New Smugmug site critique please

JimW

I'm fairly new to the online world, and would be grateful for some critiques of my new smugmug site. As I am switching careers into photography, the purpose of the site was to have a place to send prospective customers to view some of my work. If you have the time, please take a look and give me your thoughts and criticisms. All comments are welcome on any aspect of the site.

Thank you very much - Jim

SloYerRoll

Hey Jim,

I really like your high key portraits. Nice work.

Please take the following in a way of constructive criticisim. I'm not a pro, but if I was looking for a photog and they told me to go to this site. These are the reasons I'd say. "eh"

You cover a broad gammut of photography.
Real estate, and conceptual (alternative) are very specific photography disciplines.
I would recommend narrowing down the types of photography you display on your site. This way you are a photographer that specializes in certain fields. It's easier to make maintain profitablilty when you are an expert at one thing rather than very good at allot of things. You can charge a premium and still get business (still takes allot of marketing though).

It also seems like you have a few galleries mixed up a bit. I go to angels and see maternity. I go to alternative and see angels and a few more like this. I recommend a clear seperation between galleries, even if it requires you making custom galleries to do so.

Your banner pictures don't lend well to the black background.

The background color on different galleries seem arbitrary and don't fall into any color scheme. To create a business identity, you need to stick w/ a color scheme so when people see that scheme, they think YOU.

Get a pro account and dump the .smugmug part of your url. Like the old addage, "it takes money to make money"

Don't see any © disclaimer anywhere for the shots.

Obtain an email domain that is consistant w/ your website url. Right now your email doesn't seem to have anything to do w/ the rest of your site.

Slide shows are where it's at. Especially w/ music. You need to be choosy when setting this up though since your pictures vary so much.

Don't tell ppl that images are not for sale. Have them contact you for image purchase. If it's not for sale anyway, at least your talking to them and can work out a shoot for them.

Have your banner dynamic to the gallery your viewing. i.e. the text in the middle of your banner says the same. When you go to the angels gallery though, you see angels on each side of the banner.

Good luck on your new endeavor.

-Jon

JimW

Jon,

I sincerely appreciate your constructive criticism. It’s just what I was looking for. And thanks for the compliment on the portraits.
I understood most of what you said.

<<< Your banner pictures don't lend well to the black background.>>>
Okay, you are saying they should be color instead, I assume? (not sure what you mean)

<<< Get a pro account and dump the .smugmug part of your url.>>>
I recently upgraded to a pro acct, but will have to learn about this. I know nothing about programming, or html or css etc.

<<< Don't see any © disclaimer anywhere for the shots. >>>
Do you mean a watermark? On the photo? I looked at doing this, and it horrified me to see photos with watermarks. Guess I’m a purist in that regard. But I’m keeping an open mind, and might come around soon. It does seem to be the only way to protect images.

<<< Obtain an email domain that is consistant w/ your website url >>>
I think I know what you mean, but have to put it on my list of things to learn. You mean you somehow get a smugmug email acct, that has to be checked? Obviously, I am, right now, smack dab in the middle of finding out how much I don’t know.

<<< Slide shows are where it's at.>>>
Sigh. It figures. I don’t care for them. But I’m keeping an open mind.

<<< Have your banner dynamic to the gallery your viewing.>>>
Tried this a couple of months ago when I first started, and screwed it all up. Again, programming, html etc. But yes, I understand, gotta try again.

Very helpful. Again, thanks for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it, Jon.

Jim

SloYerRoll

Glad you took it well Jim. Since I invested the time to post. I may as well clarify your questions. At least from my perspective.

<<< Your banner pictures don't lend well to the black background.>>>
Okay, you are saying they should be color instead, I assume? (not sure what you mean)
Not so much the color or B&W aspect. More the transition of the photo to the backgrond. Mabey a border on the shots will help this.

<<< Get a pro account and dump the .smugmug part of your url.>>>
I recently upgraded to a pro acct, but will have to learn about this. I know nothing about programming, or html or css etc.
Goto Smugmug>help>professional users>custom hostname

<<< Don't see any © disclaimer anywhere for the shots. >>>
Do you mean a watermark? On the photo? I looked at doing this, and it horrified me to see photos with watermarks. Guess I’m a purist in that regard. But I’m keeping an open mind, and might come around soon. It does seem to be the only way to protect images.
There are other options for to keep your photos safe. I see you already have options for small and medium size. Pleaple will still try to grab these and print a ridiculous sizes. Making the shot look like crap and them thinking crappy print = you.
Goto Smugmug>help>professional users>image protection

<<< Obtain an email domain that is consistant w/ your website url >>>
I think I know what you mean, but have to put it on my list of things to learn. You mean you somehow get a smugmug email acct, that has to be checked? Obviously, I am, right now, smack dab in the middle of finding out how much I don’t know.
There's stuff about this here:
Goto Smugmug>help>professional users>custom hostname

<<< Slide shows are where it's at.>>>
Sigh. It figures. I don’t care for them. But I’m keeping an open mind.

