Next step for my website.

Gary.D

Gary.D

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Name
Gary Derbridge
Edit My Images
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Hey Guys.

OK so after my last thread a while back about getting my self up there on the ranks of google I have done alot to my site from what I learnt.

* Metatags
* A blog
* More content on my home page
* Registered to numerous classified websites. (Yell etc etc)

Now my question is, what next. What should I make my next aim to work towards getting myself on the front page of google.

Thanks
Gary
 
Hi Gary,

I have no wish to offend but can I be brutally honest with you?

Design yourself a new website, or get someone else to design one for you, your current website is, well, just horrible.

If I were a prospective client and came across your website I would just leave as soon as I saw it and wouldn't bother to even check if you were any good at photography let alone book you.

It is no good being good at photography and trying to sell your self if your website lets you down in a big way.

As I said I have no wish to offend, just offer some honest advice
 
Actually I wouldn't go that far.... reduce the size of the header and add in some php to change the image each time it refreshes ( see my sites and PM me if you want it emailing ), reduce the size of the fonts and menu buttons need also reducing but a contrasting colour.... bar that its a good start.

Key words etc you can get free programmes to give you suggestions or look at what others in your area are using.... personally I've done this for many years and I still think SEO is a black art.

PS: Design as though your viewing the site on a 800x600 screen too... I suspect you have a hi res your end ?

Terran
 
personally, i'd look at putting it in to a 800px wide div, reducing the size of everything from text to headers.

The only thing that really needs redoing is the links bar.

The other area is the gallery software you are using. I am hovering over images and its showing the wrong ones etc. Also, if the image is longer than the page a scroll bar pops on and that makes everything in the page move (this could be down to chrome though)

Personally, not a fan of rotating headers for business sites. A customer should see your site and instantly recognise it, this wouldn't happen with rotating headers.
 
I agree. Re do your site before you go any further.

Make yourself a branding and stick to it.

If I were you I would start on paper (forget anything else at the minute) and decide:

What do I want to be known for as a photographer (not just paying the bills, but as an artist)? Make your site reflect this.

Next you need to work a logo. I mean no offence but the current one is not great, and needs a little thought. How many togs just use their name in the same way as yours? White text on black. Try to stand out a little, but if you go with the simple text based one, make sure it looks perfect.

You then know what you want to be, and have a logo to design from. This will then influence your website and any other work you put out with your name on.



Here is my evaluation of your site (HARSH, YES. OFFENCE MEANT, NONE):

GENERAL

Buttons too big, header too big picture does not show what you offer. Just an almost glamour pic, that will mean a lot of people don’t go further.

Your site looks very amateurish and out dated to me. Put it up against some of your favourite togs, and see how it stands up side by side. Then design one that is as good as if not better.

Work on your writing, as that on your website does not really do you any favors. Be personal, not just rehash what thousands of others have written.


HOME PAGE

Unbeatable prices is mentioned on your first page, so you will be known as the cheap guy, rather than a great service you advertise being cheap on your home page. Then the testimonials, they just seem a bit desperate. Your home page to me says "I am cheap, and look these people say I am good, So I am cheap but not rubbish, but still the cheapest there is". You think Chase Jarvis gets bookings because he is cheap?

I look at the pictures on your home page and you have a family, next to a rock band, next to a wedding, next to a portrait, what are you trying to tell me?

PROFILE

Too generic. Put some passion into it, not just say what has been said a thousand times. Be yourself, this is your chance to tell people why they should hire you, and what you are passionate about in photography.

GALLERIES

Inside the portraits gallery some glamour shots mixed in with shots of a family. Your message seems mixed, neither will want a gallery of the other if they are looking to hire you.

Wedding gallery is fine, again the word cheap comes up. No potential bride wants to settle for a cheap photographer. Say something more personal to a potential bride

Music Gallery is Ok, as is Party/Club

General thing with your galleries, condense them down to one page and make it your best work. No quite goods in here, just your best of the best!

CLIENTS PAGE

The important notes on your client page makes it look like you have had some bad experiences, which any prospective client will put down to you (whether it was your fault or not) leave it off there. Clients can always be informed of this when they book you.

Just looks a bit clunky. Look at better ways of laying the page out.

PRICES

Seems a lot of info, and on one you mention at the moment I am charging £X. Do not put this in! You charge £X, if you want to change it, change it.

Wedding one seemed quite complicated and ages to read.

Maybe something like:

My wedding packages start at £xyz contact me to tailor make your perfect package.

And no one will only pay for you to attend and not offer them prints, so why put that in?

Working on this will mean much more to your business that climbing google.

Lastly a Blog is like a Dog. If you don’t look after it, it will die. You need to give people reason to check back often. You need to offer them something, and you need to update often. If you do not consider writing as one of your stronger points, then leave it alone. Maybe start a twitter as a tester and go from there. If you do start it and get bored and do not update regularly remove it. Customer seeing the last blog post being 3 months ago will have good reason to think the business is no more.

Sorry to go on so long, and I hope you take this in the spirit it was intended.
 
If your going to have a hover menu - I would put it in blocks as the text that drops down over your website is very hard to read on some of them..

Also Centre it all as a table as it's stuck over to the left on a laptop screen
 
You can opt for an online advertising company who may help you out in your advertising process. Just hire a good advertising agency for your company and you can observe the results within a short span of time. Advertising is important for a business organization to give a boost to your business.
 
Before you go and do a redesign, look into CMSes (Content Management System). They will make things a lot easier.

e.g. DotNetNuke, Joomla, WordPress, Umbarco, etc.

You'll get a lot more functionality and you'll be able to expand on the site going forward.

Also, they're set up for SEO better. Right now your URLs are poor. e.g. What is "ss.htm"? It's meaningless.

What you really want is URLs that look like this (a page from one of my sites):

http://www.supersimple.me/About

Or:

http://www.supersimple.me/Photo-Resizer

They tell you what you can expect on the page. It will help you a lot to rank higher in search engines.

With a good CMS, a lot of those kinds of things are pretty much done for you.

You'll need to do some reading on CMSes if you aren't already familiar with them. But it is VERY much worth it.
 
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