Sunday, January 25, 2009

Eye Candy: Blu Domain - Websites for Creative Professionals

Awhile back, my friend, Taryn told me about an amazing website company called Bludomain, which she used to launch her videography company. They offer beautiful, simple website templates, mainly intended for photographers at a very affordable price ($100-$400 setup, plus $100/year for hosting). After exploring their site a few times over the last few months (most recently to help my other friend, Vicki select one for her new photography business), I think these templates could be used for so many businesses, not just photographers. Images evoke such feeling, that if you have a product or service that you can show by using engaging photography, these template sites could work for you. Bludomain shows a couple examples of the types of businesses that could use their templates, including a florist. You can also add music to your site, which can really set the tone and help sell your product or service. These sites are easily customizable to show pricing, information, hours if it is a retail business, etc. They even offer a shopping cart, if you are selling a product. You have control of backend of the website, so you have the ability to make changes whenever you feel the need.

One concern is that they are flash based (photo slideshows), which do not offer much in terms of search engine optimization (being found on the internet). Search engines (google) cannot read images or videos (yet!). One way to combat this is to also create and use a blog in conjunction with your beautiful Bludomain site, where you are constantly updating and adding content about your business and industry and linking back to your main website. This is obviously a very popular company, as they are launching hundreds of new clients a month! Check them out here!

No comments: