Blog Brilliance: Integrate the Rest of Your Life with SmugMug
You want a blog to go with your website. Seems simple, right?
Maybe, but you wouldn’t believe how often our Support Heroes often get questions about how to do this on SmugMug. If this sounds like you (or were just thinking about it), then you’re in luck.
First of all, why WordPress? It’s great for frequent updates and extra SEO, and it’s a great complement to your SmugMug portfolio, proofing and print sales. Here are three different ways you can have both a Smug site and a fabulous WordPress blog… the best of both worlds!
Alastair Jolly, one of our own, who went beyond adding a single blog link. See if you can pick out which pages are WordPress and which pages are SmugMug.
As an extra-special bonus, we’re giving one very lucky photographer a lifetime membership to the ultimate SmugMug-friendly WordPress portfolio site: Photography BlogSites. Read further for info, and scroll to the bottom see how to enter.
1. Joined With a Link.
Our friends over at FastLine Media are pros at creating custom SmugMug sites with beautiful blogs. Owners, brothers and pro photographers Justin and Brandon recommend setting up your SmugMug site like a portfolio, displaying only your best photos to keep your audience captivated. Your Smug site will contain text pages (About Me, Contact, Pricing, etc), a few public portfolio galleries and your unlisted client galleries.
It should also contain a link to your blog. A simple WordPress blog linked from your site is the perfect place to post photos and write some thoughts about a recent event you’ve shot. You get to share more photos publicly than just the one or two images you add to your portfolio, but don’t have to go as far as sharing every photo from your clients’ private galleries. Your blog becomes an extension of your portfolio, and you get to decide how much.
Adam Pendleton Photography
The benefit? Like SmugMug, WordPress has great SEO benefits. If you shoot a wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, you could make the title of your post, “Jack and Jill’s Wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay.” Due to the magic of WordPress, those keywords in your blog title automagically appear in the browser title and meta description. Booya!
Moments Like This Photography
As a bonus, see how to make SEO work for you on SmugMug.
And did you know that:
- You can just copy and paste the URL of your photo (or video) from your SmugMug gallery and drop it into your WordPress editor. It’ll automagically embed itself at the perfect size.
- You can encourage more sales using our easy Buy Links. Grab one now from Get a Link, and copy and paste the code into your WordPress editor. When fans click the photos on your blog, we’ll pop up the shopping cart so they can easily buy a print, gift or download. (Just make sure the shopping cart hasn’t been disabled in your gallery settings.)
2. Go DIY.
Did you know that we have a huge list of useful apps that our customers have written for you? Our code-savvy fans have built all kinds of tools to help you post videos, slideshows and galleries to WordPress. And more. Take a look at the full list here on our Hacks and Apps page, and scroll down to “WordPress.”
Disclaimer: We do our best but we can’t guarantee every product or provide support for the third-party apps on that page. Questions? Contact the app’s developer. Most of them are great folks who love to hear from you.
3. Be No-Brainer Beautiful with Photography BlogSites.
We’ve posted about our friends over at Photography BlogSites before, but it’s worth another mention. They are hands-down one of the easiest ways on the web to create and maintain a beautiful WordPress-based portfolio site that comes with a matching blog. They handle the heavy lifting. You enter the content, you write the posts. You can even apply one of their gorgeous themes with a click, customize it to taste and have it port over to your SmugMug site, too.
Here are some beautiful examples. See more here!
Jenn Weis Photography
Morgan/James Photography
Get Set Up for Life With This Giveaway.
Our friends at Photography BlogSites are ready and waiting to give one fortunate pro photographer a lifetime pass for their very own blogsite. (Regularly priced at $399/year)
How to enter:
- Like our Facebook page HERE.
- Like Photography BlogSites’ page HERE.
- Leave a comment below this post telling us which of their four coffee-flavored themes is your favorite.
We’ll pick a random winner and announce it here on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012. Good luck!
*** UPDATE: We have a winner! It’s Brigette from Outer Focus Photos. Congrats, Brigette and we’ll contact you with keys to your brand-new website. Thanks to everyone! ***
And remember that even if you aren’t the winner, you still win: Simply sign up for a membership and authorize the connection to your SmugMug account. Photography BlogSites automatically applies a $50 discount off your first year of beautiful blogging, just for being Smug.
Happy blogging and good luck! Don’t forget that if you’ve got questions about building your own Smug site + blog, our customization heroes are always happy to help.
