If you're a photographer, you need one of these

Wix is a well-known name in the website builder space, and it's immensely flexible in its approach. Start a website and you have access to the Wix Art Store, a Wix plug-in that makes it easy for you to showcase your artwork simply and clearly. The plug-in helps you manage everything from how you want your images to be sold (right down to attaching them to mugs and other items if you wish to), all while protecting your image with a custom watermark so they can't be stolen easily. Wix also doesn't charge commission fees, which is a welcome inclusion. 

Elsewhere, Wix offers a powerful drag-and-drop editor for designing your website. It's almost too powerful, as it can be a little overwhelming if you just want something that you don't have to overthink. Still, it's simple to use, and the results look just as good on a small mobile screen as they do on a desktop PC. The eCommerce plans aren't necessarily the cheapest out there, but for pure effectiveness, you can't go wrong with Wix. 

Squarespace is one of the biggest names in website builders, and it's not just for regular websites — it's also useful for photographers. That's because it has some critical features like the fact that it automatically resizes and crops images for you so that everything looks as good as it should. You can also password-protect individual gallery pages which is ideal if you want to set up galleries for specific customers, such as wedding photography clients. Pretty much all of Squarespace's templates look gorgeous too but if you want to customize things, it is a bit trickier than with other website builders.

That's the only downside to Squarespace really — it relies on you having more advanced knowledge than other services as it's not quite 100% drag-and-drop. If you're reasonably tech-savvy, that's less of an issue, but it does mean that everything takes longer to get right than with something like Wix. 

In a rush or just don't want to spend hours on end tweaking your portfolio? Format is a good up-and-coming name when it comes to simple portfolio creation. It doesn't offer as many advanced features as some of its competitors, but there's still room for over 60 different themes that can be easily customized within seconds. There's image protection across the board so you don't have to worry about anyone stealing your work, and a free domain name is also bundled into all plans. 

Format offers help for your business in other ways, too, via business masterclasses, site building services, and the ability to create mailing lists. It's also eager to promote artists wherever possible. It can get expensive though, with services such as email costing extra, and commission-free sales only limited to a set number of products each month. Still, it's certainly simple to get started with. 

Zenfolio approaches photography differently from other sites. Crucially, it's best for photographers who deal with events such as weddings or any other scenario that involves you being hired by someone for private photos. It offers extensive features that make it simple for you to allow your customers to log in and check their photos before agreeing to a purchase. Effectively, you create mini-sites within your main site so that they get a personalized experience. However, it's not geared towards showcasing your portfolio for potential new clients, right down to some limited SEO tools. 

Zenfolio also doesn't offer the highest number of templates, so while it looks good, it might not look as original as you'd like it to. For event photography, it makes up for that with some useful features such as the ability to arrange bookings via your site and then take payment instantly. Zenfolio might not be for every photographer, but it's sure to be useful for those who already have an existing clientele or main website. 

Want to spend hours designing a website? If so, Carbonmade isn't the place for you, but it's great for everyone who simply wants to showcase their work. Rather than using templates, Carbonmade uses a mixture of layouts that you can manipulate. That sounds complicated, but it doesn't take long at all. Best of all, you can simply upload all your content and the website does all the hard work to make it look good. That's perfect for the photographer short on time or technical abilities. You can easily divide up your images according to different galleries too, although don't expect to be able to password-protect any of them. 

Yes, that's the downside to Carbonmade. It's a little short on features such as password protection as well as online sales features. If you plan on selling your wares online, this isn't for you, but if you simply want to make it easy for potential clients to browse and see what you're capable of, Carbonmade is an attractive option. 

PhotoShelter prides itself on excellent customer service, pointing out that many of its staff are professional photographers themselves, so they know what they're doing. That's kind of the ethos of PhotoShelter. It only offers a handful of different templates, and its customization options are a little limited. Still, if you simply want to quickly set up a portfolio without feeling overwhelmed, it does the job admirably. Every template looks good and your images can be placed behind password-protected galleries any time you want. 

Integration with various forms of social media such as Instagram, WordPress, Tumblr, and Vimeo are useful, plus you get helpful SEO tools. PhotoShelter can get a little expensive, both in terms of monthly fees and commission when you make a sale, but if you want to spend less time in front of the PC getting set up, it's hard to beat. 

SmugMug has been around for a while and knows one of photographers' main concerns — theft. That's why it offers features like right-click protection so that no one can save your photos. There are custom watermarks in effect for all your images too, plus you can password protect individual pages, folders, galleries, and even the whole site if you want. With unlimited storage, there's real peace of mind here. 

SmugMug isn't perfect when it comes to unique sites, as you can't customize templates as well as with other websites, but if you simply want a straightforward place to host your artwork, it does the job well. Just bear in mind that it can get a bit pricey if you choose to sell through the service, with some expensive fees.