Easy Online Portfolio Options? Blogs/Web Host/Anything else?

[Birkeley]

Hi guys,

I am looking for a little advice about simple ways to create an online portfolio (I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so if there is a better section for it please feel free to move it!). I want something basic to begin with, but also something I can expand to encompass future projects if I want to.

Years ago I tried to do this by buying a domain and hosting service but it wasn't a good experience (the web host I used was complicated, expensive, unhelpful, came with loads of things I didn't need, and was difficult to cancel so I ended up being charged repeatedly for things I wasn't using). I don't want that experience again.

What kind of thing do you guys use? I've seen some artists suggest using a blog as a portfolio. I've never used a blog before - are they simple to set up? If I wanted to do more things with the site later, like add a shop or readable webcomic/graphic novel, is it flexible enough to do those things with? Alternatively, can anyone suggest a web host which is simple to use, reasonably priced and loads quickly? There are so many that I don't know where to start and I'm a bit suspicious after my previous experience, so I'd be happy to have recommendations from other artists. Are there other options I'm overlooking?

Sorry for the array of questions, and thanks in advance for any help!

[Meloncov]

I use Wordpress, and have had a good experience with it. There are a whole lot of templates available that let you get very wide range of looks without having the code at all. I don't think you can incorporate a store, but you can do most anything else that I can imagine an artist wanting to do. Plus, it's free, or twenty dollars or so a year if you don't want the .wordpress.com domain name.

[Sythgara]

What I currently do is use deviantart portfolio (not the usual account, they do have portfolio sites too). It does have about 18 pictures per folder limit and 4 folders or so. And I bought a domain name from google for 10$ and assigned it to that page. so official name is just what i chose .com

I want to have a custom one done though. But it's working well for its purpose at the moment

[Elwell]

Dan Dos Santos tells you how to hack Blogger into a free portfolio site in ten minutes.

[Medelo]

If you want to do your own hosting, try and look for a web host that uses cPanel. It's probably the easiest web control panel to use. Nowadays there are storefront services that do a lot of the work for you when it comes to adding a web store, like shopify.

If you don't know code or don't have time to learn it, I think wordpress is a pretty good option too. There's also carbonmade, and on Behance there is a website-builder service for a monthly fee.

Edit:

I forgot, similar to the Behance website thing, there is also Squarespace, which lets you build a website without code I think. Cargocollective is another one but I'm not sure how their signup exactly works.

[Birkeley]

Dan Dos Santos tells you how to hack Blogger into a free portfolio site in ten minutes.

Thanks, that looks really helpful, certainly as a good way to start!

I may move on to some of the other suggestions later, so thanks to others who responded too.

[Sacari]

I bought hosting and a domain name and built my own site. It was pretty cheap, but took some time.

Some template/pre-made options are:
cargocollective
dA portfolio
4ormat
behance
wordpress
carbonmade
portfoliobox

[Qitsune]

I bought hosting and a domain name and built my own site. It was pretty cheap, but took some time.

Some template/pre-made options are:
cargocollective
dA portfolio
4ormat
behance
wordpress
carbonmade
portfoliobox

Yet you have 4 links in your sig, and none of them is your site on your own domain?

[Sacari]

Yet you have 4 links in your sig, and none of them is your site on your own domain?

My bad! I haven't updated my signature for quite a while, since before I got the site, thanks for pointing that out. It's in there now

[IIKII]

I am using weebly. It's simple and looks professional

[bytheoak]

I used to use blogger, changing the code to get rid of certain elements and make image grids. It was still very limited though and still looked too much like a blog, so I got a domain and made a website using IMcreator, which is extremely customize-able once you figure it out. Doesn't require any html knowledge or anything like that. It isn't free if you want to have your own domain attached to it, but the price is reasonable compared to other hosts I looked at.