Resource roundup:
Leave a Reply
What is SmugMug?
Gorgeous, unlimited photo sharing for everyone. Grab your own website on SmugMug and be ready to archive, share and print the photos you love. From unlimited photo and video uploads to e-commerce tools for Pros, we have it all. Learn more.
I love Cappucino!!
Latte! Love the background designs!
I prefer Latte
I like the Latte!
Hate to follow the crowd, however the latte is great. Clean simple lines, great backgrounds shapes and fonts.
Although I like both the Cappucino and Latte simplicity, for me it’s the Macchiato all the way!
They’re excellent! And, since my site is in dire need of a re-vamp, winning this would be WONDERFUL!
I like the Macchiato theme.
I love the Latte!
Cappuccino is sleek and simple to use, absolutely love it!
I love the Espresso Theme!
Wow. I just talked with one of your “heroes” about doing this this week and they couldn’t help me because they claimed they had no idea what I was talking about. It was a terrible customer service experience.
It was even more disappointing because I have always had spectacular service from your heroes (no quotes). Hopefully this was just a fluke.
I am currently building a new site with wordpress with the help of bluehost and photocrati.
Hi, we’re terribly sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience with our Support Heroes. It’s definitely is not the norm, as you’ve said, and we hope that we can make it up to you. We have several customization specialists who have helped many pros set up their blogs, as well as resources on our customization forums where one of our volunteers will be happy to answer your questions. We’d love to give you a hand!
they all look good but i like the latte best.
Great info! Thanks for the post! All the themes were great but Latte was my FAV!
I’m more of a Latte than any others. Thanks.
Macchiato for me
The Macchiato theme fits well with my style of shooting. More expansive than intimate. I really think this is the winner.
I love the Cappucino theme…btw, my birthday is the 23rd so pick me, please!!!!!
Latte
I like the Latte theme, it just seems approachable and fun and a perfect way to add some extra energy to my site. Thanks for the great give-away.
I like the Macchiato theme
It’s funny how I like Cappuccino, both in person as well as here. So strong and professional. I’m just trying my luck with this. I only have the passion to go professional, not the finance or resources. This would help a bunch. Good luck!
All of the themes are great…looks like something for every photographer. But, for me, it’s Latte all the way!
Cappuccino would be my choice!
i like the Espresso one the best, its a little out of the normal layout design and i dig that.
Cappuccino is definitely my favorite.
I love latte
I heart Capuccino. So bright and bold
Love the Espresso theme……
I really like the Latte.
Espresso is awesome!
Cappucino is my favorite
I love the Latte theme. I think it’s great!
Cappuccino for me
I like all the themes, but probably prefer macchiato. Would be amazing to win a lifetime membership!
Like them all ~ Love Latte the most!
Cappuccino is my favorite!
I like Macchiato – very clean!
I would have to go with Latte as my choice.
LATTE!
mmmm Macchiato!
Macchiato rocks the block…
I’m a fan of the Macchiato theme.
Out of all of them Latte is the one for me, just like the coffee
Macchiato fits my shooting style very well. I hope I win since I’ve been looking into a new website design for a while now!
I’m all over the Espresso theme!
Liked! Maybe it’s the fact that I’m drinking a cappuccino right now, but that theme is looking darn good to me!
Macchiato is my choice
Macchiato all the way!!!
Cappuccino, hot and steamy with a little sugar please.
Espresso is definately a favorite, although they all have their amazingly classy styles. I like the idea of being able to change things whenever I feel the need. Will certainly look further as I’m finally building my website.
I think Latte…the reason though, is that Latte is the only design that displays full-screen size photos.
I like the Macchiato theme.
All pretty sweet and now I want coffee, thank!!! But I have to go with Latte. The layout and display is eye catching.
I like Latte!
Latte is pretty cool!
Cappuccino is my FAVE!
Cappuccino! Mmm….
Ooo – I love the Cappuccino! Beautiful!
Latte is definitely the best!! Love it!
Espresso Please!!
They all look great but I perfer Macchiato or Latte or hmm….Cappiccino, perhaps Espresso, too many great ones to choose from!
Loving the Macchiato theme!
I’m loving Cappuccino! Sweet!
I like the no frills Macchiato, I don’t think the design should distract from the images. By the way, this was a very helpful article, keep up the good work!
Latte for me !
Latte is my favorite.
