Build Your Own
Web Site - Free
Web Site - Free
The price is right. It's free. A Web site of your own. Sounds too good to be true? In the past, it might have been. But today -- free enterprise is making it possible for anyone with a computer and a modem and a half hour of
A few years ago it would have cost you anywhere from $50 to $300 a month to maintain a Web presence, not to mention several hundred dollars for start-up costs, and hours of learning HTML, the text language used to create documents on the Web. Also, you had to pay for a "browser" -the software that allows you to look around the Web for various resources and information. Today, all this is free, and extensive HTML knowledge isn't necessary, if you want to set up a "stage one," "plain vanilla" Web site, to get started and get your feet wet on the Web.
What's behind all this free stuff?
Advertising.
The commercial Web world started out by trying to charge customers for the services on the Web. Very few takers. As Web traffic increased, Web operators followed the lead of commercial TV and began charging advertisers. It worked. Rather than from the customers, the revenue now comes from advertisers.
There are several popular companies that will host your Web site for free. And they're not your local ISP (Internet Service Provider), who might say they will give you a free Web site, but then charge you a $50 set-up fee and an increased monthly toll. Also, they won't provide you with Web self-publishing tools to design your page.
Listed below are 11 companies that provide free services that make it possible for you to set up a Web page in 30 minutes, even if you have no Web experience at all.
One word of caution, though. A Web page is an extension of your business. It's your store window to cyber visitors. Like designing your stationery, or constructing your home, it's always best to get professional help. You don't want your page to turn out to be a Wept Site.
If you want to start with any of the companies below, keep in mind that tied to the free Web site offer from these companies, comes your commitment to accept advertising banners on your site. The revenue goes to the Web company, not to you.
Another drawback: Although you are provided free Email, your Email address will not be the usual www.yourbusinessname.com but a long string of slashes and hyphens that will indicate you are operating from a free site. But, again, the price is right, and you may want to try the waters with this kind of site, before graduating to a more professional site, with its accompanying cost (though modest).
How do you as a photographer make your presence known on the Web? The good news is that you need no more than a storefront on the Web; in other words, the least expensive of Web Sites. The bad news, well, there isn't any, unless you don't enjoy the experience of having your stock photo file exposed to hundreds/thousands of photo editors.
Web site construction can be as complicated and difficult as you choose to make it. Because you are aiming for a site that will just serve primarily as a "hypertextlink" station, you can opt for a plain vanilla Web site, offered by several Web site companies. The next step after a free site, is a simple Web site available through on-line services. The monthly fee is $10. These services offer you a free start-up kit and a free Home Page with enough Meg to get you started.
(CompuServe "Allaire's Homesite": (800) 848 8990
America On-Line "BPS Web Power Tool": (800) 827 6364)
If you are not Web or computer-wise, ask a friend who is, to lead you through the process of setting up your free site.
The following companies offering a free Web site, include a variety of benefits for you, ranging from templates for easy page creation, to storage space, reliable on-line connectivity, feedback forms, font and color choices.
Most free Web site companies offer essentially the same services. I'll start with the first two companies that came on the scene, which happen to also be the leading companies, so far, on the Web.
GeoCities is an innovative Web service that allows you to build a free home page based on a "Neighborhood" concept, grouping home pages in theme areas such as "Broadway," "Capitol Hill," "Hollywood." If you're a member of the PhotoSourceBank, you can place your Web site in the GeoCities site as an adjunct to your presence on the PhotoSourceBank. http://www.geocities.com
Follow the simple instructions at the GeoCities site (there are a few steps to go through and it'll take about 15 minutes). In addition to text, you can add photos and illustrations to your site. (Adding the photos might take the aid of a computer-wise colleague.) In the end, you'll have a plain vanilla Web site that can be embellished as you develop your computer knowledge in the future. In the meantime, you've added yet another way that photobuyers can find you and contact you. GeoCities provides multiple pages, allows 1 meg of space, and a free Email address.
Angelfire can also be an adjunct to your presence on the PhotoSourceBank. No computer knowledge is necessary to build a free Web site at http://www.angelfire.com. Follow the simple instructions at the Angelfire site (there are about a dozen steps to go through and it'll take about 15 minutes). Size of Web MB not specified. You again can also add photos and illustrations to your site. (Again, adding the photos might take the aid of a computer-wise colleague.) Anglefire provides 2 single pages. Free Email.
Tripod (www.tripod.com) Although it sounds like a photography-oriented site, it isn't. But this may be a good
Webspawner (www.webspawner.com) has very few services as of this writing, and only 25K of storage space, compared to 2MB for GeoCities and Tripod.
FortuneCity (www.fortunecity.com) you receive 6 MB free space and access to an online html editor. 20 MB Web space plus one free Email address free for life.
To get an idea of how other photographers and photo-related businesses have designed their Web pages (most of them using a consultant), check out the back issues of PhotoStockNotes (all of them are available on our Web site and are searchable). Our PhotoStockNotes columnist, Crimson Star, shows you the ABC's of setting up a business Web site, that while not absolutely free, is very inexpensive. He takes you through the simple steps of inception to launch. On the PhotoSource International Home Page, press on the button on the right hand column that says "Learning Center."
Remember that a free Web site can be a jumping-off place -- you can get the feel of the Web and try it out. As you get more comfortable with the Web, you may feel that with all the advertising banners on your site, you would prefer to upgrade, and to design your site with an eye toward more business professionalism.
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," visit http://www.sellphotos.com
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