Website theory: Simple is better

www.joshuaorozco.com

What do you guys think? Simplicity to me is key. I honestly have been gallaried/flashed/phot​osheltered/wixed/and wordpressed out!

I want something that loads quick and gets the job done with as few clicks as possible.

I got my friend to write some PHP pages that I can update myself. Im not terribly worried about watermarking or protecting because the images on my site are very small (700x500 @72dpi)

All i wanna do is have a landing page to send potential clients to so that they can get a quick browse at my work. I will obviously be writing proposals, and bringing a printed portfolio to face to face meetings so this should be all i need..... right?

thoughts?

www.joshuaorozco.com

I will go first, I am not a fan at all of side scrolling image bars. Also you have book 1, 2, 3, ..... on top, it looks like each of those is a different gallery? I would name them as such, I had no idea what they were and starting clicking just to see what they did.

I did not have my window at full size, and clicked bio and bookings and it looked like the pages did nothing because I did not see things changing below the images.

Not a big fan on horizontal-scrolling. Does it work on mobile devices? I don't own one myself, but I use Screenfly to replicate mobile devices: http://quirktools.com …com/&w=320&h=56​8&a=37&s=1

Make that 3 people who don't like the horizontal scrolling. I'm looking at 1 photo (using Firefox browser) but the photos next to it are fighting for my attention. Show 1 at a time. It's simpler.

Hi. Can't quite understand why you are using javascript for the top menu. Also, while the menu stays visible on the lappie while scrolling horizontally, on the ipad, the whole thing moves. Also, not a great fan of horizontal scrolling either. What's wrong with a slideshow in jquery?

Horizontal scrolling is annoying. I can't use my mouse easily for it... you just took away my most simple method of moving around the page.

The numbers up the top in the menu are meaningless. You've just made the website harder to understand than it needs to be... I look at the menu and have no idea what each one is about. It looks like unfinished place holder content... you just increased the difficulty of using your site again... Not simple.

The menu and main content font is tiny. I'm squinting. Why? Oh why are you making viewing your site so difficult?

"Book 1" using capitalisation of the first letter "video" "bio" etc not... why?

Booking page... I can't even read the blue email link. It just appears like a blue line on screen. That is it make it even harder for me to use the site.

Simple with a theme is the best way to go in my opinion... Good luck!

Hi All thanks for the continued feed back, MUCH appreciated!

I wanted to eliminate galaries, and the click through options just to see images. While I wanted to eliminate the ability to see a "gallery" all at once, I didnt find seeing 2-3 images at a time to be too distracting, hence the infamous side scrolling site.

I know its not for everyone, but it, for me is a better option than a downwardscrolling site that reminds me too much of the tumblr or 500px flow layout etc.

The site actually looks BEST on (iOS and android) mobile devices in my opinion.

I do have lots to tweek and test, so thanks again for your feedback, I am taking it all into consideration!

J_O_S_H_U_A wrote in post #16989904
The site actually looks BEST on (iOS and android) mobile devices in my opinion.

I disagree, I think it looks terrible on mobile devices. Phones are best for vertical scrolling, not horizontal. The site doesn't make the best use of space. Also, when I click the "booking" page, all that pops up is your info email address. Why not have a contact form? Again, not mobile friendly.

IMO the site looks nice, but could use a lot of work. PM me if you need any additional help.

J_O_S_H_U_A wrote in post #16989904
I know its not for everyone, but it, for me is a better option than a downwardscrolling site that reminds me too much of the tumblr or 500px flow layout etc.

Are you building the site for your own personal tastes or to cater for the end user who is using the site?

I would hazard a guess that the purpose of your website is to be seen and digested by the end user in order to effectively make sales. There is no business sense in alienating a large proportion of users (potential clients) purely for what is your own personal preference.

Having to scroll sideways is a MAJOR problem. A real DEAL BREAKER.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #16990439
Are you building the site for your own personal tastes or to cater for the end user who is using the site?

I would hazard a guess that the purpose of your website is to be seen and digested by the end user in order to effectively make sales. There is no business sense in alienating a large proportion of users (potential clients) purely for what is your own personal preference.

You beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing. Joshua, I would listen to what is the overwhelming view on horizontal scrolling here. The general population probably has a similar view and these responders represent a good deal of business experience. POTN members have been a good deal of help to me in developing websites. I would trust their collective judgement.

A final thought - Tumblr et al probably have research indicating the same thing you have found here. That's why their sites are set up as they are.

And you are right about simplicity - as long as it's elegant simplicity.

Joshua, a word of advice from someone who's website has gone through at least 5 major rebuilds over 7 years. As a business your website exists for two reasons and two reasons only. To be found and to sell.

The website needs to be SEO friendly if you want any chance of a random stranger from Googleland to happen upon it. Personal preferences as to menu names etc should be secondary to what people will actually look for. Unless you are massively well known you can't get away with content which is no good for the Google juice. You need that juice and Google loves content, content that humans would be searching for.

The website primarily though is to create and makes sales. If you are sending people to the site from any other avenue other than a search engine it is the only reason the site exists. It is there to sell. That means it must be user friendly, it must be functional as well as pretty. It doesn't matter what your work is like if your site is hard to navigate... you will lose users, if it is confusing... you will lose users, if it is hard to read... you will lose users... if information they are looking for isn't present... you will lose users. Get the idea? Absolutely everything you do or don't do has the potential to lose users. The last thing you want to do is to automatically be losing a % of users just because of the website design.

I constantly update / tweak my website. I have in the past wanted my menu to read "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes family" to denote couple, wedding and family photography. It LOST me users. Some just didn't get it or found it confusing. Going against what I wanted I ended up back at square one with simple, SEO and user friendly menu item names.

Websites on the whole are you playing the numbers game, you are trying to maximise your potential outcomes when the odds are stacked massively against you (have you seen how much competition is out there). I'm not saying minimalist sites don't work but 1) you have to get people to the site, 2) people have to be able to use it and 3) it MUST convert interest to sales.

I get a lot of good feedback from clients and potential clients for my website. More as time goes on because I listen to what they have to say about their experiences using it. I check my personal preferences at the door and do what works for the masses.

A website may be someone's first encounter with your business. You want people to associate your business with being clear, client friendly, easy to work with and some on. You start building that impression the moment someone lands on your home page. Done right you can have a sale 90% made before someone even clicks to get in touch.

This horizontal scrolling website is horrible. I actually didn't want to look at more photos because it's really annoying and it doesn't feel right.

Why? Because I CAN'T USE MY MOUSE WHEEL to scroll down through the page. So fix the horizontal scrolling thing and then I will look at it again.

If I can't use my mouse wheel to scroll down through a page, I leave it.

Your site isn't "simple". If you want a simple website, eliminate scrolling on the main page and have very limted menus to choose from.

Keep in mind what you are trying to present. Determine if you want to "wow" a potential client with one simple full screen image or if you want to showcase a wide variety of pictures on the home screen. Honestly, keeping it simple would be just a single image.

If the potential client is interested in a certain aspect for hiring you, they will then dig into your site and see what you're all about. Once they leave the main menu, they are committed so scrolling is fine.

I like my site and maybe you can get some ideas from it. We're all different and we all have different ideas on what works. Just try to picture your site from the outside.

Http://www.kinetic-stills.com