# Website | I Finally Nailed It | Thoughts?



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

I completely changed my site. Everything. I think... I nailed it. The blogs more seamless, links are better, gallery's are simpler, etc. What do YOU think?

Red Skies Photography

Cheers!
Jake


----------



## lambertpix (Oct 10, 2014)

"_Banner images provided by Classic Sailing or GollyGforce, for demo purposes only. _Powered by Squarespace"

??


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

lambertpix said:


> "_Banner images provided by Classic Sailing or GollyGforce, for demo purposes only. _Powered by Squarespace"
> 
> ??



Crap! I meant to remove that...


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

lambertpix said:


> "_Banner images provided by Classic Sailing or GollyGforce, for demo purposes only. _Powered by Squarespace"
> 
> ??



Fixed!


----------



## astroNikon (Oct 10, 2014)

one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
If rocks & water are booking you alot, then it's fine.
If you think weddings, then I'd post a wedding photo there or at least a "people" photo


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
> If rocks & water are booking you alot, then it's fine.
> If you think weddings, then I'd post a wedding photo there or at least a "people" photo



Seems like a good idea.. Or maybe a quick gallery with 1 from every genre I do?


----------



## astroNikon (Oct 10, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> astroNikon said:
> 
> 
> > one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
> ...


if you try that make sure non-people photos are followed by a people photo.  so only one non-ppl photo in a row.  Cuz ppl are more interested in people


----------



## lambertpix (Oct 10, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> lambertpix said:
> 
> 
> > "_Banner images provided by Classic Sailing or GollyGforce, for demo purposes only. _Powered by Squarespace"
> ...



Better.  It is a nice, clean look -- very easy to navigate.  Simple & professional.  Maybe a rotating picture on the front page (one of "x" randomly each time it loads), or something along those lines, or like Astro mentioned, just a good sample in your target.


----------



## Scatterbrained (Oct 10, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
> If rocks & water are booking you alot, then it's fine.
> If you think weddings, then I'd post a wedding photo there or at least a "people" photo


This.   Are you trying to just show off your images with this site or generate business?  If you're trying to generate business you need to target the page toward your market.   Are you trying to sell fine art landscapes, or are you trying to book weddings and portrait sessions?  The two generally don't overlap.


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> astroNikon said:
> 
> 
> > one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
> ...




Yeah, that does make sense. I *want* to show off, but I should really market instead.  Haha.


----------



## Scatterbrained (Oct 10, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> Scatterbrained said:
> 
> 
> > astroNikon said:
> ...


Yeah.  It's sorta like the phrase "you don't go to a steak house for the chicken"


----------



## astroNikon (Oct 10, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> astroNikon said:
> 
> 
> > one recommendation - on your main page use the primary target market type photo on it
> ...


yeah, he's proud of all of his landscape work
but the rocks don't pay as well as people.

flip you menu over too and put Wedding & People as the first 2 selections


----------



## xzyragon (Oct 10, 2014)

To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.

-feather images into the background instead of sharp boxes.  Or shadows.  Or a combo.  Just not stark outlines
-opaque images as a background instead of flat white
-I'd choose a better font for your name instead of Arial?
-"The Work" should take you to a portfolio page instead of the front splash page, to fit the theme of the other buttons
-Make scrolling through images do-able with the arrow keys
-Give your categories a theme ("People | Places | Parties | Portraits" or "Action | Art | Adventure | Abstract ")
-Have the splash page be a blog, but don't show the blog when browsing the galleries (could distract from the pictures)

Granted these are just suggestions.  Still loads farther than I've made it with my own site right now haha


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

xzyragon said:


> To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.
> 
> -feather images into the background instead of sharp boxes.  Or shadows.  Or a combo.  Just not stark outlines
> -opaque images as a background instead of flat white
> ...



Yeah, it's an ever evolving site. Not sure I can do the arrow things though... Wish I could.


----------



## xzyragon (Oct 10, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> xzyragon said:
> 
> 
> > To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.
> ...



Are you writing it yourself / learning a language?


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

xzyragon said:


> D-B-J said:
> 
> 
> > xzyragon said:
> ...



No it's all through square space


----------



## astroNikon (Oct 10, 2014)

xzyragon said:


> To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.
> 
> -feather images into the background instead of sharp boxes.  Or shadows.  Or a combo.  Just not stark outlines
> -opaque images as a background instead of flat white
> ...


It's alot better than his last one.  I kinda like it's simplicity.


----------



## CameraClicker (Oct 10, 2014)

xzyragon said:


> To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.
> 
> -feather images into the background instead of sharp boxes.  Or shadows.  Or a combo.  Just not stark outlines
> -opaque images as a background instead of flat white
> ...



What is it you don't like about Arial?  What would you recommend instead?

Someone else commented that if people are talking about your page layout, instead of your photos, you have a problem.

I don't know if it will help D-B-J, my page is written entirely in HTML, so to add arrow keys, this works:

<script>
// Listen for when the user presses a key down

  window.addEventListener("keydown", keyDownHandler, true);

 // Here we just handle command keys
  function keyDownHandler(event){

  // get which key the user pressed
  var key=event.which;

  // Let keypress handle displayable characters
  if(key>46){ return; }

  switch(key){
  case 37:  // left key
          window.location="./2014-01-04_14-08-26_IMG_6502.htm"
  break;

  case 39:  // right key
          window.location="./2014-01-04_14-10-34_IMG_6542.htm"
  break;

  default:
  break;
  }
  }
</script>

** and of course the formatting is gone when it copies into the reply window!


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 10, 2014)

CameraClicker said:


> xzyragon said:
> 
> 
> > To be honest, the website is meh.  Granted I'm a software developer getting into web design, but there's definitely places where it could be made flashier.
> ...



No it's squarespace, and I have no idea how to make an edit like that.


----------



## Tabe (Oct 21, 2014)

I tried to view the site but, for whatever reason, my company's web filter thinks it's a porn site


----------



## D-B-J (Oct 21, 2014)

Tabe said:


> I tried to view the site but, for whatever reason, my company's web filter thinks it's a porn site



I can promise it's not [emoji106]


----------



## chuasam (Dec 24, 2014)

if you mean to sell photos, does your website provider have a cart system to sell images? Something like the sort photoshelter has.


----------



## Ilovemycam (Dec 24, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> I completely changed my site. Everything. I think... I nailed it. The blogs more seamless, links are better, gallery's are simpler, etc. What do YOU think?
> 
> Red Skies Photography
> 
> ...


 

Would not load for me. I got bored after 20 sec or so.


----------



## D-B-J (Dec 24, 2014)

chuasam said:


> if you mean to sell photos, does your website provider have a cart system to sell images? Something like the sort photoshelter has.



It does, but I currently don't have it set up. After the first of the year I will [emoji106][emoji106]


----------



## D-B-J (Jan 1, 2015)

Jeremy Sandow said:


> I would include an opt-in form on your site (where you give something away in exchange for an email address).  You have one at the bottom right of the site, but it only says "get updates" which isn't really powerful enough for people to want to do it.  What I would do is have it say "The top 5 things you MUST know before hiring a photographer" then put together a short little report that goes over some important things to look for when hiring a photographer.  They can download it when they enter their email. This is important because now you know the people who download it are interested in hiring a photographer, and now you can market your services to them through their email.  It's fairly easy to set up with a service like aweber.com and definitely worth it!




OOOOH good idea!


----------