<<< Have your banner dynamic to the gallery your viewing.>>>
Tried this a couple of months ago when I first started, and screwed it all up. Again, programming, html etc. But yes, I understand, gotta try again.
Good luck w/ that. THE SM support crew here rocks and they will definately give you what you need.

JimW

Outstanding. Lots to learn. I owe you one, Jon.

bsvirginian

Hi Jim

After Jon's comments I had to take another look. I'm actually considering what you've just done. Go Pro. Haven't really decided yet since I have my own site (www.bob-swanson.com) and a new one I'm currently working on that's not public yet (www.bob-swanson.net).
A couple of things Jon mentioned that I agree with 1) the e-mail address. Mine is bob@bob-swanson.com to match my website. 2) The only message your site gives us is that your images are not for sale. What do you want the site to do for you. Sell your services? Mention them.
By the way when my new site is completed I'll switch it over to my current address.
I did like your catagories and your images were really professional. I didn't understand the polaroid part either unless it was just demonstrating another art form. I'll have to keep monitoring what you are doing and maybe it will influence my decisions. BS

JimW

... The only message your site gives us is that your images are not for sale. What do you want the site to do for you. Sell your services? Mention them.

I'm in the process of figuring that out now. But that's excellent advice, Bob. Thanks. The process of going public and posting here makes me wonder if perhaps the Alternative gallery & the Exteriors gallery & the Angels gallery might not belong on this site. That would narrow the site down.
Thanks for commenting and good luck with your site too. From checking out your site and others, I think I've got some writing to do.

Scott_Quier

You have some really excellent images, but nothing's for sale. There's nothing about you, where you are, what market (geographic as well as niche) you serve.

Get really friendly with the customization forum. There's all sorts of information and help available there. Lots of examples on how to do things, so much so that if you can figure out how to cut and paste and can see/perceive patterns in things, you don't really need to know/understand HTML, css, etc. By way of example, check out my site. I did it all by the cut and paste method. I really don't understand how the menu works, I just know that I played with it enough to get it to work the way I needed it to and to be able to change the number of items in the main menu without breaking it. If I can do it, most anyone can.

JimW

You have some really excellent images, but nothing's for sale. There's nothing about you, where you are, what market (geographic as well as niche) you serve.

Thanks Scott. I appreciate your comments. Yes, I am understanding that I need to get much more specific. Where I am, what I offer, and even pricing.

Get really friendly with the customization forum.

OK. I guess it has to be done. When it comes to html, I'm sure I could screw up a rock fight.

Many thanks for taking the time to comment. If you're still reading this thread, do you think I should get rid of the Alternative, Exteriors and Angels galleries in order to narrow the scope?

Scott_Quier

JimW wrote:

If you're still reading this thread, do you think I should get rid of the Alternative, Exteriors and Angels galleries in order to narrow the scope?

I pretty much follow threads I've responded to until they die a natural death. I usually learn a whole lot more from other's posts than I ever do from my own and I only post in threads addressing topic in which I have some interest. So, yes, I'm still reading this thread...

Based on things Andy has posted, I think you can make your site work for you in any number of areas. The big thing is to get the search engines to find you when a googler enters appropriate search criteria. Again, according to Andy, that happens when you are diligent in applying appropriate keywordis to ALL your exposed photographs (those that are not in password protected galleries) and writing good descriptions for each of your galleries/categories. This text will be one of the big things that the search engines will index.

That having been said, I think you would do well to present only one topic on your home page - the one area where you hope to get most of your business. Have the other areas available in some sort of navigation device, such as a nav menu.

Done this way, I think the search engines will generate multiple index entries; one for each of your sub-categories/galleries it finds interesting/worthy. That way, if I'm correct, if a user looks for weddings, (s)he'll find your wedding galleries/category. Seaching for exteriors, google will drop them at that gallery/category.

Disclaimer: All the above is guess/suposition, based on things I've read and what I pass off as common sense. It seems to be working for my, but YMMV.

JimW

It’s apparent to me now that I don’t really know what I want to do with my site. Initially, I only thought of making a smugmug site in order to have a place to send prospective customers who want to see examples. That’s it. (Hence, I’ve only uploaded low res.)

