How To Start Your Own Photography Website

In the last post, I started a laundry list of the 10 things every photography student should have. Today is part two of that article: A photography website focusing on your portfolio.

Every photographer should have a website. It’s the number one way of reaching large amounts of people at a low cost.

Of course, there are many other ways to market yourself; e-mail newsletters, postcards, podcasts, etc. However, a website is a great place to start!

The main focus should be on a great presentation of your work. The “Portfolio” section of your site will be what helps you land new jobs, and keep existing clients!

As a college student myself, majoring in Art with an emphasis in Advertising Photography, I felt it would be very beneficial for me to learn how to build websites. That way, I could build my own, as well as offer it as another service to my clients.

If you’re interested in learning how to build websites, Lynda.com could be an affordable way to do so.

I believe they have rates that start out at $25 a month. Plus you have access to tutorials of all the other professional software such as Photoshop, Flash, InDesign, and much more!

Or you can go the route I took. I picked up a book on HTML and CSS and just practiced, practiced, practiced.

If you’re not interested in learning how to design websites, or may not have the time for it, there are many companies that have professional looking templates you can choose from, for a low monthly fee.

It will definitely save you time from building a site from scratch, and you can have a professional looking site up the same day!

One that I personally like and have used before, is Qufoto. Their back office is VERY user-friendly, and their customer service is superb.

Carbonmade is also another good one, as well as LiveBooks.

I haven’t personally used them, but have friends that do, and they’ve all said good things about it. I also interviewed the editor of LiveBooks! She was a pleasure to have a conversation with and had tons of golden nuggets to offer.

I’ve used these types of website services in the past when I didn’t have time to work on my website from scratch. It was a HUGE time saver, and impressed new visitors every time!

Along with having a website, you’ll also need to purchase your domain name and a hosting plan. A domain name is your URL. For example, http://www.YourWebsiteName.com.

Hosting a website online is like renting space to park your website.

I have an account with Site5 and they have great rates, their customer service is available 24 hours a day, and I’ve never had a problem with them.

So what are you waiting for? If you don’t have your portfolio online yet, it’s time to get started. You now have no reason NOT to have an online presence 🙂

P.S. Here are a few screenshots of sites I’ve built for clients, including my own. Just click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

My Portfolio page of my website Opening page of B. Beauty BarAbout page of Manalo Inc. Photography

Now let’s start sparking creative ideas and talk about getting your business cards and letterhead designed!