How to Create a Photography Portfolio Website
15 seconds. That’s how long you have to capture your visitor’s attention when they click on your website. As a photographer, it’s even more paramount to have a platform where you can feature your best work while still giving you complete control over the design, feel, and functionality of your website.
Learn 15 Best
Nowadays, there are tons of resources and tools at your fingertips to make an engaging and visually stunning website. Read on to discover the best tools to start creating your own professional
1. SmugMug
SmugMug has all of the tools you need to grow your
This all-in-one tool is very easy to use. You can build a beautiful
Sell Your Photos Online on SmugMug
One of SmugMug’s strongest features is its built-in e-commerce platform. It is entirely up to you how you’d like to promote your online store. SmugMug does not market your photos in any way, and you can keep 85% of the profits.
Using the online sales platform is very easy and intuitive. You can make your storefront public, unlisted, or create a password-protected viewing platform for your clients. From there, you can set your own prices by client or project.
Unlimited Photo and Video Storage
SmugMug’s secure and unlimited media storage will you give the peace of mind as a photographer. All SmugMug media is stored at Amazon S3 for their 99.99% durability. According to their website, if you upload 10,000 photos on SmugMug, Amazon will lose one picture every 10 million years. Now that’s secure!
SmugMug and Lightroom Plugin Integration
Streamline your work with SmugMug’s Adobe Lightroom publishing plugin. You can link Adobe Lightroom directly with SmugMug, making it an extremely fast process when syncing photos, publishing new edits, creating new galleries, and pulling your clients’ favorite photos for a quick and efficient workflow. The best part is that this plugin is free for all SmugMug users!
2. Elementor
Elementor is the platform of choice for those looking to create a WordPress site. By far the most popular CMS, WordPress presents a fair number of challenges to those lacking considerable coding chops. With Elementor, you can create even the most comprehensive, technically complex online store without having to write a single line of code. (It also happens to be the platform we used to create our site).
Elementor features cover every aspect of the photography website creation process. With more than 300 widgets and dozens of templates, your homepage, client showcase, blog, shop, and, of course, image portfolio will be built exactly the way you envision them to be.
Subscriptions start at US$49 per year.
Powerful WooCommerce Website Builder
WordPress’ premium e-commerce plugin, WooCommerce can prove challenging to work with for those unfamiliar with code. But with Elementor? Creating a WooCommerce website is a breeze. With a powerful, intuitive drag-and-drop editor Elementor offers users a truly unique editing experience; every item added to your page can be dragged and dropped within a clean, clear, and intuitive environment.
With Elementor’s WooCommerce site builder, every element of your customers’ journey can be designed to a tee. You can optimize your customers’ “add to cart” experience with custom buttons, menus, and banners. You can also add customer reviews and leverage Elementor’s upselling features (e.g. ‘Buy 10 images and get another for free!’).
Kits Library
Elementor offers photographers a variety of pixel-perfect website kits that perfectly fit just about any
With Kits, there is no need to work on each page attribute (e.g. header, footer, color palettes) individually. You can choose a kit, customize it so that it fits your
Sales and Marketing Features
Photographers looking to monetize their images can leverage 20 ecommerce-specific widgets to create stunning product and checkout pages. However, even those that aren’t planning on selling your images, can turn their online store into a revenue-generating vehicle with Elementor.
With Elementor’s powerful popup builder, photographers can arrange for visitors to be met with marketing and promotional material at strategic moments.
Photographers can also integrate their marketing tools and social media accounts to boost conversions, capture leads, and analyze website performance.
3. Pixpa
Pixpa is an all-in-one website builder for photographers to create their professional portfolio websites, client galleries, blogs, and eCommerce stores – all in one place. Photographers can showcase, share, and sell online easily and save both time and money by using Pixpa as a single platform for their online presence.
Pixpa’s offers beautiful, mobile-friendly, and fully-customizable templates that you can change anytime. Pixpa’s drag-and-drop website builder enables photographers to build stunning portfolio websites without any coding knowledge.
Read our detailed review on Pixpa.
Share, sell, and deliver your photos online with Pixpa
Built-in Client galleries platform to share, sell, and deliver images to clients. The only website builder to offer a fully-featured client galleries platform with the ability to sell images and automated order fulfilment.
