New Website.

[Josh101]

I Have Recently Launched My New Website, And Was Wondering What People Thought Of Both The Flash And HTML Versions. As Of Now, I Am Simply Looking For Feedback On the Overall Layout,Functionality, and Other Entities That Are Involved In A Website.

I Know That I Am Lacking Content And Will Update Once I Have All The Details Finalized



Joshua O'Neill Photography (JoshuaOneillphotography.com)

[Todd Lambert]

I think you need photos on the landing page. The big green squares look like something is missing or didn't load right.

Glad to see you've thought ahead and have alternate versions - both flash and html which is nice and something you don't see with a lot of photographer's websites.

[Jonta]

1: I open the site to find a welcome-page. An obstacle.
2: Not only that, but the flag of Libya is displayed three times.
3: I tells me where to get flashplayer
4: Favicon
5: I have no Idea what this site is. I have to read to find out?
6: Myspace, HTML and Flash it says. What could this be? Music? Photography? Multiple arts? What should I choose?
7: HTML-version refreshes site to refresh picture
8: Consider a different font
9: I know photography isn't simply a hobby, you already told me you're a professional
10: The picture of you on services.. no, doesn't work
11: What are Photos Just Because?
12: I can't rightclick to open say Portfolios in a new tab
13: In your portfolio I see six sport-photos. How can I know that you'll take good pictures of my family, architecture, graduation, wedding, nature etc.? (Oh dear, only now, when I have arrived at #16 where I look at your portfolio (again, which normal users wouldn't do) do I see that you also have a portfolio for portraits and landscapes. We need to do something about this invisibility don't we)
14: Spelling/Grammar-errors
15: I want a pricequote. Now.
16: If you have so few thumbnails, make them bigger
17: I'm not sure about the colours changing when clicking a new picture
18: Why should I choose the flash-version over the HTML-version?
19: I have more than enough tabs open, without you opening another one for me thank you
20: I want your e-mail-address. I hate getting e-mails like "Thingythingy-page has recieved your e-mail. This is the one you wrote. We'll get back to you and bladibladidribbleaaaragh!" No.
21: Drop the lines moving up and down on the sides in the gallery. They distract from the pictures.
22: Myspace-site has a background that just doesn't move. Which it should. Floating backgrounds are annoying to one of the last degrees, and have been proven to cause haemorrhaging.
23: Why would I want to know if you smoke or drink, or what starsign you are? You're supposed to take pictures for me, not discuss astrology and other superstitious dung.

[sf1]

Is this a bludomain site? Maybe the Liam?

In any case, what was said above is correct (to some degree).

You do need pictures in your landing and more pics in each gallery. The overall site flows ok, but could use some tweaking. You may also want to change your browser meta data for better SEO.

[Josh101]

MY SEO is set with hidden text, as far as photos go, the site is new, and the missing content will be added once I am done editing the site's dynamics.

As far as the landing page, I agree that it needs a photo or two, for now the green is being used as a placeholder but will be removed in time.

[Faolan]

Site is too wide for a 1024 screen, resize down to 960px. A third of my traffic is for this resolution.

You HTML source code is a mess, you're using tables, embedded CSS and JS. It also doesn't validate. You need to sit down and redo the whole mess. From scratch.

Lose the music on Flash.

Why on earth do you keep changing the background to images? Not checked the flash site but it's a major distraction and pollutes the images neutrality.

Going to SmugMug is a big no no for a pro site as it breaks navigation.

Add that to Jonta's list. Oh and don't capitalise every word in your posts it makes it harder to read and is childish.

[k-style]

i also have a bludmain site, they are amazing and i was thinking of purchasing the Betsy HTML template you have in order to please the the viewers that dont wanna bother with flash....i think you need more pictures, i also think you need better pictures, not bashing your photography, but IMO you should have your best work on there and since you call yourself a professional for some reason id expect better....softer colors flow better too...and last but not least although i have my personal facebook linked on my splash page i wouldnt link my myspace.....that is a bit of a turn off right off the back.

[Josh101]

I linked the myspace because I can custom design the layout.
also with facebook, you have to be somebody's friend before you can view their profile at all, so that idea seemed pointless to me. The myspace that is linked is NOT my personal account.

[Hikin Mike]

Nice green boxes. :p

I'm pretty much in agreement with 'Jonta'.

Read this: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=472885 ;)

I generally don't comment about the text, but you say you're a professional photographer, yet a few paragraphs later you say it's a hobby. What is it...your a hobbyist or a professional? Also, the only people that care about your equipment is other photographers.

[damonb]

"Lose the music on Flash."

Agreed:) Also keep in mind that Flash looks great, but your site visitors will likely have issues with load times if they go to the Flash option (Flash also isn't great for SEO).

While I can't entirely tell what specific area you specialize in (seems to be broad), it might be a good idea to have your site read something like:

Joshua O'Neill, (insert specialty, location) Photography.

It would also be good if your samples had the url reflect what each image is. Example:

http://joshuaoneillphotography.com/html_ver/gallery.php?curr_page=1&gal_id=3&gal_type=#

Would probably be best if the url could display something like:
http://joshuaoneillphotography.com/golden_gate_bridge_fog (just shooting off the top of my head, of course).

Note: I'm not a pro. But I have dealt with a number & pick up on what they're doing with their websites.