# My turn, website feedback



## Nwcid (Jul 4, 2018)

I decided that it was finally time to do something with my photography at the end of last year.  January 1st I started working on a business.  I have all my paperwork in order, licenses, tax, bank accounts, ect for the business.  

My original plan was to sell prints of my work with no real intention of shooting events/people/ect.  I have been getting a lot of word of mouth practice in and even 1 paid gig so far. 

I launched my site on March 5th, so we are coming up on 4 months.  I have made several updates and changes since I started it.  In 2 weeks I have a booth at a local outdoor event and I have about 20 pieces of my work there for sale.  I plan on doing some local advertising before the event and would appreciate some feedback on my website before doing this.

One of the areas that I am struggling with is phrasing in my "services" section.  I still have a real full time job, working out of town, so my time for appointments is limited.  I realize that is a challenge, but how can I improve the wording?

My site is in my signature if you want to look.  Thank you for your time.


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## JonA_CT (Jul 4, 2018)

Nwcid said:


> I decided that it was finally time to do something with my photography at the end of last year.  January 1st I started working on a business.  I have all my paperwork in order, licenses, tax, bank accounts, ect for the business.
> 
> My original plan was to sell prints of my work with no real intention of shooting events/people/ect.  I have been getting a lot of word of mouth practice in and even 1 paid gig so far.
> 
> ...



Post it in your post, too...

I’m on my phone and signatures don’t show up, so I can’t take a look.


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## zombiesniper (Jul 4, 2018)

I'm going to start by stating this is all personal opinion based on my preferences. You may disagree with what I say and that's okay.
Overall I normally like a clean layout with well defined links and no extra stuff to get in the way.

The home page is difficult to read with that background. I think you knew this since you put a green banner on the bottom to be able to see the info down there.

There is no home bottom on any of the other pages, making navigating back a pain.


Store needs work.

On the main page I instinctively scrolled down and found images. Then my brain replayed the barley visible "view photos". So I clicked it thinking it would take me to different photos........nope. Right where I just was, scrolled one screen down. I recommend letting the user scroll or even better remove that large image and just get to the purchase gallery.

I clicked on an item to buy but the quantity info doesn't change. I had no idea what I had in my cart until I hit view cart.

More Section

Normally the "About" and "Bio" are the same thing. Since your "About" is non functional remove it. This basically goes for any part of the site that is not up and running. "Under construction" pages make the site look amateurish.

Portfolio vs Services.

This one may be just me but if I'm shopping for a portrait/people photographer I will shop for the one that focuses on people, not the one that seems to shoot everything.
If "Forgotten Thing" etc.  is a service you would like to offer great. If not. It's only going to drive some business away. Photography is an expensive luxury item. When people are willing to spend the extra on quality, they don't normally want the brand that does the general stuff. They want the brand that specializes in what they want.
I won't spend top dollar on a Casio watch since it's not their main focus but I would love to own an Omega.
If you wish to sell prints in the store, fine. Sell them there but don't list them in the portfolio.

Load times.
I'm at work on a less that speedy network so load times are between 3-10 seconds. I know at home this would be under 1 second. However you may have clients that are on similar speeds. All the animations and large image backgrounds add to load times.

Hope this helps some.


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## Nwcid (Jul 4, 2018)

JonA_CT said:


> Post it in your post, too...
> 
> I’m on my phone and signatures don’t show up, so I can’t take a look.



Look at that, already some feedback 

https://jbnokesphotography.com/


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## Nwcid (Jul 4, 2018)

zombiesniper said:


> I'm going to start by stating this is all personal opinion based on my preferences. You may disagree with what I say and that's okay.
> 
> Hope this helps some.



Lots of good points on here.  I will look at it and see what I can do about some of it.  I am not super happy with some of the store features, but I am limited to what it allows me to do.  I will be playing with it today and follow up more when I do.


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## zombiesniper (Jul 4, 2018)

Excellent.

The only thing else I see is your bio tells about you and some of the hard things you've had to see.
Prospective clients want a happy uplifting bio that tells them that you want to work with them to get that next great family moment.


