The Dreaded Website Question

[amolitor]

Adobe Muse

The Lytro camera of web production.

It lets you figure out what your web site is about after you're doing building it? That would be awesome.

 

[CCericola]

muse is ok. The code is messy and very hard to edit outside of muse but it is pretty user friendly for designers that know squat about HTML. It is subscription based only and I think you get Business Catalyst included. My site is from Muse. It hasn't been edited since Muse came out of Beta though

 

[Chris R]

I'm surprised that many professional photographers here suggest using these generic portfolio websites. If someone came here looking for a photographer, you probably wouldn't all point them in the direction of the nearest Walmart Portrait Studio, would you? So why not seek out a professional web designer? It's always a bit strange how photographers who are creative professionals and small business owners shy away from doing business with people of their own type. Why hire a pro that can get you exactly what you need when you can get generic crap for a fraction of the price, right?

 

[o hey tyler]

I'm surprised that many professional photographers here suggest using these generic portfolio websites. If someone came here looking for a photographer, you probably wouldn't all point them in the direction of the nearest Walmart Portrait Studio, would you? So why not seek out a professional web designer? It's always a bit strange how photographers who are creative professionals and small business owners shy away from doing business with people of their own type. Why hire a pro that can get you exactly what you need when you can get generic crap for a fraction of the price, right?

That's kinda been my logic as well... However, some web designers/programmers can cost an arm and a leg (my girlfriend included) who does some major websites for around $3k. I PERSONALLY see the value in a custom designed and coded website, but it's simply not accessible to everyone. Granted, I didn't drop $3k on a website... I got mine built for free (well, an exchange of photographic services for my friend who's a web programmer, but my GF obviously helped a brotha out.)

That being said, there are some VERY customizable Wordpress themes, that look good and are responsive to mobile devices. Granted, if you spend enough time on the web, you'll see similarities between various portfolio sites. But you generally can customize your template to have "your look" if you know a bit of HTML and CSS. I personally prefer the custom Content Manager that my friend built for the Django platform. Although that's all python and not everyone knows python, so it can take a specialist to work on it additionally after your site's been launched.

 

[Forkie]

So why not seek out a professional web designer?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Simple as that.

It's always a bit strange how photographers who are creative professionals and small business owners shy away from doing business with people of their own type. Why hire a pro that can get you exactly what you need when you can get generic crap for a fraction of the price, right?

Because the "generic crap" actually produce good results. The ones that are created with photographers in mind are, for the most part, excellent.

I have no idea how to code a website. If I get a web designer to design it, who's going to maintain it, do I have to pay the designer to forever maintain my site? Will I have to hire him every time I want to add a new photo to the site or add a blog post? What if, in a year's time, I want to freshen up the website with a new design? Hire the designer again?

Web designers are great for mid-sized to large companies but for a one man band, they are often the least cost effective option.

 

[o hey tyler]

If I get a web designer to design it, who's going to maintain it,

You are. That's what a content manager is for... Which any website produced by a designer/developer would put in the back end for you.

do I have to pay the designer to forever maintain my site?

No. Unless something goes awry. Some larger web production agencies offer a monthly fee that you pay so that if anything goes wrong with your site, they'll fix it if you're a subscriber of the service. It's generally like $100 /mo. If you choose not to go along with that subscription, the cost is generally much higher to fix an issue that "one time" where shiz hits the fan.

Will I have to hire him every time I want to add a new photo to the site or add a blog post?

Do you have to hire anyone to add something to your current site? I would guess not. You log into the content manager, upload a photo, and you're done. Blog posts work the same way. A designer/developer isn't there to wait on you hand and foot. They're there to build a website over the timeframe that you have outlined, and teach you how to use it so that you can update it yourself. Literally NO ONE (unless they're a noob) hard codes a website so that you have to literally edit code to update your site. That's where the content manager comes in.

What if, in a year's time, I want to freshen up the website with a new design? Hire the designer again?

If you want a total website redesign after a year, you need to consider what your branding is and what it says to your clients. There's no need to totally redesign your website after a year, IMO. Unless your niche and vision completely changes.

Web designers are great for mid-sized to large companies but for a one man band, they are often the least cost effective option.

I agree, they are often the least cost effective. But an experienced designer will always produce a more eye catching website than a template used by thousands. Which can pay off in the long run.

 

[Chris R]

Applying a likely generic template to a Wordpress site is exactly that: Generic. My second gripe would be, as creative professionals, why accept generic stuff that thousands of other people use simply because it's cheap and produces "good results?" Many people would argue that Uncle Jack with his DSLR is cheap and produces good results, so why fork out thousands for a professional photographer? I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Wordpress, in fact it's a great content management platform, the problem is that unless you get someone to build a custom template on top, it'll just be generic crap that looks like everyone else's site.

