Honest Opinions on my Site?

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I like it by the way, (the site and squizza's hair).

Any tips for us mere web confused numpties.
 
tiler65 said:
I like it by the way, (the site and squizza's hair).

Any tips for us mere web confused numpties.
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I think your being overly critical of your site! Looks nice enough to me!

Ive tried my best to keep text to a minimum, especially on the home page, also tried to think a little outside the box by putting more than just images on the home page.
 
tiler65 said:
OI Squizza, you had a hair cut?
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Yes I had a fringe cut in :-)

Regarding the wedding pics... I assumed from the professionality - (is that even a word?) that it was written in that you had done some.

EDIT: just an observation, not a criticism.
 
squizza said:
Yes I had a fringe cut in :-)

Regarding the wedding pics... I assumed from the professionality - (is that even a word?) that it was written in that you had done some.

EDIT: just an observation, not a criticism.
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Thanks, the current info and prices on weddings is temporary until I decide how to structure my prices etc. If im honest its not something im going to push at the moment until ive got a bit of a portfolio.
 
Nice site, on your portrait page it says Please contact me on email me. That probably should be or!

Sarah
 
I dont like it. The front page images look a touch distorted. There is way too much vertical white space, and the menu/header looks visually detached from the content

there is a marketing phrase: "above the fold" aim to get the bulk of the important content "above the fold" on a average laptop. At the moment it isnt

Showing images of kids is dead tricky, and for whatever reason the content isn't ringing my bell

In saying that, a good amount of effort spent on the header, white space and typography will do wonders
 
Richard, go to photium and look at their designs, this layout is fantastic compared to a very limited template based design host.
 
tiler65 said:
Richard, go to photium and look at their designs, this layout is fantastic compared to a very limited template based design host.
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Why would I go to Photium, when i can design it from scratch myself. The OP asked for a honest appraisal, and thats what I gave

I am going to be blunt:

You are paid by customers who depart with their money - and they dont care if it is a bespoke template, a Photium template or a Mr site template - what makes them decide is totally subliminal, and takes place in about 3 seconds
 
Nice site.

A few typos for you.

Wedding page - Brides Preparations

Portrait Page - Personalised

Personal Touch - ENSURE not Insure

Customers Truly come first instead of Truely


Other than that, really nice work mate.
 
I take your points on board Richard, id say your right about getting my photos "above the fold" its something that annoys me, but havent figured out a way round it yet. Although Ill be trying something in the next hour to sort it.

The images arent destored on my screen, anyone else see this?

White space I can understand, im also going to try and fill some of the space on the top right by putting contact details in there.

Not 100% sure what you mean about the menu being detached.

Content wise, it shows what I do...what customers can expect, what else could you possibly put on?!

Thanks for highlighting the typos Sarah and Paul!
 
Richard King said:
Why would I go to Photium, when i can design it from scratch myself. The OP asked for a honest appraisal, and thats what I gave

I am going to be blunt:

You are paid by customers who depart with their money - and they dont care if it is a bespoke template, a Photium template or a Mr site template - what makes them decide is totally subliminal,

This guy has a photium website. Period. He did not ask if you can do it better or design one yourself, he asked about his particular site.

Everyone knows you are on here to make money but you need to give the rest of the world some slack.

If he want a a bespoke design I am sure I would put your name forward but stop being over zealous regarding other companies web/seo/design stuff
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Where are you it not tell me If I was to book you in Exeter, Devon do you not find that to far to go?
Also only a mobile phone number yet you have your a Ltd. company?
Sorry but you have to have more info re who you are where you are.
Also not sure about the colour Orange. and the spellings along with the same word repeated
 
i like the site... my first impression is that it's slick, contemporary and the quality of images are good. sometimes people get too hung up on things that only matter to them and not really on what 'the general concensus' would be for the viewing public - but still, you asked for feedback and that's what you got.

i'd be very pleased with it if it was my site - the only thing i might suggest is that orange can denote 'cheap' eg. easyjet etc.. i like the emphasis on a bolder colour in certain words, but maybe choose a colour which would give warmth, family, touchy feely kind of thing - maybe a deep / burnt red??? i dunno, maybe research which colours give that feeling?

good work.
 
tiler65 said:
This guy has a photium website. Period. He did not ask if you can do it better or design one yourself, he asked about his particular site..
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To be fair, he made a very valid point. If you are in this to make money as OP is. The client does not care about templates or limitations, problems or anything else like that. They only care about whether they will hire you or not as they think you are capable of the job.

