With the world becoming more digitized daily, it isn’t difficult anymore to capture the best moments during our memorable adventures. If you have a high-quality camera or a mobile phone, it is easy to fill its memory with videos and photos. Every professional photographer must understand the importance of having a backup of his work. If you look at the free image hosting sites worldwide, all of them provide effective ways to keep your files secure.
These photo hosting sites provide an efficient backup and storage system for your files and enable you to share them with your clients and close relatives. Sometimes even a high-quality food is served on our desks. It may trigger our desire to take a picture and share it on various social media platforms. We ensure that we get the best angle possible when taking that particular photo. In this article, we will be going through the best sites related to photo hosting and Strikingly’s role in it.
What is Image (Picture) Hosting?
Before we get into the best websites, we must understand what is image hosting. Image (Picture) hosting refers to the free sharing of images on any platform. When we talk about an image host, it is the platform upon which your photos or videos are published. In simple words, once you upload images on any of the photo hosting sites, they are said to be “hosted”.
Depending upon the settings that you choose, you will enable other users to download, share or access the images you have posted. Apart from the social media platforms, numerous hosting websites on the planet would allow people to showcase their photography skills. These websites are usually associated with beginners/amateurs or professional photographers. They will get the license to upload their work on these websites, and it will be the website’s responsibility to keep their files secure.
Best Websites for Picture Hosting
1. Strikingly
Whether you are building an online store, writing website content, creating a top-class website design, or looking for an image hosting site, Strikingly connects all the dots. It is arguably the most comprehensive platform that you will find on the internet as it possesses all the features and tools that help you achieve anything. As we have a collection of thousands of templates for you to choose from, we help you create a photo hosting website that keeps your files secure.
Image taken from Strikingly
Regardless of you want to build your website or create a partnership with a photo hosting website, Strikingly will support you either way. You can either create your online presence or build your brand personality. If that means that you promote your eCommerce products or simply display your artwork, you can rely on Strikingly as a free editor to improve your website presence.
2. Google Photos
Over the years, Google has introduced numerous online platforms that help us in various tasks and activities. Similarly, it helped our image hosting plans by introducing Google Photos. This is arguably the most popular platform when it comes to photo hosting. It doesn’t only value professional photographers but also ordinary people willing to start their photography career. One of the reasons it is highly recognized among online users is that it provides 15GB of free storage. It is a reliable platform because you can easily share or sync your published photos with other Gmail accounts.
3. Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting platform known for connecting photographers just like you. Even though there are numerous social media platforms to choose from, Flickr helps you build a network of photographers. It is considered the habitat of images as various communities consider it an online space on which they can interact with each other. It is one of the simplest hosting websites in the market because there are few opportunities for you to interact with a community of photographers.
Image taken from Flickr
If you are a beginner, there are even fewer chances to communicate with them. You will have an opportunity to learn a lot from those people who frequently share their online portfolios on this picture hosting site. Flickr helps you to share your artwork with a group of online users. You can create your group so that only you will be able to see or access it.
4. Imgur
Imgur is slightly different from all the other image hosting sites that we have mentioned before. This platform is mainly associated with photos and GIFs. If you are a fan of funny content or memes, you would definitely know GIF. By relying on Imgur, you can easily create funny website content by making memes related to a particular topic. The topic can be trending or can be revived as per your thinking.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world, people have been more interested in making online friends rather than talking to them face-to-face. As a result, many people have started creating online friends by sharing photos. If you rely on Imgur, it is only a matter of time before you make friends and a solid online fanbase.
5. Inmotion Hosting
On the internet, you will find many web hosting companies that provide a skillful app store along with their hosting packages. They produce several free applications, and one of them is Piwigo. This application is a recognizable photo gallery solution that enables you to implement your image hosting website. It provides you with a comprehensive set of online features, such as the following:
- Albums
- Tags
- Privacy
- Themes
- Plugins
- Statistics
- Management Tools
Inmotion Hosting’s power package ticks all these boxes as it helps you in building a total of six websites. Alongside that, you will be provided with unlimited disk space and bandwidth for long-term plans. Inmotion Hosting provides you with a ‘Quickstarter’ package that helps you make your customized website live within 24 to 48 hours. The company will design the website as per your answers to their questionnaire.
6. SmugMug
If you want to take photography seriously and are willing to make a living out of it, then you must consider SmugMug. This platform, acquired by Flickr, is considered one of the best free photo hosting sites in the market. Within every SmugMug plan, you are guaranteed to have the benefits of unlimited photo uploads. Their plans start at $55 per year or $7 per month in terms of monthly billing. This image hosting site will provide you with all the fundamentals required to create an outstanding photography website.
SmugMug enables you to share pictures and sell customized prints and gifts. You will be provided with free storage and bandwidth. However, the eCommerce options will be limited for those acquiring a free plan. You must switch to the expensive pro packages to upgrade your eCommerce options. In these pro packages, you are guaranteed to have multiple features related to eCommerce, marketing, and branding. Furthermore, it provides unique features, such as customized paintings, which enable you to convert your photos into paintings.
Upload Photos on Strikingly
As an image hosting platform, Strikingly provides you with numerous features. When you go to the Strikingly website editor and click on gallery, you will decide how your images can be displayed on the website. For example, you will have the final say on the title, descriptions, and whether they are visible or not. The gallery section will provide you with six different layouts. Ensure that you choose the best of your photos and that your photos are correctly displayed.
Apart from the gallery section, Strikingly also helps upload photos via Big Media. Website images bring emotion and excitement to users when they view a particular website. If you are willing to add photos via Big Media, we have provided a quick route to achieve that:
Image taken from Strikingly
- After clicking on “Add New Section” on the Strikingly website editor, go to the section of Big Media
Image taken from Strikingly
- Click on “Edit”, followed by “Replace”
- You can either choose to upload your photo from your computer or select it from the Strikingly library
- Click on “Publish” so that the changes can occur on the live website
Image taken from Strikingly
Conclusion
Picture hosting sites can genuinely make a difference in your life as an artist or a photographer. If you have a passion for taking photos or videos daily, you must consider the best possible hosting websites to support your work. You will have plenty of things to cheer about and enjoy with these hosting sites. If we were to give our opinion, you should consider Strikingly your ideal choice considering its cool features related to image hosting.
Strikingly enables you to build a website in association with partnered photo hosting sites to support detailed portfolios at any given time. Without worrying about technical expertise, create your portfolio within a couple of minutes. Make sure you choose a top-class website template and add a few touches to it via Strikingly website editor. Get yourself registered on Strikingly today and create a professional website that has all the necessities related to photography and videography.