Now it appears that maybe I should be designing my site to fit into Google’s search criteria, including descriptions and naming galleries with names that are best for Google. If I understand correctly, there are two reasons to do this: 1) to find customers who will hire us, AND 2) to find people who'll buy prints (through sm) of images in our galleries. It's the second part that still seems odd to me. But okay.

Scott_Quier

JimW wrote:

It’s apparent to me now that I don’t really know what I want to do with my site. Initially, I only thought of making a smugmug site in order to have a place to send prospective customers who want to see examples. That’s it. (Hence, I’ve only uploaded low res.)

Now it appears that maybe I should be designing my site to fit into Google’s search criteria, including descriptions and naming galleries with names that are best for Google. If I understand correctly, there are two reasons to do this: 1) to find customers who will hire us, AND 2) to find people who'll buy prints (through sm) of images in our galleries. It's the second part that still seems odd to me. But okay.

The site can be used to help potential customers find you. In fact, that is the primary purpose for my site.

The second, for me, is to provide a professional print fulfillment service. SmugMug, through EZprints, makes that very easy. I really don't worry about potential purchases - working with portraits and weddings, my customers are pretty much a captured audience. They either buy from me or they have to take the CD I provide to some place like wally-world and who knows what kind of prints they will get from them.

SloYerRoll

JimW wrote:

It’s apparent to me now that I don’t really know what I want to do with my site. Initially, I only thought of making a smugmug site in order to have a place to send prospective customers who want to see examples. That’s it. (Hence, I’ve only uploaded low res.)

Now it appears that maybe I should be designing my site to fit into Google’s search criteria, including descriptions and naming galleries with names that are best for Google. If I understand correctly, there are two reasons to do this: 1) to find customers who will hire us, AND 2) to find people who'll buy prints (through sm) of images in our galleries. It's the second part that still seems odd to me. But okay.

Hey Jim,
Don't let these things overwhelm you. Go check out the SmugMug customization forums and some well done SmugMug sites. After you see the things you want, post a question and you'll get all the answers you need. No matter how "css" knowledge limited you (read, even if you don't know jack) They will pull you through it. Their SM kung fu is strong.
The sky is practically the limit! While there are some limitations. The pro's vastly outweigh any cons.

-Jon

JimW

... a professional print fulfillment service. SmugMug, through EZprints, makes that very easy.

Have you been satisfied with the quality of prints from EZprints? In all of the threads which I’ve read so far, I haven’t yet seen a review of their printing.

Also, the idea that strangers, who might be directed to our SM sites by keywords and Google, might buy prints of our images, having never heard of us and having no connection to the images, is still hard for me to understand. I’m amazed that it happens, and surprised that this idea could be a profit center. This means there are people surfing the web looking for photo images to buy, yet they are not in the photos, know no one in the photos, and have no connection. Wierd.

I plan to remove the Angels, Exteriors and Alternative galleries from my site in order to narrow the scope. Also, I’ll study the customization stuff until my eyes bleed, get my own url with email to match, and strongly consider making all galleries the same color theme. I’ll also do that dynamic banner thing, and I am still considering watermarks. I think these were all Jon’s suggestions, so thanks Jon. (If none of this works, I’ll need your address, Jon, so I can come after you. :D )

I will also write something that says where I am, what I offer and possibly what I charge.

Thanks guys, you’ve been a big help in making sure I never see the light of day again until the Red Sox win another world series.

Scott_Quier

JimW wrote:

Have you been satisfied with the quality of prints from EZprints? In all of the threads which I’ve read so far, I haven’t yet seen a review of their printing.

I have hugely satisfied with the prints. I've shown them to wedding clients as part of my interview portfolio and they have all been, without exception, extremely impressed. In addtion, the prints are backed by the SmugMug guarentee (see it here) which, to my mind, can't be beat. One futher anectdote - I had someone - don't know who - order 4 or 5 of my photos as prints and then e-mailed the SmugMug help desk to cancel the order. They did it without batting any eye. I then contacted them to get some idea of what they were ordering and Barb was very accomodating, within their privacy policy, in helping me out.

SmugMug product quality is first rate and their service simply can't be beat!

I will also write something that says where I am, what I offer and possibly what I charge.

I would also consider writing something about who you are, inject some of your personality into the site. My experience has been that doing so, while keeping it professional, has gained me as many clients as any other factor.

JimW

Good to hear that re the prints.

And I understand about adding a liitle of one's personality too.

But I think I've learned that the big decision seems to be this: either we're designing our websites to make money or we're not. And I'll have to roll that around in my brain for a while. As you can probably tell, I haven't completely decided that yet. And it seems that all the other decisions flow from that one.

Many thanks for all your help Scott.