revamped my website blacklightphoto.com

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

03/22/2007 11:42:43 AM · #1

Hi All, I've just did a complete overhaul on my website, and I need some people to test it for me. Broken links, loading problems, etc.
If you have a few minutes, it would be greatly appreciated. If you do find problems, pleas elet me know what operating system and browser your running!
Thanks,
E

Eric Limon Photography

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

03/22/2007 12:00:36 PM · #2

Your website is so much better than mine.. I feel like putting a big 'under construction' on my site and work on it from start!

Really like the home page!
In testimonial, pricing and availability page, your tags are visible.

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

03/22/2007 12:24:40 PM · #3

Originally posted by vikas:

In testimonial, pricing and availability page, your tags are visible.

I can't see them! can you post a screen shot?

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

03/22/2007 12:33:29 PM · #4

Screen shot from pricing page

alanfreed

Nikon D6

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/22/2007 12:33:52 PM · #5

Perhaps he's referring to the Obnoxious Block of Keywords From Hell that appears at the bottom of each page. In addition to not looking very professional at all, I don't believe that technique is very effective.

alanfreed

Nikon D6

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/22/2007 12:43:33 PM · #6

Since I'm assuming you're looking for honest opinions... I'll give you a few things that I think can be improved overall (in addition to losing the keywords -- put them in your meta tags where they belong, and pick 10 or 15 that best represent your site).

The site overall just feels disjointed to me. No one page really looks like the next. When you jump from one page to another, it feels like you're going to an entirely different site. The navigation changes, and visitors have to figure out on their own where to click to move on when you're in each page. Keep things consistent.

Lose the Google ads, too. You're not likely to make a whole lot of $$ off them unless you're getting tons of hits for one thing, and for another, you're basically encouraging people to click off your site to go to sites of your competitors!

The home page is simple enough, but I'd do something about all that white space. I honestly sat there waiting for it to finish loading, not realizing that it was already done and that nothing was supposed to be there.

I dunno. I'd honestly do a lot of re-doing here, and add some consistency to everything, and you'll have a much better site. On a positive note, you have some very nice photos to highlight!

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

03/22/2007 12:44:01 PM · #7

Originally posted by alanfreed:

yes, that is what i was referring to!

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/22/2007 12:47:48 PM · #8

blocks of keywords removed.
thanks for the honesty about the layout. Sometimes you don't see the forest, ya know?

pamelasue

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/22/2007 12:58:12 PM · #9

I agree with Alan's assessment of the basic layout and navigation ... looks amatuer ... the gallery pages loaded quickly, which is a big plus ... I love your photos and I actually like the collage approach to viewing them ... I went through all 64 pages of photos ... which in hindsight, is probably too many ... pick 1/4 of them to highlight your work ... good luck!

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

03/22/2007 02:05:56 PM · #10

OK, I changed it around a bit and made the pages along the same template. See it it's easier.

BTW, I am an amatuer web designer. I'm doing the work myself, so ANY & ALL comments are welcome and needed!

E

website again

I'm going to work on getting the galleries into the same template with the red line going down the side, instead of a totally different layout

might take a while!

Message edited by author 2007-03-22 14:07:48.

levyj413

Nikon D7100

03/22/2007 02:13:19 PM · #11

Hey, don't remove ALL keywords, just don't have a huge block. Google and others are getting pretty good at penalizing sites that try it. But some do still use the keywords. Just put them in a meta tag instead of in the main text.

amirt

Nikon D50

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Nikon

03/22/2007 02:27:30 PM · #12

Originally posted by pamelasue:

I went through all 64 pages of photos ... which in hindsight, is probably too many ... pick 1/4 of them to highlight your work ... good luck!

Exactly. There are too many pictures to go through. Either cut down on the number of pictures or make sure that you best 20 are the first 20.

Now, I hope you don't think I am picking, but I have a background in web design and web usability.

Front page:
Remote roll-over is not effective enough. There is not enough change in the wording on the right under the pictures to realize where a click might lead to. Suggestions might be to make the text larger or possibly change to the dark red color you use in the navigation on subsequent pages. Also, it might be a more dramatic appearance if the first images loaded were greyscale, and the roll-over were in color.

Wording at the top seems out of place.

Underscore under the cap letters of the links at the bottom of the page are distracting. Lower case words in the roll-overs are also ineffective and unprofessional looking. Unproper use of capitalization in the menu screams amateur (unless it is an on-going theme of a site, which it is not in yours).

Eric Limon Photography roll-over does not direct to a new page. The change in the mouse icon does signify that it is a link. There is another way to do code the roll-over so that it does not act as a link.

Rest of the site:
Amateur use of tables. There are better ways to delineate one section from another than using border color and shading. Use of tables is fading in websites (at least visible use). It's reminiscent of 90's style webpages.

Inconsistent menu w/ galleries. The galleries do not appear to be a part of the same site.

Navigation inconsistent between pages. First page has links the others do not, and vice versa.

Would not include mixed galleries, especially on the first page. Your site is dedicated to wedding photography, not all photography.

Poor text formatting. Readability goes down. Text needs to be pulled away from the left side a bit and broken up a bit more. If the eye just sees lines and lines of text, the text becomes less and less effective. The more text there is, the less likely it will be read.

telluridepictures is a broken link (coded to go to www.site.com www.site.com)

Travel towns is hard to get to (it seems like an important page, just I just happened upon it). It's also near impossible to read. Never put silver text on a white background. Also, it does not look to be a part of the site due to inconsistent coloring. Also, the layout with the tables is amateurish.

The changes you made to remove the images from the menu section of the pages did help. Like text, if you have too many images, you loose the effectiveness of the images you have.

Good luck. If you want me to review any changes, or have any questions for me, don't hesitate to ask. :)

Message edited by author 2007-03-22 15:30:56.

pamelasue

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/22/2007 02:45:00 PM · #13

Originally posted by mrorange002:

BTW, I am an amatuer web designer. I'm doing the work myself, so ANY & ALL comments are welcome and needed!

website again

I totally understand about being an amateur web designer ... BUT, you're a professional photographer and should have a website that really represents yourself that way ... keep working at it and I'm sure it'll turn out great!

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

03/23/2007 07:12:36 PM · #14

OK, so I took some advice from

amirt and did some changing around. I'm not finished, but please take a look and check to see if it's improved.

ANY and ALL comments wanted, good and bad please!

Updated blacklightphoto.com

WriteHeart

Canon EOS-40D

03/23/2007 07:33:59 PM · #15

On your availability page, are you available on the highlighted dates or on the non-highlighted dates? Maybe a little comment to that effect would be good.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/23/2007 07:44:57 PM · #16

Originally posted by WriteHeart:

On your availability page, are you available on the highlighted dates or on the non-highlighted dates? Maybe a little comment to that effect would be good.

whoops!
must have deleted that!
Thanks!!

scalvert

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/23/2007 08:02:59 PM · #17

I have to agree that the site is a little rough around the edges. The jump from a relatively clean white opening page to a heavy red border is rather jarring, and the text overlaps your frame on many pages (on a Mac). Given the level of your photography, anything less than a polished look will work against you. Maybe you could try a customizable template rather than working from scratch? Here's a great site that a couple of kids made with Simpleviewer!

PS- I'm watching with keen interest because I'll be working on my own site in the next few weeks. I just bought the domain name www.hireimagination.com. ;-D

Message edited by author 2007-03-23 20:04:44.

pamelasue

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/23/2007 09:02:36 PM · #18

Originally posted by scalvert:

thanks for the link ... those are 2 talented 14 year olds ...