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My Own Website

February 22, 2011, 10:56:24 PM

Meh. There's still work to do, I'm sure of it. But so far, it's looking really great to me. I would like to hear your opinions on the website, too. It was a little hard for me to figure out how to add a page just to show pictures but I eventually did.

http://www.wix.com/shoggard3/sidneyhoggardphotography

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Marian Murdoch

Reply #1 - February 26, 2011, 09:38:45 PM

First off, it took 30 seconds to load on my broadband. This is probably due to the snazzy graphics you have enabled.

The text at the bottom of the picture in Exhibitions is VERY hard to see. I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what I was supposed to do before I saw them.

You should decrease the amount of time it takes to switch to the next picture in your gallery. I got bored after just seeing a couple of them.

In the Story section, you have one sentence that says: "He runs a small Photography" I think you're missing a word there. Get rid of any reference to semi-professional, the type of camera you use, and your hopes "to become a world famous photographer someday". There is no need for that. Because you are new, you really need to focus on your vision. Tell us how you see the world, what projects you are working on. Do not talk about Twix. For example, you could say:

"Sidney Hoggard III is a photographer who currently resides in Ahoskie, NC. He considers each day to be a new learning experience and he is constantly looking for new ways to show the world the images in his mind. He works as the East Coast Photographer for the BeautifulYouth Project and enjoys helping aspiring models form their portfolios. Sidney is available for location shoots around the Ahoskie area."

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Marian Murdoch Photography

Ryan

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Reply #2 - February 27, 2011, 05:51:50 AM

I'm not a fan of Flash sites in general, and this particular layout looks to be worse than most. It's not a balanced template and doesn't fill the entire screen leaving a solid gray behind everything. Initial loading speed seemed okay for me though. And you don't have a splash page which I think was a very good decision.

Page to page is very slow, which I assume is a server issue. And the page transitions are a little too jumpy for my tastes. That might work if your stuff was very dark and edgy, but it's not and doesn't really fit with your photo style.

Agree with Marian about the text on Story. It makes you sound like you're fresh out of the gate. May be true, but you don't want to advertise it.

And either pay for Wix to get rid of the free bar on the bottom or go with another company. I would never hire a photographer that is obviously using a free site. You'd be better off with something like WordPress.com. It's free, but they don't plaster it letting everybody know.

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shoggard3

Reply #3 - March 13, 2011, 12:50:33 AM

I plan to pay for a membership on the website once I'm able to. For now, I took it back offline because I wanted to work on it from scratch. So far, it's looking good but I'm taking it easy. Been working on a small project and I am starting to get more reception for another project known as the BeautifulYouth Project. At least things are starting to pick up around here. =)

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jkleb

Reply #4 - March 15, 2011, 05:14:25 AM

FWIW I use Zenfolio's website platform. Yes, it has flash. But I can pull it up on my phone and still navigate to what I need; only the slideshow doesn't work. I don't have time to be a web designer too, so this is my cheap way out. You can see it at jklebphoto.com

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shoggard3

Reply #5 - March 17, 2011, 11:40:30 AM

Here is the updated website; http://www.wix.com/shoggard3/sidneyhoggardphotography

How does it look? I wanted to wait to pay for a membership until I had some advice on the website. For instance, I didn't know what to include on the Home page.

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Marian Murdoch

Reply #6 - March 18, 2011, 10:48:09 AM

Load time for front page: 25seconds.

What do you want to accomplish from this site? Do you want clients who are edgy, do you want to sell your work, or do you want to do mainstream clients? If it's bread and butter, mainstream clients you are looking for, then get rid of Twix on the front page. If you want to sell your work, get rid of Twix on the front page.

Your bio is better. I especially love the part about when you were grounded for using up film. However, you still sound young and inexperienced. If you want to acquire clients, this needs to be fine tuned a bit more.

There are some photographers who refuse to show their prices on their websites, but research has shown that clients will usually move on to another photographer rather than spend their time calling for prices. It would be good for you to list your rates on a separate page, and to list the types of shoots you do. Do you only do location shoots, or do you also have a studio?

I really hope you get your own website, as all those ads for Wix sure are annoying.

One more thing. You need to branch out with your clients. I know Twix is a willing subject, but you ABSOLUTELY need more variety in your gallery. Also, if you are marketing yourself for clients, you should get rid of all of your landscape photos from the gallery. I know you're proud of them, but they're not going to get you clients, unless you're also selling your photos (which you aren't, as there's no indication of prices anywhere). Even if you are, they should be in a separate gallery so clients don't have to page through tons of landscape pictures to see your abilities with portraits.

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Marian Murdoch Photography

Ryan

Admin

Reply #7 - March 18, 2011, 11:15:38 AM

My load time was a little better at 6 seconds until I saw the first image. Still not nearly fast enough. Last study I saw was that the positive effects of your site start dropping off between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds of load time.

I would ditch the "Open Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays." Appointment only serves the same purpose. You can either be booked or have a conflict if it interferes with the day job, school, or whatever you've got the other days.

Agree with Marian on rates. I know it's a debated subject, but I wouldn't call somebody to get rates if they're not listed. There are enough photographers around that I would just move on to the next one.

And your stuff is an odd mix of styles. Marian already pointed out that landscapes and portraits shouldn't be mixed in if you're trying to sell. If you want them on the same site, and I would recommend against it, they at least need to be in separate sections. Looking at the beautiful youth models page, only the Rose image looks like a portrait. The heaven image is a snapshot and probably should go. The other two look like you're trying to be a bit edgy, which doesn't fit the other two.

The about page needs to be weaned down. Nobody cares what high school you graduated from. Describing yourself as self-taught has a negative connotation. And if you're going to keep that much text there, you must get someone to grammar check it for you. It's painfully choppy and, at a minimum, needs to be split into multiple paragraphs. The whole thing paints you as a photography student, which may be true, but that's not the image you want to give potential clients.

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