I purchased a template recently and am working on the content which brings me to this:

What do you feel are necessities for a photographer's webpage and what do you cringe when you see?

I have seen opinions about the "About Me" page ranging from "Make it all about yourself", to "Make it all about how you can help the client". What are other potential pitfalls?

Not wanting to start any fights, but wanting some of the many differing opinions out there. Thanks.

Personally, and I know there are a LOT LOT of photographers that do this, I really hate when I load a site and its playing music. ARGH! Music is fine and all but I think its best put to use for slideshows or samples like that. Let the user choose to play the music, not just choose to turn it off. Thats just my personal peeve but i'm sure there are other, more relevant arguments for things that are way more important.

I second Stephanie's thoughts on having the music not play automatically. ARGH is right!

I think it depends on the music. On our wedding side, it totally sets the stage...very cinematic. Just my opinion.

I'm often racing for the mute button, very rarely do I enjoy the music some people put on their sites.

I agree, I absolutely hate it when they have music. I also hate when the site goes full screen. I will immediately leave a site that takes over my computer, I think it is pretty rude to do that.

Doubly agree!

the full screen sites are the worst! Unless it's really important for me to see the site I usually close these the second it does that.

Also, if you have flash, make sure the transition time between pictures is not too long or complex. It may look cool the first time but really aggravating after you start looking at a bunch of pictures and the site goes through a ten second stage show to change images...

ken

I'm a stickler for wanting to see a picture of YOU on your "about/bio" page

I agree, I dislike sites that go full-screen, especially if your site is not using the entire screen. I think the ONLY site I know of that actually does use the whole screen is Mike Larson's new site!

As for music, I don't mind music at the start if it's quite enough... Joe Buissink's (not that I think it's a great site) starts with music that I don't find offensive, but it does get old rather quickly...

The "about me" section in my OPINION ;-) should be just that... about you, share some of your personality... read several other photographer's bios on their sites, you'll see they basically ALL read the same... try and do it differently in a way that fits you.

Can't wait to see your new site!!!

I've noticed this too and often wondered about it. I'm brand new to photography as a business but I've been working on websites since the mid-nineties and I haven't seen another industry that collectively does this as much.

There is definitely a similar flavour to wedding photographer sites and I have wondered who started the trend. Why is music the default?

I do LOVE that everybody has a blog. That really shows that this industry is innovative.

Have you ever thought about asking brides?



IMO photographers will have great ideas, but they aren't writing you checks.. Hit some forums or the knott or something, or ask some recient brides etc... Not that there isn't a TON of valuable insights on here, but it might be a great perspective for you

I hate when sites go full screen, and I hate when music comes blaring at me. I use firfox, and have it set to divert new windows into a new tab, and the "full screen" ones fall off at the bottom. I don't think there's a need for it in most cases, but people do it anyway.

Wow thanks for all the input. The music issue is something I am still trying to figure out. For me, I usually click the mute button the moment a page loads, but my wife loves the music on the sites. It is somethign I will have to look into some more. Dead Duck (Kawter) was right, its the brides that write the checks, if they like the music, it makes my decision easier.

Full size pages, annoy me to. I will definitely take those comments to heart.

Tim, thanks for the input on the About Me. A photo of myself is a must have on that page. I just need to get some pictures of me. I'm so often on the other side of the lens, and seldom in front of it.

Any other opinions would be great. There are some great sites represented here and this input is is a huge help. Now I just need to come up with the time to put it into action.

I love music on websites. I think it sets the tone for the style. And I think clients like it.

I'm not a big fan of intros, but clients may like them.

Bio page - please just don't say you were practically born with a camera in your hands. Unfortunately, too many people have abused that phrase and ruined it for those for whom it might be true. And put up a picture - how can you expect other people to be comfortable in front of the camera if you're not willing to brave it for one picture?

And if you choose to blog - do so frequently. An abandoned blog makes clients think you're not busy.

