Photography Platforms:
What the Data Actually Shows

Bablab is the clear outlier — in the right direction. Across all five audited sites, pages averaged under 12 HTTP requests and loaded in under 900ms despite displaying 50+ images each. Every site embeds the same 8 Schema types: CreativeWork, ImageGallery, ImageObject, ItemList, Person, SiteNavigationElement, WebPage, and WebSite - the most complete structured data set of any platform tested. Zero missing alt tags across all images audited. The perfect security score of 100 is delivered at the platform level, not left to individual site configuration. Open Graph and Twitter Card tags are present on all five sites, meaning social share previews work correctly across LinkedIn, Slack, and X.

• sivanaskayo.comPerf: 98 · 0.52 MB · 11 req · TTFB: 146ms
• portraittoronto.comPerf: 93 · 0.70 MB · 8 req · TTFB: 185ms
• luisgarciafoto.comPerf: 99 · 0.51 MB · 11 req · TTFB: 164ms
• andrewburnsphoto.comPerf: 100 · 0.42 MB · 6 req · TTFB: 145ms
• peterzullo.itPerf: 95 · 0.38 MB · 10 req · TTFB: 156ms

Squarespace ranks at the bottom on performance despite its sites often looking the most polished. Heavy JavaScript payloads and render-blocking scripts force the browser to pause on every load, one site scored just 3/100 on performance, and page weight ranged from 2.3 MB to 31 MB across the sample. All five sites share the same generic Schema types (LocalBusiness, Organization, WebSite), which provide no image-specific context to AI crawlers. Security is consistently weak, with most headers absent across the board. Performance scores varied between 3 and 50, reflecting significant inconsistency depending on how much content the photographer has loaded into the template - the platform itself doesn't appear to enforce any weight constraints.

• crop45.comPerf: 40 · 3.47 MB · 89 req · 9 render-blocking
• ivanimages.comPerf: 32 · 31.05 MB · 112 req · TTFB: 163ms
• juliettecharvet.comPerf: 3 · 2.34 MB · 61 req · 1 render-blocking
• night-fluid-demo.squarespace.comPerf: 50 · 11.52 MB · 68 req · 42 JS files
• mccurry-fluid-demo.squarespace.comPerf: 47 · 4.75 MB · 73 req · 46 JS files

Wix presents a split personality. Its CDN is fast (TTFB averaged just 55ms across the five sites, the best of any platform in the audit) but it offsets that with an extraordinary JavaScript payload. Sites in the sample loaded between 77 and 100 JS files, totalling 131–223 HTTP requests per page, with one site weighing 33 MB. The SEO score is a strong 100 across the board, and Wix generates some Schema, though the types are generic (WebSite, LocalBusiness, SearchAction) rather than photography-specific. Security is consistently weak at 50/100 across all five sites: HTTPS is always present but three of the five expected headers are absent on every site.

• frebermedia.comPerf: 71 · 1.09 MB · 131 req · 77 JS files
• decmichal.comPerf: 36 · 10.87 MB · 188 req · 100 JS files
• yukaidu.comPerf: 72 · 2.56 MB · 189 req · 94 JS files
• agent485.comPerf: 73 · 8.21 MB · 132 req · 79 JS files
• andrewscrivani.comPerf: 61 · 33.01 MB · 223 req · 96 JS files

Photoshelter is the weakest performer in the audit overall, and the five-site sample leaves no ambiguity. Every site returned zero Schema types, zero Twitter Cards, and an AI readability score of exactly 21.5 - making this the most platform-deterministic result in the entire dataset. Average fully-loaded time was 4.3 seconds, driven by an average of 3 render-blocking scripts and 87 requests per page. Security scored 16.7 across four of the five sites - only HTTPS is present, every other header absent. Structure scores were effectively zero across all five sites, with no semantic HTML elements detected on any of them. Photoshelter's architecture delivers a consistent, uniformly poor signal to every kind of crawler.

• helenewiesenhaan.photoshelter.comPerf: 49 · 3.37 MB · 71 req · 2,966ms load
• portfolio.joemcnally.comPerf: 60 · 3.65 MB · 99 req · 3,828ms load
• mike-pickles.comPerf: 29 · 4.01 MB · 85 req · 3,836ms load
• gianlucacolla.euPerf: 53 · 3.93 MB · 71 req · 4,726ms load
• christianbobstphotography.comPerf: 52 · 7.51 MB · 91 req · 5,460ms load

Smugmug scores near the bottom across every dimension, and the five-site sample confirms this is a platform characteristic rather than a sampling fluke. Zero Schema across all five sites. Pages averaged 42 JavaScript files each and exceeded 3 seconds to fully load - one site weighed 15.5 MB, another 11.2 MB. Structure scores averaged 15, reflecting absent semantic HTML throughout. The platform architecture delivers a consistent, uniformly poor result regardless of whose portfolio is hosted.

• gilmoregang.comPerf: 28 · 1.85 MB · 67 req · 42 JS files
• portfolio.shoottokyo.comPerf: 37 · 0.89 MB · 64 req · 41 JS files
• vonwong.comPerf: 38 · 15.5 MB · 116 req · 42 JS files
• emily-teague.comPerf: 29 · 11.21 MB · 115 req · 43 JS files
• richardterborg.comPerf: 34 · 9.61 MB · 118 req · 42 JS files

Cargo's load numbers are acceptable relative to the field (most sites stay under 3 MB and use fewer JS files than the platform average) but the SEO fundamentals are broken across the board. Zero Schema across all five sites, zero semantic HTML, and the lowest security score of any platform (16.7 consistently). The worst single finding in the entire audit sits here: one site carried 334 images with zero alt tags, making every image invisible to screen readers and image search alike. No OG or Twitter tags across any Cargo site. One outlier weighed 16.9 MB with 65 requests, showing the platform doesn't enforce load discipline either. Cargo is optimised for visual presentation with no infrastructure for search discoverability.

