Website Review and Suggestions

**cansan** · 02-01-2009, 06:39 PM

Hi everyone!

I have started building a photography related site, and would like comments and/or criticism on my site:

www.notesonphotography.com

It is nowhere near complete at the moment, and there are many broken or missing links etc, I know.

I would really like your opinion on the design, layout etc. of the page.

**shawncross** · 02-02-2009, 07:40 AM

Pretty nice and simple design, nothing special though. IMO

**thefandango** · 02-02-2009, 09:51 AM

Avoid black - go for dark grey. A logo would look smoother and more professional rather than html text.

**andr112** · 02-02-2009, 11:35 AM

When I chose any menu tub (for ex:Camras). I'll see only Home link in breadcrumbs.

**cansan** · 02-02-2009, 01:27 PM

Thanks for the comments, I may try the gray.

Quote:

Originally Posted by andr112

When I chose any menu tub (for ex:Camras). I'll see only Home link in breadcrumbs.

I don't quite understand what you mean?

Is it better to have a bigger / more visible home link on every page?

Or did you mean something else?

**Crealtor** · 02-02-2009, 05:06 PM

Try sienna for a color. Add a few nice photos!

**johniman7** · 02-02-2009, 07:06 PM

Design is decent but it looks too much like a spammy template. It looks like something I would make and then buy 10 diff domains with different keywords and plug in all the text and keywords and optimize for different products and such.

Make the design reflect the site more, like adding a camera related logo would be a big help.

**sharkbait** · 02-02-2009, 07:10 PM

I would tend to agree too, a little bland, some nice pictures
and a smart logo would smooth the edges a little.

**shehateme** · 02-03-2009, 01:41 AM

You need a Logo and more content for sure.

**andr112** · 02-03-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cansan

Thanks for the comments, I may try the gray.

I don't quite understand what you mean?

Is it better to have a bigger / more visible home link on every page?

Or did you mean something else?

Your solution is also good but more often breadcrumbs looks as Home>Cameras, Home>Info, where Home is link.

**Guffin Mopes** · 02-04-2009, 10:55 AM

The layout itself is simple and enjoyable. But the real problem on this site is the harsh colour scheme.

It's primarily the black background, but it's not a pretty site. It's hard on my eyes because of the strong contrast between the dark background and the neon borders surrounding the topics.

But like I said, the layout itself is quite alright.

**cansan** · 02-04-2009, 04:57 PM

Thanks everyone for the comments.

I guess the first thing I need to fix is to find a nice logo. I have been working on it but haven't really come up with anything I like enough.

I will also try some other color than black for the frames.

Since this is my first web site, I am still quite happy with the feedback. For the layout and design, I really wanted something simplistic that would let the content shine. Maybe I went a bit too far

back to work...

**chnceg** · 02-04-2009, 05:26 PM

The design is nice. My first impression was what you just said: content first. You do need a new color scheme. I suggest using Adobe Kuler if you're not already.

**franco** · 02-05-2009, 09:58 AM

the design is pretty ok....some pages i saw are empty.....write up the content.....

**NaOH** · 02-05-2009, 07:04 PM

I'm assuming that there will be a lot more content when you're rolling this out, right? It's pretty empty right now. :P

The design is fine, as far as I'm concerned. You're not looking to sell anything, you don't need a hugely slick site. Information is important. Take a look at Ken Rockwell: his site is ugly as hell, but he has enormous amounts of traffic because he's emphasized the information he's giving out.

And I understand that he makes a pretty penny on ads and referrals.

**fluxerj** · 02-06-2009, 03:58 AM

Nice site...must be more user friendly

**cgc** · 02-06-2009, 06:29 AM

HOME PAGE LINK: Introduce a link (at d moment u ve adopted d style of placing all your page links on d right hand corner) to navigate your visitors back to your home page whenever and from whereever they choose.

TUTORIAL LINK: Your subtitle "improve your photography & take better pictures with practical tips and simple guides" suggest that you over lots of tutuorials/ lessons on photography as such i think you should have a page link called TUTORIALS.

REPLICATE YOUR PAGE LINKS: As the day goes by and your web pages grow longer it would be save your visitors scrolling time if u have the same page links at the top of the web pages also at the bottom.

TO MANY SUB-LINKS: click on "guides" - click on "How many megapixels do you need?" - click on How many megapixels do you need? before i finally get to start reading the tutorial. I think the process was one step longer.

BRANDING: This is all about customizing the nche you intend to cave out with your website. Brand the caption. Develope a Logo.

Am a web page navigation freak so pardon my emphasis on your links

**PBScott** · 02-07-2009, 07:15 AM

Obviously it needs more content, there are more adsense than there are articles.

You should definatly work on a banner for the site, the plain text looks boring.

**Ashton** · 02-07-2009, 01:57 PM

Too basic for my likes, jazz it up a bit, furthermore, im seeing squares! Lots of squares. Simple designs can work, yours doesnt, research other peoples websites of a similar nature for IDEAS. Oh and you might wanna make the white on your favicon transparent

**manuelmdq** · 02-09-2009, 04:42 PM

I'm sorry, but the design doesn't look good. People may tell you it does, but it doesn't. So, if you're building the site just for fun, it won't hurt you. If you're building it to make some kind of money out of it, you're on the wrong path.

If you have a budget below $300, buy a website template or a Wordpress template.

If you can spend more than $300, hire a web designer. The investment will worth it.

Hit me if you have questions and I'll be pleased to answer.

M