Website: Traditional vs. Blog/CMS ???

[klynam]

I'm preparing to update and expand my website and having quite a hard time deciding between developing a traditional coded site (html, flash, etc.) and a blog/cms site (WordPress, Joomla, etc.)

The coded direction gives me complete creative freedom in terms of design and deployment, at a cost of time/money from my other work. I'm including dynamic flash sites and commercially hosted templated sites in this category.

A blog/cms site is easier to launch, maintain, and expand, but inherently limited in terms of creative freedom (look and feel). On the plus side, they seem to be much more readily integrated with other online services such as Flickr!, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.

What thoughts to you have pro/con about one or the other? Please vote and provide your reasons why.

Thank you...


ps: I use ExpMgr for my sales. All I'm talking about here is my online presence for communication and new business marketing purposes.

[ryannbaker]

I ran into that question not too long ago.

Basically, I came to the conclusion that a traditional site has more "professionalism" to it. While plenty of blogs are definitely professional (please don't think I'm saying they aren't), I believe that with something like photography (or graphic design, or anything pertaining to images being your main line of work) you need freedom on how to make everything look.

A portfolio in the traditional web sense is a better bet for marketing and new business than a blog. That's my oppinion at least.

[klynam]

Okay - one opinion on this question...interesting.

Thanks Ryan (from a fellow Texan)

[bieber]

Using a decent CMS, your creativity is only limited by your knowledge and effort, not the system itself...

[slappy sam]

Why can't you have a normal site, flash or whatever to show off your portfolio and then a blog? Thats what I have, seems to work out pretty well. I use blogger for my blog and made my site in html/css.

[jsanz11]

Yeah I have my traditional HTML website then i just linked my blog

[Karizmatik]

I have a Flash Site.. A HTML site.. A Blog site.. And a MySpace.

I'm sure I could extend it to 100 other outlets on the internet as-well, but I'm too busy.


Point is... Do everything you can! The more places your name and services are at, the more chances of work.


.. Oh, and the beauty of MySpace -- Browsing for Friends, I simply type in "50 KM's within XXXX" Whatever postcode I want work in.. And then open up an auto-friend-adder, and let it go mad on every single person in that postcode... if it adds 1000-2000 people from that postcode, that is maybe 100-500 people(In reality I'm sure that is all that actually look at the profile compared to just hitting "Confirm") coming to my MySpace and actually reading what I do, then going onto my real website.. Then booking. The amount of referrals I have from it are amazing. Not to mention 99.9% of people on myspace want to look great in pictures.

[John_B]

klynam,
I believe it really depends on who you want to see your site.

ex. not everyone has flash installed on there system (or even know how to or want to install it).
ex2. not everyone likes a blog, chat room, forum etc...

The best (in my opinion) is to make a site that can be viewed pretty much the same by all! and to put extras (like some here said) like a blog as a link for those that like..

[slappy sam]

I think having a splash page that has 3 options:
enter flash site
enter html site
enter blog

Is the best option,I think the bludomain sites have this (some of them at least).

[bieber]

I think having a splash page that has 3 options:
enter flash site
enter html site
enter blog


If your goal is to bewilder your users, then yes, that is the best method. If you want a clear, useful browsing experience for them, present them with a single, unified website, free of flash.

[slappy sam]

If your goal is to bewilder your users, then yes, that is the best method. If you want a clear, useful browsing experience for them, present them with a single, unified website, free of flash.
Obviously thats my goal...

Just looking on the bludomain samples site - something like this http://www.blusites.com/jinky/

Wouldn't bewilder users I don't think... but maybe it would.

[Kissa]

I know a lot of photographers have both. they have a blog that they update once a week - two weeks and a regular webite with all the "standard" information on it and THE best shots on there.

I am building both for myself right now as well.

[Pruddock]

I agree that a traditional website is the best pay to present an online portfolio from a professional standpoint, and I think that an accompanying blog from the photographer is a good supplemental tool for business. A custom website allows a client to see your potential, creative mind, and overall passion for your photographs and the pride you take in the way they are presented, and a blog allows them to get to know you a little better and see some of your recent thoughts/work/whatever. jmo. Good luck with the new site, I'm going to try and do an actual decent site over Christmas Break! Whoop!

[klynam]

Looks like "traditional" website (sort of funny sounding isn't it) is winning the race.

My kids say the blog is a no go with teens so I'm leaning toward traditional site, with a regularly updated presence on FaceBook...

[blackshadow]

I solved this problem by having a wordpress site as my front page and having my photos hosted on a smugmug pro site. - I can put recent examples of work up easily and also other bits of news on my front page and maintain my smugmug site as my photo gallery.

As I shoot a lot of events - usually at least 2 per week it makes sense to keep things fresh. I also post announcements about music and a few other things as it is of interest to my target market.

It seems to work pretty well - check out www.blackshadow.com.au to see.

