Well I Did It

[smisch]

Since getting my new camera I'm right back into photography I have started taking agility Photos again lol! And seemingly I have had a few offers for people to buy their dogs photos.. Sure why not? So I have Finally started my own site up for my photography of dogs at Trials, I don't aim to make a substantial amount of profit from it I am more interested in sharing my work with people and any of the money I get is going towards my dogs and my trial entries, the more trials I attend the more photos I take.

I'd be interested to see what people think.. So far its go just the one gallery as I haven't uploaded the first set of shots I've done

www.wix.com/misssmisch/smischdesigns

Opinions?

Edited October 12, 2010 by smisch

[TerraNik]

If I could make one comment it is... I HATE music on websites. HATE HATE HATE. I usually close the page without even bothering to look at the website.

ETA - The white text on the white sections of the background is unreadable on the About Me page

Edited October 12, 2010 by TerraNik

[smisch]

Thanks Terranik funny enough your the first person to actually say you hate the music most people have actually commented on how much they like the music on the first page there is an on/off function on the page for people like you Will take that into consideration

[TerraNik]

Thanks Terranik funny enough your the first person to actually say you hate the music most people have actually commented on how much they like the music on the first page there is an on/off function on the page for people like you Will take that into consideration

The fact of having to FIND where to turn it off and then click multiple times to actually turn it off is VERY annoying. It's not the song that I don't like, it's the fact that it's there in the first place.

Music on websites is classic webdesign faux pas.

It also makes the website take longer to load (not that it influences me, but it might be a problem for others).

Edited October 12, 2010 by TerraNik

[huga]

I also avoid websites with music. Sorry.

[smisch]

Thanks Terranik funny enough your the first person to actually say you hate the music most people have actually commented on how much they like the music on the first page there is an on/off function on the page for people like you Will take that into consideration

The fact of having to FIND where to turn it off and then click 3 times to actually turn it off is VERY annoying. It's not the song that I don't like, it's the fact that it's there in the first place.

Music on websites is classic webdesign faux pas.

Will have a bit more of a think and play around cos as I said your actually the first to say you didn't like it.. and yes the About me Is still abit of a work in progress debating on what to do with it..

Thanks for the feedback!

ETA looks like music may actually be going then.. will do a change when I got to next fight with the layout lol probably later this evening

Edited October 12, 2010 by smisch

[~*Shell*~]

Ditto - I got over them about 6 or 7 years ago when everyone had crappy wav music on their sites. Hated it then and i really dislike it now. The only thing you can do that's worse than that is to have a moving, tiled background or an animated cursor.

[smisch]

Music is going then..

[smisch]

Okay now that the music is going can we actually focus on the other points of it LOL

[pipsqueak]

I cannot stand stuff that scrolls on websites - it is distracting and gives me a headache!

[dollygirl]

I can't get into it, the link isn't working.

[Ashanali]

I don't want to hijack your thread with a discussion on pricing, however to all the dog photographers here on DOL, I extend an invite to join the facebook group 'Australian Dog Show Photographers'.

Pricing is a MAJOR issue within the entire photographic industry right now, for newcomers and old hands alike. There is no right or wrong however there are ways to work out what you are really worth... and at $7 an image, you're practically paying people to take your work. (seriously, you're losing money - you may not see it but you are.)

Please join the group. There are a few discussions happening over there that would be of interest.

[rocco]

I don't want to hijack your thread with a discussion on pricing, however to all the dog photographers here on DOL, I extend an invite to join the facebook group 'Australian Dog Show Photographers'.

Pricing is a MAJOR issue within the entire photographic industry right now, for newcomers and old hands alike. There is no right or wrong however there are ways to work out what you are really worth... and at $7 an image, you're practically paying people to take your work. (seriously, you're losing money - you may not see it but you are.)

Please join the group. There are a few discussions happening over there that would be of interest.