Therefore if a site has difficulties, you need to look elsewhere if they don't fit what you need.

Anyways back to topic.

It is OK, colour scheme is nice

The biggest no no is that there is no gallery tab I can see apart from a Gallery rss. As a client this would annoy the living daylights out of me and I would leave your site and move on. No gallery means a lot fo people will leave your site straight away at that point.

The whole slide show thing is a little slow and bores me quite quickly, just needs speeding up a little.

The about and why Matt section should be tied up as one.

Gift vouchers, spend over £100 and get the shoot half price, but the shoot is only £50 anyway is it not? So it seems a little weird to me. Or the way I am reading into it anyways.

There is no gallery tab I can see apart from a Gallery rss. As a client this would annoy the living daylights out of me and I would leave your site and move on.
 
Thanks for the constructive input Leigh, I have done a little research on colour psychology, although nothing more than a quick google.

Orange is said to portray flamboiance, warmth, enthusiam etc etc, ive also read it encourages action, i.e. to book a shoot.

Seems that the orange has come up a few times...hmmmm
 
tiler65 said:
This guy has a photium website. Period. He did not ask if you can do it better or design one yourself, he asked about his particular site.

Everyone knows you are on here to make money but you need to give the rest of the world some slack.

If he want a a bespoke design I am sure I would put your name forward but stop being over zealous regarding other companies web/seo/design stuff, you sound like Garry Edwards and Lencarta.
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:lol::lol::lol:

Great site to matt, i like it well set out............
 
Looks OK on the whole, I do agree with the comment above about the speed of the slideshow - I nearly missed the fact that there were pictures in it! A prominent gallery/portfolio link really is needed though - I was looking for one and was wondering where all the pictures were. Also in the slideshow there's an instance of 'thats' that should be 'that's'. Good luck with the wedding shoot!
 
tiler65 said:
You really are a cock.

This guy has a photium website. Period. He did not ask if you can do it better or design one yourself, he asked about his particular site.

Everyone knows you are on here to make money but you need to give the rest of the world some slack.

If he want a a bespoke design I am sure I would put your name forward but stop being over zealous regarding other companies web/seo/design stuff, you sound like Garry Edwards and Lencarta.
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How xxxxxx'ing rude

At which point in this thread was I overzealous about "other companies web/seo/design stuff"?

And what's the beef with Garry Edwards - He is a paid advertiser meaning he can promote his products on here. His fees along with the other advertisers effectively pay for the forum, and the pleasure/knowledge you subsequently derive from it. Besides that most of us wont scratch at the surface of what he has forgotten about lighting for photography and film

Go look up what "Ad hominem" means

I might remind you that you were the poster making the big deal about where the template came from

The chap asked for a honest opinion and I gave one - that cuts both ways - the OP wont benefit in the slightest if everyone praises a site that is really full of issues. I don't give a hoot who did the template, if it cost $0,01 or £2000, I gave an opinion as a surfer, website user, and someone who does website design day in day out

As you discused my business... I am so very busy, I really don't need any more website design business, for the foreseeable future. Besides that, after a chat with the Mod's well over a year or two go, I haven't actively promoted any of my businesses on talk photography. You might note the last thread I started was about having a studio built - I am a very serious photographer
 
Matt989 said:
As the title, i've spent a lot of time trying to get my site looking as slick as photium will allow.

Honest opinions and a bit of proof reading would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Link is in my sig below.
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Matt. Really quickly, V is on, I think you've got a good base to work from. There is a lot to be done though but for the most part you have a functional website.

I've never used Photium so I'm not sure how much is within your control but one thing I would do is make sure the images in your website have relevant file names. At the moment they are long mixed strings with digits and other characters. Give them more meaningful names.

Personally I don't think you need text in between the images on the slideshow. It's too much like a sales pitch and in my opinion seems a bit pretentious. That's not to say you're not a good photograher, but you should just get to the point and show off your best images. Perhaps reduce the length of time it takes to transition from one image to the other if that is possible. The time you save there you can add to the time an image is displayed for perhaps.

