Could someone web-savy please evaluate?

[PhilGarber]

Hi all,

I've been making a photography website, could someone here please evaluate how I'm doing? Also, please explain to me the process of online selling, I don't think I've got it straight..

Thanks, here's the url: http://freewebs.com/shutterbugians

Phil,

PS-Sorry if this is against rules. I read and it didn't seem like it was..

 

[Smith2688]

No offense meant at all, but the layout looks very amateurish (probably shouldn't be offensive since my guess is that you are an amateur...haha). I'm not a professional at all, but if I navigated to that site I would turn back pretty quickly. The style is uninteresting and pretty bland. If you don't plan on really relying on your website for much more than just a little side income, it might be fine, but I would get rid of the link that says "Want your own free site like this? Try Freewebs.com".

Good luck!

 

[PhilGarber]

haha.. thats no offense, I am a amateur! Thats for looking, how do you think I should continue?

 

[SpeedTrap]

I think you should drop freewebs. If you are wanting to make money on you site, your work should be the only thing on it. The last thing you want is any random advert they feel like putting at the top.

This is something you will have to pay for to do it right.

 

[PhilGarber]

**Sigh** I was afraid of that..

 

[dslrchat]

Stick with freewebs untill you get your pages the way you want, use buttons for menu on the left.

Once you have it the way you want, pay for hosting and start getting listed on google. (there are a few posts here about this)

 

[Corbin Lane]

Stick with freewebs untill you get your pages the way you want, use buttons for menu on the left.

Once you have it the way you want, pay for hosting and start getting listed on google. (there are a few posts here about this)

They may have the pages the way they want them now but I think that the person is using a freewebs template.

 

[dslrchat]

My point here is, try to hold off Paying for hosting untill you have or "know" what you want. Keep playing with different templates/ideas until it "clicks" Thats what I want! Then proceed with hosting and design.

It could take a few months to finally be happy with a layout, then your paying just to design and test.

 

[PhilGarber]

Thanks dsl, I got your email

 

[Dubious Drewski]

The site feels very claustrophobic, and it's because of that colour scheme. The tight square blue body on the black background makes it feel like you're in a hole staring up at a bit of daylight(Subconsciously). It's a very discomforting colour scheme. For your kind of services, you might want to convey a sense of openness and freedom; so I'd recommend a much lighter background and a dark-on-light text colour scheme instead of what you currently have.

That's really what's making your site look "amateurish", more than anything else.

EDIT: But I guess there's more. That blue navbar on the left with the repeating texture - don't use a repeating texture like that, it kind of looks bad, like something you'd see in a mid-90s website. It's also too wide for the text that's embedded in it. Either size up the text or make the bar slimmer. (I'd choose the latter). If you must use a repeating texture, make it alot less strong, because right now, it's competing for attention with the text that's on it - and that's bad. Maybe reduce the contrast of that texture or something.

 

[PhilGarber]

The site feels very claustrophobic, and it's because of that colour scheme. The tight square blue body on the black background makes it feel like you're in a hole staring up at a bit of daylight(Subconsciously). It's a very discomforting colour scheme. For your kind of services, you might want to convey a sense of openness and freedom; so I'd recommend a much lighter background and a dark-on-light text colour scheme instead of what you currently have.

That's really what's making your site look "amateurish", more than anything else.

EDIT: But I guess there's more. That blue navbar on the left with the repeating texture - don't use a repeating texture like that, it kind of looks bad, like something you'd see in a mid-90s website. It's also too wide for the text that's embedded in it. Either size up the text or make the bar slimmer. (I'd choose the latter). If you must use a repeating texture, make it alot less strong, because right now, it's competing for attention with the text that's on it - and that's bad. Maybe reduce the contrast of that texture or something.

Thanks

 

[Smith2688]

Yeah, I agree, lighter colors, no textured side bar, maybe a different font too, but wait until you change the colors to see about that. I think if you do that you can see where you want to go next.

 

[PhotoDudeMS]

1-and-1.com has basic hosting for $1.99 a month that would greatly improve the look of your site.

I agree with the posts above that the colours are too dark and the layout too boxy. Find something with some curves. Templates are not evil, you just have to be picky and customize a bit.

 

[PhilGarber]

1-and-1.com has basic hosting for $1.99 a month that would greatly improve the look of your site.

I agree with the posts above that the colours are too dark and the layout too boxy. Find something with some curves. Templates are not evil, you just have to be picky and customize a bit.

Thanks!

I'll check and 1-and-1.com!

 

[Speedy]

The dark blue hyperlink text against the repeating dark blue background has got to go. You can't read the text at all, which makes it very unfriendly.

Also, there is way too much black on this site. The whole site is very dark and doesn't cause people to really want to stick around and buy stuff from your site. There is a reason why most sites that sell stuff are light colors.

Overall, make it brighter, expand out the overall size of it. You don't need to design for 800x600 anymore. I agree with the earlier comment, I feel like I'm looking into a black hole.

After that's all done with, you might critique it against the w3 validator. That will ensure it displays correctly in all browsers.

Also, you may consider actually purchasing a domain name. I would never buy from a site that is at freewebs.com/<insert_site_name_here>

That makes it look totally unprofessional.