Capture Your Online Audience With a Website Builder For Photographers
It would have required either a large amount of specialist knowledge or a sizeable investment in the services of designers and coders to get that look a decade ago. Creating your photography website in the online home-decor environment Forum helped make that achievable: user-friendly websites can now be bought directly off the consumer rack from Format, Wix and Squarespace, and so on.
Don’t settle for something ‘good enough’ – look for a site builder that has visually appealing templates and intuitive design features so that you can put your art in the best light. And be sure to find a platform that will scale as you develop your business, from SEO solutions to ecommerce integration.
Customizable Design
The site you build for your photography should be a distinct expression of your artistic voice and brand identity. The builder you choose has to offer you scope for creative control, and should provide beautiful templates to begin with, with the potential to be modified and tweaked in layout and design to your exact specifications.
Format presents various available templates such as collection, magazine, blog, photo portfolio, and business, which are all aesthetically pleasing and formatted to be as flexible as possible. Additionally, they offer key SEO features, a must when aiming to be found by potential clients.
Another is Jimdo, which offers a huge selection of templates specifically designed for photography websites, and a straightforward editing interface. The builder also has e-commerce capabilities — handy if you sell prints or other items to your customers — and the pricing matches other sitebuilder offerings.
Mobile-Optimized Images
With the huge number of people using mobile devices to surf the internet and view photographs, a website must be mobile responsive. Failing to optimise images to be viewed well on mobile could mean missing a huge segment of your audience.
The best site builders for photographers provide a library of image-led, design-driven templates so you can make your photography website look better than the competition. The very best also come with features specific to the discipline, such as client-proofing (a way to share private, password-protected galleries with clients – that can be watermarked if you wish) and integrations that streamline the booking of sessions.
Take Format, for example, an online website builder tailored for photographers. Its templates are minimalist, sleek and beautiful. The various gallery layout styles you can choose from look gorgeous and making a professional-looking photography portfolio is easy-peasy. The site also comes with a live chat available and you get a chance to talk to a customer support agent right there and then.
SEO-Friendly
If you take photographs as a hobby and want to start selling your work, or if you are a more seasoned professional, your website is your foundation of your brand and your photography. Get started by building a digital portfolio and showcase your killer images to potential clients to help them know you.
Make sure your site builder includes a portfolio template with high-resolution images and options to fit your style and brand, as well as allow for customisable business information and location details so local searchers can find you.
Moreover, think about a builder with strong blogging functionality so you can communicate with your audience about what’s going on behind the scenes, containing tidbits and insights into your creative process. You’ll build trust and relationships with your audience, and enhance your SEO.
Intuitive Design Editor
The fingerprint of your photography should be as unique as the fingerprint of your photographer. Find a builder that lets you design fonts, layouts etc so they are as unique as your photography and your brand.
Seek a site builder that supports high-resolution images and includes features to display them in eye-catching ways, like full-screen slideshows or grid galleries. Make sure that you can also add an e-commerce element, and look for ancillary business-building tools like client bookings and payment processing.
Format has a number of wonderfully simple, clean and clear themes that work well for a photographer looking to have their images shine as the star of the show, as well as a whole set of tools to help you run your photography business, including blogging and SEO functions.
Easy to Update
For example, backend ease is something you will have to consider when choosing between different website builders. In addition to having all the functionality you need, the builder should be easy to use for you and any employees, but also offer advanced features, like enabling e-commerce and marketing integrations.
Showit has a simple, intuitive, flat design that really works if you are a photographer or a visual creator. The templates are layouted for the images, and the drag-and-drop editor will let you just put your images and the text where you want it to go.
The site builder you choose should accommodate your needs enough to please most photographers without being overly cumbersome. As much as possible, ask for a platform with deep analytics. You need this to keep track of which content resonates. Once you have this data, you could devise ways of creating relevant business content that your market prefers. Although your photography is the main essence of your business, you also need to market your craft if you want to have a successful photography career.
