What do you need in a web site? - DPChallenge Forums

10/29/2009 11:23:23 AM · #1

I've seen a number of recent posts from dpc'ers interested in building or buying a new web experience for their photography business. Since I'm in the middle of a similar quest, I thought it would be good to compare ours needs and the options we have. The "Post your website" provides a great place to share your sites, so lets make this about our thoughts on what is needed for a competitive web experience today.

AJSullivan

10/29/2009 11:28:03 AM · #2

Its one of those things...its going to change depending on your target obviously, but lets see what some general stuff is:

Gotta be lightning fast. Weve gotten to the point where we don't like to wait for anything on the web. I can download a 2gb movie in 15 minutes, you want me to wait 30 seconds for your site to load? No thanks.

Creative yet functional. I love to see some crazy ass cutting edge design, but if I can't figure out how to turn off that shitty song you put on there, i'm out of there, or if I can't find nav buttons, done deal for me.

10/29/2009 11:37:49 AM · #3

I agree that a creative and well designed site is a key element. It used to be a decent HTML template was enough, but in the last year I've seen a lot more photographers with slick designs based on flash or and/or some very sophisticated CSS and JavaScript.

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

10/29/2009 11:40:15 AM · #4

Speed is a factor for sure so when building a site I would remember one thing, KISS... Keep it simple stupid.

Make sure that if you are displaying an image that is only 200x200 that you upload an image that small. Don't upload an image that is 3000x3000 and have the html resize it for you because it will take a long time to download that image, resize it, then display it the way you want it too.

You should show your work or offer some information that might interest the viewer.

Depending on what your after would depend on the outcome of your site. Make sure that navigation is easy or else people will get lost and close the window only to forget all about you.

If you want ideas on some of the best websites here are some that won awards for having the best ideas.
//vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/best-photographer-websites/

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3,5-6,3 Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] macro for Canon

10/29/2009 11:41:10 AM · #5

Originally posted by Nusbaum:

My whole site is based on advanced CSS.

The advantage of that is I can change anything at the drop of a hat without redesigning a whole page.

Nokia N900

10/29/2009 11:41:21 AM · #6

Traditional values would eschew relying on non-standard media formats like Shockwave/Flash; although a lot of people (especially here) seem to embrace it. Almost anything you can do with such non-standard things you can do with standard DHTML, so if you're looking into building/hiring someone to create a site for you, I would suggest leaning towards the latter.

Standard suggestions such as accessibility (either for e.g. mobile devices or visually handicapped) are probably less important, although if you're looking to sell services (rather than simply showcase existing artwork) you may at least want to pay them heed--even if someone can't appreciate your art himself, he might be looking to hire services for his daughter's wedding. If considered during the initial development, things like this shouldn't cause excessive additional work.

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

10/29/2009 11:44:22 AM · #7

Here's a cool color scheme picker to help choose the right colors

//vandelaydesign.com/blog/design-process/color-schemes/

Message edited by author 2009-10-29 11:44:27.

AJSullivan

10/29/2009 11:55:15 AM · #8

I used Adobe Kuhler. Pretty awesome site.

Louis

Nikon D800

10/29/2009 11:58:58 AM · #9

The only thing that matters, and that supersedes both the content/industry of your site and the choice of technology you use to present it (Flash vs. straight HTML/CSS vs. AJAX, etc.) is usability. Your site must be usable. Your site must be intuitively navigable or no-one will use it. Your site must not be an assault on the senses--avoid playing music, for example, or fancy navigation schemes that look pretty/shocking/eye-catching/flashy at first glance but that confound the user. Do not bury your most important product, whatever it is, under a ponderous navigation scheme.

It bears repeating a thousand times, because many people, when creating or redesigning their site, make this fatal error: Do not annoy your user in any way! Make your product dead-simple to find!

This does not imply that you are free to be lazy with presentation, especially if you are an artistic professional. Your presentation should match the importance of your artistic sensibilities (and it's up to you to interpret what that means, if anything).

For some tips on what to avoid, read the comments at Web Pages That Suck.

