Redheaded Ninja – A Photography Site

  • Okay, I think I’m 99% good… I need to mess with the weddng blog a little and tweek a few things on the proofing area to match the style of the site, but can I get some more eyes on this? Be super-picky!

    Redheaded Ninja : State College Wedding Photographer

    Also, you might be wondering why it’s focused on weddings when I have other stuff on there… I used to live in TX and had more of a portrait-based site but since I moved here most of my business has been weddings.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Doh! Fixed that, thanks!

    Ok, here is a question I have not found the answer to:

    I switched domains when I made the new site. The old site was https://www.myaphoto.com. So now that is parked on top of the old one, so clients can still find their proofs and such. If you Google “State College Wedding Photographer and look about 5 down, you’ll see my new page listed… but under the old URL. Google has picked up the new URL, it’s on page 2. How can I fix that? I can’t just kill the old URL, people will be looking for me that way.

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Actually, I *THINK* I may have just found the answer. Instead of parking it, I should have it as an additional domain in another folder and then do a 301 redirect to the main folder/URL. Is that right? I’m gonna try that.

    You could also add it as an alias, if your webhost provides you with that option.

    Or you could put your splash page @ that domain informing visitors that your domain name has changed and that they need to update their bookmarks. Add some JavaScript that auto forwards the page to the new site after 10sec. and add a no-index meta tag to the splash page so Google won’t index it anymore

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    What does that do?

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Oh, just saw your second answer. Would that be better? That will get the old domain dropped pretty quickly, right?

    The JavaScript would look like this:
    Add this to the head 

    <script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function delayer(){
    window.location = "https://www.redheadedninja.com/"
}
//-->
</script>

    and change the <body> tag to:

    <body onLoad="setTimeout('delayer()', 10000)">

    Add some text to the page that says they should update their bookmarks and that the page will take them to the new site in 10sec.

    also add a link to the new site in case they have JavaScript disabled.

    Add this meta tag to stop Google indexing your old domain name

    <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" />

    Usually Google will index your site once every one to two weeks

    Super picky? Okay. But that means just saying what I see.

    What stands out is that the site is unnecessarily cluttered. Unless that’s the look you were going for, simplify. I never saw the splash page, but you need something simpler than this. How about a page with no pix in the header, just a menu on the bottom and several large icons, one for each menu item, a text description, and some of those delicious pix. I would arrange the pix you do have in two horizontal rows six pix wide and avoid dividing the page into columns. So, from the top, name, text, icons, pix, menu.

    The gray background coloring does not make your pictures “pop.” Find a “nearly neutral” to use, perhaps something just a touch warmer. The white where the text is is just a touch warm, but not enough. How about a lacquered rosewoood or header and trim color with parchment in the background. I’m not a website designer, so I can’t say how to do that.

    Just some thoughts.

    Malcolm

    @malcolmjames – I’d really like to know what you mean with “unnecessarily cluttered.” In any case I disagree with you. The fact that she’s a photographer, makes it a very illogical suggestion to have a page without pictures. The fact that redheadedninja uses a neutral gray and white background provides her with the freedom to post pictures displaying a variety of different moods. This actually does make the pictures pop because neutrality of the design doesn’t distract you from the content of the pictures. Just imagine how bad a rosewood header would clash with baby pictures where the main color in the picture is baby blue or pink.

    The design of the site is carried by the quality of the pictures, and that’s her product.

    JBerghem,

    By “unnecessarily cluttered,” I mean that the page has too much information on it to be easily and quickly understood by viewers. Successful webpages should be easy to access visually not only for high-level readers who aren’t intimidated by text, but by the masses who want to know what a page is all about without having to do a lot of reading. I’m sure that you are an above-average reader, but there are a lot of people out there who are not strong readers and who would prefer a simpler front page. Those people deserve good photography, too.

    I didn’t suggest that she eliminate pix from the front page, merely from the header. They are distracting there. And grey is not the best neutral to make other colors “pop.” I’m sure she could choose another neutral that isn’t colorless against which her photos would pop.

    The pictures ARE her product, and that is exactly why they shouldn’t be overwhelmed by all of the text on that page.

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Wow, I turn my head for a day and look what happens!

    Thanks for the input, malcolmjames, I am definitely sticking with grey tho. My old site was grey and I got lots of compliments on it. I think the text is definitely necessary for me as well. The header? Well, I can’t imagine what else I would put there except for pictures! I really do appreciate your feedback.

    An update: The 301 redirect worked great, Google has dropped the old url completely and this new site is now ranking #1 in a search for “state college wedding photographer.” Thanks for all of your help with that. I just installed All In One SEO Pack and hopefully tonite will have all the page titles changed and descriptions & keywords added. This is taking a lot of time, but so far it has been worth it!! I am still very open to hearing more feedback, even if I disagree it helps me! Thank you!!

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Also I want to say that it took a lot of courage for me to make the leap to WordPress from a site that I coded by hand and relied on for years, but the last couple weeks have proven to me that I should have done this long ago. WordPress rocks!!

    Redheadedninja, could you give me a hint as to how you created a login section for your proofs? I’m looking for something similar but am coming up blank for wordpress stuff that works like this. Love your site by the way.

    Thread Starter redheadedninja

    (@redheadedninja)

    Sure geo, I used Gallery2. There is a plugin to integrate them here.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
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