Catching the light!

2. Constructing a place online – building your commercial websites: SiteGrinder

Special offer: save up to $50.- as an introductiory offer.

I have been using SiteGrinder since December of 2006 to build my websites since I saw another photographer’s website that was build using this tool. This is the most expensive investment in this blog post – the plug in costs $399.-, but it is very well worth it – it offers you incredible flexibility in how you design you’re website.

You design your site in Photoshop, a program that we are all very familiar with. SiteGrinder uses some very basic hints in your layers to understand what your intent is with a layer. It’s not complicated and their video tutorials are great. They’ve also just gone through a major redesign into their version 3.0 which lets you do some incredible stuff. They offer great webinars that explain everything from the basics of how to build your website to 2 hours on custom creation of forms and their functionality.

Building your own website allows you to get the design exactly like you want it, especially if you are integrating multiple services, like a photo e-commerce engine, a CRM service, a blog. The top menu bar is created in Photoshop and coded through the SiteGrinder plugin. (You can look at the home page here.) The one underneath is a PhotoShelter design, the product I use to distribute my images (more about that in tomorrow’s post), but you can take a look at the search page to compare the two.

See how close the designs are? There are some differences, but even if you click from one to the other you will not notice that you are now on a different website, yes it’s still mine, it’s branded with my logo and colors, but the e-commerce portion is farmed out. Site Grinder lets you do this. If you would take a predesigned template, you are limited to the changes the designer allowed you to make.

Another really important item for me is the integration of my CRM solution (see post on day 4) with my contact form on the website. SiteGrinder allows me to run the scripts necessary to integrate the form and the database (you must have a web hosting service that does not limit you to the scripts you are allowed to use, 1&1 lets you run your own scripts – so there is no issue there. You will have to get your hands a little dirty in coding here, but the CRM solution I use does a great job in teaching you how to integrate the forms with their service.

Let us know what web design plattform you use and why you think it’s good – I really like the fact that I can stay in Photoshop, a program we’re all really familiar with.

(http://www.medialab.com)

Next post: “Minding the store – fulfilling your clients orders: Photoshelter“

In the intrest of full disclosure the links to the services that  are recommend here are my affiliate links. None of these companies have approached me to advertise these services/products for them – I use them myself and believe in their products. If you use the links provided, you will also be able to save some money on your purchase or subscription of this services/products.

1. A stake in the ground – hosting your photography website: 1 & 1

Special offer: get up to a year of free hosting. Service costs $10.- a month

I have been using 1&1 internet hosting since June 2003. To be honest I signed up with them after I saw an ad in Wired magazine: 3 years free hosting. They’ve turned out to be an awesome company to be doing business with. The $10.- package includes 150 GB of webspace, unlimited monthly transfer volume, 2 included Domain names along with 100 subdomains and 1,200 2GB email accounts. That will last you for a while. They have terrific phone support with knowledgable people and short hold times.

My commercial photography website and this photography / technology blog are hosted through my 1and1 hosting package as are my email accounts. The design of the website is created with SiteGrinder to mimic the design of the PhotoShelter portion of my website. So when you go to my home page and see the options below – there are actually 3 different websites in one: search, lightbox, cart and client area are hosted by PhotoShelter along with all the functionality that they bring to my users experience, blog is hosted one 1&1, but is this blog that you are currently reading and the home page, about, contact and a few other pages are hosted on 1&1 and not the PhotoShelter predesign, since I wanted them to be able to do more that what PhotoShelter offered: the scroll on my home page is one example, the integration with SalesForce on my contact page is another.

The individual parts that make up my website are designed in a way that the user does not feel like he is visiting different sites (with the exception of my blog). My site is due for a redesign I want to move a few more pages away from PhotoShelter and onto 1&1 to be able to control content a little better.

Why don’t you let us know which internet hosting company you use and why you think they’re great – 1&1 is flexible, reliable and has great customer service (and pricing).

(http://order.1and1.com)

Next post: “Constructing a place online – building your commercial website(s)“

In the intrest of full disclosure the links to the services that  are recommend here are my affiliate links. None of these companies have approached me to advertise these services/products for them – I use them myself and believe in their products. If you use the links provided, you will also be able to save some money on your purchase or subscription of this services/products.