Web Hosting

Squarespace, Weebly and Wix and some good ones

http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/

Take a look at redframe.com My referral code is 85C5408. my site is

nyeventphotos.com

I have been with godaddy forever...it is sadly, no longer user friendly for artists.

William, your site is nice and clean looking.

Marlene, my son keeps telling me to use godaddy. He hasn't been in the loop for awhile and I have also read that godaddy is not the best choice anymore. What are you considering for a new site?

Jessica, thanks for the link. Are there hidden costs for the majority of these type of sites?

Here's the problem with godaddy for artists.
Originally, the software was great..you could upload into galleries, the images transferred from your computer, with titles and all you had to do was organize them as you so chose.
You could run a slide show with the click of a button, once these images were uploaded.

That option disappeared with the new software. You can upload an image, title it yourself and put it on a page...there is no more behind the scenes galleries...slideshows of those galleries are just gone.

I've talked to many people at godaddy..I recommend it a lot and they are in my home state...I've watched the company grow over the years, but until they resolve this issue, the software is no good anymore. I'm not going anywhere just yet...I've paid through 2016 but I will be looking for a better place in the meantime.....
That said, other aspects of building your on site work much nicer, but what good is software if posting images is a royal pain?
Customer service is fantastic, btw

Does the basic monthly plan do it for you or are there more hidden add-on features needed ?

smugmug, zenfolio, wix...

I keep hearing about Wix. Who's got a Wix site I can look at...............

Wix doesn't play nicely with FAA as they use iframes.

If not bothering with sponsoring etc you should be fine. Not keen on them personally

The monthly fee includes the website builder. They are running a special for $12 a year for the package..not sure if you get e mail with it, if you want it....

I think the most important consideration (aside from cost and ease of use) when shopping for a site builder is to find one that is automatically mobile-friendly and robust, because mobile devices have surpassed PCs for online retail sales and general usage.

I used a lot over the years and love Weebly because it gives you total control of 95 percent of everything unlike Squarespace and others that only let you design like 50% of it making for an unfinished choppy look.

http://kevinophotography.com

Wayne, I can honestly tell you I have tried almost all there is out there in the last 20 years.
I have bought hosting, and served my own websites on them, and I have used all that has already been
mentioned above.

The one I like best, is called webnode, and if we are putting out affiliate links here, please use mine:

http://www.webnode.com/r/523a19cf65571

Here is just one of mine, http://digiscrap.webnode.com

Now, Webnode allows you all the free sites and hosting you can handle, (I have 12)
is very easy to use and understand, and the best thing is they do not have horrible banners and the like,
floating across your site (except a small logo at the bottom) and they also offer affiliate revenue.

I love them. What I don't like about many of the others, is that their banners, and logos are so vizable and in the way,
the sites look really unprofessional to me. If you want to remove the Webnode banner, they have reasonable upgrades to be
able to do many more things, but I have not personally found a need yet. I even am using one of their free Zen Cart stores (or Presto, or other cart available too)

As far as registars, I have used NameSecure since 1995, and I LOVE them.

Don't care for Go Daddy, as have had trouble with them, and also had trouble with other sites accepting my site links because of some of the websites
they allow to host on their servers.

I am considered a webmaster too, and I build and maintain websites for myself and others for 20 years. This is why I have tested almost everything out there, including PODs, free stores and shops, etc...

Hope some of this helps.

Here is another I am currently working on, (not finished)

http://treasuredscraps.webnode.com/

and here is the store, I only use it for my licence at the moment.

http://digiscrapcafe.webnode.com/

and another example:

http://paganknot3.webnode.com


And here is one I started on Weebly

http://scrapden.weebly.com/

but I still like webnode best, don't be deceived by Weebly's seeming absence, if you click the arrow at the bottom, you will see how much space they use up on your pages.

Thanks for all the info!

Digital Art cafe, looks like great advice. Will check out webnode. Thanks

Kevin O, really like the look of your site. http://www.kevinophotography.com/ . That's Weebly, right?

As per Sarah's comment, I agree. So are Weebly and Webnode mobile device friendly?

Bottom line , is it possible to get most everything needed for under $10 a month?

yes, Wayne.

Thanks, Marlene. I am cautious as you can see. My next question would have been, "are they made in China". lol

If you like it simple: Squarespace!

www.colinutzphotography.com

Scottsdale, AZ! lol

Arizona is good, bit dry though.......like my humor

Wayne,

I use Bluehost and use Wordpress.org for free. My cost is $43/year, plus some
plugins for $30 each, about two plugins. I have a three year contract with Bluehost.

WP.org is not easy. But once you understand it....it is not hard at all.

Dave

I have Weebly but don't use it for my photography. The reason for that is if you are running your images on that site and not re-directing them with links back to FAA/AW or somewhere else, you can't send anyone a direct link to a specific image. If you look through Kevin's galleries, Antarctica for example, and click on any of the images, you will see what I mean. It brings the image up in the center of the screen, but the url is the same for every image in that gallery. So if a designer or someone wants to build a lightbox of images they are shopping for, they can't do it with the way Weebly is set up.

Gorgeous website, btw, Kevin!

Sorry Wayne, I had to run out for a while. Yes everything you asked about Weebly is a yes. You can use it for free as well with free hosting too.

Thank you Carolyn