Why Use Squarespace for Your Photography Site?
Are you ready for the world to see your stellar photos? You need a portfolio website to help showcase your skills and attract new clients.
It couldn’t be easier than with Squarespace. The website building tool has everything you need to build a portfolio site that’s just as stunning as your images in no time. Here’s how you do it.
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Why Squarespace for your Photography Site?
Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy to design and build a website without having to learn code, deal with security patches or worry about story limits. It’s made so that you can upload your content, move things around, and create a site that fits your personality.
And every Squarespace design is created to look great on any device at any size, so you know your photography portfolio will have the same stunning feel no matter who is looking at it.
The builder allows you to create varied presentations for your images as well, including full-screen images, slideshows, and lightbox effects. Just upload your photos – high res works perfectly so there’s no need to resize – set a focal point, and Squarespace will create perfectly cropped versions of each photo for every device type. The tools take the hassle out of building an online photo portfolio.
How to Build a Site
A portfolio website is a great way to show off your work and help find prospective clients. Squarespace portfolios include the ability to showcase your images as well as include a biography, dropdown menus, and even secure client logins.
- Start with a template. Squarespace has a few ready-made designs that put the focus on your photography. Consider starting with Momentum, Bedford, Flatiron or Ishimoto (above).
- Pick a format to display images – index pages, gallery page or gallery blocks. The different formats help you show photos one at a time or in a format that allows for more smaller images.
- Add content such as a bio, details about your work or contact information if you are available for hire.
- Add tags and categories so that users can find certain types of images in the navigation of your site. You might want to include categories for landscape photos, portraits or commercial photography.
- Optimize for search (if you want your site to be readily found by search engines). Add image descriptions and captions.
- Create locked galleries if you want certain content to be available only to specific users with a password. It’s a great way to allow photo clients to view their shoot without it being made available to everyone.
Tips for Photographers
It’s important to let your photos shine when it comes to a portfolio website design. Display your most compelling work to make a good first impression and include easy to browse galleries to help keep users clicking.
- Use a cover page with a stunning image and bold words to tell users who you are.
- Use gallery blocks in the design to group photos on any type of page or within blog posts.
- Use gallery pages to display large photo sets. (This can be ideal for clients to see an entire photo shoot.)
- Include a call to action button to help users connect with you via email, signup for a service or ask questions.
- Take advantage of the announcement bar to highlight special events or promotions.
- Use the footer. Most users go to the footer for contact information, and with a footer it will appear on every page, making it easy for online visitors to get in touch with you.
- Create a custom lock screen if you plan to use password protected pages for clients.
Bonus Features You’ll Love
Sqaurespace is more than just a simple website builder. Yes, anyone can design a great website with the tool, but it’s the package of robust features that will help your portfolio website stand out.
Here are some of the things you can do with Squarespace tools:
- You can buy a domain and connect it directly to your Squarespace site. If yourname.com is already taken, Squarespace recommends these TLDs instead: .camera, .digital, .photography, .photos, .pictures, .productions and .show. Domains start at just $20 per year and always renew at the same price.
- Search engine optimization comes standard to help your photography portfolio appear at the top of search results.
- Social media integration is easy. Connect your photography accounts, add icons and you are ready to send content from your site to social media or link social profiles to your website.
- Make the most of images with gallery blocks for photos or videos.
- Use the free Portfolio App so you can show off your website on a phone or tablet even when you don’t have an internet connection.
Pricing
The Squarespace all-in-one platform is affordable as well. And the best part is that pricing is simple, with a predictable monthly fee. Basic websites start at just $12 per month. Online store or e-commerce sites start at $26 per month.
All subscribers get a free custom domain for one year with an annual purchase.
Start a Free Trial Today!
You can start building your photography portfolio right now. Getting started won’t cost you anything, so give it a whirl! Start your free trial today and begin building a beautiful website that your clients will love!
This content is sponsored via Syndicate Ads. Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting Design Shack!