Today it seems almost unprofessional not to have a web site if you
are in any kind of business. This is especially true for
photographers. It seems to me that the starting point for designing a
web site is defining what you want to accomplish with it and the
intended audience.
My particular area is fine art, gelatin silver (b&W) prints and my
work could pretty much be described as "straight" photography. I can
get by with a simple, conservative site that I can build myself as
long as it doesn't look unprofessional. However, if I were a young,
hip photographer doing fashion work, I would want an entirely
different kind of site and would most likely consider using flash. (I
have flash but admit often cringing when I reach a site that uses it.
I have a dial up!)
I appreciate traffic from search engines and various directories I've
submitted to and have even sold a few prints this way. However, the
audience that is important to me is people that have seen my work at
exhibits, people I have met that might buy my work, and people that
have already purchased a print. If people are going to pay good
money for a print then I need to give the impression (or reassure
them) that I'm a fine art photographer of some consequence and not
just some bozo with a camera. Your audience and objectives may, of
course, be different.
The only hard and fast rules I would suggest is to never even
consider using a free site with popup ads and advertising and to
avoid anything that resembles "mystery" navigation -- a pet peeve.
Incidentally, some web awards are pretty easy to come by and my say
nothing about how well you communicate with your target audience.
