Keeping Your Photography Website Fast and Secure
Website management for photographers
by Uxmal Cuellar
You hear about a photographer who lost their entire website to a hacking attack. Now you’re questioning every security measure you (think you) have in place.
You go down the website optimizing rabbit hole spending countless hours optimizing and tweaking your website, but now it loads at a snail’s pace
The good news, robust website management doesn’t have to be a complex puzzle. By implementing these strategies, you can achieve the sweet spot, a website that’s secure enough to fortress your precious work and fast enough to showcase it in all its glory.
Website Speed for Photographers
Some simple solutions to keep your website speedy without sacrificing image quality
Choosing a fast hosting provider
A study by Portent found that the difference between a site loading in 1 second is 3x more conversions compared to a site that loads in 5 seconds.
This means a slow website equals lost bookings, and it’s highly likely those slower websites are using those extremely cheap hosting providers
Normally those very cheap hosting providers place your website on a server with hundreds of other websites and you all are fighting for those resources.
This also puts your website at risk because you don’t if those other users are keeping their website up to date.
5 things to look for when researching hosting providers as a photographer:
- Reliability and performance: Look for hosting providers that have 99.9% uptime, this basically means how often throughout the day your website is available and not down.
- Security: Check that these hosting providers keep their servers up to date, and offer SSL certificates. Some hosting providers charge you for SSL Certs others provide it for free.
- Customer service: Do you need 24/7 help? Some providers offer chat, phone, ticket and/or email support.
- Storage and bandwidth: I recommend unlimited storage and bandwidth, this means you can upload unlimited media like images and video, and bandwidth is how fast your website loads when someone downloads your webpage.
- Backup feature: This is a nice feature to have but don’t just rely on this for backups. I back up my website in 3 different locations, one with my hosting provider, another using a plugin, and one locally for those “uh-oh” moments.
Image optimizing techniques
As a photographer, you’re probably already using image compression tools for your images but there are a few more things you can do to shrink those images even more and keep their quality
- Use WEBP: If you’re still using JPEG then you’re a dinosaur. JPEG was created in 1992, and since then image compression has come a long way. WEBP makes your images smaller and keeps their quality.
- Strip the metadata: As a photographer, you’ll need metadata for editing or when you need to check what gear you used to take that one image. But for your website, it has no use. Delete it all. I use a plugin called Smush which deletes everything except what your website and search engine needs
- Use the right size: I use 1600px for full page images and every other image I resize it so it fits perfectly within its container. There is no need to have it bigger other than to slow your website down.
Tools that I use:
- Bulkresizephotos: as the name suggests resizes images in bulk and has the option to bulk convert to WEBP
- ASE plugin(WordPress): resizes and converts images to webp when you upload them to your site
- Tinywow: Resize, crop, convert, and so much more
- Smush Image Optimization plugin(WordPress): strips metadata from images and other compression features too
Minimizing plugins and code bloat
There is a plugin for everything nowadays. That does not mean going crazy and downloading every single plugin for each one of your website issues. Here are my plugins no-no’s and ways to minimize code bloat:
- Get rid of carousels: They slow down your site and are less impactful for your images testimonials and whatever else you are using them for. Curate your images and have your testimonials on display don’t hide them in a carousel
- Remove the Instagram feed: If you get your leads through Instagram and have your Instagram feed on your website why are you linking them back to Instagram? The point of a website is to book, not get followers right? It just adds to the website loading time too
- Manually add your testimonials: When you use a plugin to get data from another platform like Google reviews it slows down your site, and you are also limited to that plugin’s design. Manually adding your testimonials keeps your website fast and you have more control over how you display your testimonials
If the plugin is not actively contributing to my website’s functionality or if there is a simpler alternative way to achieve the same functionality, delete it. Most importantly if the plugin has not been updated in a while remove it, it’s a security risk.
Use caching
Most website platforms and hosting providers offer built-in caching options. Here’s how caching works in a nutshell:
- First Visit: When someone visits your website for the first time, their browser downloads all the necessary files (images, text, code) to display the page.
- Caching in Action: The browser then stores a copy of those static files on the visitor’s device i.e. cache.
