# New website for Photography & Photo Printing



## FavillePhoto (Aug 12, 2009)

Hi everyone.

I recently put up a new website for my business.  We offer photography, large format giclee printing, custom framing, matting, photo editing and graphic design.  Many services available.

Why I'm here posting about this....

I'd like some advice from any of you that would like to offer some.  Would you take a look at the site, and let me know if it flows well, if the design is alright, if the layout is good.  Do I need to add links?  Change links?  Add information or content?  Remove information?  More photos, less photos?

Basically, anything and everything you guys can think of about the website.  Up until now we've only done local business and advertising.  Our business is doing well, but we're looking to expand online and have a web presence that helps bring us more business, or at least supplement our local business by offering more convenient information.

Any criticism is appreciated.  Give me your thoughts and ideas so I can make the necessary changes.

Thanks everyone!

The website is Faville Photo - Giclee Printing


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## dlgbzh (Aug 12, 2009)

Hello,

my first impression is that there is too much text on the homepage and the actual products and services are too many clicks away. Remember that the homepage is the most important, and to get the attention of your visitors, it's often best to opt for meaningful graphics or images with a few words that catch the attention rather than a lot of text.

Best regards,

Denis
viaterra.net : greeting cards, posters and JPEGs


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks for the input. My thought was that it's good for search engines to have alot of content to use for keywords... Thats why I put alot of info on the homepage, so google could read through it and hopefully help my page rank higher in different searches.

What would you think if I cut out some of the content and made each section a little shorter, and added an image to go with each section? Would that help the layout of the home page a little better?


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## Psyentific (Aug 12, 2009)

There is way too much info on the first page.  I don't want to read an essay in order to decide if I am going to do business with you.

The front page should be clear and concise.  The next click I make should be an obvious choice within three seconds of my visit.


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## tirediron (Aug 12, 2009)

Psyentific said:


> There is way too much info on the first page. I don't want to read an essay in order to decide if I am going to do business with you.
> 
> The front page should be clear and concise. The next click I make should be an obvious choice within three seconds of my visit.


 
Agreed.  Keep your pages, ESPECIALLY your home page to a max of 1024x768.  All of the 'Google' info can be incorporated into your keywords when you do your SEO.  I'd also drop the 'Giclee' thing; let's face it:  It's a made-up word that (1) Sounds pretentious and (2) is likely only going to confuse a lot of people.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks again.  The concensus seems to be to reduce the info on the home page.  I'll work on dropping alot of that information and incorporating some images to help punch it up.

As far as the giclee thing.  With all due respect, I'm going to leave it.  I have google analytics following search terms that lead people to my site, and giclee is my best keyword.  Alot of people use giclee to find my site.

Thank you for the advice on the home page.  I will work on rectifying how much info is on there.

Are there any other suggestions about stuff aside from the home page?  Do I need to edit other pages or sections of the site, or do they look good?

Thanks again everyone.


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## c.cloudwalker (Aug 12, 2009)

Way, way too much text on the home page. You do not need that much text to get all the right words in there. If not sure how to do it, talk to a serious web designer.

As far as "giclee" is concerned, I agree with you 100%. One, it is not a made up word (it's french). Two, it is not pretentious, just the name of a high quality printing technique. And three, it is not confusing to anyone who knows about the different printing techniques out there.

The rest of the site is also way too wordy. People don't read. And again, you don't need all that text to get the right words in. The menu works nicely as it takes you to a page with not too much text. But the red links, way too much text. Maybe get rid of the links and let people navigate from the menu. Then, in those sub pages, put links for whatever needs more text.

Good luck.


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## KmH (Aug 12, 2009)

Yes, Google's crawler looks for content, but first it looks at your metadata, second it looks for quality links, and then it looks for content.

Your business name gets lost in the banner. Consider changing it to white with a black drop shadow.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks guys for the 2 new posts.  More good information.  I think you're right about the home page...

I've already begun changing it up.  I'm going to cut WAY back on the text and just offer a couple pictures or something up there.  That way the focus will lie on the menu at the top, and I think my navigation links are pretty clear about where they'll take the customer.

And, thanks for your support about the "Giclee" =]

Lastly, I'll have Jessica take a look at revising the logo at the top.

I appreciate all the help guys.  All good advice and I'd love to hear some more opinions!


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## c.cloudwalker (Aug 12, 2009)

Well, say hi to Jessica from me. But why do you want to revise the banner? To me it is not really a logo but it's colorful, it's readable, and I didn't notice anyone wanting to change it.

What I would pay close attention to however is the english. I've only looked at a few pages but I saw some grammar problems and some overall bad english. Now, it's ok to not be the best writer and that is why there are editors. Find yourself a couple of people who are very good with english and ask them to edit the text for you. No shame in it. Even the best writers have editors.

