Whether you are a fledgling shutterbug or a seasoned photographer, chances are you have been thinking of starting a professional photography website to showcase your work. As you’ll find out, not all sites are the same, and when it comes to WordPress themes, not all are suitable for a photography website. If you browse for a while, you’ll find several WordPress themes that are ideal for photographers. Look at them closely, and you’ll find that even if they appear unique, they also have many of the same core elements. A great photography theme not only looks nice but it also helps you promote yourself and eventually increase your income.

So how do you choose the best WordPress theme for your photography site? Understandably, you can feel overwhelmed about the process and possibly make the mistake of choosing a low-quality theme. When you have several options, it helps to know exactly what to look for. Take a look at some of the specific qualities that you should look for when selecting a WordPress theme for your photography site.

1. Clean design

Effective WordPress photography themes shouldn’t be cluttered or over-designed. If you take a look at some of your favorite sites, you’ll find that almost all of them have minimal designs. The images are showcased in a minimalist way, and you don’t feel overwhelmed by the content. A photography website is essentially a portfolio of your work. The idea is to refrain from too many distractions, and to be wary of flamboyant graphics and other fancy elements. Remember: less is more.

2. Organized structure

Deciding how to organize your images is part of the fun of creating a photography site. As a general rule, it is best to display your images in a simplistic way. Have a look at a few of the top photography sites to get a feel for how your gallery could look. All WordPress themes have a unique way of accomplishing your vision. It is often a good strategy to display a number of your photographs as a gallery with links to individual items. This way your visitors will be able to quickly go through all your work and then view the items of particular interest. As an extra option, you can also pick a theme that includes a full-screen slideshow for viewing larger images.

3.Optimized for search engines

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you must be aware of the fact that flash is now considered an outdated technology. Not only was it slow but it was also quite terrible from an SEO perspective. Modern photography themes however use HTML5 and CSS to achieve maximum search engine readability.

4. eCommerce friendly

As a photographer, chances are you will want to sell your images at some point. Your site should have this ability so that the whole process is simple for the users and completely automated so that you can focus on your photography instead of having to worry about technical stuff. Make sure you buy a theme that comes with WooCommerce integration. If you are not familiar with it, WooCommerce is a complete ecommerce solution for WordPress that has completely revolutionize online business.

5. Integrated social media features

One question that photographers should ask themselves before buying a theme is: will my visitors be able to share my images on Facebook and Twitter for free promotion? This is important because social media sites are a great source of traffic and require very little effort on your part. A great photography theme will have social media sharing buttons so that content can go viral and get your name out there.

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