Looking for suggestions concerning my site

rj-imaging

I have had my website up and running for about 9 months now. I seem to have some visitor activity but no sales.

I was wondering if my peers would be willing to go to my site: www.rj-imaging.com and make some constructive suggestions or comments so i may improve upon what I have started.

My goal is to make it professional, user friendly, and accurately reflect my work.

Thank you in advance for taking your valuable time to help.:bow

Regards,

Bob

Hikin' Mike

I think your logo/header is too big. The logo itself has a 'amateur look' to it and I'm not sure I care for the font either. Sorry.

Not sure what browser/computer you are using but there's a cropped rounded, rectangle "thing" below your navigation bar in both Firefox and IE (Using a XP). Using IE7, there's a big margin to the right of your site. Using Firefox, I still have to scroll a little, but not as bad. I'd fix that.

The color and background color on your galleries needs a change. I can hardly read the blue text and the gray background.

Also, keep the same colors/theme throughout the site.

Hope this makes sense and hope it helps.

rj-imaging

Hello Mike:

Thank you for your honest input, don't apologize... I asked for constructive comments and suggestions and you have given me several. In the case of the Font I have been carrying that throughout my business cards and other marketing pieces. I realize that font styles are subjective anyway.

Your comments about carrying the same color background throughout the site is interesting. Here I thought I was giving the different galleries a separation by using the different colors but after looking at your site I can see the continuity makes it easier on the eyes.


In regards to the rollover colors going to blue, thanks I will change that. And thanks for the heads up on the "thing' I don't see it while using Firefox but then I have worked on this so much that I probably overlooked it. This is why a fresh pair of eyes is helpful, and you have been.

Thank you Mike for taking your time to look and help.

By the way your work is beautiful. Ok, not your work :coolbut the work you have captured for others to enjoy and be inspired.

Thank you,

Bob

denisegoldberg

I have to agree with Mike on use of consistent backgrounds. From a text standpoint, he suggested a change in the rollover colors; I would take that further and suggest changing the text colors overall. If you are going to stick with the light gray background, white is a poor choice for your navbar entries. It more than borders on being unreadable.

Your banner is definitely too tall. You should be drawing the viewers attention to your photos, not to your banner. More on my thoughts at The purpose (and size) of a banner image.

This might seem harsh, but I'd recommend that you step back and design a look for your site. You've simply used a standard theme, added a banner and a navbar, and left it at that. That gives your site the look of a "photo sharing" site. It does not leave the viewer with the idea that you are a pro.

There are way too many entries in your navbar, and too many galleries shown at once to allow a viewer to focus on a type of photos. You might want to switch your site to show categories at the top level instead of galleries. See http://www.smugmug.com/help/arrange-albums.

For examples, start looking at some of the sites linked in people's signatures here. You'll find some that you like, and some that you hate. I'm not suggesting that you copy them, just use them for ideas.

--- Denise

Hikin' Mike

I like the color background on your 'Bolsa Chica' gallery. The neutral gray is too 'cold' for me. I'd also remove all of the thumbnails on your home page. It just looks to busy for me....but that's just me.

Some day I'd like to visit Bolsa, but I need a bigger lens for that!

denisegoldberg

Also - I just noticed that you have originals enabled on your galleries. You should be aware that right click protection is not protection at all - it's merely a stumbling block on the way to grabbing images for free. See http://blogs.smugmug.com/pros/2008/07/04/right-click-protection-and-image-security/.

You should set your largest display size to anything other than Original.

--- Denise

Hikin' Mike

One more thing....

About your business card/marketing stuff. Business cards are cheap. I redesigned my logo/card about 6 months ago, but after looking at it for a few months, I just didn't think the font 'fit'. Last week I redesigned the font/logo and I'm printing up new cards and changed the logo on my website.

Just a thought.

rj-imaging

Hello Denise:

Thank you for all of your comments. It looks like I have some work to do, but that is why I asked so I can learn and bring professionalism across. I really appreciate the help.

I didn't think that doing a right click was enough protection that is why I put the watermark in the center. But I am conflicted with that as it just seems to take away from the photography. So I have tried the watermark in lower right corner but if I was someone who wanted to "copy" the image I would just crop that out. I haven't had a chance to read the blog you suggested but I will right after I post this.

Thanks again.

Bob

RogersDA

Yeah - watermarking can be a detriment. Denise hates 'em when they are big and over the image.

Just remember - once it it is on the 'net it can (an probably will) be taken. You just need to balance your risks with potential rewards. Big, imposing watermarks - less risk in theft, bigger risk in loss of sales. Enabling only smaller images to view - people with larger monitors can't really see the images in all their glory. The balance is what you decide it should be.

Above all else - be able to adapt and change your stuff as you develop your site and see what others have done. Just because your business card had that same font all those years does not mean you shouldn't change it.

denisegoldberg

RogersDA wrote:

Yeah - watermarking can be a detriment. Denise hates 'em when they are big and over the image.

You're right, I don't like distracting watermarks - but I do understand that there are many people here who are in a market where their photos will be grabbed. Those folks do need (what I would consider to be annoying) watermarks.

--- Denise

angevin1

rj-imaging wrote:

I have had my website up and running for about 9 months now. I seem to have some visitor activity but no sales.

I was wondering if my peers would be willing to go to my site: www.rj-imaging.com and make some constructive suggestions or comments so i may improve upon what I have started.