I think the music issue can be a plus or minus depending on the mood it sets. I personally think that the right music can be amazing on a website, but the wrong music leaves me scrambing for the mute button. But then again, what is "right" to me, might be "wrong" to my clients. It also kinda boils down to *taste*

Like Joe Buissinks--I personally LOVE the music on his site and it doesn't get old to me at all. I've sat at his site for 15 minutes before and heard it loop through the different songs. I also loved Davina's music--never got tired of it (in fact I went to iTunes afterward and downloaded all of them just to listen to in my free time!). But when I go to Jeff Ascough's site, the music is bland and does not fit his amazing work. And I have to say, that mostly I do find myself seeking the mute button--which by the way should be EXTREMELY prominent! But ask yourself--who is your audience? Other photographers???? Or brides??? Brides want the COOK EXPERIENCE, and music can be a big part of that.

Here are a few things that make me cringe though:

VISA/MASTERCARD SIGNS. UGLY! You are not a used car salesman! If it's really important for your cients to know this, add it to your FAQ section in a very discrete way--like under the "what is your booking procedue?" area or something. But to be honest, I have never lost a sale by not taking credit cards, and again, I have honestly only had this asked to me maybe a handful of times.

OUTDATED OR CHEESY FONTS. Nuff said on that one. But seriously, font type is very important in my book.

Things I like to see, but often don't:

FAQ AREA. So important in my book. Unless you are the mystical Joe Buissink, folks want to have certain basic questions answered on your website. Every photographer has a list of FAQ--yours might be different from mine, and you can give simple, quick answers or thesis answers (ahem, like mine--which I even admit reveals too much about the process...I'm changing that when I re-do my website. ). I think websites are for INFORMATION.

QUICK IMAGE LOADING: Check out this site to see what I consider the perfect website image loading: Elizabeth Messina. Get it??

Anyway, that's it right off the top of my head. If I think of any others, I'll chime in later!

Geneve

I hadn't even given thought to doing an FAQ, but I like the idea. I'll have to look into what other Photogs have on their site. I like the idea a lot and your "ideal" iamge loading...immediate. Elizabeth's load times are non-existent!

I've already gone through the "fancy font" phase of my life. Now I am more into content than fluff.

One thing I have noticed on many pages is they don't mention where the photographer is located. The contact page is just a web form and there is no mail address. So I guess that is a pet peeve of mine on web pages, not listing where in the country you are.

YES! ME too!!! Even if you have to rent a PO Box somewhere, list your dang mailing address!!!

Oh yes! They are so 1999. I was a web designer/multimedia designer for 7 years full time previous going full time in photo. They really are weak! At the web design house I was at we would adamantly try to steer clients away from them even back in 2002. Instead we suggested other moving flash element throughout the site. We would slap ourselves in the forehead when clients still insisted on using them with spinning logos. Ouch. Tacky. Go with interactive slide shows in the site or link to a informational video inside. No intros ever please. If you must keep it short and don't use any spinning logos.

I say also watch the splash page. Splash pages can work or they can be pointless. They should serve a purpose and not just be a a page with links saying "download flash player now". Seriously if this point in time if someone doesn't have the flash plug in they are probably one of the few .05% of users who refuse to download it due to security reasons they believe exist. Again way back in the dark ages of dial up splash pages like that had a purpose. Splash pages are good when they immediately direct a client to a part of the page you want them to access. A really great example of a perfect splash page is http://www.boutwellstudio.com/ - it's wonderful. Looks great and is very very useful.

Colors - Keep in mind the colorblind users and don't hot link in red or green.

Over use of heavy drop shadows on text and logos scream armature as well as use of standard window fonts in logos and such like Ariel and Papyrus. At the web studio when we saw stuff like this we knew an armature was putting together the site and not a pro. Ditto on the use of logos and things with beveled edges.

Match your logo to the site. I see too many logos in a white box plopped in these templates.

Websafe colors - if you are picking an unsafe color remember it's going to look different in each browser or platform. My new site is burgundy and I had to sacrifice the perfect shade I wanted to to use because it was an unsafe color. It dithered to orange brown on a mac.

Does anyone out there really use an 8-bit video card anymore? I know all about Lynda Weinman and the 216 color palatte, but does it really matter? I pull up sites on the old Powerbook 185c once in a while to see what happens, but that's the only time I use anything with 8-bit color. We must have been doing Web design at the same time. I started in 1995 or so.

Everything you really need to know about site design can be found in "Don't Make Me Think" -- a great book, if somewhat dated, now.

