Updated Website, looking for feedback.

CanonBenny

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2 Mar 2011 - 2:41 PM

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Hi,

I have owned my website for about a year and have just recently updated the colour scheme and layout.

www.bbphotographysouthwest.co.uk

Pleasen have a look round and let me know your thoughts.

Regards

Bruce

whipspeed (e2 Member)

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2 Mar 2011 - 3:42 PM

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I think that as photographers we are used to seeing photium and other template sites. But customers in the main are not and from the feedback I've had over the past few years is that they like the simplicity of the site and the ease of use, which as a customer they want, some have come from other sites, which are apparently too difficult to look round and order from, they just want to be able to see the shot and order.

CanonBenny

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2 Mar 2011 - 4:05 PM

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Quote: I think that as photographers we are used to seeing photium and other template sites. But customers in the main are not and from the feedback I've had over the past few years is that they like the simplicity of the site and the ease of use, which as a customer they want, some have come from other sites, which are apparently too difficult to look round and order from, they just want to be able to see the shot and order.

I especially like the "they just want to be able to see the shot and order" bit.

We forget, sometimes, about what the customers' would like, thanks for your comments.

Regards

Bruce

CanonBenny

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2 Mar 2011 - 5:15 PM

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Quote: As far as the Photium look is concerned I think it works well so wouldn't change that.

However, there are other aspects of your site that you may want to rethink - particularly if you wish it to have commercial appeal.

Your site doesn't seem to have a clear purpose. It seems to have commercial aspirations, but is getting distracted with things that I feel have little relevance. For example, if it is a commercial venture does it help to have a history of the cameras you have used? To my way of thinking it is an irrelevance and possibly detrimental - as a potential purchaser I should only care about the image, but I am now thinking that maybe the image was taken with your Panasonic Bridge Camera and surely that isn't the tool of a professional. Now you and I know that great images can be captured on any type of camera, but does the average buyer also think this way. I personally would stay silent on the matter - the buyer will just see great images and just assume you used top quality kit.

It also seems that all your images are for sale - yet many of them I feel have no relevance to casual viewers. By all means set up private galleries which people can access via password protection, but should just anyone be able to (or want to) buy a portrait of Katie and Jacob (also there is a question of whether you may have obtained the necessary releases) - something I would say is essential for such images.

Another example is the wedding gallery - this is, in my opinion, most definitely something that should be a private gallery. You may agree with the bride and groom that you can use some images for promotional purposes to demonstrate your capabilities, but I wouldn't expect any member of the public to just come along and buy a picture of a wedding of people they don't know.

Another thing to watch out for is the language you use. It may be a bit pedantic, but you have a heading "About Us" - yet the content is about you and not "Us" at all. Should the heading be "About Me".

Although I have been a bit critical, there is much to admire in your site, and I know that my own site is far from perfect. As I have learned more and more about what works, so I have concluded that less is often more - let your images do most of the talking and only add words where they are needed to help the customer.

Please take what you will from my comments - they are intended to be helpful, not just critical.

John

Thank you John for your comments, there is a lot of useful information there for me, much appreciated. As for the pictures of Katie and Jacob, I am their father so I give permission to use their images

Your in depth critique will definately be taken on board and used.

Kind Regards

Bruce

ade_mcfade

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3 Mar 2011 - 8:47 AM

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Has anyone mentioned red?

quite an aggressive colour

maybe something more approachable like green or orange would look less abrasive?

ade_mcfade

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3 Mar 2011 - 9:17 AM

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it does stand out and I was going to use it as my logo, but on researching colours, its seen as quite an abrasive colours - you see it on de-greasers in garages and places like that.

On a black background, yellow will stand out hugely, light green and bright orange will also really ping out of the screen.

I'm sure its just a quick tweak with the style sheet settings, so give it a quick try - see how the feel changes, if you prefer red still then go for it. doesn't look bad at all

ade_mcfade

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3 Mar 2011 - 9:26 AM

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yeah it is, lots of companies have blue logos - you'd have to go quite bright on a black background though, maybe cyan or something as bright as that.

CanonBenny

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4 Mar 2011 - 9:21 AM

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Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I have made a few changes with the suggestions made.

1. Have changed the use of red on black to green on black.

2. The 'About Us' is now about me. (had to create a new page specifically called 'About Me' as photium's standard is 'About Us' and I couldn't find how to change it).

3. 'Contact Us' is now 'Contact Me', the same had to be done as mentioned above.

4. I have removed the buying capabilities on my portraiture and wedding portfolios. I might even start a new site specific to that side of my photography, with passworded galleries for my clients.

5. I have reworded the homepage to remove my camera history, more straight to the point and professional.

Please have a look and see if it's an improvement.

Regards

Bruce