The reason I mention it is because bad english annoys me and I tend to move on if there are to many problems on a website. And I doubt I am the only one like that.

That said, best of luck with your business. I may well give you a try. Especially if you send me a discount coupon for all the great advice :lmao:


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 13, 2009)

Hahah, yeah, I'm not the best writer.  Math was my strong subject.  My father in law is actually an english major, so I will have him look over the text to see what kind of errors he can find and correct for me.  I think if I reduce the amount of text on the site as many people have suggested, this will probably be a smaller problem anyway.

Keith, above, had mentioned that the business name is lost in the logo, that's why I was going to have Jessica look at it.  I like it.  It's colorful and it's still readable, but, if we can punch up the name just a little bit to make it stand out a little more, that would be fine.  I'm not going to go changing it.  Just make the text a little easier to read - Especially on darker monitors, I can understand that it might blend in a little bit.

As far as discounts are concerned, anyone on this post can have 10% off their first order for the help you've given me - Just mention it when you call or e-mail.  Cloudwalker, you can have 15% since you brought it up.  And, we're also running a contest right now where you can enter a drawing for 20 dollars off a 50 dollar order. It's at the top right of the home page.  

Thanks again for the help everyone.  If you notice anything else, please keep it coming.  I like the constructive criticism, and I feel like I'm going to implement alot of these changes and come out with a much better site.


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## rufus5150 (Aug 13, 2009)

1) There aren't just some grammar problems, the text is rife with them. Get a copy editor. Hire one. 

2) Figure out a way to be able to send and receive email with your own domain. Businesses with @gmail accounts can appear to be fly-by-night operations. It's better than hotmail or yahoo, but screams 'unprofessional'.

3) It looks like a blog, not a commercial website. That layout is pretty common and you'll need to bump it to the next level to get a more profesisonal look.

4) I understand the 'color wins a coupon' thing, but the link color, with the 'green wins today'  with the background, etc... it's busy. Really Really busy.

5) You take user information for a drawing. You _must_ have a privacy policy and you _must_ post a link near where you take their information in. 

6) Your rollover links in the sidebar are gray on hover, which is really, really hard to read on the gray background.

7) Bullets on your event updates are blocky and giant and wholly unattractive. The font on the date is almost unreable (gray on gray again)

8) Helpful hints -- you have 2 non-links there. Remove them until you have content.

A very interesting product. I'd be interested in investigating this but the site would turn me off esp vis a vis the 'graphic design' services. I would expect a better asethetic from someone offering such services.


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## tirediron (Aug 13, 2009)

c.cloudwalker said:


> As far as "giclee" is concerned, I agree with you 100%. One, it is not a made up word (it's french).


 
Okay, point taken. The _word_ is not made-up, however we have attributed to it, an arbitrary meaning.




			
				c.cloudwalker said:
			
		

> Two, it is not pretentious, just the name of a *high quality printing technique*.


 
Maybe, maybe not. Anyone with a $20 inkjet printer can say that they are offering "giclee" prints.



			
				c.cloudwalker said:
			
		

> And three, *it is not confusing to anyone who knows about the different printing techniques* out there.


 
True, but how many of people visiting the website are going to know the term? Customers want prints; they don't care how they're made (generally).

Most definitely have it in your keywords for SEO purposes, and perhaps even in the body of the page in the _"... also referred to as giclee printing_" context. I took a quick poll in my office; (seven people - no photographers) none of them had heard of the term, nor were aware of its meaning. 

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 13, 2009)

Rufus,

I liked the line by line issues.  Thanks for being specific and pointing things out - I will try to address all of the issues you brought up.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 13, 2009)

And Tirediron,

My main audience is actually other artists and photographers that I want to offer services to.  I do work for the general public, but alot of professionals as well - Who should all know the term Giclee.

In addition, I just checked my google search terms that yielded clicks to my site for yesterday, and 4 out of the top 5 included "giclee" in the search.  It's a keeper.


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## tirediron (Aug 13, 2009)

FavillePhoto said:


> And Tirediron,
> 
> My main audience is actually other artists and photographers that I want to offer services to. I do work for the general public, but alot of professionals as well - Who should all know the term Giclee.
> 
> In addition, I just checked my google search terms that yielded clicks to my site for yesterday, and 4 out of the top 5 included "giclee" in the search. It's a keeper.


 
Good enough.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 13, 2009)

tirediron said:


> Good enough.


 
I appreciate the input, though.  No offense.  I just have to keep it because I'm getting good responses with that keyword.

For everyone else, I'm working on revising the home page today, I'll put up another post when it's published so you can look at it and see if I made any improvements.

Thanks for the input, keep them coming if you notice anything else I should revise.


