Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

A number of comments/reactions:

1. Overall look-and-feel of the site is probably OK. Dark color is a two-edged sword: it looks rich/classy, but it's also cold and foreboding. I also find it more difficult to read reverse type, and particularly so when there are long/wide lines of copy and when the copy is centered instead of left-justified.

2. It's not clear from the website who your real target audience is. It would be good if you can narrow your focus and do a really good job of communicating with ONE target audience, and not try to be all things to all people.

3. The copy has a number of typos and sloppy construction. I suspect Spanish is your native tongue. Because your target audience is in the States, though, you should probably get a professional copywriter (whose primary language is American English) to clean it up.

4. What's the purpose of the website? How do you expect people to find it? Who do you want to visit? (Don't say, "everyone." That's not a good answer; shows you haven't really thought about who your primary target audience is.) What action do you want them to take once they've been through the website?

5. The website should probably be part of a total marketing plan for your business. Do you have a marketing plan? It's a whole lot easier to evaluate a website when you understand its role in the marketing process and what you expect it to accomplish. If you don't know what success looks like, how will you know when it shows up? This isn't about pretty pictures and slick copy. It's your business.

I agree with Mike. Your photos are gorgeous, but who is your audience? Some of them seem to be art photos, others family portraits, still others look like illustrations for magazine articles.

Who are you aiming at? Or, are you aiming at everybody, spraying and praying and hoping to hit something?

At minimum, you need a native English speaker to go over your site and fix the typos and grammatical errors.

If you really want to make an impact, you'll need a professional copywriter to emphasize what makes you special and why visitors should hire you.

For example, if you decide to focus on family portraits, you're not really selling photographs, you're selling happy memories.

Develop a "biography" of your ideal customers - say new moms who want family portraits. What do they worry about? What are their concerns?

Maybe they are worried the baby will fuss (you've got toys to distract them), etc.

What's their budget?

Can you stand out by making family photos simple and easy? (late hours, work on weekends, come to their house, bring props, etc.)


Hope this helps.

Jodi

Website Grader has a number of technical suggestions for improving your site as well: https://www.websitegrader.com/wsgid/4679537/default.aspx

Many good suggestions above. I would also move some of the content around a bit.

For example, I would use the content on the current Services page as the content for the Home page, because it gives a flavor for what you do. Keep the slide show, but have a photo of a person come up first- the one of the girl in the Christening dress would be wonderful.

Then on the About page, tell us about your history. I'm not sure you need a self-portrait here. Talk about your philosophy of photography as art and why your work is different from others.

On the services page you need to tell us about your products and services. Do you do framing? Oil? On-site shoots? List all of the specialties like landscapes, home shots, etc.

Overall I like the look and feel, except that I think the Contact page could be a little classier in keeping with the rest of the site. I sense that you do really have a business that is different. Make the most of your unique position in the market! As others have suggested, get some help with content and polishing things up a bit, and I think you have the start of a wonderful and compelling site. Good luck!