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Best websites for photographers - part 2 of 1 2 3 4

Published 01/04/2012

SmugMug

Looking to monetise your work online? This memorably moniker-ed US-based e-commerce solution provider for photographers has partnered with Loxley Colour in the UK. The partnership aims to offer photographers a cost effective pro platform via which they can sell, and at the same time allow them to spend more time behind the lens being creative. UK 'SmugMug Pro' subscriptions start from around £13 a month or £100 per annum. This affords unlimited photo uploads and Full HD video uploads up to 20 minutes long. Your would-be website shop front is customisable, galleries can be public or unlisted, and business marketing tools are included in the bundle. Additionally there's the ability to share galleries on social networking sites.

Loxley MD Ian Loxley believes that in SmugMug he has the ideal offering for photographers fearful that getting to grips with an e-commerce solution will necessitate time and a steep learning curve. "When it comes to print and product fulfilment everybody knows Loxley and what we stand for," he notes. "We know photographers can sometimes put off getting to grips with new technologies because of the learning curve required to stay on top of website shopping techniques and SEO. But the customer experience with SmugMug is just phenomenal. 'Support heroes' are ready to lend a hand and walk photographers through the whole process."

With full-screen slideshows and HD video playback, the shop front provided by SmugMug is bespoke branded, so although your clients may technically be on a SmugMug site, they won't get the impression they're dealing with a third party. The partnership handily means that the ordering of a number of key Loxley presentation products - including Alumini prints, cotton canvas fine art wraps, Glacier Blocks and acrylic mounts - is only a click of your client's mouse away.

One of the first to sign up with SmugMug is a familiar name to SWPP members: photographer Trevor Yerbury. "We can store our entire database on the SmugMug hosting site," he divulges. "The security aspect of that is worth the annual subscription fee alone. We've got four galleries on the site already: portraits, commercial, corporate and special projects. As photographers, we can set our own price for our work and offset the 15% fee SmugMug charges against that. As far as print fulfilment is concerned, we've been using Loxley for 20 years and if anything were ever to go wrong they have a no-quibble guarantee."
www.smugmugpro.com
www.loxley.smugmug.com
www.yerburystudio.com

Amazing Internet

UK based Amazing Internet has been designing websites for photographers for over a decade, so is well up to speed with what jobbing pros require from an online presence. It also hosts hundreds of photographers' sites.

Aimed at anyone just starting out it offers a new, lower priced service from £50 per annum, courtesy of its Portfolio Series template sites. Alternatively it continues to produce high-end bespoke sites for those who want to invest in a flagship front end.

For those whose requirement falls between the two, last year Amazing Internet launched its Pro Series. This sits firmly between the template services, which it notes have become ubiquitous in recent years, and the fully custom sites that for some are price prohibitive. By creating a set of designs, rather than templates, that can be adapted with the photographer's signature colours, logos and branding, via Amazing Internet a custom-style site can be created without the custom price tag.

Furthermore, because Pro Series sites are provided with content management tools, the photographer can keep their own site updated with text and images. Also provided are an integrated blog, facebook and Twitter links, plus as many bells and whistles as the photographer wants to keep up with the increasing importance of social networking. Pricing for a Pro Series site starts at £999 plus VAT, and one of those recently upgrading to the service is renowned Manchester-based wedding photographer Karen Julia. "So far it's proving very successful for my business," she says.

Bespoke sites meanwhile have been built for the likes of Buckinghamshire-based wedding and portrait photographer Kate Hopewell-Smith, a job Amazing Internet are particularly proud of, as striking the right balance between giving creativity full reign yet keeping it functional is not always easy to pull off. "I challenged Amazing Internet to build a site to be proud of, which they did and then some," says Kate. " It not only looks beautiful but it's quick to navigate, and has e-commerce and blog functionality built in. What's not to love?"

Those looking for an attractive and artistic looking site that showcases your images to their full advantage should therefore direct their web browser to the URLs below.
www.amazinginternet.com
www.amazinginternet.com/services/custom-gallery.html
www.katehopewellsmith.com

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1st Published 01/04/2012
last update 21/07/2022 08:46:24

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