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## tirediron (Aug 13, 2009)

FavillePhoto said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Good enough.
> ...


 
None taken - it's all about opinion.  Best o' luck!


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## c.cloudwalker (Aug 13, 2009)

tirediron said:


> c.cloudwalker said:
> 
> 
> > As far as "giclee" is concerned, I agree with you 100%. One, it is not a made up word (it's french).
> ...




No offense was intended. As a painter I had to learn about the different techniques offered for prints because when you reach a certain level in price, well, you tend to sell more prints than actual paintings.  Today, all of my prints are Giclee and I don't do them at home.

Giclee is a very specific type of printing technique (not something you can do on your $20 printer) and I knew why the Op didn't want to get rid of the word. The customers he is looking for are the ones wanting Giclee and they know the meaning of the word.

People who just happen on his site and don't know the word will move on and that's it. But his customer base are people who do care how the prints are made and I though it was a good opportunity to make some members aware of this technique.


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## c.cloudwalker (Aug 13, 2009)

FavillePhoto said:


> Hahah, yeah, I'm not the best writer.  Math was my strong subject.  My father in law is actually an english major, so I will have him look over the text to see what kind of errors he can find and correct for me.  I think if I reduce the amount of text on the site as many people have suggested, this will probably be a smaller problem anyway.
> 
> Keith, above, had mentioned that the business name is lost in the logo, that's why I was going to have Jessica look at it.  I like it.  It's colorful and it's still readable, but, if we can punch up the name just a little bit to make it stand out a little more, that would be fine.  I'm not going to go changing it.  Just make the text a little easier to read - Especially on darker monitors, I can understand that it might blend in a little bit.
> 
> ...



Try and run your text by more than one person. Even if one of them is a professional editor. People get tired, people have bad days, etc. And it is not always the pro who catch the "bads." Not only that but once you've made the corrections, run the text by them again. You'll be surprised!

Thanks for the discount (special one for me, I feel special ) I thought you should take advantage of being on a site where some people could be interested in what you sell with some kind of promo.

You're welcome for the help. Don't forget to come back and run the site by us again when you have made the changes.

Cheers.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 13, 2009)

c.cloudwalker said:


> Try and run your text by more than one person. Even if one of them is a professional editor. People get tired, people have bad days, etc. And it is not always the pro who catch the "bads." Not only that but once you've made the corrections, run the text by them again. You'll be surprised!
> 
> Thanks for the discount (special one for me, I feel special ) I thought you should take advantage of being on a site where some people could be interested in what you sell with some kind of promo.
> 
> ...


 

I'm having a couple of people I know comb through the site right now, and within the next few days, I'll hopefully be correcting any mistakes we can find.  I've been working on revising the site according to many of your suggestions.  Everything that you all have said has been very helpful, and I appreciate your time and effort.

And, thanks for the advice about the promo too.  That's understandable.  Part of the reason why I'm on these forums in the first place is because you guys are my potential future clients.  So, I want to create a site that appeals to you.  If you like it, then my potential future clients will like it too.

The promo is in effect.  Anyone who needs anything, simply mention the photo forum and the 10% coupon.

And, in the meantime while I'm working on revising the site, please don't let the "unprofessional" feel of the site discourage you.  We're great at giclee printing - we're just not web designers.


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## c.cloudwalker (Aug 13, 2009)

FavillePhoto said:


> c.cloudwalker said:
> 
> 
> > Try and run your text by more than one person. Even if one of them is a professional editor. People get tired, people have bad days, etc. And it is not always the pro who catch the "bads." Not only that but once you've made the corrections, run the text by them again. You'll be surprised!
> ...



:thumbup:


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## SanDiegoPhotographer (Aug 14, 2009)

The website looks like its got a lot of good content, but I am going to agree with everyone else here and say there is too much and it gets distracting. I know you mentioned you did this for Google, but keep in mind that its not Google and their bots buying your services its the people actually landing on your page. Always make your customers your number one priority and design for them not the search engines.


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 19, 2009)

Hey everyone.  I'm back.  Spent the last few days implementing a couple of changes - mostly to the home page.  I have a couple of other projects going on on some other pages as well.

Please let me know whether the new home page is better or worse than before. Instead of making all of the articles scroll down the page and just look overwhelming, I added in some small thumbnails to add some flare to the page, and I only displayed a sentence or two of the article.  The viewer can click to read the rest of the article if he/she is interested.  This design better?  Can I expand on it more?

Please disregard any "grammatical errors" that these articles are "rife" with.  I'm still working on editing the content.

Please, any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

-John


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## FavillePhoto (Aug 19, 2009)

Oh, just in case you've gotten this far and you dont want to go back to the first page to link to the site, here's the link again: Faville Photo - Giclee Printing


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