I've read through a lot of posts in this forum where many people say that switching over to a flashy site (bludomain, etc.) has improved their business.

With that said, do you think I should make the switch? Here is my current blah HTML site now: zeniaphotography.com. Thanks for any input!

It's tough to sell something you call "blah." And, face it, you're in sales.

Haha thanks for the reply - I didn't quite mean "blah" that way - just compared to the nifty flashy sites that have animation, music, etc.

Um, your site has flash and animation now... So, I'm confused!

You have to research your market and target audience to make sure the people you want to reach can access flash sites EASILY and QUICKLY.

This depends based on where you're located and the computer sophistication level of your potential clients. I think it was Beth who recently went flash only to discover that a large part of her target audience is blocked from using flash by firewalls.

Thanks Jules for the thoughtful response. Although I do have flash components on my site, I was wondering if those bells & whistles really do make a difference on credibility, etc. I had not thought of how many customers I would turn away who don't have flash installed or slower speed internet connections.

Just adding my 2 cents.

Your site is fine as it is. It really doesn't need to be changed to all flash. You are correct, all those do is add some bells and whistles. The only touch I might add to your site is to have music flow throughout the site (you can see my site for an example - www.clarkproduction.com - I am also using a combination of Flash and HTML .... to see a full flash version of my site, go to http://www.clarkproduction.com/photography/website.swf )

The way I have this work on my site is by having frames which continues the music throughout the user's visit to my website. Why use HTML over Flash only? Search engines!!!!! Search engines can't read flash at all. While we'd love to be in a position of having 80%+ referrals, we're not yet ... we're too new to the business. So, search engines drive a lot of our business so far. Since I changed from a splash page and all flash to the new flash/html frame combo, I have gone from 120+ in rankings to being ranked #12 or so. This is still climbing too as I have not optimized the entire site.

Anyway, just wanted to add in my 2 cents.

- Spencer Clark

I have the same issue (although a bit different). I really wanted to go all flash and I actually started learning flash on my own so I could do it and once I started to make some sense out of it and the site was coming together, I realized that all of the state employment computers has flash blocked. In this tiny little state of mine, the state of delaware is the 2nd largest employer, therefore...brides, brides, brides.

So back to HTML. And then I just added a couple flash components (gallery and sticking with my showit web b/c I refuse to give it up). If I was 100% flash, I would be missing all of those potential clients!

I really like your website the way it is now...with a few adjustements. I love the colors that you used. It is also a unique website. Did you create this website yourself? The bludomain sites are cool, but I am seeing more and more of them all the time. I would rather have a unique website than a template that a bunch of other people have as well.

The only adjustment that I would make to your existing design is to have all the information fit on one page at a time. That is just my personal preference. That can make it difficult to design at times because of limited space. I think scolling to see more information must be a pet peave (spelling???) of mine.

Oh and by the way...your wedding package prices are too cheap!!! You have some outstanding work...raise those prices!

I think your site is fine as well, but I agree with the above post. One thing you might consider is showing your images on the front page (and somewhere on every page)...I think it creates more interest than your logo alone.

I don't care for sites that play music automatically. Most often, when they do, I'm outta there in 2 seconds, or doing nothing but looking for my speaker's volume control, or the site controls that mute it. If you do plan on adding music, I suggest making it an OPT IN instead of an OPT OUT. I think it's perfectly fine to have certain parts of a site that play music, like with a ShowIt slide show on one page, but to have music playing through the whole site is really annoying. Just my .02.

I like your site as-is too, with more images maybe. And, it sure looks like there's already flash in there. Isn't that flash when the images swipe up like that? (Maybe not.)

I love the colors and your logo, and the fact that it DOESN'T look like all the other photo sites.

Your wedding packages don't make sense. 35 images??? Are you KIDDING ME? I would never hire a wedding photographer that promised me only 35 images, I mean unless it was Ansel Adams.

And then the difference between a base package and a base package with all high res images is only $75? You're giving away your images. And then the coffeetable book for only a few hundred more -- you're giving away your time. If you had to pay somebody to design that album, how much would it cost you? Now figure out how long it will take you to design the album, plus all the client changes. Pay yourself a fair wage for that design time. Use that as your starting point. You deserve to get paid for your time.

People pay hundreds of dollars for FLOWERS. Why would you give them the most precious memory -- the album -- for free?

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I do like the idea of having music that you opt in for instead of opting out - and I also agree that my scrolling bars are annoying. I'll work on showcasing more photos on different pages.

As to my packages - I'm really green to this business so I really appreciate the input. I'm offering a slideshow with 35 images (not promising only 35 images for the wedding!) - I should make that more clear on my site!

If you do decide to go flash, have it custom made. Sure you'll pay 10x more, but there are alot of Blu Domain sites out there. Be original and stand out amoungst the rest.

We had our site custom made and we would never go any other way. Its not the best site our there, but is original and comunicates exactly what WE want it to.

Otherwise I too agree with the majority here. You have good site already, you just have some fine tuning to do.

Just my .02
Best of Luck,
Damion.

WOW Damoin! Your website is AMAZING! I have to honestly say that I think that is the BEST photograpy website I have ever seen!!! I give you BIG kudos for your business name too! It is awesome!!!

Matthew,
Wow...not to hijack this thread, but what an encouragement you are!! I am honored and very humbled by your compliments. I appreciate you taking a look around our site. As for the name...we would be nothing and nowhere without Him!

Thanks again! Let us know if there is anyway we can serve you.

Blesssings,
Damion.