What do you need from me in order to create my web site?

1. Images of your work in a digital format. If your have slides of your work you can take them to a photo service provider and have them scanned along with, if you want, a photo of yourself as well.

2. Any text that will go onto the site-- That means any information about your work, any biographical information and any information on upcoming shows or galleries that show your work.

3. A domain name -- This is the name of your site. The domain name for this site is phoenixmassey.com. It is the specific address that takes your computer to my site. Domain names are leased out-- for a good place to sign up for a domain name go to: godaddy.com. Domain names used to be quite expensive, but the prices have dropped in recent years.

4. A web hosting service-- Unless you have your own server, you will need a third party company as a place to park your web site. The average price should be around $4.00 - $10.00 per month. (Prices subject to change without notice.)

Helping you get set up with a domain name and hosting service is included in my web design services. Even if you live on the other end of the country, I can send you a tutorial on what to do and I would be more than happy to call you and talk you through the process!

How do I update my site?

There are two ways to do this:

1. I can do the updating. To add or take out photos or text is pretty simple and doesn’t take me that long.

2. For the more adventurous, I recommend Contribute by Macromedia. It is a software that will allow you to access your site and change out photos and text without knowing the code it took to build the site.

Why do my images look weird when I print them from my web site?

For this and any other questions about images and the internet, check out Artists & the Internet.

How do I draw people to my web site?

I view an web site as a vital part of your overall marketing plan; it can boost the advertising you already do. Put your web address on your business cards and on any postcards or flyers you mail out. Are you exhibiting at an art show? Make a sign for your booth with your web address on it and make sure that it is included in the art show’s program. If you place an ad in a newspaper or a magazine make sure your web address is there. I’ve lost count of how many sites I have visited because their web addresses were included in their advertising.

As for the ever changing and challenging world of search engines, there are steps you can take short of paying for placement. What you choose for the title of each page of your site is important as are the words you have on your pages. The words need to be in text format, just like you see here, rather than an image (like the paintbrush and title of this page), so that the search engine spiders (computer programs that search engine companies like Google use) can find and index your web pages. Meta keywords and the Meta description tags are important as well; they go in the code that make up your web site. (Want to see? Be brave and look at the source code of this page. Go up to your top menu and select the View drop down menu, then select View Source, or View Source Code-- it depends on the browser you are using. The Meta tags are up at the top.)

For more information regarding search engines, I recommend DreamweaverResources.com

What if I want to sell my art work over the internet?

Check out PayPal.com. They are the leading company for sending and receiving money over the internet and they have spent a long time and a lot of money in making their site easy for the average person to use.

What if I want an email newsletter?

Check out MailerMailer.com. If you mail out to 200 or fewer email addresses per month, they are free! It's not hard to get set up and I would be happy to help you. (Prices subject to change without notice.)

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if you have more questions, feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!