Create Photo a Website

Sure, you can share your photography on free sites (i.e. Flickr). You could even make your own free photo-blog on Blogger or WordPress.

But what if you want to host your own website, with your own domain, and have real freedom over how it looks? That’s difficult and expensive, right?

Nope.

With developments in content management systems and the spread of free templates across the Internet, web design has become insanely simple if you’re not looking to do anything crazy. Moreover, competition among webhosts and domain registrars has made it ridiculously cheap to host your own website.

This guide will walk you through how you can create your own professional looking photography portfolio and photoblog and host in on your own server… for less than $10 to get started and no more than an hour of your time.

Take a look at the demo site that I set up. That’s what we’ll be creating. Then come back here to read up on the process.

Step 1. Purchase a Domain.

You might think it would make sense to purchase hosting first, and then find a domain. Oddly enough, it works better the other way around.

Companies that specialize in domain registration do so very cheaply. If you register a domain with the same company that you pay for web hosting, you’ll be paying a premium… and not getting any extra benefit (except perhaps simplicity). Don’t pay more than $10 to register your domain, or you’re getting ripped off.

Read the instructions on how to register a domain.

Step 2. Purchase hosting.

There are gazillions of choices out there. Some are cheap, some are not. For this example, I’ll walk you through how to create a hosting plan and set up your website with Hostgator.

Why? First, your first month will cost you $0.01. If you decide this isn’t working out, quit while you’re ahead. Use the coupon code FALL2k11PENNY.

Second, you can set up a WordPress website (our next step) without worrying FTP clients or any of that technical non-sense. Point. Click. Done.

Third, you get a free $100 voucher for Google AdWords. If this is a personal photoblog, that may not be so important. If you want to advertise a potential business, this is awesome.

Read the instructions on how to sign up for your and set up your HostGator account.

Step 3. Create a WordPress website.

WordPress is awesome. It takes all the technical headaches out of operating a website. You write stuff or upload pictures, and the mystical back end put’s everything in place. With a well-designed theme, you can operate a professional looking site in no time.

Speaking of theme’s, we’re going to be working with a free theme from Graph Paper Press – Mansion. It’s a very photo-heavy theme, and it seems perfect for sharing pictures and/or a photography portfolio.

Read the instructions on how to create your wordpress website and install the Mansion theme. [Coming Soon]

Step 4. Set Options and Customize Your Theme.

There’s an instructions page included with your Mansion theme. It tells you to change a few settings to make everything look right.

I’ll walk you through those settings as well as a few other things you’ll want to tweak in order to make a brand new site look right. Shouldn’t take too long. So let’s get to it.

Read the instructions on how to set up and customize your Mansion theme. [Coming Soon]

Step 5. Create Pages and Categories.

This is where you’re going to have to think a little bit. What do you want to share on this site? How do you want it organized?

You can change this stuff later, but it helps to move forward with a plan. We’ll set up some important static content and then move on.

Read the instructions on how to create pages and set up categories. [Coming Soon]

Step 6. Start Posting Pictures (or blog entries)!

Finally, the (almost) last step. You actually get to start sharing pictures!

I’ll walk you through how to add posts and images to your site so that you can get on with the business of, well, whatever it is you want to do. Share pictures. Sell pictures. Up to you.

Read the instructions on how to create new posts and images. [Coming Soon]

Step 7. Tell Everyone About It!

Once your hard work is done, it’s time to share! Tell everyone!

E-mail your friends, post to Facebook, tweet away. Up to you. But it’s silly to create a website and not tell people about it. How else will they find it?

Speaking of which, if you’ve made it this far, I’d love to help you out a bit. Once you’ve got everything up and running, send me an e-mail (brian @ olinda-gibbons.com) and I’ll post a link to your new photoblog / website / portfolio. Depending on how many requests I get, I’ll probably group these and post them on a weekly or monthly basis.

So what are you waiting for? Get started! Register your domain, purchase your hosting from HostGator, and get that WordPress site up and running.