Does my website look professional?

[jlcochran]

Hi everyone. I'm an artist and I just started trying to make my own business selling my artwork and prints. I also do commissioned work. Right now I'm working on making enough art to sell as everything I've done up to this point were free commissions for practice.

I've been working on my website but my husband believes that it doesn't really look professional. I'm going for a professional page with a personalized feel. I don't want something generic.

I'm wondering what you guys think. I could really use some advice if you have any.

artbyjlcochran.com

*hugs to all*
Jess

[Yuliya Mironova]

Originally Posted by jlcochran

my husband believes that it doesn't really look professional.

Hi Jess - is he comparing it with the websites of other professional, home-based artists when he says that, or with a firm of lawyers or management consultants? I've seen many artists' websites, following their links from various online galleries which I regularly browse and from which I quite often buy artwork; from what I've seen, I'd say your site's well above average for "professionalism", given its overall nature.

Originally Posted by jlcochran

I'm going for a professional page with a personalized feel. I don't want something generic.

No - indeed. I think you've done that, and done it well.

Originally Posted by jlcochran

I'm wondering what you guys think. I could really use some advice if you have any.

Ok - well, I think you should change the colour-scheme of your blog, linked to from that site. Small white lettering on a black background is hard to read, and offputting for many people. I coped with it, with my enormous screen and Firefox browser, but many may have problems. (I know it's really tiresome, but you might at some point want to think about switching that blog over to self-hosted Wordpress, too, and host it on the same site as the rest?).

Good luck and good wishes,

[janet444]

Hi Jessica,

I had the same thought as the previous poster - that maybe your husband was comparing your site to those of lawyers and big businesses.

I've done website reviews, and I've seen some terribly unprofessional looking sites by entrepreneurs and artists. Yours isn't one of them.

The look and feel of the site matches its subject matter and that's important with any site.

Ordinarily I tell people not to use the same color text as the background, as contrast makes the text more readable. But in this case, I personally am not finding it a strain on the eyes to read the text, so I think its fine.

As for the blog, white text on a black background is difficult for many to read, and marketing studies have shown it to be less effective. I personally find it far too difficult to read; I have to be highly motivated to struggle through it. The easiest text to read is simply black text on a white background.

When you link to another website, its best to have the new site open in a new window. You might want to do this with your blog, if you want people to be able to get back to your main website easily. It's not hard to do.

Consider bolding the names of the artwork, esp. the one on the home page.

On some pages, esp. the bio page, there are no margins. Adding some space to the left and right on that page and wherever else there are no margins will make it more readable and more professional looking.

I hope this is helpful.

Janet Beatrice

[craftydelisa]

I agree with the comments of the above posters. The only thing that I can add is that on your gallery page the images seem crammed together. For me it turned them into a jumble. Each imaged needs to be clearly defined. They also blend with the background color.

Good Luck!

[jlcochran]

Thank you so much guys! I'll definitely work on the blog so it's easier to read. I'll also have it open in a new browser so it's easier to get back to the site. And as for the drawings on the art page, I'll play around with that to find a way to make it easier to see. And bold the names of the pieces...

lol ALL of your suggestions are great ones, And to answer your question, I think my husband was comparing it to other business sites. *shrugs*

Thank you guys again!

*big hugs*
Jess

[janet444]

You're welcome, Jess! You really did a nice job with the site.

Janet

[lyndas9254]

I too agree with above...

It looks nice!! I like the black outside background with the light purple but I too have a lot of black on my screen. I would think you would want to see the art more not all the space around being black....that is hard on the eyes some.
I also notice the font being I think it is times roman...maybe there is something else that would look modern and art-like. I love the caption at the top in an artsy way!!

Your work here is well done...just a few things to tweak maybe...

Good job!! Love your work!! I and too think it leans more to your artistic nature which it should reflect!

[cward3]

I think it looks really nice and I especially like the On The Easel page. It's amazing to see a work in progress like that! Very nice work you have done on both your site and your art.