NR Blog NR Forum ebay Finds Nikon Deals Nikon Buying Guide Leica Rumors Pentax Rumors Photo Rumors Contact NR
›

Web hosting for starting a photography business

NTTN2000NTTN2000 Posts: 4Member
edited July 2013 in General Discussions
Hello everyone,

I am in the process of setting up a website for my photography business. This business is entirely for my personal satisfaction. Having said that, I like recommendations for a hosting service. Can you recommend one that you like and tell me what you like about it and what you don't like about it?

Thanks ahead for everyone comment.
Tagged:
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Comments

  • kyoshinikonkyoshinikon Posts: 411Member
    Photo Biz is great. Pros are great presentation and customization. Cons are the cap on pics allowed per level.
    “To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” - Bresson
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • GarethGareth Posts: 159Member
    edited July 2013
    Hello everyone,
    I am in the process of setting up a website for my photography business. This business is entirely for my personal satisfaction.
    Sorry, I don't get it. Are you intending to make money? Do you have a genuine business or do you just want a vanity site? Who is your target audience?

    In general I would recommend a general host close to your customer base for rapid serving. But I guess you have no coding knowledge or you wouldn't be asking, are you willing to pay someone to design your site?

    Photography hosts are generally far more expensive. I wouldn't recommend one unless you want a shopping cart, and even then maybe not, as they take a percentage of your sales.

    I have a drupal site designed and maintained by me but implemented by a friend. I use photoshelter for my shopping cart system.

    Photoshelter is one of the best photography hosts, but is very limited in terms of website design .The order section of my site is Photoshelter and is pretty much 100% customisation. I intend to customise it even more soon, as there seems to still be a few issues with the CSS.

    The backend for images, cart and invoicing of photoshelter is very good and that is why I keep using it despite having to pay for double hosting.

    Click my sig to visit my site and have a look.
    Post edited by Gareth on

    kidsphotos.co.nz

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator

    In general I would recommend a general host close to your customer base for rapid serving. But I guess you have no coding knowledge or you wouldn't be asking, are you willing to pay someone to design your site?
    I only have experience of creating a site to sell my house Gareth (which was successful), but I question the need for coding knowledge these days when companies like Square Space use drag and drop technology to make design simple?
    Always learning.
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • GarethGareth Posts: 159Member
    edited July 2013
    It is up to you whether you are happy to have a generic site.

    I have unique images and want a unique website designed to MY specific requirements. My requirements are based on my design aesthetic/branding and customer feedback on useability and ease of understanding of what is on offer as well as a few other factors.

    In fact I am discussing some javascript ideas with my friend right now.
    Post edited by Gareth on

    kidsphotos.co.nz

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    edited July 2013
    ICDSoft

    And, this thread is going to be short....
    Post edited by Msmoto on
    Msmoto, mod
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • Vipmediastar_JZVipmediastar_JZ Posts: 1,708Member
    look into globat or a hosting site that has plugin1s available. I installed wordpress on it and used a free templates from site5 for a while until I finally purchased a theme. Now once I am ready I will implement a shopping cart but for now i'll continue to blog.
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    http://www.1and1.com/
    Or do what @Vipmediastar suggests and get Wordpress installed on a site and roll yer own
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • jjdarlingjjdarling Posts: 59Member
    Don't use 1and1!!!!!! They are the worst. Read some of their consumer reports. I have a domain registered with them and they've been nothing but frustrating. I would never trust them with hosting or *gulp* web design.

    I use virb, which is ok, but I would recommend squarespace for everything. A little pricier but well worth it.
    www.jjdarling.com
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • NTTN2000NTTN2000 Posts: 4Member
    All,

    Thanks fro the comments.
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    I would just like to point out that 1and1 has 2.7M customers in the US and another 1.8M in Europe, so they must be doing something right :-)
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • jjdarlingjjdarling Posts: 59Member
    They are doing something right - they offer very cheap prices, often with the first year free for domain registration. The gotcha is that they make moving the domain registration incredibly difficult, and when your domain is your brand you're not likely to abandon it. I'm just doing my part to warn people not to get in bed with 1&1 because I've had a bad experience, and looking around the web, I'm definitely not alone there.
    www.jjdarling.com
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • PostmanPostman Posts: 59Member
    Zenfolio anyone?

    I'm entering the final staged of putting mine together, probably something like this is where you're interested. It costs around £100 a year.

    tomgreenphoto.co.uk
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    ICDSoft is very inexpensive, has instant 24/7 support, and is about USD $60 annually. And, my website has about 1200 pages, around 1500 images.

    The best part is I can ask some very stupid questions via the support system and in about five minutes I have an answer back.
    Msmoto, mod
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • LareLare Posts: 46Member
    I admit I don't know much about websites.
    Msmoto, can you transact business (i.e., securely sell) through their website or is it something you can only use to display your work and get people in contact with you?
    Thanks

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • Rx4PhotoRx4Photo Posts: 1,200Member
    Zenfolio anyone?
    I was considering Zenfolio for a while because of their well rounded capability but got lazy and haven't done anything yet. In the meantime I've been following this young fashion photographer by the name of Luke Schneider and he's become a big fan of 22Slides. I'm now looking at that site. I like the ability to have an entire image cover the home page like on his home page. More research to do.
    D800 | D7000 | Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 | 24-70mm f/2.8 | 70-200mm f/2.8 | 35mm f/1.8G | 85mm f/1.4G | Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art | Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art | Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM | Zeiss 100mm Makro-Planar ZF.2 | Flash controllers: Phottix Odin TTL

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • GarethGareth Posts: 159Member
    ^^^Can we kill the spam guy?

    kidsphotos.co.nz

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    @Gareth....what spam guy...LOL

    I have come to the conclusion when we see a member with only one or two posts and they are dropping a link.....especially when the link is not in English......

    Thanks for pointing the finger at these posts....
    Msmoto, mod
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • JenMarieTanJenMarieTan Posts: 1Member
    edited September 2016
    Why don't you try WordPress? It has a lot of photography customized themes to choose from, and more often than not, it's free! I was trying to set up a fort polio for my client, too. I gave my online portfolio powered by WordPress.

    Jen Marie
    Contributor at Ivertise.com
    Post edited by JenMarieTan on
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • PistnbrokePistnbroke Posts: 2,451Member
    edited September 2016
    Zenfolio is the only photography orientated site and nobody can rob your images

    I have sent you a PM so you can view mine ..all done by the wife age 69
    Post edited by Pistnbroke on
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • WestEndFotoWestEndFoto Posts: 3,745Member
    Wordpress is really a program. You can host it yourself if you want and control all of that. I have been considering which program to use and this is my leading contender.
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
  • GaptoothedgypsyGaptoothedgypsy Posts: 8Member
    IMHO Bluehost is the best hosting company for photographers and if you use Lightroom, you can do no better than use the Backlight products from TTG for website creation. It allows Page creation, Galleries, Video, Slideshows, Cart, FotoMoto Integration and Customer Response Galleries. Images are Published to your site directly from within Lightroom. Support from BlueHost and TTG is excellent. This is my site Hosted on Bluehost and built with Backlight if you are interested.
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.