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Heather
Posts:12
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| 04/26/2009 8:55 AM |
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Hi everyone, Do any of you know good free website host that I can use to create a website to display and sell my art? I want to create a personal website where I can post images that are large enough for the public to see easily. I tried Weebly but it was very difficult to use. Right now I'm trying webs.com, its easy to use however the imagages they allow are small and a bit difficult to see easily. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
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To God be the glory, great things He has done. |
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hugocruz
Posts:3
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| 05/03/2009 1:23 PM |
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Hello,
This is a tough question because it really depends on your personal learning curve and amount of time you want to put into managing your site. Personally, I have a web design and graphic design background so maintaining my own shopping cart site is not too much of an issue. But, even for a person like me, with modest experience, it takes time and effort. I was a designer five years ago and things have already changed so much (CSS, PHP, new improvements to code) that I sometimes have to relearn things.
Anyway, if you want to do it yourself for little cost, then get your domain name (godaddy.com - $11 per year) get yourself a reputable webhost (bluehost.com or hostgator.com I highly recommend - $10 per month average) and install ZENCART 1.3.8a (free with the aforementioned webhosts). This will take time and ther eis alearning curve. But the advantage will be that you will have a truly personal site (no labeling or links to take customers away from your pages) and you will have full control of all design decisions.
If you have little time, a small budget, or are not computer savvy, then you should join www.1000markets.com , www.Yessy.com , www.Zatista.com, www.Artfire.com, www.Artspan.com, www.Zibbet.com or even www.Etsy.com ... All offer great option for little to no cost. Of course, these are "shared" sites so you will have to be happy with their design and the fact that any visitor going to your site can easily search the site for other artwork (not your own) and be swayed to purchase elsewhere. These sites are not good if you plan to bring people in with your own advertising dollars. However, these sites CANNOT hurt if you allow them to bring customers to you. You should join as many as you can and they will bring new customers for you. No matter what, if you have a PERSONAL SITE, then it is SMART to JOIN any or all of these sites because you can cleverly add your website URL (i.e. www.heatherFineArts.com) to every picture as a watermark or most of these sites allow you to even add your URL / LINK on their pages. Any traffic these sites bring in is just a BONUS.
Another option is just to create a simple "gallery" personal site (many templates are available through the web hosts i mentioned above). Forget about shopping cart functionality if iit is above your capabilities. Just add a note on your page to contact you or call to buy the piece and you can send the client a paypal. google checkout or take their order by phone if they want to buy a piece.
Do some research or go to your local bookstore. Learn marketing tools like GOOGLE BASE. You will soon be on the way. But, remember, a website is a powerful tool but ONLY if you do the work to bring customers to it.
Good Luck |
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Heather
Posts:12
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| 05/21/2009 12:37 AM |
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Thanks Hugocruz, you are certainly very knowlegeable about websites! Thanks for all the great info and tips. I like your idea of joining alot of the sites to get more traffic, I'm gonna try that |
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To God be the glory, great things He has done. |
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Pearl
Posts:194
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| 05/22/2009 10:10 PM |
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| A really excellent free site for hosting a webpage is "Sitekreator". it has a very good site builder with lots of options for creating a personalised website . I use it and if you wish to check it out go
to Pearlotaylor.com and on my homepage you will see a link that says "freesite by Sitekreator" click on it to find out all the info about getting a free site that is easy to use.
The only cost for a website with sitekreator is the $11:00a year at godaddy for a domain name. |
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Pearl
web page.. pearlotaylor.com |
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UVsaturated
Posts:5
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| 10/14/2009 2:05 AM |
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I am using ning.com. It is set up in modules just like Facebook. It does not have a store option, but I simply handle all internet transactions through PayPal and provide a link to that. If you are interested in looking at it:
http://benanderson.ning.com
The best part is its absolutely free, and you don't have to know any coding unless you want to use it within the modules. |
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Jacky
Posts:2
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| 10/16/2009 1:47 PM |
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Hi Heather - This hosting site is designed especially for artists and photographers: www.clicpic.com
I've just set up my own website with them...There are several basic styles and you can customise them as you like - some are more flexibe than others, but I'm very un-techie and have managed to get one up and running...There's a comprehensive User Guide - you'll have to read it a few times to get the hang of it, but the basic set-up is easy, and you can create slideshows, galleries etc. They give you guidelines on uploading your picture - though they talk about photos, a lot of artists use it too. Once you're up and running you can go back and change different things as you get used to suing it. There's support by e-mail too. They provide Payment Integration through Paypal or Google, or you can do your own...It cost me 35GBP as I'm in the UK, plus 12GBP for the .com domain name, for a year. 2 years is cheaper, at 50GBP. I think you get what you pay for, and a free site might have drawbacks, as you've seen!
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The road to success is always under construction...
www.jackyocpaintings.com |
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margaret aycock
Posts:2
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| 10/26/2009 9:50 PM |
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| I use blogger or blogspot.com... It is fun and I link it to my ebay store. Blogspot is free ebay costs a bit but gets a lot more traffic. i have also sold on etsy. margaret aycock |
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Dawna_DlmtleArt
Posts:6
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| 11/13/2009 4:45 PM |
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| i have a blog at wordpress. It's free and pretty user friendly. I also have a free fan page at Facebook which I have linked up with a twitter account so anytime I update there it also sends out a tweet. Hopefully someday it will all start paying off. |
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