How to Create a Photography Portfolio Website on WordPress

Even with all of the iPhone / Samsung / Google phone camera updates, one truth remains. Nothing can replace the value of a professional photographer with a high-end camera.

Unconvinced?

Quickly think back to the time you asked a stranger danger to snap a picture of you and your family at the Eiffel Tower. You know, the picture you wanted to use as a vacation card.

Anyway, do you remember how Stranger Danger somehow took a picture of * almost * everyone in your family but only half of the child that ends up? Worse, the Eiffel Tower isn’t even in the picture.

Photography is the new gold in our visual society. Everyone is talking, and that’s why the world needs photographers like you.

But here’s the thing.

If you don’t create a beautiful photo portfolio website, the world won’t know you exist, and no one wants to have to rely on Aunt May taking pictures for Grandma’s 90th birthday.

Do the world a favor and take some time to build your photo portfolio website on WordPress.

Here is everything you need to get started.

What is WordPress

Before we talk about why and how to create a photography portfolio website, let’s quickly check out what WordPress is all about.

WordPress is the largest content management system (CMS) in the world. There are currently over 64 million WordPress-based websites and these include some of the most widely read and well-known websites out there. I’m talking about sites like The New Yorker.

WordPress is also an open-source platform. This means that anyone who is familiar with code can modify the code to create themes and plugins for WordPress.

This is excellent news for you and me because it means we don’t have to learn to code.

All we have to do is press a few buttons to install a theme and plugins, fill in basic information, and follow the directions. The result will be a beautiful website that looks like it was made by a professional.

Why should photographers use WordPress?

Here are three great reasons why you should choose WordPress to build your photo portfolio website.

1. WordPress is very intuitive

When WordPress was a much younger platform there was a tremendous learning curve. It was difficult figuring out how to make a website.

Do you remember how we talked about WordPress being huge and open source? Since WordPress is an open-source platform, more and more people are adding cool code, and it’s growing every year.

Over time, the user interface gets better, the plugins get more advanced, the themes look nicer.

These days, setting up a WordPress site is as easy as following basic instructions. Anyone can do it. Even if you’ve never seen a line of code.

Getting started with a WordPress account is also easy. All you have to do is decide which hosting package best suits your needs, sign up for the hosting, and then use the one-click button to install WordPress.

Once you have WordPress installed, there are two ways you can build your site.

The first step is to use the WordPress Site Builder. Using the WordPress Site Builder is a smart idea if you’ve never seen the WordPress interface before.

It takes you through how to:

• Create a homepage
• Add your contact page
• Create your about page
• Add content
• Customize your website
• Publish your website

If you want to skip the WordPress site builder, no problem. The dashboard is still intuitive and it’s not difficult to jump around and create pages, add content, choose a theme, and activate plugins.

While you can certainly skip and customize different parts of your webpage, it is wise to start with choosing a theme. That way, you can decide and see what your website should look like before you start building pages, building your menus, writing your copy, and adding pictures.

2. Choose a photo portfolio theme

Lots of photographers use WordPress, which is excellent news. The reason? There are several gorgeous photography portfolio themes that you can use.

You don’t have to know how to code to get your website set up. You can simply search for a photo theme, choose one, activate it, and import your own photos.

Here are some quick instructions on how to choose a photography theme in WordPress.

How to enable a WordPress theme for your photo website:

1. Log into your WordPress account

2. Find Appearance on the left side of the dashboard.

3. Hover the cursor over Appearance. Click on Themes in the drop-down menu.

4. WordPress will redirect you to the Themes page. You’ll usually see some of the most popular designs preinstalled. The pre-installed themes aren’t usually the best themes for photographers, so it’s worth looking for a different theme. To find another topic, click Add New Theme and browse the theme. You can also use the search bar.

5. When you have decided on a photo theme that you like, move the mouse pointer over the appropriate subject field until you see the word Activate.

6. Press Activate and you are good to go.

Your new theme is now activated and you can start customizing your theme.

If you’re not sure where to start or what are some great theme suggestions, check out some of the best WordPress themes for photographers here.

3. There are several plugins for photographers

Another advantage of WordPress over other website builders is how many plugins are available.

In short, a plugin is a precoded website extension that adds some type of functionality to your website.

Let’s say you want to add a nice gallery of your photography to your website, but you want it to look better than what the barebones WordPress has to offer.

Good news! There are plugins like Envira Gallery for this:

Best responsive WordPress gallery plugins

Instead of trying to code your website to display your photos, activate the plugin and follow the plugin’s instructions to add your photos.

There are several types of plugins available to WordPress users. Here are some of the best plugins for photographers.

You should also add plugins that will work fine on almost any website. These types of plugins include an SEO plugin, an anti-spam plugin, a commerce plugin (if you are selling your photography), and a caching plugin.

When you’re ready to add a plugin to your site, do the following.

How to add a plugin to WordPress

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.

2. Locomotive on the left side of the dashboard.

3. Search for Plugins.

4. Move the cursor over Plugins and click on Add new.

5. View the menu bar to browse popular plugins or enter a keyword in the search bar to find a relevant plugin.

6. After you have selected the desired plug-in for your site, click on the Install plugin.

7. Activate the plug-in by clicking on Activate.

8. Follow the instructions to customize your plugin.

If you have a plugin’s .zip file, you can add it by going to the plugin page, clicking Upload Plugin, dragging and dropping the entire .zip file into the upload field, and clicking Install Now. Then follow the same instructions as above to activate the plugin.

Conclusion

If you are thinking about starting your photography business, now is the time. Save the world from bad smartphone pictures of Stranger Dangers and Aunt May.

Remember, the first step in turning your photographic side business into a full-fledged business is to get your website up and running.

A website helps people find you, allows you to show your talents, and creates credibility.