My Wedding Website has a 50% bounce rate. Need help please.

[Renderz]

Hi all,

My wedding photography site is getting a fair amount of traffic but 50% of my visitors are just viewing one page and then leaving. I would like a constructive view on how to improve my Wedding Website.

www.terrylee.net

Thank you all.

 

[Blue Velvet]

This isn't a question of development; it's also a question of design. It looks cheap; you're not doing your work justice.

Too many different colours, poor typography. There's far far too much text, too many elements competing for attention, the links fade back in amongst all the visual clutter. The squared-off pictorial elements running down the centre of the page are uncomfortably placed... the home page should entice you into the site, not put everything up there in a ragbag of design pick and mix.

And the copy could use a lot of attention.

You are special, so should your moments

Have a look at these sites to get a feeling for their simplicity and their ability to sell an image of the day.

http://www.robertmunro.co.uk/
http://www.harrisonwhite.com/
http://www.juliaboggiophotography.com/
http://www.bdweddingphotography.co.uk/

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

Blue Velvet summed it up nicely for me. Below are specific issues I noted:

I especially want to emphasize an imbalanced overall layout, i.e. the Flash slideshow should be the same width as the header/footer, even if its as simple as adding a light gray sidebar on either side to frame it nicely. I know the promotional content on the right is intended to have contrasting colors but they make the site look cheap, as if setup blatantly for advertising, not the content you wish to impose on the visitors.

The footer looks like it came from another web site - no continuity, and again cheapens the site as if no thought was put into it. Make it look like your header in terms of the color palette.

The color disparity overall need work. Pick 3-4 colors, if you need emphasis on certain words (such as header text in your content areas on the left) then darken the color by 50% or more so it blends with the overall layout and stands out nicely - elegantly.

The site lacks "elegance" and it's a wedding site? It's not just the text and photos that make it elegant (they are) -- but how those content pieces are incorporate into the overall layout and design.

This site needs alot of work and the links Blue Velvet provided should point you in the right direction.

-jim

 

[stbernardo]

Brides Buy

Brides are the buyers of wedding photography. Your current site doesn't talk to them. It's a male dominated site. Brides like to see images of other Brides, you need to highlight brides more. More happy photos of the women and less of men. Children are good too. After the bride shots they love to see photos of children. Remember it's a "fun and happy" day, your photography should show that. Your photos capture the moment now make them sellable. Type choice, colors used and general layout needs improving but remember who your customer is. Good luck.

 

[Renderz]

Cool, just what I needed, a bit of humble pie and some direction. I'm implementing some changes now. Thanks guys!

 

[Pixellated]

I find it takes quite long to load up... Think about reducing the`flash stuff a a bit.

 

[66217]

-Too much empty white space in the home page. At the bottom. The same goes for other pages, were you leave empty space. For example, the terms and conditions you could put them to occupy the whole width of the page, and this way you won't leave a big white space at the right.

-Also, the page isn't centered, so if you open the site in a big monitor, you get a lot of white space at the right.

-Too much text, and very small font size. Try being more concise and use a bigger font. Also keep in mind what the bride wants to see, I don't think they care much about the equipment you use or the programs or computers, but the quality of your job, which you certainly have. Focus more on that.

-I would prefer having a grid with all the photos at the right or left, and that when you click a photo it appears at the opposite side bigger.

All in all, you have the idea, but you need to make it look more professional and eye-catching.

Here are some images that show what I'm talking about:

 

[ChrisA]

Hi all,

My wedding photography site is getting a fair amount of traffic but 50% of my visitors are just viewing one page and then leaving. I would like a constructive view on how to improve my Wedding Website.

www.terrylee.net

Thank you all.

You have to remember that I a a customer just did a Google search then I just got 100+ web sites and I want to look at a bunch of them. Site that require much of my time and return little information just don't have a payoff for me, not when Google just gave me ad endless list of peole just like you that I want to look at.

So what is it about your web site? It uses Flash. I normally don't put up with Flash unless really, really, need to look at the web site. Seriously the last thing I want is some slow moving slide show that I have to wait though when what I want is information so I just go back to Google and follow the next link. If you want to put a Flash based slide show on the site them make a link called "slide show" that the user has to click but do NOT force it on the user.

Web designers love Flash because it lets them control the "user experience". But users hate Flash for the same reason.

 

[Mantat]

You do realize that 50% bounce rate is good for a site that does not provide content, right?

What you might want to do is find ways for people to stay longer on the site to increase the depth of each visit.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Also, spell and grammar check, please!

 

[angelneo]

I might not be your target audience, but at first look, I don't know what your "Velvet Collection", "Lace Collection" means. Initially, I thought it was just a collection of your photos, but it wasn't until I went ahead and browse through. You might have to be clearer on that. It's also pretty hard to understand why would I want velvet compare to lace or silk box. I'm not female, so I might be wrong here, but perhaps you should be clearer on some of the information up front.

Like many says, whether a user stays on your site depends on the impression they get in the first 30 seconds, if they think they can't find what they want, they might just leave. I'm not married, but you might want to ask around, how do people shop for wedding photographers? What information do they look for? portfolio? pricing? etc. Try to display and direct/guide people to these information. Sometimes, you have to dummy-proof your site navigation.

 

[Digital Skunk]

the one thing that many photographers miss out on when it comes to website design is the portrayal of their images.

Remember to color correct for the web when posting, and follow all the advice that everyone has given so far. Typography being very important, as well as how the information flows on your page.

During my design courses my instructors urged me to make things as simple and possible, leaving only the images and video to be the center of focus. Sometimes, basic HTML does the introduction job perfectly, then Flash galleries to show off the images and content.

p.s. Every shooter is using the best equipment as far as the client is concerned. Every shooter knows Photoshop, and every shooter will do this and that. Leave your images and artwork to separate you from the rest of the competition.

Brides aren't going to say, "Hey, this guy shoots with D3x's and edits in Aperture and Lightroom and Photoshop, let's go with him," while not looking at your images. Many don't even both too much with what kinds of albums you can give them, since most photogs can get the same ones.

Clients will always look at your images first, leaving your other behind the scene skills behind the scenes.

 

[theappleguy]

I agree with many of the others, there is too much white space and over use of flash (have you thought of using an AJAX based slideshow?). It is also best to avoid using images for text.

In terms of the actual content:

We never intefere with your wedding day remebering it is a Wedding Day and not a photoshoot. We combine technical knowledge with creativity to give you the best photos possible. Finally we work hard so that you and your guests are enjoying themselves by being professional. We encourage a relaxed and informal style rather than forced posed shots.

Remembering is spelt incorrectly, photo shoot should be two words, finally should have a comma after it etc.