Website Hosting Companies

<p>Hello fellow photographers. I am just starting my journey to my own portrait business and would like to get a website up mainly to first display my portfolio, and then eventually give info. on pricing, services, etc. I have tried a few of the free sites/trial periods such as Photium and Wix, but none of the design options for these are exactly the quality I am looking for. I know you get what you pay for, but don't even know who to pay in this instance. Should I look for a local web design company or are there any that you all know about that are pretty easy to maneuver with quality design that you do yourselves? Please help! Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Hi Holly... I think Smugmug might be what your looking for. See my advice about Smugmug from last time someone asked similar question. Click>>> http://www.photo.net/casual-conversations-forum/00YB8w</p>

<p>Ps...I just got an email that someone ordered 9 prints from the Pirates of Lost Treasure Mardi Gras Flotilla that I covered this weekend:-) http://www.johnhillphotography.com/</p>

<p>John already mentioned Smugmug, and another possible option might be Zenfolio. Both are pretty good photography hosting sites, and both have a number of features available for selling.</p>

<p>http://www.Bludomain.com has the best prices out there and you would own your own site, with several styles to choose from starting at $50 bucks. They just launched a new on the will be $50 for this week and only $50 to host for the year. It will go up a little you can't beat any of their prices. I am leaning on using my word press blog more because it's better for SEO. (Search Engine Optimization) You can choose a blog too. "Pro Photo Blogs" good stuff.</p>

 

<p>Thank you all for your help! I have already begun researching each of these options!</p>

<p>Don't forget to make sure the hosting company is up to the challenge as well or you could end up spending time perfecting your site only to have it disappear for hours on end while they are doing "routine maintenance".<br>

Also, make sure that the site management has a robust statistics measurement tool (or if you can add a google analytics account code) so you can see how your site is doing in terms of visitors, what they're attracted to, and how long they linger.</p>