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New Website or Modify Existing Website?

by shotbyadam
7 replies
I'm in a little bit of a dilemma. I'm a professional photographer and my current website is built with Wordpress. It's a nice looking website...kind of on the artsy side, but it does get good traffic. While I think the site looks nice, it's not very business-like and often times people don't navigate through the entire site. When I talk to my clients I notice that they don't frequent the entire site and the mobile version of the site is not very good (using a service through my hosting company and it's not very good). So, I've decided to redesign my website, this time using adobe Muse, which I have gotten very comfortable using and really like how it designs sites.

So here is the problem. Over the last several years I've been branding myself around my name, "Adam Sternberg Photography" and my URL is www.shotbyadam.com. Here's the thing...I'm starting to expand and I want to brand myself less around my name and more around my company so I sound more like a firm, rather than an individual, so I can start to go after more corporate clients with a better, more professional presence. I own the URL HighPerformancePhotography.com and I have changed my company name to match it...High Performance Photography LLC.

So, when redoing my website, what do you suggest I do?

- Rebrand my entire business with that name under the existing domain name?

- Use the new domain name and build the new website on that, changing the name in Google to redirect it to the new site?

- Use the new domain name and leave the old website alone, having two separate websites?

Thanks!!!
#existing #modify #website
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
    You can do the redirect through your domain registrar, that's probably the easiest way. And your new name sounds good.

    There's a couple of things that might make your new site more lingerable.

    The menu is really hard to see with the carousel moving and when you mouse up to the top the menu disappears completely. The photos are awesome, no doubt about that, its just hard to navigate through.

    I suspect too that most of your visitors would be looking for a photographer, not someone whose side business is photography. If they are online looking for a photographer, they do not need to know that your primary business is something else.
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  • Profile picture of the author endovdayz
    i agree with Mr. Michael Shook, redesigning to a lighter color theme would make your site more readable..
    index page is a bit bulky thus increasing the loading time..
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    Haseeb Kibria
    Web Designer & Developer
    WebbyBuddy

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    • Profile picture of the author shotbyadam
      Originally Posted by endovdayz View Post

      i agree with Mr. Michael Shook, redesigning to a lighter color theme would make your site more readable..
      index page is a bit bulky thus increasing the loading time..
      It's a wordpress template I purchased. I think it looks nice, but isn't overly functional. I want to create more of a presence of a media company, not an artsy-fartsy website. Something that looks more professional.

      So are you suggesting keeping the existing domain and changing the business name on it or going with the new domain and redirecting the website? Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
        Originally Posted by shotbyadam View Post

        It's a wordpress template I purchased. I think it looks nice, but isn't overly functional. I want to create more of a presence of a media company, not an artsy-fartsy website. Something that looks more professional.

        So are you suggesting keeping the existing domain and changing the business name on it or going with the new domain and redirecting the website? Thanks!
        Going with the new domain name and redirecting your existing site to your new one. That's the easiest way internet wise. I think your new name sounds great.
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  • Profile picture of the author endovdayz
    High Performance Photography LLC is a good name and when you are talking about corporate clients your name really matters.
    Yes you can use the redirect option, your business name and your URL should match for better results.
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    Haseeb Kibria
    Web Designer & Developer
    WebbyBuddy

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  • Profile picture of the author anynewsbd
    Also i would like to agree Mickel Shook & wish best of luck for your website.
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    • Profile picture of the author shotbyadam
      So do you guys think I should setup the new website on the new domain first, get it all running and looking good, then go to google and have them redirect from the old website to the new one? All the pages will be different, much of the content will be different, etc. That's my main concern...that all my rankings will take a huge hit.
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