Advice request: photoblog, webpage, or ???

[Bob_B]

I've decided it's high time that I get my photos out on the web, with hopes of getting some positive exposure (no pun intended) and maybe draw up some freelance business. So, I started reading about what to do, hosting software and sites, etc., and I'm utterly confused about what course to take. On the one hand, using wordpress (or similar) and its photography-based templates seems like a good choice. Many people apparently use it, but I have zero experience with working with wordpress, and I worry that I'll spend more time with it than in my photography. How tough is wordpress to master? On the other hand, there are sites like Zenfolio and Smugmug, which seem to be slightly easier to set up for a new user. Are these better choices? As I understand from my limited reading, both of those charge fees, whereas wordpress does not, I guess. A nominal fee isn't a deal breaker, if the money is worth it.

Anyway, I sure could benefit from some advice. If it helps, my main goal is to provide potential clients (and friends) with a portfolio gallery they can look at. A second goal would be to get some feedback from other photographers, and to get my 'brand' recognized. I'm less interested in putting a lot of words on the page, which I guess is what a photoblog is. At this point, I'm also not eager to delve into a true social media site where everyone can take put shots and rank my photographs, so I've not spent much time thinking about Facebook, Flickr, or 500px. Maybe I've discounted these too soon?

I would greatly appreciate advice from those of you who have experience in setting up a blog or portfolio website. If you have a favorite webpage that would be useful reading for me, please send it.

Thank you for your time and advice,


   Bob

[Bob_B]

100 views = good. 0 replies = not so good.

Anyone interested in offering help, advice, opinions, or suggestions?

[Jim Kasson]

Anyone interested in offering help, advice, opinions, or suggestions?

I'm no HTML expert. I started using WordPress 7 or 8 years ago, for this blog:

http://blog.kasson.com/

I've made about a thousand posts, and over the last year, gotten a million pageviews, most of that probably by 'bots (although I'm assiduous about banning IP addresses from whence dodgy packets come). My website itself is almost 20 years old, and has been completely recoded several times, usually by me, and most recently be a paid (well, sorta; I swapped her unused Canon gear for web design time) designer.

You have a great deal of flexibility in HTML, but it's a lot more work than with WordPress. You can get templates for web sites just like you can for WordPress. That said, I think that the path of least resistance is to go with WordPress until you find that you can't do what you want. You can start with a template and modify it, but I would caution against that approach, as updates to the template can break the modifications -- or worse.

Whether or not it's worth your time is something only you can decide. I'd suggest starting out with a much-used and widely supported template; you don't want to be questioning whether a problem is your doing something wrong or a bug in the template. You can do a lot with just one of the standard WP themes, like Twenty Fourteen.

You'll need a antispam plugin; I recommend Akismet. You'll need a backup plugin. You'll want some way to keep the bid guys out; I recommend WordFence.

Jump in and see if you like it!  If you don't, you could go with a hosting company that specializes in serving photographers; although in my short experience with one, it was more about servicing photographers.

Jim

[Bob_B]

Thanks Jim. I had not thought about antispam stuff, so right there, you helped me a lot. I'll check out that twenty fourteen template you suggested.

BTW, I did go to your blog, and very much like it and your photographs.

   Best wishes,

        Bob

[Jim Kasson]

Thanks Jim. I had not thought about antispam stuff, so right there, you helped me a lot. I'll check out that twenty fourteen template you suggested.

Let me know if I can help. Just to be clear, I use the WordPress software, but I don't use the WordPress hosting website; I use their software on my own hosting company. Most hosting companies offer single-click WordPress installation.

Jim

[Paulo Bizarro]

I set up my own website a few years ago, hosting it in a company/server of a friend of mine who is  a photographer, and provides that sort of service. I pay a small annual fee, and I manage uploading images, structuring portfolios, etc.

Much more recently, that service was expanded with the possibility of creating blog, which I did. I am still experimenting with it, again, I am no expert on that stuff, but I find it is very easy to use (it is based on Wordpress). It has lots of configurations possible, and it is very easy to manage.

I use the website and the blog in different ways, as to me, they serve distinct purposes. In my website, I let the images speak for themselves, there are no stories to go with them. Whereas on my blog, the content is a bit more "relaxed" and kind of "at ease"; I only post in the blog if there are some interesting aspects related to the images worth of accompanying with a text/story.

Hope it helps and good luck!

[Bob_B]

Thanks Paulo. I have visiting your website several times and enjoyed it. I very much like your photography.

Regarding my website, I am finding myself more and more drawn to using squarespace. Yes, it costs more, but I think it will be much easier to set up and maintain. I like their templates and editing features. I've also heard great things about their support. Plus, I don't have to worry about hosting, domain name registration, etc., which will give me more time with my camera. I haven't made a hard-and-fast commitment to squarespace, but I think I'll give their 14-day trial a whirl and see how it goes. I'll post back with my thoughts.

Once again, thanks for your reply.

   Bob

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

100 views = good. 0 replies = not so good...

Perhaps because we had several threads not long ago on the same or similar subject?

[Justinr]

I've decided it's high time that I get my photos out on the web, with hopes of getting some positive exposure (no pun intended) and maybe draw up some freelance business. So, I started reading about what to do, hosting software and sites, etc., and I'm utterly confused about what course to take. On the one hand, using wordpress (or similar) and its photography-based templates seems like a good choice. Many people apparently use it, but I have zero experience with working with wordpress, and I worry that I'll spend more time with it than in my photography. How tough is wordpress to master? On the other hand, there are sites like Zenfolio and Smugmug, which seem to be slightly easier to set up for a new user. Are these better choices? As I understand from my limited reading, both of those charge fees, whereas wordpress does not, I guess. A nominal fee isn't a deal breaker, if the money is worth it.

Anyway, I sure could benefit from some advice. If it helps, my main goal is to provide potential clients (and friends) with a portfolio gallery they can look at. A second goal would be to get some feedback from other photographers, and to get my 'brand' recognized. I'm less interested in putting a lot of words on the page, which I guess is what a photoblog is. At this point, I'm also not eager to delve into a true social media site where everyone can take put shots and rank my photographs, so I've not spent much time thinking about Facebook, Flickr, or 500px. Maybe I've discounted these too soon?

I would greatly appreciate advice from those of you who have experience in setting up a blog or portfolio website. If you have a favorite webpage that would be useful reading for me, please send it.

Thank you for your time and advice,


   Bob

A website can be a good thing to have for it at least it does reassure people that you are likely to exist and may perform as an online brochure, beyond that they can be hard to justify. However, that is often reason enough, just don't have too many expectations of it  as you are competing for attention amongst billions and the search engine is hardly as honest in the results presented as we are all led to believe.

As far as programmes are concerned Wordpress is designed for blogging and beyond that it struggles. I used an HTML editor to put mine together and have yet to find a CMP that I can get on with, all claim to simplify the process but none do while at the same time retaining flexibility. For galleries I have used Zenphoto which once again is a bit dated and the themes are not quite as varied as they could be, but generally it works although there is one particular issue with the theme I use that I have yet to overcome.

I was, until fairly recently, rather a cynic of the usefulness of blogs, but it appears that mine got noticed  by a certain bike manufacturer who caused a rather lengthy answer to be published a bike magazine over here. Not that they said as such of course, nor will I be any richer for it.