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 p.1 #14 · Web Design for Photography | |
spiritwind wrote:
First of all I want to introduce myself, my name is Heath Jeppson and I am a professional web designer and aspiring photog. While I have only done one website for a photog I wanted to share a few thoughts with you all.
1. Flash based websites look great, however they index with search engines very poorly. They also can be VERY slow to load. If you rely on the internet to get business, this is NOT the way to go.
2. NEVER link to images that are not located directly on your hosting server, the main reason for this is simply if said hosting site is down for any reason...so are your images.
3. Cookie cutter style websites look exactly like what they are...CHEAP!!
4. Find a professional web designer talk about ideas and discuss looks for your website, any web designer worth his salt will be able to discuss these things INTELLIGENTLY!!
5. Beware of per page pricing schemes, if the web designer is any good they will quote a price for a finished product.
I hope some of these insights help anyone looking for a first website or looking to upgrade their current website.
Here is the site that I done for Robert Michael Photography
You've provided some valuable tips here, but I'm afraid what you've posted is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to simple yet fresh, exciting, interesting and attractive web site design and construction.
You've also left out the fact that the single most crucial step to take when designing a web site is step #1: constructing the navigation map. Designing and building a web site without a navigation structure is like trying to drive from Florida to Oregon without a road map. Sure, you might get lucky and get on the right roads once in a while, but sooner or later you'll find yourself having taken a serious wrong turn and needing to go back where you came from and starting all over again. Navigation maps aren't stressed often enough these days, but they were top-of-mind up til a few years ago. To my mind, they're indispensable.
Most web sites ... the vast majority ... violate even the most basic guidelines and rules for good design. Most have no distinction, no core concept, no creative positioning nor marketing strategy. These are also important to good web site execution. Structure is only the beginning.
FYI: prior to becoming a photographer, I was Senior Project Designer for America Online from 1992 through 2000 ... an era we call "the burst years" for the Web. During those years I designed web sites for quite an assortment of blue-chip companies, including Reebock, AAA, Sprint, Merrill-Lynch, Prudential and others. My final project before parting with AOL was to draft the entire first volume of Standards & Practices/Policies & Procedures for online commerce, most of which are still in use today.
I do appreciate what you have posted here. But it's a little too simplistic and, in one way, misleading, ie web site templates ... or what you call "cookie cutter" sites. My site happens to be a template site hosted by a terrific company with a lot to offer in the way of creative variations on many themes. And they're FAR from cheap. The best of the template site providers are quite expensive, in fact. But what they offer is usually worth every penny. My site is never down, and I have full access for modifying the site at any time, from uploading new images and new text to experimenting with different styles, looks, colors, themes, etc., in real time right from my desktop. I don't have to call anyone to update my site or for anything else having to do with the site's content and flow. They also introduce new templates from time to time as well as upgrade earlier ones. The design flexibility they offer is really tremendous. So I wouldn't put down "cookie cutter" sites. Done well, they are of great value ... and usually better than what most "pro" web site designers are putting out these days.
As you say, most sites are horrid.
- Steve
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