*Note – I am a little bias because all my websites are built with Showit, and I run a design firm that designs Showit sites for other photographers. I have tried, and have been exposed to dozens of options for websites, and have come to my own personal conclusions after years of research and development. These views and opinions are just that…opinions.

So here you are; you’ve shot a couple of weddings, things are on the up and up but your broke as sin. You dumped all your money on equipment didn’t you. You should be ashamed of yourself. You can rent equipment; you can’t rent a website. Your website is one of the most important tools in your bag (next to Facebook). Your prospective clients will form their first opinion of you solely from your website. For that reason alone it must be personable, clean, professional, and unique. We’re at a point in time where the photography industry is highly saturated with new photographers trying to get a piece of the pie. You have to stand out. It starts with your online presence.

Before I start this off I will say that I have strong favoritism towards Showit for many reasons. Hopefully you will learn these reason at the end of this article. The only prerequisite to this article is that you find out who you are as a person. Are you comfortable marketing YOU, or are you more comfortable hiding within a big company? You need to know the answers to these questions before you make the leap to the website. How do you find out? FastTrack Photographer.

Domain Name – Yes it starts with a domain name. If you know this stuff already then just skip down. Remember that we we’re ALL at this point. We weren’t born with the knowledge of webmasters. A domain name is http://www.example.com OR http://example.com Pick ONE version (WWW) or the other (NO WWW) and stick with it. It will prevent headaches down the road for you. Once you have a domain name you’ll need a hosting account. Now, I’m going to stop right here and say that you don’t need any of these to start a website. Head over to http://www.showitfast.com and create a free site with a free domain name. Just remember that the domain name they give you will not be pretty; http://example.showitsites.com You can also head over to Blogger and create a free blog there, but the same catch applies; free domain name. http://example.blogger.com

Hosting Account – A hosting account is a “server” which is just another computer located somewhere else that holds all your stuff including your website. With your own hosting account, you have your own domain name so when your URL (http://example.com) is typed it goes straight to your website on your hosting account (server). With me so far? With your own hosting account you can also host your own blog (http://example.com/blog). Sign up for Bluehost and you can get a year of hosting and a free domain name for about $80 a year (affiliate link).

Website Choices – When it comes down to actually deciding on what route to choose for a website, several things must be taken into consideration. Before I begin I will say that there is nothing wrong with template sites. They show the photos beautifully, and they are professionally designed. Templates usually come “pre-built” so all you have to do is put your text and photos in and your done! The only problem with this is that that template was built to cater to the masses, not built to cater to just one person.

However if you are looking to stand out from the crowd with a website that is truly unique, then Showit is the only way to go. I’ve made my own site. I’ve had a template site. I’ve seen how Livebooks, Bigfolio, Wordpress, Blogger, Portfoliositez, Wix and other work. There isn’t another platform in existence that will give you the amount of freedom and flexibility to express yourself creatively like Showit does. If you thought Microsoft Front Page was “fun” to build with (albeit not “acceptable”), then you will love building with Showit. There are also a lot of features in Showit that you will not find in any other website builder or provider. Features such as +Sites and free updates are virtually non-existent in this industries current providers. 

Don’t take my word for it though. I implore you to go and try out some free options like Wordpress and Blogger. You already have a hosting account. If you listened and signed up with Bluehost then you’ll find in your CPANEL, an app called “Simple Scripts.” This will auto-install Wordpress for you. Find a theme, install it, tweak it, spend countless hours on it, and your done! There will come a time though where you want something more; something better. That’s when you may decide to upgrade to something like Livebooks or Bigfolio. You pay a pretty penny for a custom site, but then you may have to pay to have further changes made.

Do you see the pattern here? After going through and exhausting all these resources, in the end there still lies Showit. It’s the best of all worlds put together. Drag and drop simplicity, easily updated, one click publish, seo compliant, unlimited client sites, widgets to interact with your visitors, etc. What are you waiting for?

Download Showit through this link and receive the entire site of HD quality screen cast tutorials from Learn Showit. ($149 value!)