LOL great minds think alike.... pricing

[whiskedaway]

Okay, I'll warn you in advance, I'm a professional web developer/designer.

I would advise against using a photograph as a background, especially if you're going to cover it with text (eg About Me, Prices and Services, Galleries, Contact Me). It's hard to read unless you use a colour that stands out and it distracts you from the photograph.

The highlighted link (ie, the way the link looks when you're on that particular page) should probably be the pink colour rather than white. That once again ties in with how hard it is to read on the photograph background.

Font: try and use an easy to read font for body text, such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma or any other sans-serif font. The font you've used is fine for headings, but can be hard to read when it's in body text.

The scrolling photo gallery on the first page would maybe be better if didn't scroll unless the user moved their mouse along it. Otherwise you can miss a photo that you might want to click on.

The other thing, and it's a HUGE pet peeve of mine, is that the site is completely made with Flash. Flash is fine for people who have internet and computers that can handle it, but for people who have slower internet it can take forever to load, and for people who have old computers, or, heaven forbid, an iPhone or iPad, they can't view it at all. I understand that your site has been built using Wix, which only allow you to to make Flash websites, but you can get a free host and put a static template on it. Plus with some free hosts you don't have a hugely long URL, which makes your site look more professional.

[Ashanali]

Okay, I'll warn you in advance, I'm a professional web developer/designer.

I would advise against using a photograph as a background, especially if you're going to cover it with text (eg About Me, Prices and Services, Galleries, Contact Me). It's hard to read unless you use a colour that stands out and it distracts you from the photograph.

The highlighted link (ie, the way the link looks when you're on that particular page) should probably be the pink colour rather than white. That once again ties in with how hard it is to read on the photograph background.

Font: try and use an easy to read font for body text, such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma or any other sans-serif font. The font you've used is fine for headings, but can be hard to read when it's in body text.

The scrolling photo gallery on the first page would maybe be better if didn't scroll unless the user moved their mouse along it. Otherwise you can miss a photo that you might want to click on.

The other thing, and it's a HUGE pet peeve of mine, is that the site is completely made with Flash. Flash is fine for people who have internet and computers that can handle it, but for people who have slower internet it can take forever to load, and for people who have old computers, or, heaven forbid, an iPhone or iPad, they can't view it at all. I understand that your site has been built using Wix, which only allow you to to make Flash websites, but you can get a free host and put a static template on it. Plus with some free hosts you don't have a hugely long URL, which makes your site look more professional.

What this poster said.

I do a LOT of SEO work. Your website is not SEO or user friendly at all (sort of important in this day and age).

[Linda K]

tried the link (on a mac), and it would not even open after 5 minutes, so can't comment at all on it

[KnucklesDutchnUs]

Hi Smisch - for a templated site it's not bad at all.

Judging by the previous comments I thought your site was going to be appalling, but it isn't. Keep working on it and I am sure it'll look great!

- Astred

[carebear]

i'm on a mac, and it took less than 30 seconds to load. i'm using safari as the web browser

[Ashanali]

Hi Smisch - for a templated site it's not bad at all.

Judging by the previous comments I thought your site was going to be appalling, but it isn't. Keep working on it and I am sure it'll look great!

- Astred

The previous comments didn't say it looked bad, they said it wasn't search engine friendly or user friendly due to it being a flash site, the fonts used and being hosted by a free host.

The op asked for feedback and got valuable feedback from people who deal with this stuff on a daily basis.

[Vickie]

I wasn't able to see it before but can now. I think it looks great . I really like the font & it seems pretty easy to navigate. I like what you have written as well, it is honest & makes you seem very approachable . I'm not a fan of text over photos either, I do find it hard to read in places. Mine loaded quickly today & navigating from one page to another was quick as well.

The only think I really have trouble with is the Galleries link. It is rght over Den's eye for one. It is also not clear that it is a link. Since this is really the area that you are wanting people to look at & will get the most traffic, I would probably make this a little more professional looking & clearer.