How to Create an Online Portfolio Using Format?

As a photographer, an online portfolio can help you showcase your work and take your brand to a whole new level. You can expand your professional opportunities when you publish your most valuable photos online. The first impression means a lot, no matter whether you shoot macro, wildlife, landscape, or something entirely different.

Your online portfolio should be as impressive as your work. That’s why it’s critically important to choose the right platform for your future portfolio. It should allow you to create a sleek, professional website in minutes, upload all your images, and optimize it for SEO. Having an amazing portfolio is the first step in becoming ready to sell your photos online.

Today I decided to try to create my online portfolio on Format. I have heard a lot of positive reviews about this tool. I like that I don’t need to code or hire outside help to create a website for my photography with Format. Thousands of photographers, designers, and artists from over 140 countries over the globe use Format to showcase their best works online. One of the best things is that it integrates with Capture One, so you can upload your images directly from within Capture One once your portfolio website is set up. 

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In this guide, you’ll see a step-by-step process of creating an online photography portfolio with Format.

If you want to follow along, you can get a 14-day free trial without using your credit card. Let’s create an account on Format. Go to Format.com and create your account. 

After you verify your email address, you’ll have your login and password. Use this information to log in. This is how the Dashboard looks like:

Then, you’ll see a quick tip with these six steps that you need to complete to create your online portfolio.

Upload Your Images

Upload the first five photos to a gallery to get started. There comes up a simple form with an Upload button where you can upload images straight from your computer or import from Format or Dropbox:

I decided to get started with Macro photography. I’ll add a particular name to my gallery.

It’s essential to make your website SEO-friendly, so make sure you added captions and hashtags to all your work. 

Choose Website Theme

After that, save changes. Later I’ll add more images and create new galleries. Let’s get to the most exciting part and choose a perfect website theme. Go to Dashboard on the left and Open Checklist.

Click Explore Themes.

I love simple minimalist themes with white backgrounds and big images. I chose the website theme called “Iris.” I think it will be an ideal choice for my macro and wildlife photography.

You can preview the theme.

And then, click the button on the top right corner: Try This Theme.

If you like how the preview looks, apply this theme.

After that, get back to the Dashboard and click on the Pages button.

Here you can remove sample pages and add your own. Make sure you add a few galleries with your best works, a Contact page, and an About me page.

Add New Galleries

I renamed my gallery and added a new name Macro.

Then, I removed sample pages and added my Macro Gallery to the menu. Here is how my new portfolio looks now:

I added two new galleries: Wildlife and Landscape. They were automatically added to the menu. Make sure to add alt text to each image for search engine optimization.

Save changes.

You have done a big job! You choose your best work, pick a perfect website theme for your portfolio, customize it, and edited the menu. Not one of the most crucial steps: create an About Me Page and add Contact info so that your visitors know who you are and can get in touch with you. Do you know that ‘About Me’ is the most visited page on Format portfolios? 

Create an About Me Page

After that, let’s edit the About Me page. Add your text and portrait photo of you and save the changes. Remember these simple rules of a perfect About Me page:

• Use your voice;
• Tell your visitors why you are a photographer;
• Share your philosophy;
• Don’t forget about the basics, like your name;
• Be brief.

Also, ensure to add a custom page URL. For example, the About Me page will be: ‘about-me-peter-dam-photography‘.

Edit Contact Page

Let’s move to the Contact Page.

Go to Pages and click the Edit button on the Contact page.

On Format’s template, I see an email subscription form template. I’ll remove it because I don’t need it. (To remove the subscription window, click a red recycle bin on the top right corner of the form). However, if you want to begin to send out newsletters to subscribers, you should keep the subscription form.

You can share your contact details, such as email and phone numbers. Format allows you to create a quick contact form where your visitors can send you their name, email, and message.

If you need to add any other info, you can Add New Section and create new text, images, media, forms, or dividers.

Click Save and Preview.

Add Your Logo

I love the way my name is displayed on this theme, but I have my logo, and I want to add it to my portfolio.