Unlimited Albums and Galleries
Create unlimited albums to share your work with clients. And you can also create multiple galleries in an album to organise your images. Make it easy for your clients to explore.
All at one place for photographers
With Pixpa, You can manage everything in one place, seamlessly. Save time and money by using just one platform instead of 2-3 platforms to manage your website, eCommerce, and client galleries.
Pixpa is the ONLY platform in the world that lets you sell products, services, digital downloads, AND images as prints and downloads – everything together on your website, out of the box.
Use coupon code “photocourse50” to get 50% Off on annual or 63% Off on 2 yearly plan.
4. Format
Showcase your best photos using Format’s drag-and-drop website builder. Not sure where to start? Format has a team of experts that will help you take your photography portfolio website to the next level.
It’s more important than ever to have a good-looking and functional website to attract new clients. Format’s themes are a great option for photographers since they are designed to highlight photos in a pleasing way. Subscriptions start at $6/month.
Dynamic Themes
Format offers beautiful, responsive themes that are perfect for photographers. Enhance your photos by choosing premium themes, or select from horizontal, fullscreen, slideshow, or tiled layouts to put your best work online. You can also add code to any theme for added customization.
Open an Online Store
Start selling your photos with Format’s built-in online store. Stock, travel, food photographers will benefit from this service. You can set up your online store within minutes using Format’s drag-and-drop editing style. Switch your store on and off easily, and start making revenue right away!
Format Publisher for Adobe Lightroom
This quick and efficient plugin is a must-have for photographers. You can easily publish and update your online portfolio directly from Adobe Lightroom. Share private galleries and receive feedback from clients with Format’s streamlined client proofing system.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace is one of the top picks for photographers to share their work. Photographers love their sleek and minimalist design templates. What’s even greater is all their designs are made to adapt to smartphones or computers, so you won’t lose any valuable design elements when potential clients are switching between the two and viewing your work.
Grow Your Business
Squarespace now offers paid membership pages, email pop-ups to grow your newsletter, and a space to share your CV, and much more! You will only look more professional when using Squarespace.
Great Customer Service
If you are struggling to build your dream website for your photography business, don’t worry because Squarespace has you covered. They offer live chats, forums, and community pages to help you solve any issues.
6. Adobe Portfolio
Create a gorgeous
Free to Start
It’s free to get started and they offer a variety of easy-to-plugin templates to showcase your images like a pro.
Connect to Lightroom
Streamline your workflow by connecting your Lightroom exports directly to your portfolio online through Adobe. We all want to get out and shoot more, and the ease of this portfolio setup helps us do just that.
Bonus
Not only will you save time but you can also create password-protected, galleries, choose domain names, and optimize your site for any device.
7. 500px
500px has been popular among photographers for years. It’s a place for professionals and amateurs to gather and share inspiration and their best work. It’s also a great place to host your work.
Sell your Work
Easily sell your photos using their online store setup. You will earn one of the highest royalty rates any site has to offer. Buyers can view your work and pay for commercial use, making you more money.
Monitor your Performance
500px offers statistics and a dashboard to monitor whose looking at your work and how much you are selling. Compare yourself to other photographers in the community and learn what’s selling best.
Look More Professional
With 500px you will look more pro and get hired faster because of their trusted search results. You can even showcase your articles, share videos, and impress people with your
8. PhotoShelter
Streamline your entire online
Store your photos
You can store photos at their highest resolution while knowing they are being kept safe online. Never take up more space on your computer again. Stop buying hard drives and instead invest in Photo Shelter.
Archive on the Go
Access your photos no matter where you are traveling in the world. You will have acces 24/7 to all your large files, ready for downloading and sharing from your smartphone or computer. You can even set up your store or change prices as you go.
9. Wix
Wix gives photographers total design freedom when it comes to building a website. Whether you’re just getting started or redesigning your
Wix Editor
Wix utilizes a drag-and-drop style editor which you can start designing from scratch or choose from the 500 modern templates available. Each template is mobile optimized, meaning that no matter which template you select, it will look great on every mobile device.
Wix puts the effort in the details, from custom scroll effects to unlimited font styles so you can have full control over your brand’s feel and aesthetic. The editor also features other advanced tools such as a personalized SEO plan, animation/video backgrounds, and beautiful media galleries.
