Creating a website to advertise myself...any hints?

[Lowryn]

Oh well, I just read the subject line again and it sounds odd, but can't think how to re-word it!
I don't want to advertise myself in the "oldest profession in the world" sort of way!
I am a fledgling photographer and want to help bring in some money by doing portraits, weddings, business events etc etc.
I would like a website but I don't know where to start.
Are they really expensive? Do I have to contact someone, or can I do it online?

pmsl

sorry

interesting title!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I dont really know how to do web sites

will your ISP give you space?

LOL! If the worst comes to it, I may wish to advertise myself but I don't think I would generate much interest

You want Hub2dee, I think. He offered to do one for another MN'er on another thread.

Hub2dee ...... Helloooooooooooooooo!

I do 'em! Bit of a waiting list at the mo though.

CAT me if you are interested.

Ive got a free website with www.50megs.com . They are easy to create but only for really basic websites. I know there are loads of other free web hosters (?) on the web too. you cant search for 50megs websites tho (well nto the free ones) which I like (cos its a family website) but might not be as good for you.

I used geocities on yahoo.co.uk - really easy to use although you need a yahoo id to do it.

dh just bought a book and worked it out from there. I think he has made a pretty good job of it (not online yet but will be soon) He used dreamweaver , and bought a book called naked dreamweaver mx

Trot down to you local university and hook up with final year or masters computing students who are needing a project. Get yourself a professional looking website for free.

Be wary of free webspace from your ISP if you're setting up a business site. For a start using the space for commercial purposes might be in breach of the terms, and secondly if you're planning to have a portfolio of your work up there for viewing, you might exceed your bandwidth allowance. You'll also find that the web address is less than catchy.

First step is probably to find a web address and register it, a .co.uk address costs less than a tenner for 2 years usually. You can check for available domains at simply .

This is now going to sound cheeky, but I am involved in a free online magazine which has covered setting up websites over the last 3 months. You can find it at homecomputermagazine . I know that it's a bit of a plug but it is completely free and you don't have to enter any personal details to download it, and this subject has been quite comprehensively covered.

I've never seen a good website put together by someone who has just decided to make one for themself. Obviously I have an interest in this of course.

I've also never seen any reliable and advert-free 'free hosting' for a domain name - but if there is any, let me know!

ah but mp, you haven't seen dh's

that's a really good point, mp, if you use the "free" domain you'll probably get saddled with advertising you have no control over, which might include irritating popups. Better to pay for it, it doesn't actually need to cost that much unless you anticipate loads and loads of traffic.

Dh said the free webspace on our account was crap

If you have time, and have a fairly good idea of design principles, get a book and dreamweaver as lou says.

Do be honest with yourself though: as a photographer I think it is particularly important that your site looks good.

Simple site would cost about £200-300, a more complex one (eg. one with a massive portfolio, less than simple design or custom page management system) would obviously cost more. There are online "build your own website" thingumies but all the ones I have seen look amateur and are not search engine friendly.

If you don´t have the time (we're talking at least 40 hours here for a first site) or £200, then you may be better off just listing yourself with all of the general classified type websites that cover your area. (NB you should do that anyway if you get a site as it will help people to find your site!)

How long did it ake your dh to build his, lou?

Also for the cost of the books and Dreamweaver, you could buy yourself a proper site made by a professional. If you have a friend who can make sites, you might be able to hook up with them - to be honest if you are a photographer then you should have a lot of the (graphic) material yourself already which will help keep it simple.

Alo try bribing any computer-geeky friends with the offer of a site in exchange for some photo sessions.

mp - is dreamweaver that expensive? We never use it, being the purists that we are. [icons that should exist #34: smug]

once he had read the bumpf he did it in a day

do check the firnd's other sites though: an awful lot of people say they can build websites!

ps with the dreamweaver option you'd be able to update it yourself.

Senora: I looked into it and I think it was about 200 quid. I don't use it because I'm basically Bill Gate's whore so I use FrontPage and clean up the code afterwards (or not if feeling lazy). Also Dreamweaver created code seems REALLY bulky and erratic to me and I prefer things a little simpler.

Blimey.

Carla thought I did Websites. Just to clarify I don't and haven't offered to do any... must be confusing me with someone else