Online marketing can be tiring! That’s where UpCity comes in. As a trusted advocate for small businesses, we’re here to navigate you through the piles of confusing and suspicious offers. UpCity will lead you in the right direction by providing easy insights and simple solutions for your business marketing plan. Members receive an in-depth, personalized action plan to help optimize their site, and our team is here to help you along the way. Each week, we’re featuring a comprehensive look at one of the recommended tasks built into the UpCity software.

Background on SmugMug

SmugMug is a photo sharing website that allows users to manage, tag, organize, and share photos, and should optimize the presence of your website on search engines. It is a great tool to promote yourself as an authority by sharing relevant images and eventually promoting images related to your business. This sharing activity elevates your online visibility and overall relevancy.

Keep in mind that your account on SmugMug starts as a 14-day free trial. Prices range anywhere from $40/yr to $300/yr for advanced online storage and special technical support. Click here for a list of features you’ll be getting once you complete the trial.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create an account on SmugMug, as well as upload your first photo.

How to Create your SmugMug Account

Step 1. Start at SmugMug.com.

Step 2. Click “Try it Now” in the middle of the page.

Step 3. Here, you’ll be able to choose the design of your photo website. You can choose from a variety of designs that fit your taste. Choose one and click “Choose this Design” to continue.

Step 4. Next, you’ll officially create your account. Enter your Site Name, your custom SmugMug URL, Email, and Password. Answer whether or not your plan to sell your photos online and hit “Create.”

Step 5. You then go through a tutorial that will show you how to upload photos for your SmugMug website.

To upload your first photo, click Upload. Then click, To New Gallery.

Step 6. When creating a new gallery, enter the name of the gallery, Description, and Privacy Level. When all is said and done, click, Create.

Step 7. Then either browse or drag-and-drop photos into the browser window to begin uploading. Hit Done and you’re finished!

SmugMug Best Practices

  • The site offers a 14 day free trial for you to decide which of their plans is the best for your business.
  • Be sure to upload some photos of your business as well as images that relate to your industry and nearby location.
  • We’d recommend tagging and describing your photos with keywords so that they can be better optimized for search results. Your photo descriptions should be short and to the point.
  • Click this link for more help on how to optimize SmugMug for your business.
  • There is also a Getting Started section for users.

If you have anymore questions related to this guide, submit your comments below.

UpCity members, please follow the pathway to complete this task in your UpCity account: Optimize Your Presence > Expand Your Presence > Social 102: Top Social Sites.