web-site review (yes, yet another one..)

[chalkie7]

Hi all,

I had a bit of a play with the overall feel of my web-site yesterday and feel it's a vast improvement on the old version. That said, I would like to hear from anyone who may have some constructive critisism to offer regarding the overall feel, layout, ease of use...etc...

Cheers,

Mark

[FoG]

I have to disappear for a bit will chekc this later and PM you any advice will post a reply in detail here for folks here quick look through now says it is nice and crisp but will have ind epth look after work

[Jim Poor]

In general, the layout is nice enough, but I have a few suggestions.

Your intro text leaves it up to the visitor to figure out what kinds of assignments you take by plowing through your portfolio. You need to actually tell folks what you do and how you do it in more detail.

Yes, your portfolio should do the same thing, but many people are not going to figure that out, or are too lazy to do the digging.

On a related note, your images load WAY too slowly. I'm on a fiber optic network so I shouldn't be able to count to 5 between click and load.

The first paragraph on your bio page (the page needs a photo or two) is good, after that it sort of falls into something that is too general and almost desparate sounding. You can't "specialize" in so many things, and the "I'll consider anything" bit makes you sound like you really really need work you don't have.

The few photos I looked at before I got tired of the slow load times look really nice, so I think a bit of word-smithing could go a long way.

[fletch]

The "This site requires Adobe flash player 10. Would you like to install it now?" error message really put me off.

You need to offer a non-flash version or you will loose trafic.

[chalkie7]

Thanks guys..very much appreciated.

Jim - very useful feedback indeed...definitely gives me something to look at again and work on. The loading of the images is a bit of a concern to me, in that they load pretty much straight away for me (with the odd exception which I know I need to reduce in size). Thanks again..exactly what I was looking for from someone impartial.

[Jim Poor]

Is there a chance they load fast for you because they are cached? I suppose it is possible that I only clicked on the ones that need to be reduced, but not likely.

[chalkie7]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Is there a chance they load fast for you because they are cached? I suppose it is possible that I only clicked on the ones that need to be reduced, but not likely.

Caching is a very good point actually...and yes, it is very unlikely you picked one of the (3 I think) images that are definitely too large! Cheers, Mark

[OsmosisStudios]

Site took a while to load. Flash wouldnt have been my first choice, but it's well executed so i'll let it go. Get rid of the counter. That's SO geocities circa 1998.

Biography: I didnt read it but the page needs SOME punch. its white text on a black background with a grey menu. Put SOMETHING in there to jazz it up, or use some different typography. Remember, up to 3 fonts, as long as you use them consistently and intelligently.

Portfolio: if one just clicks on the portfolio link without selecting a particular gallery, it shows a blank page. The galleries themselves are WAY too big. 16, 42, 24 and 20 is too many. That's over 100 images! Keep the size of the galleries consistent, and stick to something small enough to hold interest. 15-20, MAX. Id say even 10-15 per. Maybe let the Misc be bigger. In any case, though, keep some consistency: same number of columns, just another row or something.

Contact: You say that all contact must be made through the form, then say people can e-mail you. Dont do that. Remove the e-mail address, keep the form and slide it up: I shouldnt have to scroll down to see more than 50% of it. Youve also got lots of room: expand it a bit, especially the Message section.

I do NOT like the Feedback option. If you want, have a "testimonials" page and add in quotes from past clients.

I dont understand the "Links" page. Youre running a business, not a linkshare.

What is the Login/Join used for? What services does one get access to once logged in?

[chalkie7]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Site took a while to load. Flash wouldnt have been my first choice, but it's well executed so i'll let it go. Get rid of the counter. That's SO geocities circa 1998.

Biography: I didnt read it but the page needs SOME punch. its white text on a black background with a grey menu. Put SOMETHING in there to jazz it up, or use some different typography. Remember, up to 3 fonts, as long as you use them consistently and intelligently.

Portfolio: if one just clicks on the portfolio link without selecting a particular gallery, it shows a blank page. The galleries themselves are WAY too big. 16, 42, 24 and 20 is too many. That's over 100 images! Keep the size of the galleries consistent, and stick to something small enough to hold interest. 15-20, MAX. Id say even 10-15 per. Maybe let the Misc be bigger. In any case, though, keep some consistency: same number of columns, just another row or something.

Contact: You say that all contact must be made through the form, then say people can e-mail you. Dont do that. Remove the e-mail address, keep the form and slide it up: I shouldnt have to scroll down to see more than 50% of it. Youve also got lots of room: expand it a bit, especially the Message section.

I do NOT like the Feedback option. If you want, have a "testimonials" page and add in quotes from past clients.

I dont understand the "Links" page. Youre running a business, not a linkshare.

What is the Login/Join used for? What services does one get access to once logged in?

Biography - I do intend to re-word some of this, plus add an image or two, as previously suggested.

Portfolio - the blank page issue bugs me too, but still trying to work out how to correct it. I had wondered if there was too much on show, so this is something I will give some thought to, along with the consistency issue.

Contact - funnily enough, I only added the email address yesterday! I'll look at the scrolling issue too.

Links - this is the local studio I use for most of my potraiture work.

Login/Join - this is so that clients can login to 'hidden pages' to view images from their session - protected pages so only the client can see their images.

Thanks for the detailed response...I appreciate you taking the time.

[printergirl]

Originally Posted by chalkie7

Links - this is the local studio I use for most of my potraiture work.

I'm not crazy about links either, especially when you are linking to a direct competitor. But, if you must do a link exchange, why are they NOT linking BACK to you! I went to their site and they have links to other companies (model and makeup artists, no photographers, which makes sense, why link to the competition) on theirs, but not back to you. Are they a studio that rents out only to photographers? If that is the case, why don't they have links to photographers on their page. Or, are they photographers also. In that case they are competing with you for business. I wouldn't go for that at all! I think I would nix the links page.

If referencing them is a must in exchange for using the studio, why not just make mention that you shoot there and put a small link in the text somewhere on the site. I don't know about taking up an entire page for ONE link just to them. Seems like a waste of a page.