Why set up a website?

[shirley]

Hi everybody,
I have been asked to write an article in our club newsletter about setting up a photography website and it set me thinking about the reasons why people set up sites.
For me it is a way of sharing my pics and my photography news with people who may be interested and otherwise may not get to see my work e.g. friends who live a distance away.
However I suspect there are a whole range of other reasons and I thought it would be interesting to find out why others have set up their website.
So if you have a website would you be willing to share your reasons for doing it?
Thanks
Shirley

[eunosben]

Re: Why set up a website?

I also do mine to share my photography with anyone thats interested ie family colleagues etc

[snaarman]

Re: Why set up a website?

Well, I do it to show off

OK, truthfully? Maybe one day if I live long enough to retire* I might make a proper photographer of myself, and the website would be a good starting place..

Pete

* lets face it, I'm going to need some sort of income when I retire, judging by the way pension funds are falling

[Guest]

Re: Why set up a website?

Well vanity mainly.

Unless you are lucky to have a lot of links from other sites it's pointless to expect much in the way of traffic.

But there is also a satisfaction in building/maintaining a site.

And just occaisionally someone will say that they have enjoyed it - unsolicited and unexpected - a welcome boost.

Nick

[theMusicMan]

Re: Why set up a website?

Hi Shirley

Some reasons for me are;

1 - to allow the family we have who are abroad to view images of our kids and days out.
2 - to share images I've taken with the likes of the good peeps here and people elsewhere
3 - for customers to view their images online outside of public areas of the site
4 - for anyone who may want to purchase images off my site (Zenfolio offers this)

Hope that helps.

[benvendetta]

Re: Why set up a website?

Setting up my own website is likely to be beyond me and that's why I have a PBase one.
Much more convenient IMO.

[donmcmahan]

Re: Why set up a website?

Hopefully someone will find my site and like my pictures. perhaps enough to buy one!http://donmcmahan.com Seriously anyone who has aspirations of doing any sort of business on the web had better learn all they can about search engine optimization. It is quite easy to set up a site, not so easy to get anyone to visit it, apart from spammers

[DTD]

https://www.dunni.co.uk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ddtv

http://daviddunnico.wordpress.com

https://www.vimeo.com/daviddunnico

[Steve Lane]

Re: Why set up a website?

I created mine initally because I fancied the technical challenges that come with website creation - in other words, it gave me something to do! Subject matter was secondary; I wanted to create a site but did not have a theme. I thought of a few things i.e. music, travel, archaeology, but photography was the obvious one, as it was something I could add to on a regular basis.

It is also an ideal way of sharing some of my images and allows me the flexibility to present them how I wish.

Cheers, Steve.

[stevemerrick]

Re: Why set up a website?

Heyah,

I wasn't that convinced that the internet (Or digital cameras) would take off the way they have, (Boy! did I get that wrong ;-) ) However the initial motivation I had for the website was to let Picture editors see something tangible before we met, its still the only motivation I have for it.

What with flickr and myspace, if you just want to show your work then you can, but having a little website to show your work does three things that flickr etc cannot. 1/ It confirms that you are real and have a history, 2/ it shows a degree of technical literacy that is beyond the quick photoshop tweaks, 3/ It is totally personal and under your control what you show and how you show it.

The other good point to a website is that if you write the dialog and info yourself, then most people have a pretty good idea what they are dealing with.

So sadly my reasons for having the website are utterly mercenary...


Cheers
Steve ;-)

[250swb]

Re: Why set up a website?

If anybody is considering making a website and feels nervous about it I would recommend Clikpic....

http://www.clikpic.com/

....who do some very classy templates specifically for photographers and artists. It is all very easy indeed and a professional look is almost guaranteed. If you have all your images sized and ready you could have your website up within a day. Also very easy to add to and alter once it is up.

Steve

this is my work website using Clikpic

https://www.stevebarnettmodelcars.com

[Jonesgj]

Re: Why set up a website?

Like someone else mentions, its the challenge not the actual content.

I started mine many years ago when I was new to web programming to advertise my SQL and other programming skills. It has now evolved into just something I have, and works well to show off a few photos. Instead of a raw, hand crafted HTML/script/data-driven solution I use a wysiwyg tool (as Martin Rushent said, "If I want to drive a nail into a piece of wood I use a hammer not my fist") I'm too old to squint at a screen until the early hours trying to find a silly syntax error, even though the screens are a lot bigger today.
Where was I? Oh yes... so like many others on here I'm sure its just the technical challenge.

Kind regards

Graydon

[HughofBardfield]

Re: Why set up a website?

I'd be interested to know if anyone thinks there are advantages to having a website rather than an account with Flickr or one of the other photo-sharing sites (unless you want to sell your images, of course).

I find Flickr meets my needs, and gets my photos seen by a much wider audience than would probably find a stand-alone website. The "social" interaction is probably the best bit - especially if you're stuck in a home office for much of the day.

[Dick Bowman]

Re: Why set up a website?

Personally I go for the "my website" option rather than any of the sharing sites.

Partly that's because I was building collections of web pages long before these sharing sites existed - and it's pretty straightforward especially given a suitable HTML editor (used several, Kompozer most recently - the price is right). I'd imagine you could let it evolve toward "click to purchase" if you wanted - I have no ambitions in that direction, so no relevant experience. People seem to be deterred from building sites - I wonder whether there are vested interests doing some of the deterring.

I don't care for the "gosh willykins" flavour of a lot of these social sites - maybe that's something that comes from being an old git. Which also means that I remember mainframe timesharing and a consequent wish never to go near anything similar ever again. With my own website(s) all I'm doing is letting hosting sites have a copy of what I want to put up for public viewing - from time to time I just put the files somewhere new and close the old account.

But, as you imply, the downside is that stand-alone websites have a problem being found by search engines. Depends whether you need/want to be found by them, I guess.

[Dogcow]

Re: Why set up a website?

I did set up my own website as it is the only way to show my 360vr panorama pics to friends and relatives.
I am fairly new into 360 panoramas and i like taking them a lot. And the only way to show them is trough a dedicated website.