I did a one month trial of both zenfolio and smugmug. Here's the short version of my opinion... ZENFOLIO!
I've been using zenfolio now for exactly 1 year and it's been brilliant every step of the way! The things I can do through zenfolio have opened all kinds of doors for me. Here are some examples:
Templates: Seriously, it so easy to get a look you like just by clicking a button!
Banding: Forget about it. Unlike smugmug who slap their unattractive brand on all your pages, zenfolio leaves you alone to create the look and feel you prefer.
Facebook on a custom page: Here's what I mean: (
www.photopoa.com/about). I know, I only have about 60 likes, nothing massive, but I can watch my stats in google analytics (very easy to hook up in zenfolio) and I know this facebook link is getting me lots of return visits and it's really growing the hits on my site. No long is my site just a one off portfolio.
PDF download: I just gave a photography talk (6 tips for beginners, followed by a friend who is a photojournalist speaking about their experiences). I converted the keynote into a very simplified pdf and put it up on my site for easy downloading. (
www.photopoa.com/phototalk.pdf). One way to offer something back. win win. You could also offer this as a personal flyer, pricelist, etc.
Zen adapts to our needs! I love the new drop down menus. I used most of my 'votes' for this feature and they responded beautifully. I'm now only waiting for that blog feature they are working on and I trust they will get it out in due time and it will be excellent.
I hear smugmug is great if you know anything about code writing. I don't, I prefer to take pictures and share them in a clean and quick format and ultimately, that's why I chose zenfolio.
Peter
www.photopoa.com
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Zenfolio 10% off code: HQ4-WJD-WHY