GREAT WEB SITE PORTFOLIOS

[Terry Runion]

GREAT WEB SITE PORTFOLIOS
by
Heather Shimmin

In this internet age, having an online portfolio is not a just a good idea, it's a must. A web site is the best way to reach a large amount of people and easily showcase your work. Employers, clients, and galleries want to see what you've done and understand your point of view as a photographer. If you don't have a web site, get one. If you have one, make it better.

Here are the basics of how to get a web site set up and what you should do once you've got one.

BUY A DOMIAN NAME
The first thing you need to do is buy a domain name. The best place to do this is www.godaddy.com. Here, you can find out what domain names are available and purchase it right there. Most domain names are $9.99. The premium, more sought after names can be $100 or more.

FIND A HOST
Now that you've got your domain name, you need a way to publish it on the internet. Web hosting companies provide you with space on their server which people online can access. It's how you get your site on the web. There are a myriad companies which offer this service. The difference in rate depends on how much space you're allotted. Other factors in price are the number of email accounts you get and if you pay for the entire year at once, or on a month-to-month basis. Expect to pay about $100 a year.

DEFINE THE WEB SITE'S PURPOSE
The next thing you need to do is think about the purpose of your web site. What type of portfolio are you going to display? Commercial or fine art? If you do both, consider having two separate sites. A friend of mine actually has one website for his black and white work and another for his color because they are so dramatically different. Do you want to sell prints of your work? Do you want to attract new clients? Do you want to provide information about photography via a blog? Are you targeting galleries? You must define the purpose of the site before you do anything more.

BUILD THE SITE
The two things which define a great web site portfolio are design and content. Your web site will not have that wow-factor if you do not have both.

Finding a web designer which fits your style takes a little digging and it's not cheap. An original, innovative multi-media site will cost you a minimum of $10,000. Understand that a well designed, quality web site will cost you some dough. Post an ad in craigslist and at the local university and look and their portfolios. Also, web design firms have basic packages and templates which are less expensive. As you expect people to compensate you for your talent and expertise as a photographer, so it is with a web designer.

The second part of having a great web site portfolio is content. Content is king in your portfolio. Showcase only your best work, and if you need to, go out and shoot some more images in the areas that you fall short. You are only as good as your weakest image.

MARKET YOUR SITE
Once your site is build and is filled with strong content, you can do some free advertising for your site. Aside from manually sending out your site to those who request it, there are a host of free directories which you can submit it to. Some directories require a reciprocal link. You just need to build a page on your site for this purpose. Other directories require that you pay to be listed. Don't do it. There are plenty of free directories out there. Don't get suckered into paying for something you don't need.