Photologist

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/29/2009 12:03:05 PM · #10

Originally posted by Nusbaum:

...what is needed for a competitive web experience today.

All I needed was the free jalbum for mine. Although I am very proficient with CSS, jalbum takes care of all of it for you.

See what I did with it on my web site.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/29/2009 01:38:47 PM · #11

Originally posted by m:

I've gone round in circles myself with the flash debate. Pure flash sites are becoming very popular, but the navigation on many templates is pretty confusing. I went with a hybrid of HTML/CSS for page and flash for the slide show, but even that little bit of flash makes my site unusable on iPhones. But, I have also struggled to get a truly smooth DHTML slideshow that worked cross platform.

Shockwave/Flash may be non-standard, but they are consistent across browsers and platforms. Getting great results with DHMTL and CSS across browsers and platforms can still be very challenging. I'm not sure what we could really call "standard" these days.

No absolutes here, it just friendly opinions and debate.

robs

Canon EOS R6 Mk II

10/29/2009 04:52:41 PM · #12

Hey - I just bought a digi SLR; What tips do you have for shooting a wedding I am doing Sat? .. Oops... Sorry... Wrong topic :-)

This will sound preachy ok, so take it for what it's worth to you... Just some unedited thoughts off the top of my fingers...
- You need to start with a purpose rather then a grab bag of technical topics (I mean; who really wants a slow hard to navigate site as an objective :-).
- What is your objective?
- How are you interacting with your customers?
- Or is this about showing it to other photg not customers (that can be valid especially if your trying to make $ doing workshops and stuff instead of customer based photg)?
- What specific customers and what are they looking for as far as information and services?
- Whats the demographic (no point having the best 1Gb spash page the world has ever seen if 80% of visitors are dialup customers, are they teenagers that only live for facebook/myspace/pick any of a number).
- Do you need something to collect orders and payments?
- Do you need a secure way to have clients see their images and not the public?
- What types of stuff do you want to show? What portion of your customers would be put out by... say a Nude-n-Chains-n-Leather gallery - I suspect the answer is different in San Fran then it might be in Utah for example (yeah baseless generalization I know.... but ya know... if YOU don't then your customers will)?
- What do you want to show prices (cuts both ways and both are valid for certain demographics)?
- What's the role of the site in your business & marketing plans (you have some concept of those right... no matter is it's on post-it's or TP in you loo as long as you have the concepts :-)?
- What's the strategy for SEO (and no I don't mean the incorrect flash is hidden to google nonsense that I see repeated a lot). Why - Do you have a world wide audience - really? Do you want one? How do your customers really find you?
....
- About 3,000 other things
..
- Then we can talk about so called std based devl (For the tech types: How many decades do we have to deal with a "standards based CSS" approach is king that works differently in each browser and when can we stop the pretense of standards - I am a fan of splitting content from presentation but CSS ain't doing it and even late 60's mainframe tech was able to do it in places). e.t.c. e.t.c. e.t.c.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

10/30/2009 09:32:14 AM · #13

Thanks

robs, I think you started to hit on some "needs". Maybe is a useless exercise, but when I see so many people, including myself, needing something more from their web site, I start to wonder if there is a way to work together and find a better solution. So the question in my mind is, what is important to a photography business?

I pulled these from Rob's note and added a couple more...
- Private branding
- Search-ability (google, yahoo, etc)
- Private Galleries
- Comments on images
- Information pages
- Call to action / Advertisements
- Price Lists
- Online Proofing
- Online Ordering
- Online Payment Collection
- Online Fulfillment (printing and shipping direct to client)
- Multiple Perspectives (commercial vs private portraits commisions for example)

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

10/30/2009 09:47:11 AM · #14

I read an interesting article recently abut photography websites and the client's experience. The thing that caught my attention most was this: Potential clients, when shopping photographers will spend on average 7 seconds looking at a website before they decide to move on to another, or stay and see more. SEVEN SECONDS! That got me thinking about what my site says in the first 7 seconds a viewer sees it. What I want it to say. And how I can get them to stay longer and see more.

