Zenfolio Reviews of 2021
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Our Verdict: #1 for Photographers
Zenfolio is a website builder and e-commerce platform designed specifically for photographers. This solution provides photographers with unlimited image uploads and a suite of marketing tools that they can use to promote their site.
With 11 years in business and over 100,000 current users, Zenfolio has more than enough experience for you to trust them with your work.
Below, we’ll review everything else you need to know about this hosting provider.
Zenfolio Hosting Plans
Zenfolio offers three plans for you to choose from: Starter, Pro, and Advanced.
The Starter plan, which is only $5 per month when you purchase an annual subscription, is a good fit for photographers who just want to showcase their work and display their services. This plan is fairly cheap, but Zenfolio will put their own logo and branding on your website.
Their mid-level Pro plan gets rid of Zenfolio branding and allows you to replace it with your own logo. It also includes a built-in shopping cart, credit card/PayPal processing, and a suite of marketing tools.
For those who have a growing business and need a website that can keep up with high demand, Zenfolio’s Advanced plan includes multi-user accounts, advanced order management, and additional shipping/order options.
Tools for Photographers
Photographers know how to take stunning pictures, but they usually don’t know how to code or design their own website. Zenfolio makes it easy to create professional websites for showcasing your photographs. Their templates are specifically designed to make images the center of attention.
These templates are ready to use right out of the box. All you need to do is fit them to your personal brand and style. The templates come with built-in pages where you can feature your portfolio and services.
You can also manage your site and update photo galleries on the go with your mobile device, as Zenfolio has apps for both iOS and Android. From these apps, users can review pending orders and upload photos to galleries.
From your desktop, you can directly upload your photos from Adobe Lightroom, Microsoft Live Photo Gallery, Photo Mechanic, or by using your command line.
All websites created with Zenfolio are hosted by them and provide you with unlimited storage space and bandwidth. This means you won’t need to worry about finding a third-party hosting provider. But Zenfolio doesn’t provide domain registration, so you will need to find another provider for that.
E-Commerce Features
Zenfolio allows you to publish unlimited galleries, and all of these galleries can be shopped by website visitors and shared easily on social media. You can also password-protect your galleries and add watermarks to your images to ensure that people don’t use your work without paying.
Each of your photos can be paired with a list of prices for different print size options or framing choices. And with Zenfolio’s partnered photo labs, you can even sell photo gifts such as greeting cards, phone cases, and mugs.
All of these partnered photo labs come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so you can be confident that your photos are being reproduced to your standards.
Marketing Tools
The Pro and Advanced plans come with plenty of useful marketing features. There are tools for building your mailing list and keeping your subscribers active with updates on new photographs and discounts.
You can also add a blog to your Zenfolio site, which is a very important element for search engine optimization.
And one of Zenfolio’s most convenient features is their automated client marketing campaigns — all you need to do is opt in, and then they’ll promote your site for you.
Finally, to help keep track of your marketing performance, Google Analytics, StatCounter, and Webmaster tools can be integrated with your site.
Free Trial and Money-Back Guarantee
You can try out Zenfolio for free without providing any credit card information. Also, if you purchase an annual plan, you’ll be able to get a full refund if you cancel your subscription within 30 days.
But you should keep in mind that Zenfolio is not obligated to give you a copy of your website content upon cancellation. So, make sure to back up your site before you cancel.
Customer Service
All of Zenfolio’s plans include 24/7 email support, which is available in English, Spanish, French, and German. Their website also has a support center and knowledge base.
For more information about Zenfolio’s services, you can attend their weekly live sessions on YouTube, where a member of the Zenfolio team will answer your questions.
Zenfolio’s Pro plan includes access to live chat support, and upgrading to the Advanced plan unlocks phone support. If you think you’ll need regular assistance with running your photography store, then you should consider these more expensive options.
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Zenfolio Review Conclusion
Zenfolio was built with photographers in mind. Their focus on this niche means that their platform is perfectly suited for selling your photos and displaying your services.
Indeed, with Zenfolio’s customizable themes and e-commerce capabilities, users have everything they need to create their own photography site.
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Zenfolio Reviews by Our Community
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Most Helpful Reviews
John Chalcraft railphotoprints.uk
Feb 23, 2019
I’ve been with Zenfolio for 8 years and, sadly I am now thinking of leaving them. My reason isn’t down to anything to do with the Zenfolio programme but rather their suppliers (or one of) in the UK. My sales are primarily aimed at an enthusiast market which while willing to spend, its members will not pay high prices ie prices must be competitive.
In the UK Zenfolio has 2 linked photo labs one of which is truly professional with professional prices. The 2nd Lab (which I was using before joining ZF used to be a good quality, cheap produced, but, sadly as they have got bigger their quality control (if any) has become more erratic, this month I have rejected 8 different sets of prints because of poor colour caste, and despite claims of quality control the erratic nature of the castes suggests that they do not calibrate all of their machines to give a consistent colour rendition across all of their output devices. I have numerous ‘collectors’ that use my archive regularly they have a right to expect consistent quality but by using this Zenfolio backed supplier I am not providing it.
I have looked at my own process and checked other producers and generally the products produced by others are perfectly acceptable, my problem is that despite the constant aggravation that is being caused ZF seem to be unable or unwilling to do anything that results in consistent product being produced by their supplier. ZF say that their producers will send direct to my customers, this of course means that I do not see the quality produced, and because of the inconsistency of product I now check all outgoing orders this greatly increases my workload which, in turn, results in less scanning, less new material on site resulting in fewer orders which in turn reflects as a reduction of throughput with ZF who get less revenue from their handling charge. There are other good print suppliers in the UK but ZF seem intent on sticking with Zenfolio – Europe and appear to be unwilling to do anything about output quality.
This of course reflects on their company name and could reflect on the name of anybody using ZF and requiring products at the lower end of the price scale. In conclusion the ZF platform is good if a little complex but procurement of lower cost product in the uk using ZF’s chosen supplier should be avoided.