Your website is the most important advertisement for you and your work, and you’re here because your site isn’t doing the job. It’s got a clunky Flash interface, it takes forever to load, it looks like everyone else’s website, and google can’t find it; it’s out of date, hard to update, and is difficult to add to; your contact information is hard to find, the pictures/stories/pages don’t have unique addresses so they can’t be bookmarked or emailed, and navigation is a pain. Don’t take my word for it. A web designer recently analyzed a small sample of portfolio sites on the web, and the results are astounding; 72% of the portfolios made it difficult to see an entire picture, 32% had confusing navigation, 32% did not include a phone number… And while Flash-designed websites look great, they leave a lot to be desired; here are 7 reasons to reconsider an all-Flash design. You need better.

You need a better website. You need a simple, fast-loading, unobtrusive way to display your photos. You need it to be easy to update and easy to manage. You need an integrated blog and contact sheets. You need a search-engine friendly design. You need to be able to change the order of your pictures and your stories. You need a way for editors to see your work. You need a way to be found online. You need a place to call home.

I create a website tailored to your needs. I use the Wordpress blog publishing platform as a Content Management System (CMS) to manage your portfolio from the backend. This means that publishing a picture or a story to your portfolio is as easy as writing a blog post or an email. I set up your webserver, your domain name, etc., if you need help with that, and do everything else needed to make your website run smoothly and efficiently. I work with you to create a visual design for your portfolio; we choose colors and collaborate on the placement of elements throughout the various pages of your site after I develop an initial prototype. All of this results in an easy-to-update website that’s appropriate for and complementary to your photography and personality.

Click on the pictures below to a view a demo design. Each uses the same backend data and software.

Contact websites@mscottbrauer.com for an estimate. Most of my clients pay a single creative fee for the design, part of which is a deposit up front; any further updates, design tweaks, maintenance work after the initial design is approved and made live is billed at a reasonable hourly rate.