I am in the process of starting my photography business and looking for a web host to create my web site. I've played around with Smugmug and I do like it but I would like explore other options. Preferably "do it yourself" and low cost. Suggestions? Thank you.
I recently stumbled upon wix.com and created a really professional-looking website for zero cost. http://www.wix.com/dejongdd/ddjimages It was easy to create yet looks like it was done professionally. It depends upon what exactly you want your website to do when deciding on how to host it.
I use Photoshelter. They are very nice, but also cost $30 a month. You have tons of customizable templates, everything is built into the site, and fully automated.
However, I am thinking of switching to Zenfolio. They have the same options and are a bit cheaper in the long run.
Weebly gives you unlimited web space, even on their free plan, and sports a pretty decent photo gallery feature. It is very easy and intuitive to use too. Weebly’s designs may not be quite as stylish as those of their competitors, but it is nevertheless becoming an increasingly popular choice for photographers looking to set up a completely free website. Weebly does place an ad on your site, but it’s only a grey logo in the footer section. So your visitors will probably not even notice it.
Jimdo wants website creation to be fun and easy for everyone. You can choose from plenty of pre-built designs and it’s also quite easy to customize them to your own preferences.
It includes a very good image gallery feature and also enables file downloads in case you want to share the source files of your photos. If you only want to share them with selected people you can even password-protect them. Jimdo offers a free plan that is sponsored through an ad on your site. Alternatively, for the price of US $5 a month, you not only get rid of the ad but also get your own domain name and email account.
Wix is completely based on Flash technology. This means it offers some quite interesting visual options that are popular with photographers. Unfortunately, it also has its disadvantages: neither Google nor Apple are big fans of Flash websites, which may affect your search engine ranking, and iPhones or iPads will not show your Flash site at all. There are workarounds for this, however: Wix offers a dedicated mobile website editor to address the iPhone issue. If your main concern is to have a website that looks really great and you’re less worried about SEO and mobile access you should definitely check out Wix.
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However, I am thinking of switching to Zenfolio. They have the same options and are a bit cheaper in the long run.
Weebly gives you unlimited web space, even on their free plan, and sports a pretty decent photo gallery feature. It is very easy and intuitive to use too. Weebly’s designs may not be quite as stylish as those of their competitors, but it is nevertheless becoming an increasingly popular choice for photographers looking to set up a completely free website. Weebly does place an ad on your site, but it’s only a grey logo in the footer section. So your visitors will probably not even notice it.
Jimdo wants website creation to be fun and easy for everyone. You can choose from plenty of pre-built designs and it’s also quite easy to customize them to your own preferences.
It includes a very good image gallery feature and also enables file downloads in case you want to share the source files of your photos. If you only want to share them with selected people you can even password-protect them. Jimdo offers a free plan that is sponsored through an ad on your site. Alternatively, for the price of US $5 a month, you not only get rid of the ad but also get your own domain name and email account.
Wix is completely based on Flash technology. This means it offers some quite interesting visual options that are popular with photographers. Unfortunately, it also has its disadvantages: neither Google nor Apple are big fans of Flash websites, which may affect your search engine ranking, and iPhones or iPads will not show your Flash site at all. There are workarounds for this, however: Wix offers a dedicated mobile website editor to address the iPhone issue. If your main concern is to have a website that looks really great and you’re less worried about SEO and mobile access you should definitely check out Wix.