• danwilton.co.uk334 images · 0 alt tags · Perf: 43
• estudioblende.comPerf: 61 · 0.65 MB · 18 req · TTFB: 310ms
• hugomapelli.comPerf: 59 · 3.23 MB · 70 req · 2,146ms load
• yeoseopyoon.comPerf: 58 · 1.88 MB · 22 req · 2,585ms load
• shashankpeshawaria.comPerf: 57 · 16.91 MB · 65 req · 5,321ms load

Photofolio ranks second overall, but the five-site sample reveals more variability than a smaller audit would suggest. Performance ranges from 29 to 84 across the sample, a 55-point spread that points to significant differences in how individual photographers configure their sites rather than a platform-level baseline. The most striking finding is asset size: two sites in the sample carried page weights of 416 MB and 517 MB respectively, the heaviest pages in the entire audit by a wide margin. Zero Schema types across all five sites, and no Twitter Card support on any. OG tag coverage is inconsistent, meaning social share previews are unreliable. Structure scores (averaging 72) are the platform's most consistent strength, and security holds at 83.3 on three of the five sites.

• toddspoth.comPerf: 66 · Structure: 65 · Security: 83.3
• priscillagragg.comPerf: 84 · Structure: 85 · Security: 83.3
• noahfecks.comPerf: 67 · Structure: 60 · Security: 83.3
• laceycriswell.comPerf: 29 · 517 MB · 41 req · 3,143ms load
• marencaruso.comPerf: 67 · 416 MB · 27 req · 1,500ms load · Security: 16.7

Pixieset occupies a comfortable middle tier. Pages are light (new sites averaged 15 requests and loaded in under 500ms) and security is consistent at 66.7 across all five sites. The platform injects only WebSite Schema universally, which is better than nothing but far below what AI crawlers need to contextualise photography work. Performance ranged from 35 to 65 across the sample, with the lower-scoring sites carrying heavier image sets. OG and Twitter Card coverage is reliable across all five sites. Pixieset is a solid choice for photographers who prioritise fast, shareable pages, as long as they accept the trade-off on structured data depth.

• irinaandnikola.comPerf: 41 · Security: 66.7 · Structure: 58
• billchenphotography.comPerf: 35 · Security: 66.7 · Structure: 62
• timioshin.comPerf: 45 · Security: 66.7 · Structure: 60
• serafincastillo.comPerf: 65 · 0.87 MB · 15 req · 218ms load
• elizabethmessina.comPerf: 55 · 0.86 MB · 15 req · 467ms load

Zenfolio's five-site sample reveals significant load-complexity variability. Request counts ranged from under 50 on lighter sites to 237 on the heaviest, and page weights hit 12 MB on one site, driven by 76 JS files. Schema coverage is patchy: only one of the five sites returned any Schema types at all, and that site's implementation appears to be user-configured rather than platform-injected. Security improved on more recently built sites (66.7) compared to older ones (38.9), suggesting Zenfolio has updated its default headers at some point but hasn't backfilled existing sites. No Twitter Card support across any of the five sites. Structure scores are a quiet strength, averaging above 75, consistent heading hierarchies and semantic HTML appear reliably across the sample.

• ericapeerenboom.comPerf: 58 · Schema: 0 · Security: 38.9
• footloosefotography.comPerf: 51 · Schema: 0 · Security: 38.9
• carolinetran.netPerf: 51 · Schema: 3 types · Security: 38.9
• intothegreenphotography.ukPerf: 35 · 7.50 MB · 107 req · 57 JS files
• amyheltphotography.comPerf: 40 · 12.06 MB · 237 req · 76 JS files

Pixpa's security is the strongest of any platform outside Bablab - all five sites scored 83.3, with CSP and HSTS both consistently present, a rare finding in this audit. But AI readability and Schema tell the opposite story: only one of the five sites returned any Schema type at all(WebSite only), and AI readability scores averaged 42.7. Page weight varied from 3.1 MB to 7.6 MB, and request counts ranged from 55 to 102. OG and Twitter Card coverage is consistent across all five sites. Pixpa photographers benefit from a secure, socially shareable platform that is nonetheless largely invisible to AI-driven search discovery.

• hernantorres.esPerf: 43 · Security: 83.3 · Schema: 0
• joroggemans.comPerf: 47 · Security: 83.3 · Schema: WebSite
• shotbykaryn.comPerf: 53 · Security: 83.3 · Schema: 0
• made-studio.esPerf: 63 · 3.11 MB · 77 req · 36 JS files
• ullanyeman.comPerf: 57 · 7.61 MB · 102 req · 21 JS files

Format is the most consistent platform in the sample, scores across the five sites barely move. Performance averaged 57.4, security held at 66.7 on every site, and load characteristics were predictable throughout. Only one of the five sites returned Schema (WebSite only), and AI readability averaged 36.9 - low, but uniform. OG tags are consistently present; Twitter Cards are consistently absent. Performance ranged from 41 to 78 depending on how image-heavy the individual site was. Format has no catastrophic failures and no standout strengths - it delivers a reliable, middle-of-the-road result that reflects a tightly standardised platform architecture.

• lenkaslens.comPerf: 52 · Security: 66.7 · OG: ✓
• emmazphotography.comPerf: 41 · Security: 66.7 · OG: ✓
• liebegaby.comPerf: 78 · Security: 66.7 · Schema: WebSite
• fordphoto.caPerf: 78 · 3.14 MB · 49 req · 1,235ms load
• davidvelezfotografia.comPerf: 63 · 2.11 MB · 41 req · 1,743ms load