How to Create a Web Page for E-commerce Photography

Selling your own photography and stock photos online is a great way to make some extra cash or to start a full-time online business from the comfort of your home. In order to reach the world and your potential customers with your high-quality photographs, you will need to create a topnotch Web page. There are many crucial elements to creating a great website.

Things You'll Need

• Domain name Web hosting Photos

Instructions

1. Plan the outline for your photography website. Decide beforehand what type of photography services you will be offering. Do you want to sell only stock photos or actual pieces of photography as artwork? Do you want to offer your photography skills for hire? You will also need a name for your website, a domain name and a snappy, creative tag line to summarize what you and your photography are all about. The domain name should be the name of your business and should be as short as possible so it is easy to remember.

2. Register your domain name with a registrar. The Internet is full of domain name registrars that will help you register your domain so that no one else can claim it. The domain name is your website's location, or the address where the site can be found. There are a couple of affordable companies you can use to purchase your domain name, such as GoDaddy and Network Solutions.

3. Purchase a Web hosting package. Web hosting companies will publish your website on the Internet on their Web servers for a monthly fee. There are a variety of packages to choose from, but since you are starting a photography business, you will want to purchase a business package. Most business packages come complete with tools to design and set up your website along with free advertising helps and tools to spread the word about your business. HostMonster is one Web hosting option to check.

4. Build the homepage of your photography website. Having a professional-looking homepage is essential to building a successful website. You will want to creatively display some of the best pieces of your photography on this page. Make some space for news, updates and sales for your photos. Include a brief summary of the main goals of your business and what you want to do with your photography.

5. Create an "About Me" type of Web page. This will more or less be your biography page and will include all of your experience and education references. Be sure to make it as personal as you possibly can to help draw people into the vision you have for your life and business and the services you have to offer.

6. Add a Portfolio page and a section dedicated to your photographs. The portfolio can feature some of the major work you've done for clients, or that you've done personally, that reflects your absolute best work. The photograph section will end up being multiple pages, and you will need to organize your pictures by subject, style or texture if you are selling them as art or stock photos. It's best to organize by subject so that if people are looking for a specific type of photo (flowers, for instance), they will be able to find what they are looking for in the flower photo section.

7. Publish your Web page and begin spreading the word about your website and your services. Create a Google AdWords advertising campaign to help drive traffic to your website. You may also want to create a blog (you can make a free one with Blogger) about photography to help drive traffic to your website and increase your business.

Resources

• Network Solutions
• Go Daddy
• HostMonster
• Blogger
• How to sell photos online