My goal is to make it professional, user friendly, and accurately reflect my work.

Thank you in advance for taking your valuable time to help.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob,

First question: What is your site supposed to be about? For me, it looks like it's about you. Because that is the first thing I am taken to when I click on your Link, an "about Bob page".

Comment. When you see other Websites, here or elsewhere, do you see any you like? If so, why not do your Website in a similar scheme. SM has lots of templates as you know and is chock full of things you can do to enhance your site. and their help desk and folks over at the customization forum are very helpful.

Also, while there are exceptions to the rule, I think expecting buyers to show up and want to purchase from you out of no-where is unrealistic. Many folks using SM use these galleries as a way for clients to come and choose the images they want and have them printed; proofing galleries. Also folks use their sites as a way for other contacts to see what the photog's work looks like for a potential hire.

Good Luck~

InOverMyHead

rj-imaging wrote:

I have had my website up and running for about 9 months now. I seem to have some visitor activity but no sales.

I was wondering if my peers would be willing to go to my site: www.rj-imaging.com and make some constructive suggestions or comments so i may improve upon what I have started.

My goal is to make it professional, user friendly, and accurately reflect my work.

Thank you in advance for taking your valuable time to help.

Regards,

Bob

Hi, Bob. I don't know if you're still looking for comments... I usually like to read what other people suggest but didn't this time so I apologize if any of my suggestions are redundant- I just wanted to give an objective opinion.

Anyway, my first impression is that there are too many words. The huge paragraph at the beginning makes me skip right over it to find pictures. Maybe put that in a separate page about you? The nav bar has a few too many links too, in my opinion. Though it points to good categories, my eyes skip right over it because it's wordy and in a pretty plain font. I feel like your galleries should be on another page. I also feel like there are a lot of galleries. You have a lot to show but maybe there's a way to simplify it? I just get an overwhelmed feeling when I'm deciding what to look at first.

You have very nice images. I would reconsider the placement and opacity of your logo (watermark) as it can be a bit distracting.

Good luck!!!

Jess

rj-imaging

Tom:

yes I have seen several other sites I like, clean, simple, professional. I hope to model (not copy) the best of those. I appreciate your time as well in looking over my site and you are right it is not about me, it is about the photography.

Best regards,

Bob

angevin1 wrote:

Hi Bob,

First question: What is your site supposed to be about? For me, it looks like it's about you. Because that is the first thing I am taken to when I click on your Link, an "about Bob page".

Comment. When you see other Websites, here or elsewhere, do you see any you like? If so, why not do your Website in a similar scheme. SM has lots of templates as you know and is chock full of things you can do to enhance your site. and their help desk and folks over at the customization forum are very helpful.

Also, while there are exceptions to the rule, I think expecting buyers to show up and want to purchase from you out of no-where is unrealistic. Many folks using SM use these galleries as a way for clients to come and choose the images they want and have them printed; proofing galleries. Also folks use their sites as a way for other contacts to see what the photog's work looks like for a potential hire.

Good Luck~

the-night-owl

Maybe it's just me and I'm looking over it or something, but how would I get in contact with you? Maybe I looked it over and it's in the Nav bar somewhere, but still, if you want business, be sure that people have a way to contact you that's really noticeable.

Best wishes!

moose135

I don't think it's you, Night Owl, I don't see any contact info either.

One other thing I noticed, Bob, it looks like you have breadcrumbs turned off on your galleries. Any time I clicked on a gallery from your home page menu, I'm left without any way to navigate back except for the back button on my browser. I noticed on the one category I saw (SoCal) the breadcrumbs were there when I was on the category page, but not on the galleries within. I guess it's not too much of a problem with a fairly simple gallery structure - although if you click on a number of pictures within the gallery, now you have to "back" through them all to get to your home page, and if you add multiple categories and/or subcategories to your structure, it will make it difficult for people to find their way around.

Another thing I'm not wild about is the layout of your home page. Under your logo you have your gallery menu (I'm not crazy about the look of the menu, but that's a personal preference) but right below that, you have the "This is my Friend/Family" box, above your slide show. And on my browser (FF3.3) it shows up in a light colored box, with much larger text than your menu. I would see if you could adjust the font/background of that box, and personally, I would move it below the slide show.

Good luck with the site, and from some of the earlier comments, it looks like you are already headed in the right direction with it. I think you have some very nice work there!

Gary752

As was mentioned about the lack of navigation back to the main page from the galleries, most people will simply leave your site, than keep clicking on the back button to get back to the main menu.

Also, when people click on a gallery title, most people expect to find that type of photo. I noticed in several galleries, like the "Covered Bridges" gallery, there are images other than covered bridges. I would recommend a list of basic menu items on the main page like "People", "Sports", "Landscapes", "Art", "Misc", ect... On the next level of the menu system for each, you can break it down by date, location, or event. Some will suggest that you limit the number of images to 10 - 20 in each gallery, and only display the best. People that are looking to hire a photographer for something specific, are going to click on the area that they are interested in, and are going to get an idea of your ability from the first couple pages of photos, and more than likely will not go past the second or third page. Some will be turned off if they click to see your wedding photos and end up having to weed through Uncle Joe's birthday pics to see some wedding photos. So make sure what they are clicking on is what they're going to see. Other than that, nice start on your site, and hope this helps.

GaryB