Everyone seems to have a website. Even your friends have websites or blogs. So now you are interested in how to build a website. You take pictures and you want to show off your work – maybe even sell some of your work. But you don’t have a clue how to get started. But there are many people who have done most of the work for you and you can find them by Googling for “create a website guide” and you will find plenty to help you with the entire process.
Companies to help
There are many companies that will help you design the entire website for little or no cost. They will provide a step-by-step guide to creating a website. The largest such company is WordPress.com and within 30 minutes you have your own website. They will also have a guide on how to create a website and everything else that you will need to know.
Website name
First you need a name for your website – an internet name so that you can be found by others on the internet. It makes no sense to work on creating a website that no one can find. This is when you need to put your “thinking cap on” and think of some brilliant yet catchy name. It could be something like “My Photo Studio” or something that has your name in it such as “Carol’s Photo Studio”.
What to avoid
There are some things that you need to avoid when picking your name. These include:
- Slang
- Hyphens
- Numbers;
- Anything about copyright issues
Domain extension
Your name also will need a domain extension which will follow your domain name. Most websites use .com but you can also use .net or .org. I suggest using one of these only if your web name using .com is taken.
Templates
Most website guides will have posted a number of templates that will be helpful in building in your website. They are just a guide as you will fill in all the other necessary items such as:
- Color
- Fonts
- How many pages
- What to put on each page – content
Hosting your website
Next you need to decide what company you want to host your website. With WordPress that is all taken care of for you with no charge. But there are many others. Hosting is where your website gets connected with the internet – it is the server where your site will live – so companies will charge a small fee; many are free.
Content management system
Next you need a CMS or content management system. This is the interface that is user-friendly and is used for building websites and supporting online content. Here are three to choose from:
- Joomla
- WordPress
- Drupal
Most experts will suggest using WordPress because of the following reasons:
- It is free
- Easy to install
- Widely used
- Beginner friendly
- Large support community
After these few steps, you are half-way there. It might take you several days to come up with the content and how you want the pages to appear. Then all you need to do is put your photographs up and Wow, you will have a website for your photos so others can see how creative you are.
If you want to sell your work or sell your services all you need to do is add the pages for announcing these options. There are also other things you need to do – one is SEO which means you need to optimize your site so search engines can find you. But right now just enjoy your new website.