[slappy sam]

No, I'm someone who studies usability/web-browsing behavior instead of spouting off the first thing that comes to mind. Your typical Internet user is presumably going to find your site by clicking a link from Google.

Now, you have to remember that the typical Internet user is nothing like those of us that hang out on forums and such like this. The typical Internet user, in fact, probably doesn't even thoroughly understand the subtle distinctions between things like URLs, search queries, or even necessarily what a search engine is ("I just type what I want into that box at the top of the screen").

Now think for a moment, what happens when you present this hypothetical user, freshly stumbling in from Google, with a screen that says Flash, HTML, and Blog. This person has no idea what the hell any of these things are, let alone which one they want. And if you try to explain it on this splash-page from hell, you're only going to make things worse by throwing more technical terms at them. You can forget about getting any business from that person: they're gonna click that back button and look for a page that actually shows them what they want to see.

Bottom line is, you're the one designing the web site, not the user: you should be the one deciding what content they see initially, and how it's going to be presented to them. If you want to have a blog, great; hell, I've even got me one of those. If you want to do this, however, it should by no means be a prominent link in a splash page (which you shouldn't have to begin with). If somebody wants to see your blog, then they're not going to have any trouble finding the link in a non-prominent position on your website. If they're not the kind of person who wants to see it, though, there's absolutely no reason to be throwing some ridiculous made up word like "Blog" in their face.

What you need to do is decide what content is the most important to the most important users (not just the most, mind you, but the most important monetarily) and put it on your index page. Other content should be integrated into that page effectively and clearly, so that users can easily access it if they want, but it doesn't get in their way if they don't. A splash screen, basically, is a cheap cop-out from having to actually figure out how you should design your user experience. Also, on a side note, for the love of all that is good and holy do not put a "Best experienced with" paragraph at the bottom of your splash screen (which shouldn't be there in the first place). Your job is to make your site work on the viewer's platform, not the other way around. If you honestly think someone is going to think "Oh my, I have too low a screen resolution, or I'm missing a plugin I need: let me go reconfigure my browser and/or system and then come back to this site," I've got a bridge to sell you. In real life, you just lost a customer.
I see what your saying but having three buttons that say "enter main site", "enter html version", enter "blog" is not going to confuse people.

Most people know what a blog is. Anyone who really doesn't know what to do if given those three options probably wouldn't be the type of person that would be using the internet to find a photographer anyway - they'd use a phone book or ask their friends.

[bieber]

I see what your saying but having three buttons that say "enter main site", "enter html version", enter "blog" is not going to confuse people.

Most people know what a blog is. Anyone who really doesn't know what to do if given those three options probably wouldn't be the type of person that would be using the internet to find a photographer anyway - they'd use a phone book or ask their friends.

Sure, your visitors may be able to make their way to what they want, but they shouldn't have to worry about that. Basically, a flash screen is offloading work from you to your user, which is never going to be a good thing (something people unfortunately often don't understand is that to the user, browsing your website is a task, not something they're doing for fun. Things like intro screens and music and whatnot only distract them from accomplishing the task they set out to accomplish, it doesn't help anything). It's not just a matter of "Can they figure out what to do here," it's a matter of "Will they bother to." Users are fickle creatures, by and large, and it doesn't take much to turn someone away, back to the Google results full of hundreds of other sites just like yours. The first couple seconds after the page loads are critical, and they need to have some of your work, some information about you, and how to contact you right up in their faces right away.

Also, speaking specifically about the main site/html options, you have to remember that if someone doesn't have Flash, it's probably because they don't know what it is or how to get it (there are some of us who don't use it for political/ethical reasons, but we're a pretty tiny minority). People like that are going to click "Enter main site," and then have no idea what to do when it doesn't work: they're not going to know to go back and view the "HTML Site." If you insist on having Flash and HTML sites (and seriously, if you're going to put in the effort to make a good, solid HTML site, why not just use that exclusively), at the very least you need to be using Javascript or something to autodetect whether the user has Flash installed or not, and act appropriately.

[Edit - Removed troll bait]

[Karizmatik]

Back to the topic at hand.

[Pete]

Back to the topic at hand.

Yes, do that please.

[Jman13]

I had a traditional site for 4 years. I just made the jump to a CMS based gallery (integrated into my design), using Gallery 2. It is SO much easier. Sure, I give up a little bit of customization on the appearance, but it's still pretty customizable. Plus, it now takes me 1/10 the time to update my site. Not only that, but it's more organized, has dynamic gallery building, keyword albums, searching, etc. So much easier to deal with and quite attractive.

[HSK]

I've done what a few of the guys have mentioned above, have my normal HTML site, and linked my wordpress blog to it. I keep the site on more of a professional feel, and for the blog I plan to be more open and just talk about things in general, but mainly relating to what I do. A more "behind the scenes" feel.

I still want to edit and personalise the layout of the blog though, at the moment i'm using default.