Congratulations on your new Blog Site! Creating a new website can be overwhelming, so use this guide for a quick guide on how to get started with setting up and publishing your Builder. Throughout the list, there are links to more detailed articles for step by step instructions.
1. Set Up Your Pages
It's natural to want to dive right into design before you start creating your pages, but it is easier to choose a template and a design after your pages are created. With PhotoBiz, everything you put into web pages will automatically be applied to every template, so create your pages first so you can "test drive" lots of different templates and see which one displays your work the best.
To start adding pages, click on the Builder icon and then the Web Pages tab and click on new page to add a page, or click on a page name along the left-hand side of the page to add content to that page.
Below are some recommended page types most Builder sites should have:
- Home (Marquee Plus Page): 8-10 images representing your best work in the banner.
- About (Info Page): A photo of yourself and 250 words about you and your business.
- FAQ or Testimonials (List or Info page): Frequently Asked Questions and/or Raves/Testimonial page.
- Galleries (Dropdown Menu with Gallery Pages nested underneath: Include one gallery for each type of work you do, i.e. Weddings, Engagements, Portraits. We recommend adding no more than 20-25 images on each gallery page.
- Contact (Form Page): Include your contact information and a contact form.
2. Try On Templates And Pick Your Favorite
After you've added some content to your pages, you'll be able to better see what your website will look like when different templates are applied to your site, so go ahead and start "test driving" some templates! When choosing a template, keep in mind that you can change the colors, fonts, and background in Step 4.
To access the template collection, click on the Builder icon, then hover over design and click on templates. Click the links below to learn how to preview, add, and save templates.
3. Upload Logo
The recommended logo size will change depending on the template you choose, which is why we recommend waiting until you have selected a template to upload your logo.
4. Customize Your Design
After you've selected your template, there are default settings for your design, but all these can be changed under the design tab in your Builder control panel:
5. Add A Blog Post With Images
When you first open your Blog icon in your PhotoBiz account, we recommend creating a post first. This will help you see the main controls you have access to and help you get a feel for working with the blog post editor. This first post can be one you never publish, but just use as a test run.
6. Blog Settings
After you've started to get a feel for how to create a blog post, you'll want to make sure your settings are the way you want them before you start publishing any posts. When you click on the settings tab, you'll see many different settings you can tweak as needed. Two important settings to look at are how comments are handled and what social media links are available for sharing. You can also choose your time zone and your date and time display, among other settings.
7. Add Domain Name And Allow It To Propagate (24-48 Hours)
A custom domain name is recommended because it brands your site and makes it appear much more professional than having a shared domain like example.photobiz.com.
8. Site Analytics/Metas
After all the major pages and content have been added to your account, we recommend adding meta information and setting up Google Analytics and Webmaster tools to make sure your website is in the best possible position for search engine optimization. Some helpful links for SEO can be found below:
9. Publish Sitemap
Your website's sitemap is like a roadmap for search engine bots to make it easier for your website to be crawled. This is the last thing you should do once the rest of your website is completed. You'll want to republish your sitemap anytime you make major changes to your website to alert the search engines that you've made changes that should be crawled to make sure the most up to date information is on the search engines.
10. Start Posting And Scheduling
After the look of your blog and all your settings have been decided, it's time to start posting! We recommend posting regularly and consistently. There is no "magic" number of posts per month you have to do, just decide on what works best for you, then stick to that schedule.
Something that makes it easier to appear as though you're posting regularly is to schedule your blog posts to post automatically.