# Website critique please



## MOREGONE (Nov 9, 2012)

Hello,

So when I first started my photography I instantly felt my website was as much of a priority as my photography and starting working on the two together. I realized how much I have to learn in photography and focused on that for awhile now. I haven't really updated my or added content to my website for a few months now, and have a lot more images that I would like to put up, while taking others down.

Before I get to sprucing it up, I wanted to receive some feedback in hopes that I can incorporate it into my updates. 

Thanks - Morgan

MOREGONE Photography of Tempe, AZ


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## MLeeK (Nov 9, 2012)

When I load it there are 3 of the images at the very bottom row. They don't fit on the screen and I can't scroll to them. I like the initial look of it and how when I scroll over an image it lights up. Beyond that it seems really confusing and messy. If I click just portrait gallery I get Jordan. I am not sure why you are showing images there that are much larger than the backdrop they're shot against. Maybe photographers are the only ones who will notice. If I click what I THOUGHT would be a back or go to something box on the right of the image it takes me to the image in your flickr. That I wouldn't want to happen. 
I know you have other galleries, but I don't know where they are. I accidentally ended up in one from the first page. 
I clicked Newborns and it took me to "harnessing light" Not a newborn. 
WHen I get to any gallery but Jordan I get thumbnails to the left to tell me I can scroll thru. Jordan I discovered there were more by hovering over him


I really wanted to like the design but it's REALLY messy and REALLY confusing. Can you simplify somewhat?


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## mommyof4qteez (Nov 9, 2012)

MLeeK said:
			
		

> When I load it there are 3 of the images at the very bottom row. They don't fit on the screen and I can't scroll to them. I like the initial look of it and how when I scroll over an image it lights up. Beyond that it seems really confusing and messy. If I click just portrait gallery I get Jordan. I am not sure why you are showing images there that are much larger than the backdrop they're shot against. Maybe photographers are the only ones who will notice. If I click what I THOUGHT would be a back or go to something box on the right of the image it takes me to the image in your flickr. That I wouldn't want to happen.
> I know you have other galleries, but I don't know where they are. I accidentally ended up in one from the first page.
> I clicked Newborns and it took me to "harnessing light" Not a newborn.
> WHen I get to any gallery but Jordan I get thumbnails to the left to tell me I can scroll thru. Jordan I discovered there were more by hovering over him
> ...



^ what he said ;-)


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## janineh (Nov 10, 2012)

mommyof4qteez said:


> MLeeK said:
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agree


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## SCraig (Nov 10, 2012)

mommyof4qteez said:


> MLeeK said:
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> ...



Agreed, except it's what SHE said ...

Also, the three icons for Facebook or Twitter, or whatever they are, that move as the page is scrolled are really annoying.  When I scroll a page I don't want to see anything staying where it was.  The first thing I do when I see stuff like that is block it so I never see it again.  Personally I'd make them static at the bottom of the page.


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## MOREGONE (Nov 10, 2012)

Hello,


Th three bottom images just show I do not have it full of content yet. Its a wordpress theme and each posts featured image gets placed on the homepage. So as I add content, the bottom row will fill across. I know some of the frames show the background, those are some of the ones I plan to take down. Started this when I was pretty knew with photography. Trying to stretch out my little images. Thanks for pointing out the issue with the newborn gallery. I plan to change the way galleiries display, to how I have the Instagram gallery HERE. The categories I keep after the update will all use this gallery type (and have only correct tags show up).

Thanks for the feedback


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## AlexanderB (Nov 10, 2012)

The site looks, eh, underexposed. You are relying on mouse hover to highlight the photos but what about devices without a mouse pointer concept, like iPad? The animation of the social network buttons is really annoying. Just my 2 cents.


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## runnah (Nov 14, 2012)

Pros:
1. I like the use of jquery over flash
2. Your logo is nice
3. It has a very sleek presentation that highlight the images well.

Cons:
1. The facebook logo animation is cute...once
2. In smaller browser windows it doesn't scroll vertically
3. Flash image viewers won't work on most mobile devices.
4. The jquery stuff its nice but again browser compatibility will be an issue for older browsers
5. The simpleviewer takes a while to load. May want to use smaller images size or use a different viewer that will load one image at time rather than all at once so you have a something to look at.
6. Needs optimization, I am on a super fast connection and it still took a while to load. I am not sure who runs the site but you can get analytics to show you how long each pages take to load on what connection speed.


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## dhris (Nov 28, 2012)

I haven't looked at the critique above so as to see the site as freshly as possible.

The first thing that seemed odd to me was that everything was 'dimmed'--that is, unless I roll over an image, it's just dark. Because I wasn't hovering over an image as I arrived at the homepage, it just seemed oddly dark. I think you need some more substantial parts of the page that are 'lit' regardless of the hover placement.

If you're planning on making a business, it seems to me that from a marketing and SEO standpoint, this site really won't do much for you--that is, it really won't bring in organic visitors via google searches. Just so you know, I get about 50% of my business through organic searches. Optimizing for branding terms (your name, for instance) can be helpful, but at this stage, I'd consider optimizing for broader terms that people who don't yet know about you might be using.

I don't get the 'moregone' quote in your meta description (it may appear elsewhere in the site). The way I'm reading has an oddly bleak emphasis.

The first (only) gallery that I looked at was 'weddings'. What I saw were images NOT from a wedding. As a prospective client I would feel kind of misled--or I'd certainly think you were inexperienced. Having the only testimonial be from the same couple also leads one to that conclusion.

Finally, some of the text is really illegible. Dark grey text on black is probably not a good idea.


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