Honest feedback

[honstman]

Im getting traffic but not conversion - I'd love some honest feedback on what I can do to improve my site

McBride Pictures Photography

You won't hurt my feelings- it's all about getting better

 

[tirediron]

In no particular order: The Gallery (Zenfolio) link isn't working correctly. It opens if I right click and "Open in new tab", but a left-click doesn't seem to do anything. Why don't you have a bride on your home page? I would strongly recommend leading with your best bridal portrait as the 'hook' for your home page. The three images you have up there are 'filler' images. You want the one that the bride is likely to order as a 20x30 canvas gallery wrap!

I am baffled by your pricing options. There is NO mention of prints, and you give a "copyright release". You can either transfer your copyright or give a print/use release, but AFAIK, there's no such thing as a "copyright release". In any event, transferring copyright is VERY bad practice, since you, as the photographer likely have no further right to use the images.

 

[honstman]

Good stuff! Thank you! I'll make the changes on the copyright release and pricing language for clarity. I give a release for use but only offer digital images with access to print from Zenfolio. I realize I am missing on revenue opportunities but it's a choice I've made that I can live with. I'm not able to replicate the gallery link issues in my Mac or phone. Can you tell me what browser and hardware you are using?

I have some bride pics and will take your advice and put them on the main page.

Thank you so much again!

 

[sparelink]

What is the point of having a portfolio and gallery? Pick one, show off only your best pictures and leave the rest out. No more than 15-20 pictures of each couple. I wish I could also make them larger. Get rid of the water mark on your pictures, they are just distracting and they are on your website, so not need to make claim to them. And with the placement of the copy right, if i wanted to steal them I could easily crop them out.

I don't like to see the artsy pictures either, When I'm looking for a photographer, I am not really looking for one that had a bunch of artsy pictures. Im looking for one that has captured the emotion.

I would put a pictures or something on your contact page, it will give it more depth.

And get rid of the blog. It is not doing any good since your last post was in May. If you are not going to keep up with at least a weekly post, then ditch it.

I personally don't like dark back grounds, I prefer white or off white, especially for wedding sites. gives it a more lively feel.

 

[honstman]

Makes a lot of sense. Looks like I have some work to do. I've been looking at a lot of sites and a lot if what you suggest is very true. Thank you!

 

[AceCo55]

The home page took a long time to load - I would have left if I were only browsing.
Then when it comes up, it is just a slideshow of 3 (double) images. This suggests these are high res files - when they don't need to be. You want your homepage to load quickly so use lower res images.

 

[SnappingShark]

I left the website up for a few minutes and the images are just blurred. No conversion could be because they don't like your images - put up some of your most crisp and clear images, I would suggest.

 

[Derrel]

Site loaded fast for me. This gallery screams "Second shooter pics", and needs to be removed. Rileyanne and Bud Wedding Pictures

I dunno...I think these images need to have some gentle vignettes applied to them, since as-shown, with the images directly abutting one another, the images are losing impact...they are not "separating".

If you want honest feedback, I would say that your composition, your use of space, your use of the frame, needs a lot of work. The splash screen shots...oh, my...the heads almost run to the tops of the frames on those images, making the people feel just smooshed into the images. This is just not very good work as far as paid wedding photography results goes, and the issue is a fundamentals problem: lots of odd compositional choices, and image processing that is very mundane.