Please critique my photo website

[Mark Larson]

www.marklarsonphotography.com

[Kitchensink108]

-You should combine Intro and Home into a single page and make it the first link on the left.
-Don't use images for you text. It's bad for users, search engines, etc.
-I suggest not using image maps at all.
-I usually suggest having the same background for every page. Given your site is a photography website, it makes sense that you should show off as much as you can, though, so I'll just say I don't have an opinion on this issue.
-I'd combine Thanks and Contact into a single About page or something. At the least, rearrange the nav so that thanks is next to last, by contact.
-The nav changes from black to gray if you go to the gallery page. For consistency, I say make them all the same color.

I would've gone in a slightly different direction with the layout, but it's decent as it is.

[Croc Hunter]

What is "tithing" ? You might want to clarify that on your intro. I agree the nav bar colors for each page should stay the same.

Nice site Mark.

[symo]

What is "tithing" ?
Pronunciation: 'tI[th]

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): tithed; tith·ing

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English teogothian, from teogotha tenth

transitive verb

1 : to pay or give a tenth part of especially for the support of the church
2 : to levy a tithe on

intransitive verb : to give a tenth of one's income as a tithe

I don't get into politcs or religion at the bar... err forum :D

But, if I did, I'd probably say something to the effect that I don't believe it (the tithing comment) really adds anything to the site. You have some very beautiful pictures of a very beautiful state, what you do with the money generated by sales of your pictures is your business.

Nice photographs Mark.

symo

[YvetteKuhns]

I agree with the other comments. The intro page should replace the home page. The text should appear as text and not in an image, if you want search engines to help you get visitors.

The web page does not fit 800x600 screen resolution without horizontal scrolling. I had to scroll to click the contact link which only has an ISP email address and not one associated with the domain name. It had no name or other info.

Who is Mark? Include an about page where you can say from where you come, why you take photos, how long you have taken photos, your first camera and all that fun stuff. I feel like I just got a Christmas card from someone who forgot to sign it! ;)

The images are nice, but there are no descriptions with them. Because you are a photographer, you will have NUMEROUS images. What I do is rename each image to use numbers that include the date the photo was taken and a brief description. For example, 10152006autumn01 which is the first autumn photo taken October 15th of 2006 or you can use 20061015autumn01 to find all photos of 2006, then by month, then by day (if you include the day). Don't make the name too long, though. Just a suggestion.

The design is old-style, but functional. The website name normally appears at the top of each page. It feels strange - like switching from Mac to Windows and finding your menu in a different place. Use your nameplate image at the top of each page just above or below your links menu. I am not crazy about bright, busy backgrounds behind text. I have enough trouble reading text on a screen all day.

The photos are very nice, but the website design doesn't look professional enough to encourage purchases. If you want to accept money for photos, you must include your full contact information: name, address, phone number, email address (same as domain name), and business (calling) hours. You must include privacy, payment, shipping and refund policies. Do you accept checks, credit cards, PayPal? To where do you ship? Do you use USPS, UPS, DHL? When will the items be expected to arrive?

The design needs to complement and highlight your images. Make people fall in love with your images and want to buy them. The presentation is just like having a photo glued to cardboard or professionally framed with a custom mat. Do you have examples of framed art? See this picture frame website (http://www.americanframe.com/) picked at random for an example. I want to see the photo and the frame. If you do NOT offer framing, you can link to sites that do.

Sorry for the long-winded report. Just rambling to give you ideas to improve your website.

[Mark Larson]

Thanks everybody for your constructive advice and opinions. I do agree with a lot of your suggestions and will have to talk to my webmaster about them. A lot of the things that you pointed out were things I directed him to do, so I will have to re-evaluate those. This site serves more as a convenience to me then as a money maker for selling prints. I have been using it more as a electronic portfolio then as a sale site, as this is a hobby versus having to make a living off of it, although I do want to have a professional looking site for my friends and clients to look at. I appreciate your comments and if you any further comments, I would appreciate those also.
Mark

[Gamersea]

Nice looking site, Is your site still hosted at Powweb.com?

If so, I am asking my self why your pages are loading so fast and some pages of other customers not (which don't have any images or a few)

[IanS]

Domain Name: MARKLARSONPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.tucows.com
Name Server: NS2.POWWEB.COM
Name Server: NS3.POWWEB.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 18-sep-2006
Creation Date: 04-aug-2005
Expiration Date: 04-aug-2008

[Gamersea]

Ok, That seams clear!