KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! Website critique please...

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KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! Website critique please...

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KrazEric

posts: 10

Apr 02, 2007 1:03 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

I understand you`re not a web developer and you do the best you can.
There are lots of us in that same boat. :)

My suggestion was not to make the site navigation linear where you go
from one page the the next, and if you want to go back two pages you
have to click the back arrow twice. The web browser itself supplies that
kind of navigation. My comment was that the arrows are confusing
because they symbolize linear navigation which is not a good way to go.
I`m not suggesting your site map be one straight line of pages.

What I suggest is to do away with the arrows and have more links
(buttons or plain text) that can take you to the various pages on the site.
Understanding you don`t have a lot of technical skill, you still know
enough to create a set of links to navigate around the site from any page.
I hope that made a little more sense.

Perfect sense...figures...I liked the arrows...lol...but it`s not what I like, but what will draw in and keep potential customers.

Thanks for the tips...

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KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! http://krazeimages.com

KrazEric

posts: 10

Apr 02, 2007 1:07 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Some of the buttons worked quickly. Others, like the "Prints & More" took forever to load. Then, when I got to that page, I clicked on an image and it too, took a very long time to load.

I get the idea that you don`t have a lot of money for a developer. But the problems you`re dealing with are about how to make pages load faster, how to make the site design pleasing to the viewer, and so forth.

In my opinion, rather than going for clever gimmicks as you`re learning how to code a site, go with something easier to use instead. After all, what do you want to do for the rest of your life---be a Web page developer or a photographer?

There wasn`t any written content to make you a person, to make you interesting, or to build a relationship with me as I looked at the site. It was "just another image gallery" from what I saw.

Personally, I think you`d do much better to use a basic template for the site, but spend your time writing better and better, interesting content. Not many people really care that much about the aesthetics of the site, excepting when they`re really annoying. Instead, I think people are captured by the meaning of the words they`re reading.

Someone, a while back, brought out two basic concepts for a Web site:

Customer journey -- the path you lead the viewer to follow as they enter your site,
Call to action -- the stop points throughout the site where you try to engage the viewer in some way.

I see neither concept really taking place on the site. It`s partly the big buttons, but they`re not all that terrible. It`s that they`re taking the place of the actual content. Even so, why am I looking at that content? See?

The more image content I have, the longer it takes to load....so the store page and the samples pages seem to take a bit.

The information about me is on the artist page...I`m considering having the main page the "Artist page with some images around the edges...

Or, perhaps...the artist page as the main page with a basic menu to the left to reach store and sample pages.....thoughts?

I really appreciate the time and thought you guys are putting into this. Thank you.

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KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! http://krazeimages.com

nhgnikole

posts: 2660

Apr 02, 2007 2:00 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

Each page has a site map, so to speak, at the bottom of the page for quick links to any page.

What you have to realize is that I`m on a laptop.
So "the bottom" is many, many clicks down.

You need a reason for me to want to click further - the types of things CraigL was mentioning in this thread.

Regarding the images, you can play with size, quality, file type, compression and optimization to make them load faster. There`s several editing programs out there that do it ... but some of them probably cost more than a developer.

CraigL

posts: 9051

Apr 02, 2007 2:03 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

Regardless of how many images you have, there`s a sort of generally accepted amount of time people will wait for a page to load. That comes down to the size of the original graphic.

If you have a 1000 x 1000 pixel image, then tell the browser to resize it to 200x200, the browser still has to download the original picture. It then resizes it on the individual machine to whatever smaller size you chose. The problem is the original download, not the later resizing.

Ergo, try to have your pictures at the size they`re going to display right from the git-go. So on your gallery pages, use small images. Link them to larger images on their own, individual pages. The gallery page loads fast, and if someone clicks for a bigger view, they go to another page that has only that 1 larger image.

The problem is that with all the big buttons and slow loading times, I didn`t even notice that you have an "about the artist" page at all!

One nice exercise for you would be to get a stack of notecards...small ones, the regular 3x5. Each card represents a page on your Web site.

Put "Home" on the one index card. Then list what you want on that card for the home page. If you run out of room on the index card, you`re probably going to lose the viewer`s attention on the actual Web site.

By putting "placeholders" on the index cards, you can get a visual sense as you lay them out on a table of how your site will function. There should be a way to from most of the pages to most of the other ones. It`s an exercise, at any rate, and something to try. :-)

CampSteve

posts: 1216

Apr 02, 2007 11:17 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

I am an artist myself and I have another suggestion from this point of
view.

LET YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY DO THE SPEAKING!

Currently, the most prominent imagery on your site is the buttons (those
damn arrows) and 3-D looking headlines and text boxes. What are you
trying to showcase - that you can make 3-D text with basic web effects
or your photography?

It`s NOT about the website. It IS about the photographs.

I`d make all of your navigation links very simple and plain. This doesn`t
mean text only. You can still make buttons but make them boring and
unimportant. You do not want other graphic elements to compete with
your photographs on the page!

Do you have a tangible portfolio of prints in some sort of book form?
Have you added other flashy graphics on the pages? Probably not. Are
you getting my point? Probably so.

CraigL

posts: 9051

Apr 03, 2007 1:24 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

Let`s step back for a moment and ask the basic question:

What are you trying to accomplish with this Web site?

KrazEric

posts: 10

Apr 03, 2007 4:02 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

Sales and awareness of my work...

I get the point....don`t focus on the tricks and BS....focus on what it`s really for..the business and the work...:)

Thanks...I am working on a few ideas now...but it will take some time....I`m not speedy at this stuff...particularly when what time I have is limited...but you guys really gave me some food for thought and good advice!

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KRAZE-IMAGES for a Crazy Life! http://krazeimages.com

CraigL

posts: 9051

Apr 04, 2007 3:35 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

Points: 0 Vote

:-) Feel free to post a new topic when you`ve revised the site.

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