I was in the Navy and have seen many things I'd rather forget but none of that would ever be revealed to anyone I was shooting for.


Here's mine as an example.

*About Trevor Baldwin*

I'm a pet and portrait photographer living in Angus, Ontario.

By day I'm a military contractor with a wife, two beautiful children and a hyperactive dog, but by night or weekend or really whenever you need me,  I'm a camera wielding, memory capturing photographer aiming to provide that next family masterpiece.

My interest in photography began while serving in the Navy. Traveling the world made me realize I needed to record the places I've seen. Starting with travel, then wildlife photography I soon found myself loving studio work so the progression to pet and portrait photography was natural.

I really enjoy working behind the camera. Whether in my studio or on location I would love to work with you.


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## Nwcid (Jul 6, 2018)

zombiesniper said:


> I'm going to start by stating this is all personal opinion based on my preferences. You may disagree with what I say and that's okay.
> Overall I normally like a clean layout with well defined links and no extra stuff to get in the way.
> 
> The home page is difficult to read with that background. I think you knew this since you put a green banner on the bottom to be able to see the info down there.
> ...



Can I ask what your are viewing this on?  The top bar has a "home" button on it, if viewed as a website, or on a mobile device it is on the navigation "button".  I have tried this on several computers, tablets and phones and not seen this issue.




> Store needs work.
> 
> On the main page I instinctively scrolled down and found images. Then my brain replayed the barley visible "view photos". So I clicked it thinking it would take me to different photos........nope. Right where I just was, scrolled one screen down. I recommend letting the user scroll or even better remove that large image and just get to the purchase gallery.
> 
> I clicked on an item to buy but the quantity info doesn't change. I had no idea what I had in my cart until I hit view cart.



I agree and overall have some challenges with the way it works.  Unfortunately that is what I am limited to.  As I progress, it will be one of the things high on my priority to change.  First I have to find a "store" function that will do what I want it to do.



> More Section
> 
> Normally the "About" and "Bio" are the same thing. Since your "About" is non functional remove it. This basically goes for any part of the site that is not up and running. "Under construction" pages make the site look amateurish.



I think this comes back to what you are viewing it on, which is why I ask.  I do not have a "more" tab, it only shows up as an auto feature when needed.  In my "about" section I have 3 sub categories; Contact, BIO and FAQ.

I have removed the "under construction", you make a very solid point.



> Portfolio vs Services.
> 
> This one may be just me but if I'm shopping for a portrait/people photographer I will shop for the one that focuses on people, not the one that seems to shoot everything.
> If "Forgotten Thing" etc.  is a service you would like to offer great. If not. It's only going to drive some business away. Photography is an expensive luxury item. When people are willing to spend the extra on quality, they don't normally want the brand that does the general stuff. They want the brand that specializes in what they want.
> ...



This is an area I am going to have to decide where I want to go and what I want to focus on.  You have some very valid points.  When I originally started out (not that long ago), I had not really planned on doing "people" photography, just working on landscape, nature, public safety, ect.  Then I got asked to do some people work, and it has kind of grown on me. 



> Load times.
> I'm at work on a less that speedy network so load times are between 3-10 seconds. I know at home this would be under 1 second. However you may have clients that are on similar speeds. All the animations and large image backgrounds add to load times.
> 
> Hope this helps some.



Load times are defiantly a huge concern.  I will have to see about reducing some of the file sizes.  I have been trying to put quality images up.  I often see people in my area who are photographers post images on social media that leave a lot to be desired in image quality.

This helps a ton as I have done this all from scratch.  It has just been a very busy time at work and I still have about 10-12 more hours to go.......


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## zombiesniper (Jul 6, 2018)

Nwcid said:


> Can I ask what your are viewing this on?


Some of these viewing problems seem to be from Internet explorer (work computer) which is what I was initially viewing on. When I was at home Safari the site banner performs as you describe. I had though you had made changes but now that I'm at work back on a slower network and IE again it is back to the previous viewing issues.


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## Ran Van (Jul 12, 2018)

Many People already given you best feedbacks, apart from that i can say it "Keep posting on your blog"


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