Great comments! I never consciously thought about until now, but ditto on the whole intro thing--it's annoying and I 100% NEVER watch the entire intro. NEVER.

All good advise. I think the number one rule of web design is K.I.S.S.

ie. These are my photos, this is how you hook up with me, aren’t I cool!

I also like it when I can look at weddings broken up by couple. I get the idea that every one gets great photos, not just the one or two who are your good friends.

Carl Stevens
www.artists-eyes.com

BINGO!

hold your cards.

what do you mean by an intro? For some reason I am not sure I am following!

As far as what I dont like...too much writing!! If I opn a page and there is more writing than pictures, it drives me crazy, I get out.

Be able to make the picture larger, please! It frustrates me when I see a 1x1 image and that is all I can see.

And I love to read the "about me" stuff, but it frustrates me (as a fellow photographer) when someone talks as if THEY are the only photographer doing a good job. I think we should look at eachother as co-workers so to address other photographers as competition right on your website annoys me!

What a great question to ask before you actually build your website! There are a few things on mine I wish I could change, that I wouldnt have known I didnt like until after I already had one. But, my web guy thinks he owns my site and doesnt think I have the right to make any changes, so....sorry, thats another thread!

melissa

A flash intro are those little movies that load before you can see any other content on a website. They often have a "skip into" text underneath. When flash started to become popular 1999-2001 these were found on almost every website. I used to research web usability on a daily basis for a marketing company and the articles I used to read said some 80% of users really hate flash intros. Another thing I learned long ago is that most web user don't scroll down if they don't have to. They click but don't scroll. So it is better to have a static page with a lot of links vs a page one has to scroll to see the information. Most template services use this approach anyway.

Oh - and I do believe the 256 set colors are dead concept with modern computer cards and monitors, but dithering between browsers remains a problem especially with certain yellow, turquoise and burgundy colors. My burgundy was definitely dithering to brown. I mostly only take note and check the background colors of the pages I work on these days - but nothing more.

One more big no-no - make sure if you are using a template that your local competition isn't using the same one (and if you're getting a custom design, make sure the designer isn't cheating by copying an existing template or design - it happens). In my market there are two photographers using the same flash template with the same colors (or at least they were a few months ago). With templates flourishing as they are it looks really bad if your site looks just like someone else in town.

So do some competitive research before you drop down your money on a site that will make you look just like the studio down the street.

ken

This is really, really great info!

Our new website from liveBooks is going live next week and what great timing this is.

About music...we have had 3 custom sites and never had music on it...we debated whether we should for the new one because like kawter said, we ask our brides and non photography friends what they like on websites and they said music especially, even though we had mixed feelings about it. So, we photographed a wedding this past December and the groom sang a song to his bride that he wrote for her and we of course fell in love with it. So NOW we decide to have music and asked permission with the groom to use his song since its so sentimental, he recorded it for us in Nashville and written a contract giving us music copyright. You guys may not like it but we do and you can always turn the music off...I do if I don't care for it on a site and move on.

We're still debating on the public mailing address due to safety issues...especially having a child running around our main studio all the time....

We would love to do a FAQ! We just need to find the time

And yes About Page should always have a photo of you, I would feel more connected with you.

I also like what Ken said.

WONDERFUL suggestions and we'll definitely keep them in mind with ours.

Thanks for posting this Matt and please let us know when your site goes live

I have to second the thing about mailing address, or some sense of geographical location. It's got to be there somewhere. Period.

I can't stand any Web site that automatically plays music.

And I IMMEDIATELY click off any site that takes over my whole screen. How pompous. I know I'm dittoing a lot of other posts, but it's sort of like voting, so there's my vote.

(I guess I'm going to have to make an "About" page. )

I feel like I've hit the big time, a Nudd graced my thread!

Joy,
Your sentiment about the mailing address is something I need to address soon. I am starting out and making very careful decisions about where to spend my limited funds while I get up and running, so a PO Box is an expense I am weighing closely. The main reason is that my wife is a Licensed Counselor. A profession where home address is a closely held secret (Unless you are Mike Seaver's dad in "Growing Pains" and run a practice from your living room). For now, I will reference my City and State on the website, but actual address I need to work on. With contracts so far, the number sent out has been limited, so the threat isn't too great.

The response to this thread has been great. Thank you all for your help.