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Archive 2017 · Website Building

  
 
Ming-Tzu
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Website Building


I've read the various threads on this forum about building a photography website, and would like to see if there are better alternatives to Squarespace, which I am leaning towards. A friend also recommended Wix.

I'm an amateur photographer who wants to build a simple website to showcase my photography and have an easy-to-follow end point for potential customers to browse through. I'm not a coder and have limited knowledge as far as HTML, etc. Just looking for a service that makes it easy for me to create a website, potentially with e-commerce capabilities (e.g. selling my pictures, selling other people's pictures, etc.).

Is Squarespace the way to go? I see their business plan is $18/month if I subscribe for the entire year, which is what I am leaning towards. However, open to suggestions.



Nov 15, 2017 at 12:45 PM
rdeloe
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Website Building


SmugMug is relatively easy to use, highly customizable, and their technical support is incredibly strong. You can get your own domain name. This site costs me around $70 per year: www.robdeloephotography.com What I especially like is that I can publish to my site from inside Lightroom using the plugin supplied by SmugMug -- so no manual uploading photos.


Nov 15, 2017 at 12:57 PM
Ming-Tzu
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Website Building


rdeloe wrote:
SmugMug is relatively easy to use, highly customizable, and their technical support is incredibly strong. You can get your own domain name. This site costs me around $70 per year: www.robdeloephotography.com What I especially like is that I can publish to my site from inside Lightroom using the plugin supplied by SmugMug -- so no manual uploading photos.


Nice website and thanks for the rec!



Nov 15, 2017 at 01:00 PM
mdude85
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Website Building


I use Squarespace and like it. I would go with the Personal plan instead of the Business plan. You can use any number of promo codes for 10% off, so that's less than $10/month for the first year. Although Smugmug is a lot cheaper I think Squarespace is more aesthetically polished.


Nov 15, 2017 at 04:01 PM
story_teller
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Website Building


I use and will second a vote for SmugMug. It's easy to maintain. I can quickly create galleries, switch out photos and videos, change text, etc. create private galleries with passwords and a lot of other features. In addition, very good support and "hot-to" videos available. They also have a variety of ready-built templates to make initial set up easy.

Definitely work a look!



Nov 16, 2017 at 09:59 AM
Mr Joe
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Website Building


If you just want to show a portfolio, the $8/month Squarespace personal plan is tough to beat. Really clean looking sites, and easy to use software.


Nov 29, 2017 at 01:55 PM
Herb
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Website Building


also SmugMug here.... www.herbturner.smugmug.com


Nov 29, 2017 at 03:06 PM
mdelrossi
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Website Building


WordPress.
I was with aPhotofolio for a while. While a nice website, it was more of a chore to deliver images online and their editdrop was wonky and sometimes wouldn’t email the clients.

Granted WordPress is a learning curve, but you have(almost too many) many options in themes and plugins.

My site is hosted by InMotionhosting.com, Inmotion hosting
great support.


Del Rossi Photography


Good luck
mdr



Dec 03, 2017 at 11:42 AM
oguruma
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Website Building


Wordpress all the things. I use NextGen Pro with one of the Photocrati themes. $100/year. You can technically use the software indefinitely after buying it once, but if you update your Wordpress version, PHP or something else on the backend, you might break it.

Wix/Squarespace are definitely the easier to use option, but you never really own it. Wix and Squarespace use the SaaS model, and you and your site are subject to the ToS, which they can change on a whim.

"Oh, we decided that our $10/month plan is $20/month now. Sorry about that. Go ahead and cancel if you want, but you will lose all the time you have invested and have to learn to use, and develop, on a new platform".

Wordpress and other CMS come with some things to learn, but it's much more portable, and you actually own it, not just rent it.

ETA: I actually have a VPS I am about to spin down, so if you want to test drive Wordpress/NextGen, let me know and I can make you an admin account you can use for a while to see if you like it.



Dec 03, 2017 at 04:15 PM
la puffin
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Website Building


I've been with Squarespace, but I don't like the compression they're putting on my images, as does Wix. I also like fresh templates, so PB and SmugMug are out. I'd prefer to go with a company that specializes in this, so I should be able to update it frequently. I don't want to hire a designer because of this. Mobil versions, analytics, etc... I don't do commerce.

Any suggestions?



Sep 17, 2018 at 03:45 AM
dugaut
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Website Building


I use smugmug for my personal photography (amateur that gets paid is what I call myself). I originally started using it to sell my photos, but that has dried up, and instead I get paid by a local college to shoot sports for them.

I use Squarespace for the school where I work for my main job. We use it to showcase all parts of our program and imbed images and video.The site is not used to primarily show photos and video, but to present the school as a whole.

I would say SP is for a website to present a business and all its aspects (at least it seems easier to do that with SP), with photos and videos a part of that. And SM for more specifically posting and showing your images, and maybe selling them.



Sep 17, 2018 at 04:40 AM
darryn patch
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Website Building


I got some good advice that will save you time and money


Build your website in wix, get the lay out and images how you want
Then take it to a website builder to build, as apparently wix isn't picked up in google searches, whether that is true or not I dont know, maybe it was a sales pitch from a web company to get them more work??


But having all the layout work done will save you time and money



Sep 18, 2018 at 05:29 AM





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