They all look great. Nice and clean. I think I’d have to go with Latte as my Favorite!
I’d definitely go with Macchiato!
Expresso for me please, no sugar!
As a coffee connoisseur (and ex-barista), I can’t say no to the espresso theme! I love the both the boldness and funky attitude. Beautiful sites!
Hard to choose since I don’t drink coffee, but I have to go with Cappucino.
Macchiato – it’s how I take my coffee and a beautiful theme set…
It’s a Latte for me, preferably skinny and extra hot!
Love Latte!
I like Latte
Latte looks right for me.
Latte, all the way.
I think Latte is my favourite…
I like Macchiato
I’m liking latte
CAPPUCCINO!!! … All … THE … WAY!!!
Just looks so much cleaner and easier to read.
Macchiato!
I prefer Macchiato!!!! Love their work!
Throwing in my vote for Latte. It looks fresh and bright and really makes photos “pop”!
I love Latte!!
Absolutely love latte.
I like the espresso theme.
It was hard to pick, but the Macchiato theme is my favorite.
Read through the article and I’ve been linking my WordPress blog to my smugmug site for ages, although the look isn’t themed the same as the one showcased (brilliant job!).Pity the blog showcased hasn’t been updated since last year. I do write to mine regularly, almost daily. Oh, and by the way, I liked the Macchiato theme.
Love the Espresso theme.
I tried Photography Blog Sites a while back ago. I liked the idea of it… the implementation didn’t go so well. Their “support” sucked… yes sucked. My photos that were pulled in from Smug sometimes didn’t fit well… and when I changed the theme the Galleries there got all messed up and again… support sucked! and they didn’t really do anything to help. The templates didn’t always work as they should and the mirroring of the theme on Smug didn’t really work completely… and again… support didn’t have a clue. I gave up… if you win the prize… give it a try… otherwise, don’t waste money on Photography Blog Sites. They are not ready for prime time yet.
Note… My comments are about Photography Blog Sites… NOT Smug. I’ve never had any problems with Smug and their support heroes are truly amazing.
Hi Lisa, This is Marty, co-founder and lead developer at Photography BlogSites. I am sorry to hear about your impression of our support but we never heard this from you at all and would have taken every step to make sure you were happy. We put a HUGE amount of time and effort into our support and have excellent feedback from our users, generally hearing we offer some of the best support they have ever experienced. If you would be willing to email me directly at marty@photographyblogsites.com, I would appreciate the chance to hear where our support might have fallen short.
Espresso gives me a boost
Cappuccino is my fav!
Latte for me. Love the clean, modern look of it.
Espresso is my favourite because it looks edgy and still very professional.
I must say, the Espresso theme is more my style. Thanks for the info.
I love Cappuccino.
All of the themes are beautiful.
Macchiato! It let’s the Photographs command your attention, without distraction.
I like the espresso theme myself. With most of my photography being motorsports related, the edgie feel of the espresso theme would be most suited for anything I might consider designing.
I love the bold, graphic look of espresso – yet fear I’d need to take MUCH better photos to do it justice!!
I like the simplicity and power of the Latte themes. Easy to navigate for all screens.
I would say Cappuccino too.
Macchiato for sure. I just like the layout and the look.
I love the Latte
I will probably be very indecisive and take a long time to pick when the time comes, but Macchiato really caught my eye right now.
Thank you for the chance!
I already have a link on my Smugmug site to my free WordPress blog, so this is very interesting.
I just like the Espresso myself, the sharp, edgy look appeals to me!
Ooh, so hard to choose! I think my favorite is cappuccino!
Difficult to chose just one! Have to say Macchiato today!
sorry for the typo, I meant choose!
For me, make it a cappuccino….
I had no idea about the WordPress integration! I am going to have to look into that further. I love the Latte set. Totally my style.
Is it posible to integrate Smugmug with Blogger as well? Or is it limited to WordPress only?
This particular integration is specific to our sites at this time. Blogger does not give you the type of access to the code that you would need to custom program addon features. One of the great aspects of WordPress is its flexibility that allows the creation of tools like this.
Ok, thanks for explaining. I thought Blogger would give you full access as well, since I’ve always been able to customize my blogs at Blogger according to my wishes….
Macchiato has to be my favorite. They are all beautiful, but it just speaks to me on the visual level the most!
The Cappuccino theme is clean, easy to navigate and a great all-purpose portfolio site. I love it!
