Website - Revised - finally

Hi Ray, Very nice. The turnings look great and the pages are done tastefully. The only thing that looks a bit off to me is the size of the picture on the home page. To me it seems much too large.

Bob, Naugatuck Ct.

Ray:

Some feedback on your site: (The same comments are applicable to many sites out there, so others may also be interested in these tips.)

1: Change (or at least resize) the background image on the home page. 120K background images take way too long to load. Also, an image 1200 pixels wide just doesn't do it for most people. Try to limit the active area of the background to 600 or 800 pixels so most browsers don't have to pan to see the whole thing. Also, a home page should say _something_ about the site...

2: Edit your images and drop the quality of the jpeg images to 6 instead of

1. A 300 x 400 pixel image shouldn't take more than 40K to download... Anything over about 100K for an initial image is way too much. Not everyone has a high bandwidth connection, and a page should load quickly if you expect people to explore your site. Don't send a 1200x1600 pixel image and have the browser resize it to 300x400. Instead, take a few moments to edit the image, resize it to the 300x400 pixels, and drop the quality a bit to get a manageable sized file to download. You can always provide a full size image as a link if you want. This will not affect the way your page looks, but will make the pages load MUCH faster.

3: Lose the fixed width tables. For people using smaller browser windows, this creates pan bars at both the bottom and side, requiring the user to scroll back and forth to see the page. This is really distracting if you want to read the text. For people with large browser windows, it limits the flow of the text, and they end up with a bunch of wasted space on the right of the page. Pages with centered content are even worse, as a relatively small amount of information floats in the center, with large open spaces on both sides.

4: On the gallery pages, make thumbnail size images for people to see, with perhaps 100x133 size or 150x200 pixels. Link to a full size image like you have now, and the pages will load much more quickly, and you will probably have people hang around and actually look at most of the site. The way you have it now, the full size image is loaded immediately, and the browser resizes it. This really slows down the page view, and makes people restless.... Much better if you create a thumbnail image with your graphic editor and upload it as a separate file. Yes, it's more work for you, but makes the site look much more professional.

5: Think about a different color background if you want anyone to be able to print the text on your site. Most people don't know how to force text to print when you have a black background and white text.

6: Watch name inconsistency: On the contact page is the only place I find "Artistic Woods" which is the name of your site. All other pages show "Artist Woods" . This may tend to cause people to mistake the web name, and make it harder for them to remember you. Your web address is in effect, your business name. You want to make sure the potential customers can find you again... Remembering the words you burn into their brain at the top of each page can help a lot in getting repeat or referral traffic.

7: Watch spelling: on Contacts page, you have "peices". Ok, it's a small nit in the big world, but people tend to nitpick whether they voice it or not. Best to copy and paste text into Word or a similar program to spell check if your web page editor doesn't handle this for you.

8: Think about a footer on each page that has basic contact information. Perhaps a horizontal bar, with copyright, email link and mailing address. (but don't call it snailmail). This way, if someone does print your page, they've got at least minimal contact information already there. Including this information also tends to help your position in the search engines too.

9: Fonts: If you specify a font, make sure you also specify an equivalent font for the "Mac people" out there. Not everyone is on a PC, or the same version of operating system as you. Most browsers will default to their generic font if you don't specify a particular font, or if you specify one not installed on the target computer. Stay away from uncommon fonts if you want the page to look the same on the typical web surfer's as on yours...

10: Don't give up. The criticisms above are intended to help you (and others that read this post), not tear you down. It's great you have a site up and it has some nice pieces on it, but with a little work it could be a lot more effective. It's a shame when the problems with the site overshadow good woodworking!

Good Luck

--Rick

Ray Sandusky wrote:

[snip]

I agree with all that Rick has said, although I would've been shy about saying anything. But if I were a collector of fine wood items, had the bucks-AND the fast 'puter with DSL connection and big monitor, I'd go ga-ga over the site, and my thumbs would be smokin' as I reached in my wallet. Gorgeous work, Ray! OK, I found an additional typo--in the "Artist Statement" the window title is mis-spelled.

Ken Grunke

NEWLY REVISED WEBSITE, but not completely f>

Just curious why you don't post any prices?

My prices are not for publication- if you would like to purchase one of my works of art, you may contact me directly. That is why I provide the contact information on the website.

If there is an item of interest, please let me know and I will provide the pricing and delivery information.

Thank you

Ray

I can see by their absence that they are not for publication. I asked why?

YEAH ! ! ! Ain't it huge ? ? ? I think that's called IMPACT ! ! !

Barry

Derek

I price my work based upon the market I am selling to - if it is at a gallery, I have to account for the 40% the gallery takes, If I am selling directly to one person, I prop the price up to the level that will allow me to earn an amount that is worthy of the item - the price is not important - the impact the item has is what sells it. If a person is moved to purchase, then they have experienced something when they saw it - making the price almost trivial. So for a piece to go for $800 is not the issue, the true test is whether the person who wants the item is moved to make the purchase.

If more of us looked at our work as something that has impact and causes a person to have an emotional reaction, then we would be pricing our work at a level that is worthy of our time, effort and skill in our making processes.

Ray

Barry

Thank you for understanding the reason behind my homepage picture - I want you to have a close-up shot that makes you scroll around to see it - that is part of the experience!

Ray

Thanks Ray. So far I have kept my pricing the same for the end user, whether they buy directly or from the gallery which takes a 40% cut. I can understand doing otherwise.

Derek

important -

Ray -

I like the homepage picture too...

My suggestion is related to your galleries - Images there are too large...I'd crop abit more background, resize, and drop resolution. When I click on a gallery image - I'm choosing to "invest" in the time to download a detailed picture...so the "full-size" images can be lots larger than what you've got currently... Right now, your gallery "trains" a persons to not click on the images - as there's not much difference in size....

Beauty work too, BTW....

Cheers -

Rob