Website at last...

[Ben:]

Hey
At last, with lots of advice from people on here, I finally have some sort of website.

Still looks fairly basic and no doubt I'll keep trying to find of ways to make it better but here it is...

It's a wordpress based site using a free template.
www.benbphoto.co.uk

I've kept the Portrait Offer locked at the moment as I'm not currently offering it.

I had the logo designed by a designer I know.



Please let me know your thoughts, good or bad.

 

[Urban Grimshaw]

The website looks good. Nice logo, nice clean look, etc.

Personally I'd work on the content a little as the clean look tails off a little as you scroll down. It ain't bad, but it could be improved...and I'm guessing you want it looking as good as you can get it!

And for pages that are locked, perhaps explain why. Comes across as unfinished, and a tad confusing, should anyone be visiting.

 

[Ben:]

The website looks good. Nice logo, nice clean look, etc.
Thanks I was looking for a simple, clean style
Personally I'd work on the content a little as the clean look tails off a little as you scroll down. It ain't bad, but it could be improved...and I'm guessing you want it looking as good as you can get it!
How do you mean exactly?
And for pages that are locked, perhaps explain why. Comes across as unfinished, and a tad confusing, should anyone be visiting.
Good point! I'll change that now.

 

[Urban Grimshaw]

How do you mean exactly?

Say for example, on the homepage. Difficult to describe, but the text just looks like it fits nowhere in particular. It doesn't look awful by any means...I build websites and you should see what our clients do to some of them! I just feel it could be improved. You'd be surprised how much of a bigger impact you can make just shifting the text around and/or playing with images.

Even just trying something like sitting the text to the left, and the image to the right. I can't tell you that would look great, I'm sure it would need some adjustments, but I don't like the center alignment.

Overall though, don't get me wrong, it looks good! Definitely a good base to start on. Wordpress is going to put me out of a job.

 

[Ben:]

Sort of know what you mean, just sort of floats in the center of the page. Thought it looked quite simple and easy to read though.

I'll try and add an image to the right hand side with the text on the left and see how it looks.

Thanks for your input.

You design websites?

 

[phildaintith]

Hi Ben, id love to change my website to something similar to yours, what did you design it on?

 

[neil_g]

search box - not sure of the point of it?

portrait offer page - says "This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:" but doesnt say how or where you get a password.

private gallery - as above.

otherwise as said, nice and clean. quick to load.

 

[Ben:]

Hi Ben, id love to change my website to something similar to yours, what did you design it on?

I have only changed a few things like the logo etc. But it is a free template called 'Delicate' I believe, found on the WordPress themes site.

search box - not sure of the point of it?

I don't want it there, not sure how to remove it

portrait offer page - says "This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:" but doesnt say how or where you get a password.

Once I have more experience I will then unlock the page and offer the portrait deal. It is only password protected to prevent people seeing the deal.

private gallery - as above.

This is in preparation for any portrait sessions I do. Customers can go to Private Gallery 1/ 2/ 3 etc and view their images.

otherwise as said, nice and clean. quick to load.

Thanks

 

[chivers67]

I think you need more images.

I clicked on the "View slide show" and was waiting for it to load, then realised you have to scroll down a little to see it - I'd consider making the slide show bigger.

 

[Urban Grimshaw]

You design websites?

Not as such. The design gets handed to me, then I build them...

 

[Ben:]

I think you need more images.

I clicked on the "View slide show" and was waiting for it to load, then realised you have to scroll down a little to see it - I'd consider making the slide show bigger.

I'm still populating the Gallery page with images. Trying to build a portfolio.
I'm currently not sure how to adjust the slideshow settings as I only wanted it to appear as a image browser. Click one image at a time.
Thanks for your comments.

Not as such. The design gets handed to me, then I build them...

So if I gave you a link to a website template. You could potentially build it and supply me with the code or whatever to upload straight to my hosting package?

 

[Urban Grimshaw]

So if I gave you a link to a website template. You could potentially build it and supply me with the code or whatever to upload straight to my hosting package?

Not 100% certain of what you're asking, but I can build stuff for the web, yes. Whether it be from a template, PSD, or off the top of your head. Not sure if I'm allowed to..no idea what the trading rules are on here :shrug:

 

[Super Simple]

From your front page:

Home

Unless that's a link, get rid of it. It adds no useful information.

Welcome to Ben Bailey Photography

"Welcome" messages look horrible. They add nothing to a page. Get rid of it.

Photography has been an interest of mine for the last few years,

Is this a personal site about YOU, or what you do?

I currently photograph…

Wildlife
Nature
People
Vehicles

Change that to thumbnails with links to galleries and label them.

The website is regularly updated with new images.

Sounds like you never update it and the site is abandoned. If you want to say something like that, be specific. e.g. "Upcoming galleries: Swans (date), Playground (date)" etc.

This year I aim to gain more knowledge and experience in portrait photography, in a studio environment and on location.

I'd get rid of that. Try talking about experience that you have, and not about experience that you don't have.

Portrait Offer Coming Soon!
(page currently locked until offer begins)

If I can't see it, why are you telling me about it?

Try changing the message to "Bookings available -date-" or something like that. i.e. Tell people what you have, and not what you don't have.

Thanks for looking.

Get rid of that. It has no useful purpose other than to take up space on the screen and waste people's time reading it.


I don't mean to be harsh, but you've got a laundry list of "don't dos" on your front page.

Take some time to think about what you want to communicate, write it out 3 different ways, then try to rethink how you can say it completely differently. Writing well isn't easy.

What you're trying to say isn't coming through right now.


For the password protected pages, I'm not sure why you have them there. It makes sense for a site that does subscriptions or memberships, but for a brochure site, I can't see the value to you or your visitors.



You don't have much content up there right now, but that just takes time. Get as much up as possible.