- Return Visits: Upon subsequent visits, the browser checks its cache first. If the requested files are present and haven’t expired, it loads them directly from the cache, significantly reducing loading times.
Different Types of Caching:
There are various types of caching, each serving a specific purpose:
- Browser Caching: The most common type, as explained above.
- Page Caching: Caches complete web pages, reducing server load and speeding up page delivery.
- Object Caching: Focuses on caching individual website elements like images and scripts for faster retrieval.
By enabling caching, you’ll significantly improve your website’s speed, providing a smoother experience for visitors and potential clients exploring your photography portfolio.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
When visitors access your website, the CDN automatically routes them to the server closest to their location, significantly reducing load times.
Here’s how a CDN benefits photographers:
- Faster Loading Times for Everyone: No matter where your audience is located, a CDN ensures they receive your website content from the nearest server, resulting in faster loading times. This is especially beneficial if your target audience is spread across different geographical regions.
- Reduced Server Load: By distributing website content across multiple servers, a CDN takes the pressure off your main server, preventing slowdowns during traffic spikes. This can be crucial for photographers who experience an influx of visitors.
Caching and CDNs work together to create a website speed dream team. While caching optimizes website performance for returning visitors, a CDN ensures fast loading times for everyone, regardless of location.
Website Security for Photographers
Protecting your stunning photography online site is crucial. Here are 4 easy tips to transform your photography website into a security fortress:
Software & Plugin Updates
Just like updating Adobe Lightroom, keeping your website software and plugins up-to-date is essential. Updates often include security patches that fix vulnerabilities hackers might exploit. Set up automatic updates whenever possible, or schedule regular checks for new updates. Remember to back up your site beforehand
Strong Passwords & Two-Factor
Create complex, unique passwords for your website and hosting provider accounts. I use a password manager to securely generate and store strong, long passwords. Additionally, enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever available. This adds an extra layer of security, stopping those unauthorized access attempts.
Secure Web Hosting
Your web hosting provider plays a crucial role in website security. Look for a provider with a strong reputation for security and features like firewalls, malware scanning, SSL certificates, software updates, and automatic backups.
Keep more than 1 backup
Just like you keep a backup of client galleries regularly backing up your website ensures you have a copy in case of unforeseen events like hacking attacks, technical glitches, or for those “Uh-oh” moments. I backup my website locally, with my hosting provider, and with a plugin. Just in case.
Keeping your website protected, secured and maintained can be time consuming, I’m here to help!
I’m Uxmal, and I’m here to help
I have a deep appreciation for the power of visual storytelling. My journey began in graphic design, where I discovered the magic of creating something from scratch and sharing it with the world. But my passion truly ignited when I started working with photographers, both as a photo booth assistant and a web design consultant. Witnessing the challenges they faced with their online presence, I realized how web design could bridge the gap between their stunning visuals and connecting with their ideal clients.
Ready to focus on capturing moments while we handle your website?
Benefits you can expect
Faster Loading Times
Impatient viewers? No problem! Optimized images and caching make your website lightning-fast.
Peace of mind
Sleep soundly knowing your website is backed up and protected with the latest updates.
A secure website
Keep your website safe from prying eyes with the latest defense tactics
Testimonials
"Exceptional service"
Absolutely thrilled with the exceptional service provided by Uxmal! As someone who isn’t very tech-savvy, I was relieved to find such a patient and knowledgeable professional to create my business website. Not only did he deliver a stunning website, but he also took the time to guide me through the process and offered valuable tips and how to videos for my website. Highly recommend!
— Ghazal, F.
"So helpful"
— Anne, S.
"Super proactive"
How it works
Step 1: Fill out the form
Fill out my quick form and tell me about your photography business and your vision
Step 2: We get you set up
Once you've shared your vision, I get to work!
Step 3: Your Website, Simplified
Sit back and relax – we'll handle the website management for you
Here's what
you get
- Traffic monitoring with analytics
- SSL Certificate (HTTPS)
- Spam filtering
- 24/7 Uptime monitoring
- Daily, weekly and/or Monthly backups
- Peace of mind
- 1 hour content updates per month
- Monthly activity report
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Malware protection
- Fast loading website
- 1 on 1 support
- 3 months free when you build your website with me
