# Best site to start a photography website business



## epackard88

I've been trying to do some research on starting a photography website but there is so much with websites having there name in the domain I haven't been able to find one that doesn't. Anyone have any suggestions?


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## MLeeK

If you want free they will all have their name in the domain. Wix, Yola, etc all have a paid premium where you can get rid of that.
I LOVE Website and Blogsite Templates for photographers - Portfoliositez.com - photography website templates
BluDomain has great templates for photographers. 
Photoshelter
There are hundreds out there all depending on your budget.


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## Joey_Ricard

ZENFOLIO:

A great place for photographers to display and sell work. Different packages, good pricing and excellent service.
You can use your own domain name (purchased separately).

I have a separate domain name and separate main website, but I use Zenfolio for my galleries and sales. I also use the partnership theyhave with Mpix for client printing.  See my signature link and you can see how I did it and matched the theme in the galleries to my main (separate website).

Again, you can use just Zenfolio but have your own domain name (ie yoursite dot com)


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## 2WheelPhoto

epackard88 said:


> I've been trying to do some research on starting a photography website but there is so much with websites having there name in the domain I haven't been able to find one that doesn't. Anyone have any suggestions?



www.[B]yourname[/B]photography.com


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## JaclynDavisPhoto

I use BluDomain and I love it! Lots of affordable layouts to choose from and VERY user friendly. Plus its just one fee a year, no worries about having to pay monthly hosting fees.


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## inspectedpanic

Hi all, I am using both BluDomain and ProPhoto4 (wordpress) hosted on the same servers as my BluDomain Template site. I agree that BluDomain have some great sites, and if you do host it with them my experience of Support has been absolutely fantastic. On the negative side of this is the prospect of spreading your venture name through Organic search engine results, hence this is why I now use ProPhoto.  Prophoto allows me to capture a lot more traffic than I could have ever achieved with a flash based site it also is totally customizable, as a result I am finding that I am slowly switching over to hosting the entirety of my presence on Wordpress, there are quite a few templates available for wordpress and I didn't experience any problems setting up or administering them, there is a learning curve (doesn't everything have one?) however in the long term I feel that it will lead to a more central marketing strategy by doing so. All in all this is exactly why I have joined this community, we all have views and ideas that can help others, I need a lot of help!


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## raider

a business should not have a free website - unless your work is terrible


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## 35mmwebdesign

There are lots of free sites out there, and it really depends on your level of experience and how much customization you want as to what would work best for you. Many of the template sites will give great results, as long as you work within the limits of the template. Most allow you to add your own domain name for a small charge. For more customization getting a custom site will give a much more professional look, along with better search engine optimization, which will make it easier for potential clients to find your site which, for most people, is how they will gauge how successful their site is.


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## DrewxScott

Check out http://www.photoshelter.com/ and let me know what you think. :] Found out about it through Chris Owyoung... It looks pretty sweet and even though I don't have it yet, I'm already sold, haha.


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## orljustin

epackard88 said:


> I've been trying to do some research on starting a photography website but there is so much with websites having there name in the domain I haven't been able to find one that doesn't. Anyone have any suggestions?



What kind of "photography website"?  A forum?  A shopfront?  A portfolio?  You want to start a "photography website business"?  Does that mean you want to sell "photography websites" to people?  If you don't know how to communicate what you want, it doesn't really sound like you're ready to do much of anything.


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## 2WheelPhoto

raider said:


> a business should not have a free website - unless your work is terrible



+1 or its a failing business. Hobbyist sites its all good of course =)


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## Marcos_Emerico

I'm in the midst of launching a stock photography site and the sites discussed here are of interest to me (Zenfolio, BluDomain, ProPhoto4, etc.). My question is do these sites cater more toward serving an "event" (e.g. wedding) photographer or a site that strictly sells stock photography (or both)?  I'm also considering a buying a commercial script  like those offered by ktools (PhotoStore : Sell Photos Online : Online Photo Proofing and Sales for Photographers).  The commercial script is a one time purchase, the sites discussed on this thread are yearly or monthly, which is another things I must consider and would like input on. My venture is in its nascent stage and I would welcome your thoughts of the various options, both pro and con, I have before me. Thank you, Marcos


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## nickzou

Hostgator for hosting (they called me to confirm my order, I felt so special)

Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or just go balls to the walls barehands style; ultimate control.


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## sparks017

I use weebly, its cheap and has a drag and drop system. Many many templates that you can choose from, and you can create an unlimited amount of pages. It is free to get started but to access much more options then you would have to pay for pro, which you are paying for a website to begin with. If you don't like their templates you can create your own using CSS or HTML. I know a little CSS so I found a template that I liked and then customized it from there. 

christianjanderson.com

Hope this helps.


