Your Web Site
If you want total control over the display of your photographs on the Internet, then you may want to have your own Web site. This means you have complete freedom to design your site any way you please. In addition, individual Web sites are more likely to be found and ranked higher by search engines than photoblogs or photo sharing sites.
Putting Your Web Site Together
Unlike when you upload to photoblogs and photo sharing sites, you will be pretty much on your own when you set up your Web site. Nevertheless, there is plenty of software you can use to design your Web site and photo galleries.
Generally, you will create a home page and then link thumbnails on that home page to either larger pictures or to a gallery or galleries with more thumbnails. When designing a Web site, keep in mind that it can grow quite a bit over time, and you will need to adopt a design that can accommodate that increase.
Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you are uncomfortable, for example, with the concepts and procedures of uploading, FTP (file transfer protocol), HTML, Web title tags, Web addressing and Web page metatags, you might want to wait a bit before starting your own Web site.
Your Web Site Navigation
Pay special attention to navigation. Your site should be simple to click on, and full-size pictures should not be any more than two clicks from the home page. This navigation design should be expandable so that as you add new pictures and new galleries, you can use the same style of navigation to reach these pages and return to the home page.
A personal Web site gives you full control over the display and navigation of your imagery and your commentary.
Background Information on Your Web Site
Every standalone photographic Web site should also have background pages about the photographer. If you are looking for jobs or recognition, this page is very important because it gives a sense of your credentials. A biography page might start with a brief paragraph about your vision of photography followed by a condensed history of your photography experience. It could include education, internships, exhibits, awards, jobs, and publications. Naturally this list will grow over time and should be updated every year or so. Many people list these items in reverse chronological order, with the most recent accomplishments listed first and the earliest last.
