Comment

Comment by Steven Mayfield on February 8, 2011 at 7:28am

It's a bitter pill. But you must face up to it and deal with it rationally. The world does not care about you.

Your market comes to your site to get what they want (not because of any interest in you). So, you must understand what they want. And (here's the tricky part) you must figure out how to get what you want by providing them their desires.

That key benefit (that you provide) needs to be the first thing they see when they browse your page.

Comment by Scott Bloom on February 7, 2011 at 6:45am

If you're trying to convey the quality of your work, then a picture of something you've designed is appropriate. (Remember to get permission to use it if it was taken by someone else, and if there are other designers' works involved. And give appropriate credit.) Not so big that it takes too long to load. In the case of a technical designer a Flash slide show would also be appropriate. If it doesn't involve design, and it's just about you, then your picture, or a graphic that says something about you would be the best approach.

Don't clutter up the homepage with too much information up front, just who you are and what you do. If there's a great quote about your work that you can embed in a graphic, even better. Leave the resume, portfolio, gallery, etc., for their own pages. Consistent menu and template on every other page, but the homepage can be a flashier design.

Also, a portfolio or gallery should be thumb-nailed with short description, and if the graphic it calls up is huge, then tell people how big it will be.

For a group or organization always put important news right up front where people can see it without paging through. For an individual, especially an actor or designer, making the homepage a little flashier is a great way to draw in a target audience. Just don't forget usability and navigation.

Comment by Aaron Crosby on February 5, 2011 at 1:53pm

I am working on a website and am curious as to what content people think is the most important for putting on the Home Page. My site is a combination of portfolio, resume, and about me as a professional technician.

Comment by Steven Mayfield on February 5, 2011 at 7:31am

And you need to understand who is your target audience (for your website): Possible theater-goers or potential actors. Can it be both? Absolutely. (It probably needs to be.) But as Scott mentioned, features pertaining to each should be easily distinguished and accessible.

Informative, yes. Entertaining, absolutely. That is, after all, what you do.

On an aside: Don't be dismayed by code-freaks. There are those -- particularly who are trying to sell you their web services -- who only see source code. [Personally, I suspect this is a form of asperger's. ;) ] Webwriting is about graphic design, not pretty code.

Any code that results in a website that over 90% of the browsers can clearly see as intended -- IS pretty code! Have fun!!!

Comment by Scott Bloom on February 3, 2011 at 5:46am

I agree with Steven to a point. What's important for nearly any website, ( or any non-vanity website, anyway,) is that it be informative and functional. Do people come to a theatre company's website to be entertained, or for information? Making it entertaining is a wonderful marketing tool, but not at the expense of quickly and easily finding what they're looking for. Like a good storefront, navigation is the key, and should be readily available from every page. If you want to feature galleries, videos, or other content, make their availability visible for people who want that, but not in the way of the essential facts. Like a well written news story, who, what, where and when in the first paragraph.

Comment by Steven Mayfield on January 31, 2011 at 8:16am

Someone probably already mentioned this, but it is important to realize that a website really isn't a "marketing" method. It is more analogous to opening a storefront. (But this storefront is located in the middle of the Pacific ocean and is surrounded by millions of identical storefronts.)

Once you have a website, you must market it to get people to come browse. Even then, most people just pop in for a quick look (staying a second or two). The trick is to get them to notice your site and come stay for a while -- absorbing your content.

Comment by Robert A. DiMartino on April 8, 2010 at 2:40pm

Hi everyone! If you could take a few minutes to take a look at our site: www.yaensemble.com I'd appreciate the feedback. I created it using Serif Page Plus. There is one dead link until I figure out how to get a gallery up with Page Plus. Let me know what you think.

Comment by Colleen Muench on March 2, 2010 at 6:11am

Hi Everyone...just passing along an event that worked well for us. We had a Ladies Night Out early in the run of our production of THE FULL MONTY. The evening not only consisted of the show but also pre-glow hors d'oeuvres, cash bar (wine/beer/Cosmos), targeted retailing booths (pop art store, cosmetics, pole dancing classes, massages, etc.), Chinese auction and a raffle unique to the evening. We had male volunteers in costume (fireman, construction worker...think upscale "Village People") wait on the women all evening. The evening sold out days before the event. Not only did we have incredible sales for this event but we had a multitude of patrons bringing back friends for another performance later in the run. The event was marketed in our season brochure as well as in playbills and online (our website, Facebook, Twitter and other online sources).

Comment by Bert Hutt on March 1, 2010 at 5:36pm

Medley, The site works well. I like the curtains and think that it look great once you get everything up.
How about some feedback on our theater site:
http://www.SoperReeseTheatre.com
How does it look?

Comment by Medley Long on April 15, 2009 at 8:10am

I think it is just your browser, I am using Firefox aswell and I have no problem.

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