all of your websites information is stored. It is a computer that is being called every time someone visits your domain name and it responds with the webpages you’ve created. Hosting is the more costly portion of creating your own website, but even hosting can be acquired cheaply. There are completely free webhosts available on the internet, but because of largely in depth problems unique to each one of them I’m not going to recommend any of them. Since this is a personal column I’m going to save you all the hassle and let you know that out of the 25 different hosting companies I’ve unfortunately had to do business with, the ONLY one to not disappoint me is Hostmonster.com. This company is amazing and has provided service beyond my expectations in every area. Also with creating an account with host monster(less than $100/year currently…) you are provided with a number of useful additions including easy to use email accounts(in unlimited #’s) that use your domain name(
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), website analysis features, and some quick backup utilities. Most importantly it provides you with some easy installing web software such as your own Image Gallery, page and content creation software, and even things to help your customers sign up and pay for work right there on the site. Web design isn’t the easiest thing in the world and it does definitely take some time to get a hang of, but over the next couple of issues I will cover all of the places to get started. So in the mean time, if you are following this column and are interested in showcasing your work I have some advice for all of you: Figure out what you would like to express to your future clients. Figure out who your future client is, and where they spend their time online. Play around with some of the online galleries like flickr or here on Whitespider. Sign up for Myspace, fill out your profile, add some of your work there. Fill out your profile here. Any familiarity with representing your work on the web will definitely help you and may better focus your attention on what your official web portfolio may look like. Once you are up to date with what the lighter less professional side of things looks like, check back and we will dive into how to start your sites marketing in Part 3 and some quick ways to start your site creation in Part 4. | 
