Getting back into it . . .

[Frameation]

Hi all from Orpington
Am setting up all my old framing kit (currently in the garage) after a break away from it for a few years.
I have lots of big plans just got to make them happen some how. All constructive tips and advice very welcome.
Andy
www.frameation.com (web site under construction but is live - tips also welcome)

[Justintime]

Hi Andy
Welcome to the forum.
I'm happy to offer some critique, but as with all critique, it's only my opinion.
I misread Frameation as Framenation and when I went to your website I did the same, assuming it was a typo.
Your website doesn't appear to be optimised for mobiles currently.
It feels quite dry and two dimensional, it doesn't shout creative design and I find the text difficult to read to the end. Maybe a different font and size would change that.
Advice I was given was find some framers online/Instagram etc who's work you really like and have a look at their websites for inspiration.
Hopefully others will contribute to your request. There are plenty of creative people lurking in the shadows here, but sadly not much involvement at present.
Good luck with getting set up again.
Justin

[NTG999]

Good you are getting back in to framing. My opinion with websites are they aren't as important as they used to be; you still need one for credibility and a profile of what you do BUT a good Google Business Profile is currently where people find you, your opening times and directions etc. plus worth considering some social media profile, Instagram lends itself to what we do - visual stuff

[Justintime]

Hi Andy, it does sit much better on a laptop screen! Did you use Chatgbt for the text?

[vintage frames]

I won't pretend to be an expert in website presentation and can only report what I feel when opening your site.

The website template is well chosen in that it is simple, concise and easily accessed for a quick exchange of information.

But nobody ever reads the blurb. They only want to know what you do and where you do it.
Within that parameter you can say how you specialise in photography framing for instance or any other mediums, but filling the message out with a whole lot wordy essay only screams B.S.

And another thing - I don't think a picture framer really needs to boast about the care he takes or the quality of the materials he uses.
The customer will be taking that as a given.

The only thing worth saying is that 'something' which you believe sets you apart from other available framing shops.

But good luck with it all.

[Rainbow]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy getting back into framing, and as far as your web site is concerned, here are a few pointers.

1. A glaring omission is your location. Is that because you are not yet ready to accept customers, and if that’s the case, why make your web site live at all?

2. You need meaningful text partly because Google relies on content, and partly because potential customers need to know why they should come to you instead of a competitor. However, a lot of your text is “fluff” and non-specific. Also it’s difficult for the eye to read. Bullet points or broken paragraphs are easier on the eye.

3. “About Us” doesn’t tell the potential customer anything at all about “Us". Who are you, what’s your background, what’s your experience as a framer etc. Everything you say on this page should give a potential customer confidence that they are dealing with someone who they can trust with their prized possession.

4. The incomplete Legal Notice & Privacy Policy do the opposite to inspiring confidence. When this data has been added, put the links at the bottom of the page rather than in the menu bar.

5. Your pages haven’t got any metadata for Google to read.

6. Read Google’s own advice to aspiring website builders: https://developers.google.com/search/docs. That should keep you busy for a good few hours/days/weeks

I could go on, but enough is enough!

Good luck!

[Frameation]

Good afternoon all,

Thank you all for the feedback, all noted and web site completely remodelled and hopefully a whole lot more appealing. www.frameation.co.uk Again as before all constructive criticism is welcome. I have also recently taken on a new studio and am going for it.

[Justintime]

That looks really tight to me. My only input would be that I suspect some of the images of framed work on the site are AI generated. Where you may be able to get away with that on most pages, I'd suggest that your gallery page should be made up exclusively of images of your actual work. It feels a little inauthentic to me in that respect.

[Rainbow]

Congratulations frameation, on both the web site and the new studio. The web site looks good. Just a few points FWIW:

- re the meta data, admitedly I didn't spend too long studying it but my impression was that the descriptions were pretty much standard on each page. The meta data should be specific to each page for Google purposes.

- re the captions on the gallery photos, they should have some relevance to the picture rather than the room. One caption just says "bedroom" for instance, which is pretty obvious to the viewer and no use to Google.

- I agree with Justin about the images. Prior to AI, I'd have said they look like studio sets, but I expect they're AI generated now. If the rooms don't look real, it would make me wonder as a prospective customer if the pictures/frames were real. If you want to keep the images, perhaps you could do a rollover showing a close-up of the picture and saying a few words about what was special about the framing.

- It's just a small point but it jars slightly that you say on the Home page and the About page that you're in Farnborough, but the Contact address is Orpington. If your new studio is in Orpington, I'd make the location consistent.

Good luck with your new venture!

[Tudor Rose]

Have to agree with Justin and Rainbow. Those gallery images look AI generated and would not encourage the idea that you've actually framed them. I'm not understanding the medals ones at all - you mention framing medals but you are showing photographs of medals.

Very slick website - and agree there is some confusion about your location.

[Frameation]

Once again, many thanks all for the feedback. The images are primarily Ai / stock photographs. I will be making a concerted effort to replace images with genuine work over the next few weeks. The site has been designed for me and it is now for me to polish it and regularly update with my work rather than Ai

Thank you all again