I go to Design on the Dashboard. On the Design editor, I choose the Website title and logo.

You can create text or image logos. Upload a logo in PNG format. I chose my logo with white background.

You can trim extra space around your logo, make it bigger or smaller, and edit the logo link. Usually, the logo links to the Homepage. Click save and preview:

Take a look at my Homepage with a new logo:

Besides, Format lets you edit the site icon that appears on the tab on an internet browser. You can change it on the same page where the logo is.

Don’t Forget about Pricing Page

Another vital part of your portfolio is a pricing page. Having this information on your portfolio website is excellent for attracting new clients. This way, they can see the prices and decide if your service is affordable without having to ask you directly.

Add a new page with relevant prices, and don’t forget to add it to the main menu.

Most Important Features of Format

You may think that the photos that you showcase on your portfolio are the most essential thing. However, the way you show your work can also have a huge impact. It would help if you show your potential clients that you put a lot of effort into putting together your portfolio; that’s why your website layout matters.

Website Themes

One of the best things about Format is that I can choose one of the thousands of gorgeous website themes representing my brand and my style. I see that they have a range of stunning photography themes to offer.

Flexibility

All website themes on Format are optimized for mobile and other device sizes. If your portfolio is not mobile-friendly, your visitors may leave your website in the first 3 seconds. Do you know that 52,2% of all website traffic is generated from mobile phones? With a mobile-friendly website, you can capture more leads.

Support of Google Analytics

One of the most powerful tools to see the results of your portfolio is Google Analytics. This fantastic service allows you to see how many people visit your website per day (or per month), where these people come from, what pages are the most popular, what percentage of people come from search engines and social media, and so on. On Format, you can easily enable Google Analytics.

Fully Customization

The best part about Format as a website builder is that it allows you to edit any part of your portfolio website. In a world of tight competition, it’s crucial to stand out from the crowd. With Format, you can change anything from your site icon to font sizes. Any design element can be customized and adjusted to your needs.

Client Proofs

Let your clients approve proofs directly from your galleries with Format. You can save time with client proofing straight from your portfolio. 

Format gives you the ability to manage, proof, and deliver your photography to a client. You can enable downloads so that a client can save their images directly from your site. Moreover, these images will be presented in a beautiful, modern gallery that will amaze your clients.

A Favoriting feature allows you to get feedback from your client instantly. You can see what image your customers like the most.

Blogging

Another great feature of Format is a built-in blog. Blogging is a powerful marketing and SEO tool for photographers. It can help you promote your portfolio, get your brand out there, and communicate with your potential clients. Tell them the story behind your photos.

You can share your best latest photos on the blog and show them backstage to your visitors. Besides, blog posts can boost your SEO and give your portfolio a chance to rank higher on search engines. Write proper blog posts with SEO keywords and headlines, and don’t forget about alt text on images. Sometimes, people search for something on Google images, and your photo may appear on particular search results.

Online Store

Do you want to sell your photography? Then, Format is a great choice of a website builder for you. It allows you not only to sell your prints or photos but also to apply discount codes and manage email lists. Along with prints, you can also sell your own products like photography workshops, photo sessions, Lightroom Presets, master classes, and photo books. Make sure to add a compelling description to your products to close sales, including specific measures.

Free Trial

Do you want to create a photography portfolio, but you hesitate if this is the right one for your needs? You can give Format a test drive for 14 days and see if you need a portfolio. You can create a website, add images, and edit anything you want for a month. And after that period, you would pay if you like this website builder.

Support 24/7

It’s consistently useful to have customer support at your administration nonstop; the best stages for photography portfolios have excellent client support that is ready for any site questions, regardless of the time.

Conclusion

As you see, Format has everything you may need to create an online portfolio for a photographer. In this guide, I showed you a quick step-by-step tutorial on creating a website on Format, creating new galleries, adding new pages, editing information, choosing the perfect website theme, and changing the logo. If you decide to try Format after reading this article, please, don’t hesitate to share your portfolio link in the comments below. Also, if you have already tried Format, share your honest feedback.