Photography Based Site Building Sites

ShaggyRS6 · 15 Jun 2014 at 19:40

I am looking to create my own website for my photography, I use Flickr and 500px right now but want to start my own site.

Can any recommend a site building site? I did do a Google search and found a list of top 10 site builders but wanted to seek advice here before I pulled the trigger.

I think Squarespace seems to be aimed at photographers?

Energize · 15 Jun 2014 at 20:02

Avoid site builders like the plague.

Proper web designer only costs a couple of hundred, or you can try using wordpress/joomla on a shared hosting platform.

Columbo · 15 Jun 2014 at 20:12

Energize said:
Avoid site builders like the plague.

Proper web designer only costs a couple of hundred, or you can try using wordpress/joomla on a shared hosting platform.

Why?

I used WIX for years and didn't have a single issue, several of my friends do as well and again not a single problem.

If you don't want a custom design and don't want a web designer involved then site builders are perfect for the job.

ShaggyRS6 · 15 Jun 2014 at 20:13

Energize said:
Avoid site builders like the plague.

Proper web designer only costs a couple of hundred, or you can try using wordpress/joomla on a shared hosting platform.

Give me a bit more detail on why?

Energize · 15 Jun 2014 at 20:36

The code they produce is horrible for future modifications, any kind of customizations involving server side scripting for example. They often make a lot of use of flash and JS so have compatibility problems with various devices and browsers.

Amp34 · 15 Jun 2014 at 21:41

Wordpress on your own shared hosting. There are plenty of themes dedicated to photography, both paid and free.

Hyburnate · 15 Jun 2014 at 21:43

Amp34 said:
Wordpress on your own shared hosting. There are plenty of themes dedicated to photography, both paid and free.

This. But yeah avoid site builders, they usually have awful SEO and as said struggle with compatibility.

mr tommo · 16 Jun 2014 at 14:52

As above, use a wordpress theme from themeforest. I've made 5 website now this way without any previous knowledge.

And · 16 Jun 2014 at 16:42

Clikpic aren't too bad, easy enough to design and update, mine costs £85 a year. Works on all devices too. Suits me as I'm hopeless with web stuff (couldn't get wordpress up and running).

Energize · 16 Jun 2014 at 22:53

At £85/year cost is another possible reason not to use them, hosting only costs £15p/a. And there can be issues with having to licence templates in perpetuity if you want to continue to use them.

And · 17 Jun 2014 at 17:39

At the end of the day it's a solution that suits me. With a £15 a year host I have to either learn to build a website myself or pay someone to do it for me. Either of those solutions would (initially at least) cost me both more time and money.

There's no licensing issues with Clikpic's templates, you can use them as long as you wish. They're not the best but you can adapt them to your needs and more importantly, they work and the website has never been down. There's also no problems using the website on any of the devices in our house which covers most bases (win/osx/ios).

I didn't want a website that's all bells and whistles, I wanted a place to share pictures that is easy to use as the majority of people out there are not as computer-savvy as those of us who frequent forums like this and in that respect it's been £85 well spent.

Energize said:
At £85/year cost is another possible reason not to use them, hosting only costs £15p/a. And there can be issues with having to licence templates in perpetuity if you want to continue to use them.