For the last few days I've been working on a complete look-and-feel change for my site and trying to keep that 7 seconds in mind. Its about 80% done now.... I think. ;)

//www.penrodstudios.com

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/30/2009 10:16:46 AM · #15

Originally posted by idnic:

For the last few days I've been working on a complete look-and-feel change for my site and trying to keep that 7 seconds in mind. Its about 80% done now.... I think. ;)

//www.penrodstudios.com

I'm assuming that what we see on your site now includes the new changes? I hope so because I went with a similar approach with the entry to my site and some validation on the approach would feel good. I used a slideshow with a few words embedded in a couple of the pages to convey a simple message. I didn't want any clicking or scrolling required.

This is an interesting discussion topic because some hosted sites (zenfolio for example) and templates start off with text and some icons representing galleries. This may work for social browsing, but is it strong enough for a business?

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

11/05/2009 06:19:55 AM · #16

lots of good ideas in here!

@cindy: your site's lookin better than ever!

7 seconds... i say that's a load of bs. there's no way in heck any rational, intelligent person is going to get enough information to make an informed decision in 7 seconds, especially for a service as sophisticated and complicated as professional photography. i just don't buy it. it's one thing if you're simply speed-browsing, it's a different thing altogether if you are seriously looking for something. if you're serious, you're going to be basing your decision on a lot more than how fast a site loads.

granted, the longer it takes, the more likely you are to lose a visitor, but all the same, 7 seconds to sell your story? that's barely enough to shout "Hey! Don't Leave Yet! I have something interesting to say!"

Message edited by author 2009-11-05 06:20:48.

citymars

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

11/05/2009 10:26:56 AM · #17

Originally posted by Skip:

7 seconds... i say that's a load of bs. ....

I don't know, that sounds about right if you're talking about time to form a first impression. A potential client that you have already started a relationship with (met or talked with) might stay a little longer.

Louis

Nikon D800

11/05/2009 10:28:13 AM · #18

Personally, my patience runs to about three seconds. If I'm buying, and it's not a site I already have an interest in, and I can't immediately find what I'm looking for, I'm off.

Photologist

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/05/2009 10:32:11 AM · #19

Originally posted by Skip:

7 seconds... i say that's a load of bs

Originally posted by Louis:
Personally, my patience runs to about three seconds. If I'm buying, and it's not a site I already have an interest in, and I can't immediately find what I'm looking for, I'm off.

I'm with you on this one, Louis.

Skip, there have been numerous studies and research data that support this seemingly short attention span for a web site.

Niten

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/05/2009 10:40:04 AM · #20

I like when a site has music that I have to wait for it to load up. Then if it really rattles the walls here ,because my speakers were to loud, waking the kids up it makes a real lasting impression on me.

Apple iPhone 5

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

11/05/2009 10:42:29 AM · #21

Originally posted by Louis:

Personally, my patience runs to about three seconds. If I'm buying, and it's not a site I already have an interest in, and I can't immediately find what I'm looking for, I'm off.

Yes, absolutely. And this should be the number one consideration when designing a business website.

I sell software online, and over the past 10 years have changed the way my website is designed as a result of seeing how people are a) finding it, and b) navigating it. Google analytics is good for this information.

Potential customers want to see what you're selling. They want to know the benefits to them. They want to know what it's going to cost them.

For product-based businesses, I learned that the customer isn't really interested in hearing about the company. That's bottom of the list. However, in the case of photography, the photographer themselves are part of the product, so that part of the presentation will be different.

A problem I see all the time is businesses not being clear about their pricing. And in the worst cases putting a 'Contact us for pricing' link when their competitors have the pricing right there on the page.

I could go on for pages about this, and most of the above are random thoughts. But I'll stop now.... :)

ETA: My website (payroll software) is here: www.payback.ie - The product, the benefits, the cost, how to get it. All on one page.

Message edited by author 2009-11-05 10:44:09.

Louis

Nikon D800

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

11/05/2009 10:58:23 AM · #22

"Stone age payroll software" -- I like that. :) Images of cavemen à la Geico trying to hammer out payroll on a keyboard... cool.