We\u2019ll go through the whole process of creating a site step by step and will be focusing specifically on photography websites.Click to tweet<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n The general guidelines can be applied to any type of site, but you\u2019ll get the most out of the guide if you\u2019re using it for photography. Without further ado, let\u2019s dig in\u2026<\/p>\n The very first thing you\u2019ll need to do is register your domain name and figure out your hosting service. The domain name naturally needs to be unique and not already in use. In case you\u2019re not sure what to use, there are services that can help you out. By inputting keywords, you\u2019ll get back available domain names from which you can then choose the perfect one. Checking it this way shouldn\u2019t even touch your budget since there are numerous services that offer this for free.<\/p>\n Choosing a good domain name is one of the pillars that make a successful site, it should be fluent, catchy, easy to remember, but also at the same time different enough to stand out in a sea of similarity. After all, you have to take into account how it will be featured on search engines, and everyone wants those first-page results. Be sure to take your time and come up with something with a heft that will serve you a long time.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve settled on a name, it\u2019s time to choose a hosting service where your site will be housed. Now here, there are a whole plethora of options available to you, from limited free options to premium ones that will cover basically all aspects of managing your site. Since this is the place you\u2019ll be uploading all your elements, including your hi-res images that are the backbone of the site, you\u2019ll need something with servers strong enough to support everything you plan on doing. That includes both storage space and traffic flow, ideally where you won\u2019t be caped in either.<\/p>\n We have to point out that when we were going through our guide, the idea was that hosting would take up the biggest part of the budget. Like we\u2019ve said, there are numerous options out there that can fit into any budget, but considering what else is there to go through and what options you\u2019ll have in other aspects of the site, you shouldn\u2019t try to save money on hosting by downgrading the quality of the service.<\/p>\n In any case, once you\u2019ve made your choice, just follow the instructions that will be provided to you, and you\u2019ll be ready for the next step in no time.<\/p>\n The second step is pretty simple and self-explanatory. Namely, you need a platform on which you will build your site, and currently, there is simply no better option than WordPress. WordPress is free, easy to use, and because of its open-source nature, you\u2019ll have millions of plugins that will help you optimize your site to function just like you want it to.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get into more detail about what to use and how to set up your site through WordPress on the backend. For now, however, simply installing it should be enough \u2013 as we said, a really straightforward, quick, and easy step.<\/p>\n Now, this step could be considered optional, but it is one that can go a long way in ensuring the word about your site spreads before it\u2019s even live. We\u2019re talking about a Coming soon page<\/a>, of course. By creating a page that advertises your site even before you\u2019ve set everything up to go live ultimately, you\u2019re creating an environment where your domain will become recognized and featured in search results, thereby gathering you potential visitors from the bat.<\/p>\n Just like pretty much everything else regarding WordPress, the possibilities here are endless. There are numerous options, both free and premium, and we\u2019ve come to single out Coming soon and maintenance mode plugin as one of the best around. It\u2019s really easy to use with over 100 pre-made themes that you can further customize, and over a million images, you\u2019ll get to use. A plugin like this can create the perfect placeholder for the final product and essentially get the hype going, so once you do go live, you\u2019ll hit the ground running.<\/p>\n A photography site is by its nature visual, so you need to put extra care into choosing a theme that will be the perfect shell for your images. The term \u201ceverything is not for everyone\u201d can\u2019t be overstated here since much of what you want is actually tightly connected to the style of your photography. Before we start naming them specifically, it\u2019s important to note that all themes we\u2019re going to mention, share some characteristics that are by now the industry standard, such as responsiveness, SEO and speed optimization and compatibility with other plugins and apps. We point this out now so that we don\u2019t have to repeat ourselves for every theme we cover.<\/p>\n Going by purely the numbers, the Photography<\/a> theme is the most used one on the platform. Being mainstream doesn\u2019t automatically mean it\u2019s the best quality-wise; however the vast number of satisfied customers speaks for itself. It\u2019s probably the complete theme we\u2019ll mention with numerous options for both the site\/page appearance and the way you can display your images. Going through it to the tiniest detail, we simply couldn\u2019t find anything that we would need that isn\u2019t already present.<\/p>\n If you prefer something minimalistic, you\u2019ll want to implement something like Core<\/a>, a very modern theme with clear lines that functions like a slideshow where all of your photos are immediately visible to your visitors. You\u2019ll be offered a choice between very slick light and dark skins, based on your preference, and both of them look stunning.<\/p>\n Maybe photography is just a hobby, and you\u2019re looking for a less expensive solution \u2013 Neve Photography<\/a> could the way to go. It has all the basic features a theme should have and what you would expect from a premium option \u2013 responsive, compatible with page builders, and it\u2019s fully optimized. Once you get deeper into the features, it doesn\u2019t have the vast databases that some premium options have, but it\u2019s still quite robust, and again \u2013 it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n Either way you look at it there is something available for everyone, you just take your pick according to what works best for you.<\/p>\n Your photos are at the essence of what you\u2019re providing through your site. Because of this, you really need to take special care of how they are presented. Setting a standard and maintaining it is something you should really strive for. High-quality images, however, bring with them certain things that have to be addressed. The first thing that jumps out is the site; they\u2019re big, so don\u2019t expect a .jpeg of a couple of MB in size is going to be the average.<\/p>\n This means they have to be properly formatted, so they don\u2019t slow down your site while loading. Formatting encompasses resizing, compression, cropping, and even the file type<\/a>. Once everything is taken care of, you shouldn\u2019t have any problems keeping your site running as fast as it needs to be.