Sean Mantey | Photographer | Lancashire

 

Service is a big deal for me and after several months of poor reliability, performance and support I decided to move my website to a different host – Heart Internet.

I did a lot of research on these guys and they got consistently good feedback from everyone I asked.

On a technical note they also seem to have the best fit when it comes to meeting my specific requirements.

I’m very happy to say the move, conducted in the early hours of this morning, went without a hitch and I’m now LIVE!

I’m confident the move will mean a better experience for my customers and peace of mind for me (just in time for the wedding season).

Have great weekend. 

Sean

As some of you will have noticed my website has a new extension – CLIENTS.

The new website section is based a piece of software called Photocart and its hosted on the same platform as my website and blog.

Whilst the software isn’t what I could describe as easy to integrate with a website it is, without doubt, the most impressive and functional proofing / checkout solution out there.

I’m using the software to provide my clients with the following features.

Access gallery

Clients can use this feature to view pictures from, choose favourites, share with friends / family and immediately order from a range of products including automtatic digital downloads.

It uses a sophisticated discounting engine to apply tiered discounts based on volume or spend and I’m also using it to provide an early bird discount to anyone ordering within 2 weeks of publishing.

Redeem credit

My clients will use this feature to redeem credits for free or pre-paid products like those included in wedding packages.

Once redeemed, clients can select pictures to link to the products included in the package E.G. a wedding album.

Accessory store

The accessory store allows me to sell products, or services, not directly linked to pictures E.G. gift vouchers and session fees.

Gift registry

The gift registry enables clients to create their own registry for any special event E.G. a wedding. 

Once set-up, the friends and family of the clients can add money to the account.  

I’m really excited about the new features on my website. Not only will it allow to reduce the time to proof images and sell products but, I believe, it will enhance my customers experience.

If you have any questions please get in touch.

Sean

I promised to post something on why I changed my website and how I built the new one today, so here goes!

The new website and BLOG

www.seanmantey.co.uk

My new website is based on the ProPhoto 3 BLOG template, running on Wordpress and hosted out of the UK by “daily.co.uk”. This is configured to have a static front page, complete with gallery, and uses permalinks to allow easy navigation to other pages including the BLOG. The MOLE page actually runs on another installation of Wordpress which uses the same template, and theme, to allow it to integrate seamlessly with the rest of the site.  Ideally, I would have preferred a single installation of Wordpress but it’s currently limited to only One posts page and I needed Two.

The old website and BLOG

www.seanmantey.com

My old website was based on a Flash based template website hosted out of the US.

www.seanmanteyblog.com

My old BLOG was based on the ProPhoto 2 BLOG template, running on Wordpress and hosted out of the UK by “daily.co.uk”. This was similar to what I am running now but configured differently.

Why did I change?

1. Look and feel – I needed a cleaner, more contemporary look and feel to the website so it would appeal more to my target market. 
2. Navigation / customer experience – I wanted my clients to be able to access my BLOG without having to leave my website or open a new window.
3. Visibility to search engines – I wanted potential clients to be able to find me more easily using search engines. (Most search engine experts are of the opinion that you should, ideally, use a “.co.uk” domain and host in the UK to stand the best chance of ranking highly in local searches. Similarly, experts generally agree that HTML based websites are more visible to search engines than their Flash cousins.)

Unfortunately I couldn’t achieve what I wanted using the old website so I set-up the new website on a “.co.uk” address and, when I was happy with it, I re-directed all of my existing websites to the new address using “301” re-directs.

I’ve still got a few more tweaks to make but I am generally happy with it and am convinced I’ve made the right move.

Sean