Web site

[scotgasch]

Don't know if this is the place or not to do this, but I would like some critique on my web site:

1. Content
2. Load speed (please state connection type)
3. Design
4. Suggestions

Also please list any other browser used other than IE, if there is a problem

Keep in mind it is still under construction, but please, any suggestions will be apprieciated :D

www.aiphotographics.com

[mson]

My connection: Cable using 802.11b
I’m using FireFox so any formatting issues may be caused by incompatibility with ie.

Once you click on a link and get to the next page the links are no longer within the box.

Speed seemed a little slow, you can easily drop the file size down and still get good images.

The “home” link moves around. I would keep it in the same spot so people do not get confused.

You should probably embed your email in an image or use scripting to avoid using the “mailto” html command. This will save you A LOT of hassle from bots grabbing your email and sending you spam.

You might consider allowing people to click on the smaller images to see larger ones. You can use a “watermark” so you do not have to worry about someone stealing your images.

My personal preference here: I HATE it when I cannot copy/paste a direct link to something I want to show someone. If you changed that someone could send say your weddings page to someone instead of a generic link.

You have a good start, and some good pictures to show off. I would concentrate on polishing the site to make it stand out and really impress someone. The more professional it looks the more interested potential customers will be.

[Scottes]

Scot your pictures are very good to great. The site doesn't really show them to their fullest.

The design needs a bit of flair. It looks kinda flat and static. Design the site like you design a photo - bring the eye around to where you want it to go. Use the images and text to create a pleasing composition, *flow* the eye around the page to land on the important things. Use the images to flow into the text, and use the prose of the text to keep the person there.

Refering to the images (subtly and sometimes bluntly) on the page helps to connect your images with what you're saying. Make each page what you say AND what you do. As an example, on your "About Us" page you talk about "telling a story, your story" yet you have a dull B&W static image. Tell a story. Show us your pictures through life or something like that.


Menus at top AND bottom don't work. And they don't always line up in the boxes - make an image-based image map for that look. They probably line up in IE, but I use Mozilla. (also download Mozilla or Netscape as well as Opera and make sure things look good in all of them.) And make sure your menus are the same on every page - they're different sometimes, such as one menu item missing.

"Contact me" -> "Contact" - don't make it sound like a one-man operation.

Each category should have several images. Your "Weddings" is great, the collage is wonderful. Do it more.

The always-centered text doesn't look good. Tables will allow you to put blocks of text here and there on a page, making them flow with the images.

Your images are full-sized showing thumbnails - create thumbnails for each page. One image was 404Kb when it could have been about 20Kb.

Get rid of the web counter. It's amateurish.


As I've said you have a lot of great images. If you design the site as well as you design the images then they'll work well together. Go do some web-browsing and bookmark sites that you think look good. Identify what you like about them and use these ideas to design your site.

[scotgasch]

WOW!! :shock:
All great suggestions....thanks guys!! :D

[ryuwulf]

nice...

im not sure what the links are about the baby. all i see is a red line that disappears.

good try,on your attempt.
if you dont have a lot of time, just use coppermin for your gallery.

click on my link to see it.