Website Criticism

[Jayson Prentice]

Alright, I've changed the design on my website probably 10 times over the past week with changes to the colors, the words, descriptions, etc... I'm looking to only do one more major adjustment to the site and for that I want comments/criticisms from anybody possible (that's where you come in). ;)

http://www.iowachaser.com/photography


I plan on adding more thumbnails to the front page as well as the pricing information on the respective pages. The main things I want is the overall layout, less words on the front or is it fine? More photos on the front with links to individual pages for each of my photography 'mediums'?

Another big concern is the products and print sizes and options. Is there enough or should I add more? I know I don't have senior photo packages up yet, that'll be a whole addition later on when prices are finalized. Any comments are welcome, don't be afraid to write a bunch on how my web design sucks!! :p

[sevillafox]

Hey Jayson,

I just peeked at your site and there are a few things I noticed:

1. The grammar/wording in your intro paragraph seems a little off.
2. I would put a nav. menu on each page. I hate having to click back to get to a new page.
3. Your logo is a little big and takes up some valuable real estate especially since you have to scroll down to even find your menu.

I like the scrolling photo gallery though.

[djscrib]

Most users are browsing the web in 1024x768 resolution.

You have a 200ish pixel high banner on every page which consists of just your name and the tornado looking logo. browsers chew up around 200 pixels of vertical space as well. Thus you're basically using 1/4 of the screen on every page to show your logo which consists primarily of deadspace.

Shrink the sucker down and get information the customers want in the "prime" position on your page.

[Hikin Mike]

I agree with the header, shrink it down a bit and add some navigation on the top. I really like the new twister logo! :D

[mr_e]

Well, first you need a consistent layout, with navigation on each page, right now your layout in general is kind of blah, you might want to take a look at premade templates, not to buy (although you could), but to model after

Also how come there's not a link to your online gallery or faq in your navigation, I just happen to find them

Then if you can afford it I would hire somebody to create a professional looking logo for you as yours isn't necessarily bad, but also just kind of blah

It's a good start though, hope to see more :)

[Jayson Prentice]

Thanks for all of the comments. I've redone the navigation on the main page to include some other helpful links and also added in navigation to the other pages at the top. I'll likely change the links on the other pages to include a 'home', 'gallery', 'contact' and 'FAQ' links instead of the others that are their now.

I shrunk up the title as many of you indicated, its' now only 100 pixels instead of the 200 and it allows the front page to fit the nav bar as well as all other immediate information.

I'll be working on the wording later on, I have some nice ideas on how I can keep it short and make it a little more catchy. Glad you guys liked the scrolling images, I can add in the option of it pausing when you mouse over, would like be nice or is there no preference on that? Thanks again...

[kja]

And how about some details about where you are? I see Estherville b'ball but who knows what area you cover?

The site doesn't work for me - it's too hard to get back and forth still, imho.

[Hikin Mike]

The "Landscape" page can not be found.
"Gallery" should match the rest of the site.
You need a "Gallery", "Contact" and "FAQ" on each page, just notht he home page. Also You should have a "Home" link on each page.

Getting better...

[djscrib]

Your nav bar is in a real strange placement on the home page. It's also huge. Put it right underneath your logo and shrink it down. Reduce some of the padding. I still think your log needs shrunk down by another 40%ish.

Your image roll looks neat on its own, but I think is out of place on your site. Also that think is not going to work well for people with slower computers. It stutters on mine and my machine is a beast.

1/3 of your home page is copyright/terms/conditions, etc. No one has any interest whatsoever in that. Your home page is your first/best chance of gaining a customer. Put some information they Need and Want on it. People want a few quick "phrases" on the page to stand out, not to read a multi-paragraph doctrine. Use some headings, with info below.

[flipstyle72]

site looks clean to me. Like the scrolling images (where did you get it btw? written yourself or stole some code somewhere? guess I can look at the html for more info. lol)

But as stated above, putting too of fancy stuff assumes your visitors will have just as capable machines as you do, so those that have crap pc's might not be able to enjoy the site as you intended it.

Not sure if you made changes since others posted about the page fitting the screens right, but it fits mine perfect. When i load the page it's spot on. All I see is the logo, scroll and menu. The rest of the somewhat useless stuff is hidden unless I scroll down. BUT i have a Panasonic toughbook without a widescreen. More of a full screen. Unless you have the site set up to change for various screen resolutions, you can't please everyone all the time!

If this is your first site design, you did a fantastic clean job. Not sure how much of it was prefabbed and hand written, but it works.