How to Build a Web Page for a Photographer

1). Select a URL address that reflects the photographer's name or business name, and purchase a monthly hosting service associated with the photographer's online address. A multitude of options exists for these services, so be sure to research your choices to ensure that both the technical support and administrator's panel are accessible and easy to use.
2). Choose a blogging service, such as TypePad, Moveable Press or Wordpress. Be sure that the blogging service offers a self-hosting option. Self-hosting allows you to publish the blog on a personalized URL rather than with the company's hosting service that has the service's name within, such as http://johndoephotography.com as opposed to http://www.johndoephotography.wordpress.com. Several hosting services offer a simple one-step installation of a blog while other companies will require you to install the blog files using a remote server or FTP connection. Check on these options prior to purchasing the hosting service if you are new to the process of publishing a self-hosted blog.
3). Go to the administration panel for the web-hosting account established in Step 1 to find the external installation option. Each hosting company will have different options for self-hosting a blog, so be sure to follow its specific instructions.
4). Access the administration panel on the blog once the installation process is complete. The hosting service will send you a series of e-mails after the installation of the blog is complete containing instructions for the initial log-in to the blog's administration panel. The panel will contain all the editing options for creating the blog, which will initially function as the photographer's web page.
5). Go to the "Themes" setting in the administration panel, usually located on the side of your onscreen workspace. Sort through the themes available for the blog and find a simple layout that highlights images on the homepage in a large, uncluttered manner. Photographers should display their images in a large format that dominates the pages throughout the web site. For example, the home page should have a large image that displays in its entirety without scrolling the web page at an average width of 900 pixels and the navigation should fall just above or below this image without interfering with the image display.

If the web site has additional pages, the photographer's images should be the main focal point of each page without distracting graphics or contrasting colors. Themes should adhere to a simple, monochromatic color palette with a black or white theme that does not detract from the artwork. If text is to accompany some of the photographer's work, bear in mind that a white font on a black background is difficult to read for a duration of time.

Follow the theme's instructions to customize the blog with the photographer's logo, color scheme and additional graphics. You may also purchase specially designed themes for photographers and install them on your server. Many of today's customized themes use video and multimedia components in their design for modern photographers incorporating various forms of media in their work and presentation of their images.
6). Select the "Settings" options in your panel, and enter the personal contact information of the photographer. Be sure to include the e-mail address, phone number and address. For freelance photographers, include availability for photographic assignments.

If the blog will be used as a static site, meaning the photographer will not be posting regular updates, go to the general settings and select the "Static Site" option and select the home page from the existing pages in the theme. This may not be available on all blogging platforms.
7). Select the "Pages" section of the blog, and create the "About" page. Focus on the photographer's style, specialty, professional experience or assistant work, a client list and any relevant education. Include personal information about his passion for photography, artistic personality, travel or other interesting personal information. Add links to published images, a resume, online tear-sheets (examples of published work from a print magazine or newspaper), collaborative projects or additional online presence of the photographer's images.
8). Create a new post, and upload the photographer's main portfolio images to the post from the computer. Once the images are uploaded and inserted into the entry, select the publish option, then visit the site to be sure the images loaded properly. There are hundreds of options for displaying images on a blog or web site, so research the methods that best serve the photographer's needs. Knowing the target audience is essential for the presentation of photographs online. For example, a magazine editor looking to hire a freelance photographer will want a simple presentation of the images with easy and quick navigation, fast image loading times and captions for each image. A bride seeking someone to document her wedding may want a Flash slideshow of images to music with testimonials from past clients.
9). Create categories for the posts based on the type of work the photographer produces. For example, a portrait photographer will want categories for infants, toddlers, senior portraits and engagement sessions while a freelance photojournalist will want categories for sports, news, features and essays. Know the potential clients' needs and wants, and design the site based on these preferences.
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Test the site on different browsers to be sure the images render properly and the loading times are fast. If an image is taking too long to load, open the photograph in photo-editing software and make sure the resolution is set at 72 dots per inch (dpi). All digital images should be set to this DPI, regardless of the size of the screen displaying the image. The image files should be less than 100K in size to ensure that the user can load and view the images at a steady and fast rate.