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12/02/2005 06:58:40 PM · #1 |
Hi all! I haven't been on in a while-had some issues, but now I'm back and with my first website.
My website Arwen Photography
Could you all please check it out and let me know what you think, especially about the pricing.
I was kinda lost on that one, so researched but you know how that is.
Also if you could let me know about my Holiday Special.
I also did my first photo shoot, for a lady and 2 girls this week, post some of those pics later.
Many Thanks and Glad to be back!!
Angie |
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12/02/2005 07:40:48 PM · #2 |
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12/02/2005 07:45:33 PM · #3 |
Nice job. Seems easy to navigate and everything
Personal preference - I'm not a fan of the font. But that's just me.
Can't help you on pricing and stuff, sorry.
Good job! |
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12/02/2005 07:46:28 PM · #4 |
OK, here's my opinion, and remember its just my view: I see you have a seperate gallery for weddgings, though it seems to be one wedding, a gallery for adults though one woman predominates, etc. To keep the site from seeming like you've had limited experience, I would choose only my very best shots and put them in one gallery together (for more impact) until you have more variety. It does build over time.
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12/02/2005 09:00:17 PM · #5 |
Okay, here goes!
Where you have 'Arwen Photography' on the homepage underlined, you don't need that there - you already have the title up the top of the page.
You should make more use of the homepage. This is often the only page people visit before leaving the site. At least list your services or prices or where you're located for example. You've got about 10 seconds to catch their attention!
The menu bar on the left looks okay. There are quite a few options there, and it's not obvious what they all are. For example, the 'editing options examples' and 'glamour editing gallery'
How about "Home", "About", "Galleries (linking from there to "Children", "Weddings", "Glamour"), "Pricing", "Contact (although you could include this in with 'About'")
Not sure what the last three links are on the menu bar for
Finally the font you're using for the text looks a bit big and clunky. |
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12/02/2005 10:24:12 PM · #6 |
** I got delayed with the kids bedtime deal, so I will probably duplicate others comments - since I have already typed it I will leave what is here :) **
Also these are all MY OPINION but I think useful comments are better than looks good type of stuff..... and I had a little time to kill.
- Overall it looks pretty good. Seems fast enough, neutral colours and pretty clear navigation. Seems to be a decent variation in the highlighted pictures.
- Are you going to provide somewhere they can see proofs from a shoot? If so you might want a password protected client area or something (maybe you plan to put that on smugbug - dunno).
Now for the other shoe :-))
- Get rid of the right click disable - it's not stopping people grabing the images and it hides a LOT of features that you have no right to block on my browser (I have dozens of options tied to the right click)!!! Besides, doing it in JS is not going to affect a number of people anyway.
- The front page has a heading with plain solid underline - It's better to keep away from underline because people have become conditioned to thinking that is a link and it's better not to go against that normally. It's a repeat of the banner text anyway.
- I think it's worth the extra $ to use your own hosting and remove the free stuff for the image storage (same place that have the free advertising below). You went part of the way there with the domain name but IMO lose credability with the free hosting plug - hidden under the first fold but still. If you want to support this site then put it in the footer and say something meaningless like "Powered by" or something similar.
- I would lose the watermark on each of the photos in the montage. Just have the one on the main image if you really need them.
- The front page needs some more details apart from a photo - like the holiday specials for example - I tend to avoid changing options like that on the navigation panel. I would probably put a phone# or something as well.
- The nav links would probably work better if they were bolded or something as you rollover - just a bit of interaction and help knowing they are over the right link.
- This is a bit (or lot) harder but the thumbnails only take up the left half my screen (ok I run at a higher resolution then most). Pages can be coded to be aware or the screen size (or floating CSS) to use up more space. A simple fix is to center the table with the thumbs at least.
- The thumbs look a little too jaggy to me - maybe lighten up on the compression a smig - would probably lose the watermark on them as well but that's just a taste thing (I prefer to only see them on the larger pic if at all).
- I am not a fan of opening another session to show the full sized picture (I think it's probably a pop-up but not sure cause I have my browser to push them to another tab).
- I would somehow seperate the off-site links from the local links.
- I find the prices a little too wordy. People tend to want to see this info in a table type presentation just for comparason between your packages and other peoples (harder with all the words I find).
- I would reword this "United States Copyright Law as of 1975 states that all photos, copyrights, negatives and positives remain the possession of the photographer. " - I don't think possession is the right word and the sentence seems a little clumsy to me.
- I would certainly drop the "especially for-profit" bit of this as TO ME it seems to partly condone scanning the prints from this portion - "Any additional use, especially for-profit use, requires".
- I would think about dropping the home link (most sites have got rid of this now days) but would certainly make the heading on each page a link back to the home page.
- Might want to be careful that you are not breaking any terms of use somewhere (not sure where the domain is hosted, so might be perfectly ok) -> "Under no circumstances may this template be used on a website that is not hosted by FreeWebs." While unlikely, it's better to check that out if you want to run this as a business.
- Not sure about pricing, since it's location dependant. Check out who you consider compeditors and see how their packages run. If you are a lot higher ensure that you have a reason (and make sure it's a theme on the web-site), cause the customers will need to see the extra value (better service, more experience, whatever) but also make sure you don't undercut by a lot otherwise they could assume something about quality that you don't want.
Hope some of this helps; Please don't take this in a negative manner, it's not intended that way. |
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12/02/2005 11:18:06 PM · #7 |
I agree with robs, lose the free hosting.
You could probably get a pretty good hosting package for a few dollars a month, might as well pre-pay at least a year in advance though.
Maybe you could also set a personal goal of redesigning the site (maybe it's recreating the look of that one, maybe not) from scratch, using HTML with CSS. You'll pick up plenty of knowledge along the way, and it might be useful later.
Here is an excellent CSS reference, after you do a couple tutorials and get the hang of it you can refer to that and see what tools you have.
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12/02/2005 11:53:41 PM · #8 |
Thanks all for the advice!! 90% of the issues brought up are due to the freewebs thing, and with the free hosting and using their template I basically have no control over them. Someday I will pay someone to build me a site and get hosting, so I will keep all your suggestions on file till then. I really wish I could do it now, but since I lost my job it's not an option.
Thanks again!
Angie |
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12/03/2005 01:06:46 AM · #9 |
| I like it. From the websites I have seen, yours is pretty good! Easy to browse and find your way around. The colors are nice on the eyes.. Very professional looking! Way to go! |
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12/03/2005 02:17:13 AM · #10 |
Angie try Addaction It's free for 6 months then it's $6.99 a month after that. You can also join their referrals and it goes down for each person who signs up under your link. I have used them for several years and have had no problems. If you decide to change host I'll be happy to help you with it. Although I'm not up to date on all the newest coding, I use to do webdesinging and know enough to help you with it. Just let me know.
I think you did a nice job with your site. The main thing that bothers me is the jagged font. I think it takes away from the professional look of it.
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