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## Marcos_Emerico

Christian, can you be so kind as to post your website link?  Thanks, Marcos



sparks017 said:


> I use weebly, its cheap and has a drag and drop system. Many many templates that you can choose from, and you can create an unlimited amount of pages. It is free to get started but to access much more options then you would have to pay for pro, which you are paying for a website to begin with. If you don't like their templates you can create your own using CSS or HTML. I know a little CSS so I found a template that I liked and then customized it from there.
> 
> christianjanderson.com
> 
> Hope this helps.


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## Marcos_Emerico

I know my way around Joomla just a *little*.  I looked around just the other day (no luck) for a stock photographer friendly template (the ability to easily ((somewhat anyway)) upload my hundreds of photos), and with a shopping cart flexible enough to handle the various sizes and 2 license options (6 different sizes, 2 license options, 3 print sizes PER photo).   And of course, nice lookin'.  Any suggestions?





nickzou said:


> Hostgator for hosting (they called me to confirm my order, I felt so special)
> 
> Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or just go balls to the walls barehands style; ultimate control.


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## WebLuke

Hi Marcos,

Here are a few to check out:

Photography Orders - Photography Shopping Cart Script, Online Photo Proofing Software for photographers

Photocart - Pictures Pro - Photography Shopping Cart | Online Proofing | Photo Cart

Cheers,

Luke


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## Sw1tchFX

apotofolio > dan winters uses this


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## Marmeduke

I'll give my thumbs up to Photocart, WebLuke's suggestion - have used it for a while. I also did a 2 week trial with Squarespace recently, who have some really good gallery and shopping cart features. I would use them in the future but didn't need to invest in another site just yet. So they're worth a quick look. I tend to think that Wix are best for people who want a no hassle free site that looks cool. But they do have upgrades which I'm sure are worth exploring.


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## nickzou

Marcos_Emerico said:


> I know my way around Joomla just a *little*.  I looked around just the other day (no luck) for a stock photographer friendly template (the ability to easily ((somewhat anyway)) upload my hundreds of photos), and with a shopping cart flexible enough to handle the various sizes and 2 license options (6 different sizes, 2 license options, 3 print sizes PER photo).   And of course, nice lookin'.  Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> nickzou said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hostgator for hosting (they called me to confirm my order, I felt so special)
> 
> Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or just go balls to the walls barehands style; ultimate control.
Click to expand...


Oh I usually just build my own templates. I usually have a look in mind and work towards that look.


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## KmH

Who y'all talking to? 

The OP joined, started this thread, and disappeared. :er: 10 days later the OP logged back into the forums, didn't say thank you, boo, you guys all suck, or anything else.  :thumbdown:  

From the OP's profile - *Last Activity: 01-29-2012 11:31 AM

*Real professional and business like. Not.

Another OPW?  One Post Wonder


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## raider

its terribly obvious - looking for a free site


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## DiskoJoe

epackard88 said:


> I've been trying to do some research on starting a photography website but there is so much with websites having there name in the domain I haven't been able to find one that doesn't. Anyone have any suggestions?



I dont know what you just said kid but YOU GOT HEART!!!!


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## krystleimages

Well I'm not the op but I do thank you all for your responses I needed this help.


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## musicphotog

If you haven't checked it out yet, PhotoShelter just launched a new HTML5 portfolio website platform called Beam. You can use your own domain name and the new designs are gorgeous. At $30/month for the "good stuff," PhotoShelter has never been "cheap" but it's one of the few options out there that gives professionals almost everything they need in one platform:

No-coding necessary - check
HTML5 Portfolios - check
Responsive for touch devices - check
Retina-ready image quality - check
Awesome SEO - check
Built-in social media - check
Milliseconds load time - check

Built-in shopping cart - check
Automated printing via WHCC - check
Built-in RM/RF stock pricing calculator - check
Photographers paid instantly - check
Percentage of sale paid 90% - check

Image security - check
Private client proofing - check
High res file delivery - check
Secure cloud storage - check
Upload RAW, PSD, TIFF, & JPG - check
Upload from Lightroom/Aperture - check

Unlimited galleries - check
Unlimited nested folders - check
Phone support - check

The only things I can think of that PhotoShelter doesn't currently offer are blogs, email, and multiple (non-English) language support on the back end. I started using a combination of PhotoShelter and WordPress for my own business in 2008 and just switched everything to the new Beam platform. If you're looking for a new portfolio website AND a platform to do business from, I can't recommend PhotoShelter more highly. That said, if you just need a site to share your 30 best images, there are tons of cheap/free) options ( weebly, squarespace ) out there. Also, I would caution against using one-off templates based on CMS like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomal; they're a serious pain in the ass to install, prone to security problems, and can often break whenever you update the core platform. 

My PhotoShelter site - www.chrisowyoung.com

Full Disclosure: Even though these are my personal opinions, I've worked directly for PhotoShelter since 2010. (You should be more skeptical than normal about this specific internet forum post.) Choosing a website platform is not something that should be taken lightly so I'm equally happy to share my opinions on what/who PhotoShelter is not good for.


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