The following is a guest post by James Adams.
We won’t call them out publicly but lately we’ve noticed that some large websites with household names run really slowly, primarily due to the large number of images they feature. What happens to the really big guys can happen to all of you – your sites can be slowed down and that produces a real catch-22: a larger number of quality images means your visitors are likely to spend more time on your site, but the slower load time might frustrate them into clicking away.
The answer might be to use an image hosting site that will decrease the bandwidth you use and speed up your site significantly. Some of these sites are free, some require paid subscriptions, but all are worth a look. Here’s a list of the top 10 image hosting sites that will let you have both a better looking site and one that continues to run quickly.
This is one of the oldest photo hosting sites and they have continued to upgrade and innovative in order to keep ahead of their upstart competitors. The free subscription allows 1500MB of hosting with the ability to post, share and link to them all with ease. Load from your URL, email, or phone and share videos and albums or create slideshows. Professional paid accounts are available as well.
Flickr leads the way in ease of use and offering the best photo management tools available. Their sharing is unmatched and delivers the ability to seamlessly provide photos and videos to all of your site visitors in an interactive format that will enhance their experience, and that’s always a plus. Like the above, free and pro accounts are both offered.
This is a paid site all the way but many users feel they easily get their money’s worth. Unlimited storage, no ads or spam, and great tools to make your images and HD videos very accessible are just a few of the features that make Smug Mug currently one of the most popular image hosting sites. The new iPad app is a winner.
You can upload your images and video to Image Shack with any mobile or online device, so your site can boast the most current shots you’ve got. In addition, all file formats are supported with good editing capabilities. The 100 MB/hour limit is new, but won’t affect most users. Handy extras include image tracking, a browser toolbar for Firefox and IE, bulk uploads and an iPhone app. The service is free and highly rated.
5. Free Image Hosting
More exciting than its descriptive name implies, this service operates on dedicated Linux servers with pretty substantial bandwidth. It’s not the fastest but it is free, easy to use and allows you to manage a good-sized portfolio of images and videos.
PC magazine likes Shutterfly and so do we. It is a professional image hosting service that offers unlimited uploads and great usability. Excellent speed and quality are the hallmarks of the service.
A favorite of bloggers and affiliate marketers, TinyPic features easy to use organizing and editing tools that allow you to quickly upload pics and videos to your blog, social networking sites and eBay. It’s a freebie.
8. Pic Tiger
This completely free service is perfect for users with lots of images they want to share or host remotely. It also offers easy editing tools and allows you to produce thumbnails, resize, create and arrange albums, and send your images anywhere you want them to go.
There’s plenty to like here, beginning with the obvious. This free service allows unlimited uploads though it supports .JPEG and .GIF formats only. Load files that are as large as you want them to be and leave them up for good.
Here’s another free site with unlimited upload, storage and bandwidth opportunities. No registration is required. The only limitations are that the file must be a .JPEG and the maximum size is 1.5MB for each.
Most users will get by quite nicely with a free site for their image hosting, so check out those first. Whether they will do or if you need a professional account, the improved functionality and speed of your site will be recognized by your regular visitors and appreciated by new ones. Every step you take to improve your site can be counted on to produce gains in getting your visitors to respond.
James is a writer and product analyst at Cartridge Save where he reviews and compares ink cartridges and other office supplies.
I am an eBusiness Coach, Web Developer, Internet Marketer, SEO, Inbound Marketing Consultant, and General Web Geek, making my living from home.
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Try Mejuba.com. Unlimited storage for both videos and pictures and
it’s completly free. No monthly limits or qoutas. You can upload a wooping 1GB PER upload!
Photos and videos are stored in their original formats and sizes and are kept unmodified for backup.
I also like that you can geo-tag your stuff so it shows up on a map. And you can search for stuff on
the map – that’s cool!. Already geotagged photos are automatically mapped when uploading.
As the only site i know of it uses a Windows Explorer like navigation with folders – super eacy to
use – even has drag and drop!.
It’s free, fast, nice design as SO much better than Flickr and Photobucket.
The National Photographer Group just released it’s professional image hosting service:
- No file format limitations, even RAW files are accepted with the ability to preview them online
- No file size limitations
- No storage limitations
- Integrates seamlessly with Adobe® Lightroom®
Cost? $0.25 /GB/Month and $0.25 /GB transferred. In other words it’s the cheapest, yet most useful professional image hosting service on the market.
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