<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve uploaded and formatted your photos, it\u2019s time to sort them into galleries and\/or portfolios. Both will add to the performance of the site because photos won\u2019t have to be loaded until a segment is opened. The benefits don\u2019t stop at speed \u2013 it\u2019s much easier to look at a cleaner site that doesn\u2019t drop all the content at you all at once, and it\u2019s easier to orient yourself when everything is grouped together in some fashion.<\/p>\n You can use the default gallery options in WordPress to sort your photos, but it\u2019s much better to use the ones that are provided within your themes. If you\u2019ve implemented a specialized theme that works best for photography, the galleries and portfolios it provides will, without a doubt, be better suited for the task than the default ones you\u2019d work with.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve already touched on plugins in somewhat broad terms, but now we\u2019ll try to be more specific. As you probably know, plugins are the lifeblood of WordPress. They make it such a successful platform that it is, so you\u2019ll need to implement them into your work any way you look at it. Pretty much any aspect of your site can be run through a plugin. We would, however, recommend that you don\u2019t apply every plugin you come across \u2013 use what you need and keep it simple. Using too much runs the risk of incompatibility and slow speeds.<\/p>\n Running a photography site, you can\u2019t have enough gallery options, so something like the Envira Gallery<\/a> plugin would be an excellent choice. You\u2019ll get the hang of the ins and outs pretty quickly with the drag and drop interface similar to the various visual editors available out there. Since you\u2019ll have multiple options to create your galleries, more attention should be given to other things like optimization, various layouts, and security.<\/p>\n To help out with it all, there are plugins such as EWWW Image Optimizer<\/a>, Regenerate Thumbnail<\/a>, and\/or Wordfence Security<\/a>. The first one is great for resizing and formatting your images all in one place. Just imagine how much time you could save standardizing everything globally across your entire site, rather than individually. In order to avoid unnecessary load times that hamper your site, images within galleries and portfolios should be presented as thumbnails that load much faster because of their size.<\/p>\n However, a certain site-wide standard needs to be kept here as well, and this is where our second featured plugin comes in. You\u2019ll be able to edit your thumbnails all in one place, both old and new, as well as format them so that each one fits into your layout perfectly. Every site needs to be secure. Naturally, you\u2019ll want to protect your data, but as a website provider, you\u2019ll also need to ensure the safety of your visitor\u2019s data. A sufficient level of security is obtained by combining firewall protection that doesn\u2019t let anything in and a quality scan option as a deterrent that isolates if anything does get through.<\/p>\n Rest assured, there is a plugin for just about anything you can think of, yours is just to look. The ones we\u2019ve highlighted here are just those that can and will cover the core functions you need your site to perform.<\/p>\n Everything is pretty much set up by this point; there is just one thing to take care of before launching \u2013 the sales aspect. Now, if you don\u2019t plan to sell your photos through the site, just skip this one if however, you want to implement a selling option look no further than WooCommerce.<\/p>\n With WooCommerce, you\u2019ll be getting the most widespread eCommerce tool that\u2019s also integrated into all relevant plugins and themes. You\u2019ll need to set it up, of course. Firstly, by itself, with all the databases that are required and then again to be displayed correctly when connected to other plugins. Both selling physical and digital copies will be possible, of course. Keep in mind that presentation is key here, so make sure all your photos are pristine, no matter the format in which you\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n The main benefit you get from selling your own work is cutting out any third parties that would otherwise demand a part of the proceeds. Furthermore, you get to control how your work is displayed and in which way it\u2019s displayed for the world to see. Keeping these things in your own control will ultimately enable you to make all the decisions from start to finish.<\/p>\n And we\u2019re done. Us with our guide and you with your site. The only thing left is to go live and offer up everything you\u2019ve put so much time creating. As a final note after launching, it should go without saying that you should update and maintain your site regularly \u2013 all aspects of it. Outdated data could lead to incompatibility issues, low speed, and low SEO scores \u2013 all the things that separate the top sites from the rest. Be sure always to be looking for more and evolving lest you be left behind by your competitors and enjoy your passion. Sites connected to artwork best as passion projects regardless of profit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Starting up a site is hard work with many factors to consider before you\u2019ve got the finished product. Of course, you could offload all that work to someone, but that usually comes with a high cost. If you opt for doing the work yourself, however, then we\u2019re here to help. We\u2019ll go through the whole process step by step and will be focusing specifically on photography websites. <\/p>\nRegistering a domain and choosing a hosting service<\/h2>\n
![\"hosting\"](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/server-2160321_1920.jpg\")
<\/p>\nInstalling WordPress<\/h2>\n
![\"Install](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/wordpress-developer-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAnnounce going live<\/h2>\n
![\"Coming](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Comingsoon.png\")
<\/p>\nChoose and set up a theme<\/h2>\n
![\"Photography\"](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Photography.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"core](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/core-photography.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Neve](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Neve-Photography.png\")
<\/p>\nUploading and formatting photos<\/h2>\n
![\"Uploading](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Depositphotos_25726981_xl-2015-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPlugins<\/h2>\n
![\"Envira](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Envira-Gallery.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Regenerate](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Regenerate-thumbnails.png\")
<\/p>\nSales<\/h2>\n
![\"WooCommerce\"](\"https:\/\/resizemyimg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woocommerce.png\")
<\/p>\nLaunch<\/h2>\n