Wix Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)
Don’t have the time to design your own website? No problem. Wix launched an innovative artificial design intelligence so you can have a ready-made website tailored to your design needs. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and Wix designs a custom website just for you. You still have the option to edit and customize your website’s themes and colors while using ADI. This powerful technology is mobile friendly and has built-in SEO so your website can rank higher on Google.
Open Development Platform
Corvid by Wix allows you to have complete control over your website with an open development platform. If you’re interested in designing advanced web apps, then this is the feature for you. You can use and modify 100s of UI elements with their intuitive visual builder.
Build an Online Store
Wix features a seamless online platform for e-commerce and bookings. You can easily track orders, and keep your inventory organized with its built-in store manager. Choose from tons of beautiful layouts for your storefront. You can even select your own payment methods commission-free. Wix has an integrated bookings section where you can create bookings 24/7 online and on any mobile device. Bookings can be synced in with Google Calendar for an efficient customer relationship experience.
10. Zenfolio
This all-in-one e-commerce website builder features a dozen modern templates, all of which can be built in a matter of minutes. You can attract new clients with Zenfolio’s modern themes specifically designed for professional photographers.
Zenfolio currently serves over 100,000 photographers around the world. You can choose from three plans, from Starter, Pro, to Advanced. Plans start at $5/month. Here are some of Zenfolio’s main features:
Unlimited Storage
No more worrying about running out of storage. You can store all of your personal and professional photos in Zenfolio at no extra cost. This also includes unlimited photo galleries for those with a diverse portfolio.
SEO Friendly Blogs
Zenfolio features an easy-to-use blog integration so you can gain more traffic and improve your SEO rankings. Writing engaging blog posts is a great way to market your brand and share your “why” as a photographer.
Sell Your Photos Online
Zenfolio offers an efficient and convenient way for clients to pre-order your photo packages and bookings in advance. This feature can help you generate more sales and engage with your clients freely.
You can set your own custom pricing for photo shoots, packages, and more based on each project. From selling digital prints to mugs, metal prints and calendars, Zenfolio is partnered up with print labs to make the e-commerce experience a seamless one for both you and the client.
Market Your
Using Zenfolio’s marketing features is simple and powerful. Each plan includes a free automated client marketing campaign just by opting in. You can make your
Zenfolio also features social media integration, SEO, email templates, and a visitor email capture so you can import potential clients to your email list.
11. Photobucket
Having good storage for your photos is one of the most important requirements as a professional photographer. Nowadays, many photographers use cloud storage to keep their photos safe and secure in addition to local storage and external hard drives. With Photobucket, you can store all of your full-resolution photos securely.
This tool focuses on image hosting, photo security, photo sharing, and editing. Plans start at $4.99/month. Let’s dive right into its features:
Third-Party Image Hosting
Photobucket features a simple easy-to-copy embed link so you can share your full resolution images on your website, blog, forum, etc. The advantage of using an embed link is that it will save you lots of time from having to re-upload your photos, and also saves space. This is very beneficial in the long run because it will not slow down your server, creating a smooth and fast user experience for your clients.
Secure Your Photos
There is no limit to how many photo albums you create, and you can set the privacy controls. Photobucket uses a 256 bit RSA Encryption technique which is one of the most secure encryption methods. You can also store your photos on the cloud storage, ensuring that your photos will always remain safe even when the unexpected occurs.
Share and Edit Your Photos
You can edit and transform your photos into beautiful art forms with Photobucket’s collection of one-click filters. In the Photobucket photo editor, you can create memes in a few seconds and has built-in social sharing buttons so you can post your content on the fly.
5 Best Photography Portfolio Websites to Inspire You
Have a look at some of these top-rated websites used from some of the amazing
Peter McKinnon
Peter McKinnon’s site does a great job of directing you to all his current and past projects.
Greg Ross
We love how easy it is to navigate Greg Ross’ website for wedding
Deanie Chen
A simple white background showcases Deanie Chen’s work perfectly as well as the spacing between images.
JUCO
Find inspiration through Juco’s colorful portrait
Gavin Gough
Focus on showcasing stories like Gavin Gough does on his