Latte looks best to me.
Nice work! Macchiato is my fave!
Sorry, but I don’t like any of those ‘coffee-flavored themes’ (I’m creating my own anyway)! I don’t have a facebook account either (I don’t want one). ‘Unlisted client galleries’? Don’t have those either (not my cup of tea – eeerr…, coffee).
I like Latte for what i do!
Latte is my favorite.
Each theme offers unique advantages. For that reason, I found I liked more than one. However, I found the Cappuccino theme offered the best combination of presentation across the features. I’ll be curious to see how much you can change once you pick a theme.
Oh, I like things about all of them, but I adore the Macchiato!
Great themes! My favorite is Capuchino.
Tough choice, love them all but Latte looks to fit my style best!
Cappuccino is my favorite.
I have to say that I did the Fine Art Macchiato the best =)
Lovin the Cappuccino theme
macchiato most definately
For me it is a toss up between Macchiato or Latte.
I’m loving BOTH the Macchiato and the Latte theme….
I like all of them, but if I have to choose…espresso!
I’M a fan on the Latte colored templates
I’m a fan of the Latte color templates
I’m kind of particular to the Macchiato templates.
I vote for the Latte design
Cappuccino!
i like the latte blog design, though any of those beautiful designs would work for me!
I love the Macchiato (especially the white one) very nice.
Macchiato is my fav!
Espresso rocks!
Espresso is pretty sweet, it has a certain pop factor to it that sets it apart from the others.
Cappuccino
)
I’m currently in a trial with Photographyblogsites and love it! Marty’s customer service and quick attention to questions has been exceptional. If we can get the full header integration that has been being tossed around, I’ll be a lifetime member… so it would be swell to win the prize!
I’m currently working with the LATTE theme with one of their snapshot customizations.
This has made the implementation incredibly easy with clean, beautiful design. Here are the current results… but still in progress.
http://mebeimagery.photographyblogsites.com/
I’m looking forward to launching my whole new business next week, once I have SMUGMUG fully set up and my photographyblogsite tweaked.
Hi Megan, thanks for sharing the glowing review and feedback! We’re glad to hear that it’s been working well for you so far. One nice thing about PBS is that you can prevent the public from seeing your works-in-progress, which it looks like you’ve done with yours so far, but we can’t wait to see it. Good luck building your new home!
oh, Machiatto all the way!!!
Macchiato for me!
I’ll go for an espresso anytime….
But I’m allergic to coffee where are the tea”s. I guess I would have to say Latte.
I’m torn between the Latte and the Espresso, but I think I’m currently in the mood for the Latte!
They all look great, but my favorite would be the Latte!
I like Latte the best. Simple and beautiful, the best combination
Ahh, it’s a no-brainer–Espresso! Just like the drink it’s strong and to the point, full-flavored, and can be served with a variety of cupware (outer-designing). LOVE IT. I would give anything to have my site like that. ^_^
I’m really liking the Espresso. Nice big picture, great floating menu. Looks better and more modern than the same old, drop down, heading pages.
One Macchia, please.
Espresso.
Espresso! Like the big picture size and your smugmug integration!
I like the Espresso.
I like the Latte. The logo is prominent, helping to build a visual brand. I also prefer the subtler backgrounds.
Espresso
Wow! I am glad I caught this… I had been looking for a way to do a blog type thing with my Smugmug account, and this would fit the bill! Looking through the themes, my personal favorite is the Espresso… Edgy, bold and modern, yet clean and easy to navigate. I think it would fit my shooting style.
I like the ESPRESSO themes!
I like the simplicity of Latte.
macchiato’s the best out of the four.
I really love the latte snapshots! They are classy and would go perfectly with the branding I want to have! Thanks so much for the giveaway <3
Love the cappuccino theme… Looks very versatile.
Macchiato is smooth.
I like the latte.
Espresso of course!
It’s a tough call between espresso and cappuccino, but I’ll have to go with espresso.
I love the Macchiato its perfectly sweeeeet
Espresso is best for me–simple, quick, clean.
I’m more of a mocha guy but a good Latte (theme) works as well.
Going with the Espresso
I prefer the Macchiato theme
Latte is just perfect! I really like it.
Like them all, but must say I prefer the Macchiato theme.
They each have such a great style, but Latte and Espresso are my favorites (I can’t decide!)
I love the Latte!