Skype vs SmugMug

There's a good chance that whoever you're trying to reach has Skype already set up and familiar with it, avoiding the hassle of installing and getting to know new software.

You can show your whole desktop, a select part of the screen or a specific window over Skype.

There's software for Windows, Mac & Linux and apps are available on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

You can hold video calls with up to 10 people.

A stripped down, minimalist version of Skype is available for Linux.

Skype allows you to send any files (MP3s, images, text, etc.) by simply dragging and dropping then in the chat window making it simple to share things with colleagues.

Starting at $5/mo you can get a Skype number.

With Skype Credit bought or a subscription, you can send SMS and make direct calls.

By simply dragging and dropping various content blocks (such as menu, galleries, social buttons, text) around it's possible to quickly and visually lay out the site. Customization options are context aware. So, if a gallery is open, gallery customization options will be shown, if a page is open, page customization options will be shown. To change the look of the site there are multiple themes available that can be further customized by changing HTML & CSS.

SmugMug automatically pulls photo metadata such as keywords, descriptions and captions, and inserts them in appropriate places in the webpage so that search engines can properly index them. If that information is not set before uploading, it can be added via back-end as well. Also in the back-end it's possible to set site-wide metadata and custom URLs to further optimize.

Content still needs to be dispersed via social media, blogs, forums, etc for it to show up in search results, but SmugMug has a well polished codebase that takes search engines into consideration and won't hinder content's exposure potential.

SmugMug has a drag and drop interface that allows organizing photos into folders and galleries, adjusting how they're displayed, setting privacy preferences, editing meta keywords and descriptions, etc in an easy to use manner.

A gallery or a folder and it's sub-items can be given a password that will be asked when trying to access them.

It's possible to sell digital downloads of photos and videos as well as prints. SmugMug takes 15% of profit on sale.

Anyone accessing a gallery using a specifically crafted URL can upload photos to it.

Watermarks can be added to photos, printmarks to prints, and branding can be applied to orders (shopping cart, thank you prints and stickers).

Photos can be shared, commented on and liked.

It's possible to set an assistant password that gives access to the backend (with some limitations). Very useful for letting someone trusted upload and arrange photos. The assistant won't be able to delete photos or galleries, customize the site or access private folders.

To use a custom domain a "Power" pricing tier or higher is required.