We have decided that the internet can be quite a confusing place, so we want to help shed some light on options, how to's, and more to help you excel with your online presence. Our 'Everything You Need to Know' series will be featuring different aspects of the web. Today we are going to explain what your choices for a web site are, but first we'd like to introduce another sample of Dorothea. Below is our clean light version. We will be featuring the premium version of the site with the proofing section and video galleries next week.
Once again we'd like to thank Nick Haskins for his beautiful images!
http://www.portfoliositez.com/dorothea2/Everything You Need To Know:: Web Sites
When creating a web presence there are three things you need:
1. Domain Name
2. Web Site
3. Hosting
Domain Names. cheapest and best place we've been able to find is godaddy.com. They will register your domain name for $8.95/yr. Your domain name is what directs people to your site on any given server (ie- portfoliositez.com). No Matter what method or company you go with for websites you will need at least one domain name. You can always have additional domain names point to the same place if you would like, for instance both portfoliositez.com and portfoliositez.net can point to the same webpage.
Web Sites. This is where it gets interesting. There are many options for web sites including building it yourself, getting a custom unique site built, and buying a template. If you are creative you can build the website yourself. Some software that will be very helpful is Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash. Both will require programming knowledge though. If you design yourself just remember to keep it simple. Your images/art should be the main focus, a website is just a holder to highlight the content.
The next option would be a template. We are a little bias, however this can be a very cost effective solution for getting a high quality site that is as good a custom for a much more affordable price. Of course our first recommendation for this service with be our own product, however we do understand that our styles of design might not suit everybody, or our service might not be what you are looking for.
For this reason we want you to have access to the best companies out there for getting a quality design and great customer service. Our favorite company (present company excluded) is
bigfolio.com. Having worked within the industry for the past 3+ years I have had many opportunities to see how their customer service has set the standard in the business. Their templates are also very high quality and have a different look and feel then our sites which may suit your tastes better. Some other companies that also deserve recognition for great service and products are creativemotiondesign.com, flashpalette.com, and winklet templates. These are just a handful of template companies out of a very large group, however I believe they are the top of the industry. When choosing a template company you should research them when possible (forums are great for this), make sure they have great customer service, make sure you can edit the content easily without much computer knowledge, and that their style matches your body of work.
The last option, which is the best for web presence, is getting a custom site. Ideally if you are looking to stand apart this is what you need. This can be quite costly though. Customs can range anywhere $2000-$20,000. If it is not absolutely necessary to have a unique site then you can get custom quality, saving thousands, by using a template. If this is the way you'd like to go a great company for custom sites for photographers and creative professionals is
http://www.tenbricks.com/.
Hosting. Hosting is your chunk of space on a physical computer that shares your information with the world wide web. With a service like ours this is included. If you choose to go with a service where you need to get this separately a great company is bluehost.com. They have the best quality for the best price that I have found to date.
When dealing with websites you should keep in mind that the internet is a growing industry. More and more people are turning to the internet to provide information. If you do not have a web presence you may be missing out on potential clients who do not want to consider your services because it takes more effort to find out about them then to find out about your competitors. Web sites are also changing at a rapid rate. Your website design/style may get outdated in as shortly as 1 year. Staying up to date with the latest trends such as client proofing, online ordering, etc. is important. When comparing options you should consider that this is not going to be a one-time purchase that lasts you 10 years. You need to budget in what it will take to refresh your look every couple of years at the least to ensure you are looking at your web presence in a realistic financial plan.
that is basically a crash course in what you need to consider for web design. We will be highlighting all things web throughout the month in this series such as online proofing options, slideshow options, royalty free music, etc.
stay tuned next week the premium Dorothea!!
Jen =)
