Website Companies

[foxrose3]

Hello,
I am just starting a home photography business and looking on the web for a website host.

Who have you used, and are you pleased. Need some places to start. Thanks.

 

[Christie Photo]

Do you have your site ready? Are you looking for a host?

-Pete

 

[PhotoXopher]

fatcow.com has been good for my needs.

 

[Big Mike]

I switched hosts last year....and after asking around, I went with HostGator.com.
I have been very pleased with that choice and I highly recommend them.

 

[Photochick]

I use photobiz. Love it.

 

[barias4641]

I use Elinkworld.com Never had any problems always quick to respond to my needs.

 

[chemqueen]

I use Site5 and it is solid, I can only recall one problem in the past five or six years and that was my husband's fault ;-)

I think you can also use Google to host now, but I'm not sure what that takes or how versatile that it.

 

[nemophotos]

I'm a website designer and I use godaddy for everything! I love them - great tech support - tons of space - and cheap!!

If you need a website - http://www.bludomain.com/ does GREAT websites for photographers - and they have $100 templates (honestly, as a webdesigner there is no way to compete with them on flash template prices so I have no prob giving that out haha) and they offer hosting with it.

 

[chemqueen]

Godady is okay unless you want to use ssh - they don't allow it. Means you have to use their upload tool or configure your own. I prefer ssh, so I don't use godaddy.

 

[William Petruzzo]

I used Bluehost.com for years. They're excellent and have been around for a long time, which for me gives me more confidence that they're not just going to vanish into thin air one day (as a previous host actually did do). I'm using Hostrocket.com now, which I like for the most part. I'm with them because they have a feature set that bluehost didn't offer.

 

[damonb]

I have a hosted blog with Wordpress and Blue Host & it was a snap to get it up & running (migrated from a wordpress.com (free) blog to the hosted option).

If you want to get your feet wet, without incurring a ton of expenses, you might want to try a free blog first (Wordpress.com, Blogspot, etc.) & then move from there. I think it depends on how much experience you have with websites.

 

[FrankLamont]

Having a host just costs quite a lot. SmugMug is cheaper.

 

[damonb]

My hosting through Blue Host w/a wordpress blog costs about 80.00 per year, which isn't too far off of what you would have to pay for hosted solutions at other websites.

Things to keep in mind if you host your own site:
You will have to learn some SEO basics.

I would strongly recommend not using Flash (flash pages load slower for people with slower internet connection speeds). Flash is also not good for SEO.

A hosted site or photoblog might give you more customization than a hosted solution.

If you're just looking to get your feet wet, you could look at creating a free Wordpress account or Blogger/Blogspot account to play around with things & find out what you want. If you decide to move from a free Wordpress blog to hosted, for example, it is a snap to move to the hosted version.

My free WP blog
My hosted version with Wordpress

Note: These aren't updated frequently. I largely use them for testing purposes for work.