My first portfolio

[irieness]

Hey guys!

My name is Fabi Fliervoet and started with photography over a year ago. Since I just made a online portfolio and there's no traffic on it now, I wanted a little feedback from you guys.

You could comment, critique or say whatever you like or don't like on the pictures/ideas/design or whatever. Also if you have any tips on how to direct more traffic to my portfolio that would be great!

Fabi Fliervoet Photography

O yea, I hope posting it here is fine.

Cheers!

[johassler]

I really like your portfolio!

The pages loaded quickly for me (even the galleries); I usually find my connection makes things load slowly so I was genuinely surprised at how fast your portfolio was!

The white background is a great choice; I prefer it to a black background (which I often seen).

Your logo is super. Do you do graphic design as well? Very nice!

Your bio makes me smile - it projects you as a happy, upbeat and enthusiastic fellow.

[irieness]

Thanks Johassler.

It's good to hear that it goes quick with you. That's already a nice achievement. Choice of white was to emphasize energy, instead of drama (which you correctly noticed in other portfolios).

Yes, I can manage with graphic design, however it's not a hobby but something convenient to know how to do in this digital age.

I'm really really happy you liked my bio, thats something a lot of people skip.

Any comments on gallery set-up or picture choices? Let me know people! Even if it's bad!

[DogHeadGod]

Hi Fabi,

You have a great portfolio...

It's bright, clean and fresh in keeping with the style of your images. It loads quickly and and is easy to navigate.

The techy bit: Most traffic will come from search engines so you need to get yourself in the top page of search results, so you have to make sure the written content and keywords on your site are as complete as possible.

Engines like google give you a better page rank if your site is linked to by other sites with good ranking. So, much like your doing now, get yourself onto lots of forums and get posting. Keep your posts relevant to the sites (spamming will get your account locked out) and only have your link in your signature. It doesn't have to be only photography related forums either, just anything you are interested in, as long as you contribute.

Google also likes content which is updated frequently. So, if you do not post new images often, something like a blog with frequent updates (make sure to include the date each time) will get you better ranking.

If you are really serious about traffic you need to invest in advertising.

I've also heard of a few people making sales after being contacted through Flickr, so get your stuff on there too if you haven't already.

Put a small unobtrusive logo with your web address on all your images. Once they start getting seen around the internet, or in e-mails, you want people to know where the photo came from.

Trying to get your work published in magazines (which I see you have already done) will also raise your profile.

Finally, since your images are so good you may want to look at MOO | Custom Business Cards, MiniCards and Postcards | moo.com USA handing these out to people is bound to get you some traffic.

[irieness]

Wow... the information you posted is just amazing.

First let me say thank you so much! Unfortunately my website is not made from scratch but it's a feature from deviantart.com, it's predefined and does a poor job for search indexing. I heard about the search engine issue and you are totally right. I'm using this portfolio as a transition stage, till I get my own custom made website. Still, you have some new advice I haven't heard of.

I don't like Flickr, but it's good for search engines though. Maybe a link between FlickR and my portfolio will help???

Great advice on the small watermark, will do that at once.

Thanks for the MOO advice. Looks like a great idea.

[ryxin]

wow! i like your portfolio. I've seen there many great pics. i would love to grab those pics to put it in my desktop. =p BTW. Keep up the good work. Good luck for your site. =)

[DogHeadGod]

Originally Posted by irieness

Wow... the information you posted is just amazing.

First let me say thank you so much! Unfortunately my website is not made from scratch but it's a feature from deviantart.com, it's predefined and does a poor job for search indexing. I heard about the search engine issue and you are totally right. I'm using this portfolio as a transition stage, till I get my own custom made website. Still, you have some new advice I haven't heard of.

I don't like Flickr, but it's good for search engines though. Maybe a link between FlickR and my portfolio will help???

Great advice on the small watermark, will do that at once.

Thanks for the MOO advice. Looks like a great idea.

No problem, thanks for the comments on my images too. If you go back to my site and check you will see that your comment acts as a link back to your own site too

[Murtasma]

Love the portfolio very nice, just like others have mentioned you need to be indexed by a search engine. I don't think portfolio's draw that many visitors so don't be too turned off by it. It's good to have a portfolio like this that you can direct clients too. These are the people you should care about, those are the ones that will purchase your services.

BTW I really love your chameleon logo.

[irieness]

Thanks guys!

Murtasma: That logo with the chameleon/lizard has a link to the name. lagadushi comes from the caribbean creole language, and it compromises of two words: lagadishi and dushi. Meaning lizard and lovely sweatheart. So then I thought.. I have to make a cute cuddly lizard as my mascot, hehehe. Just a little design history.

[OsmosisStudios]

So that's what the dA portfolios can do, eh? Impressive, actually. I think I've actually seen your account on dA: I recognized some images in there. Look me up: ~OsmosisStudios.

I like it: its clean and simple and fast. Makes me kinda think I might wanna do one with mine. I do generally prefer the black background (I find it makes images pop more), but the white still works.