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Website Critiques would be appreciated.

trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
edited July 2007 in Website Critique
Me and my Husband just started our business as Wedding Photographers this  year. I partially designed my website. But a Professional Web designer put the finishing touches on it and makes it all work together.  I just got a logo designed for my business and we put it on the website.
If you could visit my website and tell me if your were a  Bride to be would you give us a call? What would encourage you to call and what would cause you not to call. I don`t get very many visits to my site. The only time I get calls is if I go to Bridal Shows.
my website is: www.specialoccasionsphotographystudio.com</A>
I appreciate sincere evaluations. Good or Bad. I need to know what to keep on my website and what to change.
Thank You very much for your time
 
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Thank You for the advice. Within the next couple days I will be adding photographs from my last wedding. Like you suggested I will add several photographs of the Bride`s dress.
    I like your idea of adding creative shots. I have some fairly creative shots that I worked with in my Photography Program. I am going to add several of them to my website also.  
    Check back in a few days, my new photographs should be up then. I`m going to add shots from all my weddings this year. I will concentrate on gowns more and being creative.
    Thank You         &nb sp;         &nb sp;         &nb sp;    I went to your website, I will check back
    in September
     
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    You`ve given me a lot to think about. I hate the landing page myself. I have to talk to the person who changes items on my website about what we can do.
    I`ve got to think of a better way to display my pictures. Thank You everyone for your nice comments about the pictures. I need a way to display the pictures that is easy to navigate and doesn`t take a long time to load. I`ve seen a lot of photographers websites where the pictures take over a minute for each one to download. 
    Like everyone said I`ve got to do something to make my website look more professional.
    I`m going to showcase the wedding books more. The Brides love them. I`m going to take some pictures of my latest Wedding Book I designed and put the pictures on the website.
    I`ve got a lot of thinking to do.  I can`t believe how great everyone`s advice is.
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    WeblineWebline subscriber Posts: 13 Bronze Level Member
    I personally think the pink page color is too hard on the eyes after a few minutes, and the current text is not easy to read on top of the pink color.As I mentioned in another thread, consistent page layouts would be helpful .... when they all seem different, it does not convey, to me anyway, any form of organization.
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    vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    I expect a "professional wedding photograpy site" to present a "professional" image. I do not get that feeling from your site. Part of that is the lack of an intuative or consistant navigation/menu system.
    There are a number of ways to display your work. An example of one simple display method to show images on a page.
    I agree some "professional" web design help is needed.
    ~Roland
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Hello everyone,
    M Hall  thanks for letting me know the font is hard to read. Maybe it can be changed to a bolder font.
    Roland  my web designer made a lot of changes to my website today. I think the website is easier to naviage now.  I know it was really messy before.
    Craig  thanks for the advice about Flip album. My web designer made a lot of changes today. I think she is displaying the pictures better now than when you saw the site today.      www.specialoccasionsphotographystudio.com</A>
    I took a lot of the advice people gave me and made a lot of changes to the website today.  I really can`t afford a lot of changes to the website right now. My husband`s boss fired him last week so I probably can`t do a lot with the website right now.
    w
     
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    vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    Sorry about your husband`s job loss.
    Unfortunately, the changes that were made, do not really fix the fundamental problem with your website... it lacks a consistant design/layout and intuative navigation.
    Money is certainly a factor in getting a website that works and you might be emotionally attached to the existing design. However, some major revisions would help the site and thus business generated from the site.
    You can even start with a template (free or purchased), to get most of the basic coding done at no or minimal cost. The advantage of using a template is, the navigation structure is in place.
    ~Roland
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Roland I appreciate your suggestion of using templates, but I really am technology challenged. The only thing I know how to do on my computer is work on my pictures, send emails, and search the web. Really bad.
    I wouldn`t have the time to learn everything I would have to  do to change my website on my own. My husband says in order for me to learn anything I really have to love it.  I love Photography and spend the majority of my day working on my business. I really don`t want to learn how to design websites. 
    I thought the latest design we came up with was good. I`ve seen a lot of fancy looking websites that take minutes to download. At least my website is almost instant downloading and instant picture downloading. I think it is the flash sites that are the worst with download times. They are impressive to people, if they are willing to wait around. 
    I really can`t even think of a different type of design I should use. I`ve seen these template websites and some of them look generic. Wouldn`t they limit what I can do.  I`m sorry but I just know I wouldn`t be able to design my own website and get it up and running. It must me mind boggling all you would have to do. I`m just being honest with myself. I know I couldn`t do it.
    Thank You
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    I`m so technology challenged I don`t even know what Flickr is.
    I`m really that novice about the web.
    Oh Boy Craig you really gave me a lot to work on. I`ve got a Wedding almost
    1 l/2 hours away over the weekend so I don`t know when I will be able to work on my website again. But I`m writing down everyones ideas and am going to use them probably next week some time.
    Thank You
     
     
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    VideographyVideography subscriber Posts: 401 Silver Level Member
    I`ve been very happy with JAlbum for my online galleries.  It generates a subdirectory with all the HTML code needed.  You just copy that subdirectory to your site and make a link to the index.htm in that folder and you`re done.
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    vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    Trendy,
    I sent you a message.
    ~Roland
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Can I visit your blog post on Monday. I have to go to Erie which is over an hour away for a wedding Friday. The wedding is Saturday but I have to go in Friday. I have so much to get ready for the wedding.
    You know I have gotten referrals already from brides I have photographed weddings of. Maybe I should set up a formal referral program, maybe give brides who refer my business to a bride that books a wedding 4 free 8 x 10`s. Does that sound like a good incentive or should it be 5 free 8 x 10`s of their wedding.
    w
     
     
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Hi Craig,
    Your idea gave me an idea. What about if I had a type of forum for brides to ask me questions.  Sort of Like   " Ask the Wedding Photographer"
    Brides could ask me any questions they might have about wedding photography. 
    Do you think this idea is corny or do you think brides would like it.
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    When I reply to Roland I am responding to posts the Roland from this
    forum have made.  My web designer is Maggie. Whenever I ask her to do
    something she is always able to do it. She doesn`t charge a lot.
    I`m going to think about this "Ask the Wedding Photographer"  Like you said the Bride could email me a question. I could answer it  by  posting a response  on my website maybe.
    I really need to design a Blog also sometime. I`m so behind the times.
    Do you think I should have the "Ask the Wedding Photographer" in a Blog or on my website.
     
     
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    I`m going to have to work on this blog idea. Having the question and
    answer blog for Brides to be sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
    I`ve got to talk to my web designer about this. How it can be incorporated into my website. Maybe it could even be like a talk forum. I belong to several of them and they are great sources of information.
     
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    trendytrendy subscriber Posts: 1
    Your right Craig,
    I don`t want to sound like another Dear Abbey  knockoff.  I will work on the
    wording to use. I sure don`t want to be a Wedding Planner, I have enough
    trouble getting my Photographer Husband to the weddings on time.
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