KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! Website critique please...

KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
edited April 2007 in Website Critique
Would love some feedback on my website. It is for a small photography business that has expanded into shirts, prints, and gifts.
I use outside businesses to manufacture and distribute my goods, and use my website to centralize them.
It was voted as a "Favorite of the Four States" by readers of our local newspaper, but I would like to make sure it reaches farther.
http://krazeimages.com</A>
 
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    Oh, and I built it myself...and am fairly new to web design...this is my third edit....
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    Alright...I`m taking notes...but gonna wait till I get more feedback before making major changes....
    1. Tone down buttons.
    2. Main page should have instant access/presentation to products and images. (Not specifically mentioned, but I think I got a hint of that.)
    3. Keep buttons and site travel linear.
    Did I miss anything? I`ve gotten good results from the site as it is, but i want all the feedback I can get to improve things....
     
    And thanks for the feedback so far....I am totally open to critique.
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    Oh....and the modeling my site off of others....what sites I really like, I am not code savvy enough for...and frankly I cannot afford a web designer yet....
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    The idea is that it`s a WEBsite and not a book.You want people to skip around and design your navigation that way, not just all in a line like you are flipping through pages.So on each page, can they get to all the other pages?It`s a good question to ask yourself.
     
    Each page has a site map, so to speak, at the bottom of the page for quick links to any page.
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    I understand you`re not a web developer and you do the best you can. There are lots of us in that same boat. My suggestion was not to make the site navigation linear where you go from one page the the next, and if you want to go back two pages you have to click the back arrow twice. The web browser itself supplies that kind of navigation. My comment was that the arrows are confusing because they symbolize linear navigation which is not a good way to go. I`m not suggesting your site map be one straight line of pages. What I suggest is to do away with the arrows and have more links (buttons or plain text) that can take you to the various pages on the site. Understanding you don`t have a lot of technical skill, you still know enough to create a set of links to navigate around the site from any page. I hope that made a little more sense.
     
    Perfect sense...figures...I liked the arrows...lol...but it`s not what I like, but what will draw in and keep potential customers.
     
    Thanks for the tips...
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    Some of the buttons worked quickly. Others, like the "Prints & More" took forever to load. Then, when I got to that page, I clicked on an image and it too, took a very long time to load.I get the idea that you don`t have a lot of money for a developer. But the problems you`re dealing with are about how to make pages load faster, how to make the site design pleasing to the viewer, and so forth.In my opinion, rather than going for clever gimmicks as you`re learning how to code a site, go with something easier to use instead. After all, what do you want to do for the rest of your life---be a Web page developer or a photographer?There wasn`t any written content to make you a person, to make you interesting, or to build a relationship with me as I looked at the site. It was "just another image gallery" from what I saw. Personally, I think you`d do much better to use a basic template for the site, but spend your time writing better and better, interesting content. Not many people really care that much about the aesthetics of the site, excepting when they`re really annoying. Instead, I think people are captured by the meaning of the words they`re reading. Someone, a while back, brought out two basic concepts for a Web site:

    Customer journey -- the path you lead the viewer to follow as they enter your site,
    Call to action -- the stop points throughout the site where you try to engage the viewer in some way.
    I see neither concept really taking place on the site. It`s partly the big buttons, but they`re not all that terrible. It`s that they`re taking the place of the actual content. Even so, why am I looking at that content? See?
     
    The more image content I have, the longer it takes to load....so the store page and the samples pages seem to take a bit.
     
    The information about me is on the artist page...I`m considering having the main page the "Artist page with some images around the edges...
     
    Or, perhaps...the artist page as the main page with a basic menu to the left to reach store and sample pages.....thoughts?
     
    I really appreciate the time and thought you guys are putting into this. Thank you.
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  • KrazEricKrazEric subscriber Posts: 1
    Sales and awareness of my work...
     
    I get the point....don`t focus on the tricks and BS....focus on what it`s really for..the business and the work...
     
    Thanks...I am working on a few ideas now...but it will take some time....I`m not speedy at this stuff...particularly when what time I have is limited...but you guys really gave me some food for thought and good advice!
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