I know most photographers would like to think that it's their work that sets them apart, and it definitely is for many, but there are countless people out there casually surfing the internet for a photographer and they are essentially looking at the same site design over and over and over again. Having a unique website would definitely make you a lot more memorable in a situation like this. The cost of the website would be well worth it (if executed properly, of course)

 

[o hey tyler]

Chris, what CM did you use to base your website on (assuming you have one)? And did you invest in a designer/developer? I'd be interested to see it! I always like looking at well designed sites.

 

[e.rose]

I'm surprised that many professional photographers here suggest using these generic portfolio websites. If someone came here looking for a photographer, you probably wouldn't all point them in the direction of the nearest Walmart Portrait Studio, would you? So why not seek out a professional web designer? It's always a bit strange how photographers who are creative professionals and small business owners shy away from doing business with people of their own type. Why hire a pro that can get you exactly what you need when you can get generic crap for a fraction of the price, right?

They probably suggested them because that's what I asked for and they were answering my question...

Also if you have a few grand for me to drop on a designer, I'd be MORE than happy to hire one. Let me know if you like me to send you my PayPal account info.

 

[flightless_beaker]

I'm surprised that many professional photographers here suggest using these generic portfolio websites. If someone came here looking for a photographer, you probably wouldn't all point them in the direction of the nearest Walmart Portrait Studio, would you? So why not seek out a professional web designer? It's always a bit strange how photographers who are creative professionals and small business owners shy away from doing business with people of their own type. Why hire a pro that can get you exactly what you need when you can get generic crap for a fraction of the price, right?

Big problem for me is cost. I'm designing a new website for when my portrait business launches and cost is a huge factor. The cheaper the better. To me as long as it looks good, clean and professional and can attract people's attention, I don't see why it matters if its from a build it yourself website or a professional web designer. At least if I build it, it is to my specifications and I'm not going back and forth with a designer. I built my draft of my website and got feedback from people I see as potential customers and friends who own businesses or know more about web design than I do. BTW, I'm using Wix right now and I like the interface. Very easy especially if you don't know jack about web design. They have templates or you can build it from scratch. Its also drag and drop. I had a rough layout in a couple hours and fine tune it from there with feedback from people I know.

 

[e.rose]

Big problem for me is cost. I'm designing a new website for when my portrait business launches and cost is a huge factor. The cheaper the better. To me as long as it looks good, clean and professional and can attract people's attention, I don't see why it matters if its from a build it yourself website or a professional web designer. At least if I build it, it is to my specifications and I'm not going back and forth with a designer. I built my draft of my website and got feedback from people I see as potential customers and friends who own businesses or know more about web design than I do. BTW, I'm using Wix right now and I like the interface. Very easy especially if you don't know jack about web design. They have templates or you can build it from scratch. Its also drag and drop. I had a rough layout in a couple hours and fine tune it from there with feedback from people I know.

I dunno if the "BTW I use Wix" was directed towards me... But... If it works for you and you like it, that's awesome! I personally hated it though. I had my very very first site through them and dropped them like a bad habit, haha!

 

[o hey tyler]

The problem I see with using a wix website is that it will look like a wix website. If it fits your budget and works for you, that's great. But it's a far cry from professional and responsive web design/programming.

There are a lot of people that get on wix, or godaddy "website tonight," etc. and they think that designing a website is so easy! You can drag and drop! Much in the same way that a person can go to best buy, pick up a canon rebel and a kit lens, and try to make a buck taking photos. There's a reason why there are professionals in the field, and it's because they're good at what they do.

Now, as I said before... It definitely is not cost effective for most photographers to hire a designer and programmer. You have to work in your budget. But hiring a designer and developer makes a huge difference when you compare a wix website to one of their finished products. Considering Wix doesn't do jack squat to help you with branding.

 

[nmoody]

I am surprised that wordpress is not doing it for you. Its a pretty robust system with tons of themes and plugins. You can design your own themes or edit the ones you like. If there is a feature you want, there is most likely a plugin for it. Unless your webhost is limiting you, in which case just switch.

 

[e.rose]

I am surprised that wordpress is not doing it for you. Its a pretty robust system with tons of themes and plugins. You can design your own themes or edit the ones you like. If there is a feature you want, there is most likely a plugin for it. Unless your webhost is limiting you, in which case just switch.

I don't really know how to explain why I don't like it. It's not that I HATE it... I just don't like the theme I have anymore because it's very limiting. Most of the templates I've found for WP are fairly limiting, and hosting galleries with the theme I have isn't very intuitive, and while the nextgen plugin has done me well till this point, it's still not exactly what I want.

So far squarespace has won me over. Some day when I can justify the cost better I may switch to showit, but, right now squarespace seems to be able to do what I want. I lose some of the flexibility of having my own backend, but I gain some things I didn't have, or just didn't work as well, before.

Showit has everything I want, minus the price tag. Web my flow of income is stronger and a little steadier I'll reconsider them, but squarespace seems to be it for me at the moment.

I'm still giving it a little more time before I commit however.