From what I can see all textual content seems to be in text which is good. You're banner looks like an image which I guess is fine.

Remove the total views thing. You don't need that, and you're clients don't need to see that either. It's something you would expect to see on websites built using site generators or on free web hosting and it's so 1990's.

I don't think you need to have the solid border under the active menu item if you're menu items are underlined already. If you want to keep the thick border then make sure you're active menu items don't have underlines applied. It's unnecessary with your current design IMO and just adds a visual barrier.

On your header try spacing the phone number out a little bit, normally the first 5 digits are separated from the rest. Makes it easier to read. People should also be able to select, copy and paste important contact details. Currently I can't highlight your phone number to copy and paste. It's a lot quicker than making people write it down.

On the 'Why Matt' page take out "At the moment I work from home, with the prospect of a studio in the not too distant future." It's not necessary to tell people that.

You're talking about you and your wife working together yet you go on to the singular. Mention your wife too in the rest of the page. See below.

"No need to travel
I will come to you, there is no doubt that kids (and parents) are most comfortable in surroundings they know, and this shows in the final photos. I use fully portable studio equipment which can be set up in your living room."

Portraits page.

Any images you use in body content should be the same size consistently throughout the website. Think of it as laying out a magazine. Imagine a grid layout. This makes it easier for people to visually transition from one page to the next. You don't want to confuse people with too many different layouts unless they are justified by the type of content.

Change "Click HERE To View My Portrait Portfolio" to "View Our Portrait Portfolio"

Gift Vouchers Page.

You don't need the massive image of a gift voucher on this page. I don't think anyone is interested in seeing what a gift voucher looks like.

Contact Page.

Remove the "Your Message" header. It's not needed.

"To book a shoot or check the availability of a date please fill in the form below." Put a please in there.



Richard King said:
How xxxxxx'ing rude

At which point in this thread was I overzealous about "other companies web/seo/design stuff"?

And what's the beef with Garry Edwards - He is a paid advertiser meaning he can promote his products on here. His fees along with the other advertisers effectively pay for the forum, and the pleasure/knowledge you subsequently derive from it. Besides that most of us wont scratch at the surface of what he has forgotten about lighting for photography and film

Go look up what "Ad hominem" means

I might remind you that you were the poster making the big deal about where the template came from

The chap asked for a honest opinion and I gave one - that cuts both ways - the OP wont benefit in the slightest if everyone praises a site that is really full of issues. I don't give a hoot who did the template, if it cost $0,01 or £2000, I gave an opinion as a surfer, website user, and someone who does website design day in day out

As you discused my business... I am so very busy, I really don't need any more website design business, for the foreseeable future. Besides that, after a chat with the Mod's well over a year or two go, I haven't actively promoted any of my businesses on talk photography. You might note the last thread I started was about having a studio built - I am a very serious photographer
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With all due respect Richard I'd find it hard to take criticism from someone who came up with this...
http://www.kingprophoto.com/how-we-shoot-your-wedding.html

I'm also not surprised that people see you as some sort of covert spammer. That says a lot about how you conduct yourself on the forums. I know I'm one to speak but at least I can admit when I'm being a bit of an arse hole.
 
I give up

I wont bother replying to any posts where anyone asks for an opinion on a website on this forum again

Clearly, I am reading things in Spanish, and replying in Portugese
 
KayJay said:
With all due respect Richard I'd find it hard to take criticism from someone who came up with this...
http://www.kingprophoto.com/how-we-shoot-your-wedding.html

I'm also not surprised that people see you as some sort of covert spammer.

That says a lot about how you conduct yourself on the forums. I know I'm one to speak but at least I can admit when I'm being a bit of an arse hole.
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KayJay - I have re-read my post, and I can't see how I am spamming in any way. Of course my own website is going to be self-promotional - thats the point of it. I might add - I never posted the link to it in a posting, you did - thanks. Neither did I ask for a critique, the OP did

Exactly what says a lot about how I conduct my self on forums?
 
Matt989 said:
Yeah its getting a bit off topic.

An email address was extra on top of the domain, I should really get it sorted and get an official email.
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hopefully the bickering will die down a bit now or a mod will come along and give out some "shoeings" lol

ah right i see, odd that it was extra most hosting companies include 5 addresses on the cheapest of packages.
 
too much to clean, closed
 
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