Hi there,
In the next month or so, we're going to release a large revision to the Members news page. Once released, we'll make it work like this:
(Month 1) Available as an option for customers to switch to, to try out
(Month 2) All customers switched over to new page, with an option to switch back to old page
(Month 3) Old page no longer available
Changes like this always cause outrage among a small number of users, so I wanted to give plenty of notice.
You may not have seen it, but if you check out out site logged-out, we have made some significant changes for guests, particularly the Tour, Model Pages and Shoot pages. As a logged-in member, you probably seldom visit the Tour, and Shoot and Model pages look the same they always have to you. But we detect when a person is not logged in (ie, is a guest), and show them a page that's more "enticing", more "sales oriented". Check it out if you're interested (you can log out, or just start an Incognito session in Chrome, or use a different browser from the one you normally use).
You have probably also seen that the image gallery pages have changed (no one has complained about that, so I assume everyone agrees they are awesome!), and perhaps a few other changes like that.
Another major change to these three pages (tour, shoot, and model) is they are mobile-friendly. That means, when you look at the page on a smart phone, they are easy to use - different to how they look on desktop or laptop, but all the same material is there, presented in a useful way.
You may be aware that that Google is a powerful marketing tool for pretty much every website in the world. People type in things they want, and Google shows results that match. You'd probably agree, it works pretty well! Behind the scenes, people fight tooth and nail to get listed at the top of the first page of google search results, because, like me, when you search for something on Google, you only really look at the first three results. If your site is listed on page 2 of Google, well, you're fuc*ed!
In October 2015, Google released some changes in how they choose which sites are listed higher on results, and one major change was, being mobile-phone-friendly. That is, if your site, or pages on your site, are not deemed by google to work well on smart phones, google will de-rank your site (compared to a site that is mobile friendly). Even if you search from a desktop computer, a mobile un-friendly site will be de-ranked!
Like it or not (I hate it, myself) more and more people are using mobile phones to access the internet (Google says more than half of all searches are from mobile devices now!), and we are seeing more mobile traffic on abbywinters.com than we have before.
We need to change with the times, and ensure we have the best chance of making a sale when people search on Google for "redheaded with freckles nude" (or whatever).
So, this is the main driver behind the changes, but also, we last designed many pages on the site back in in 2008, 2009 and a lot has changed since then. We can do things that are more useful to customers and us, do things to reduce the load on our servers (saving on costs), and have a look that appeals to people who have never seen our brand before (I worry that if we look "old fashioned" we risk losing people who want their sites to look and feel modern). This has to be managed against people who have been a paying customer for a long time, and like the site the way it is just fine. It's a difficult balance!
I hope to soon provide here a screen shot of how it'll look, for everyone to comment on, and soon after, we can release it as an option (as Month 1) to interact with. Your feedback will be welcome.
In the next month or so, we're going to release a large revision to the Members news page. Once released, we'll make it work like this:
(Month 1) Available as an option for customers to switch to, to try out
(Month 2) All customers switched over to new page, with an option to switch back to old page
(Month 3) Old page no longer available
Changes like this always cause outrage among a small number of users, so I wanted to give plenty of notice.
You may not have seen it, but if you check out out site logged-out, we have made some significant changes for guests, particularly the Tour, Model Pages and Shoot pages. As a logged-in member, you probably seldom visit the Tour, and Shoot and Model pages look the same they always have to you. But we detect when a person is not logged in (ie, is a guest), and show them a page that's more "enticing", more "sales oriented". Check it out if you're interested (you can log out, or just start an Incognito session in Chrome, or use a different browser from the one you normally use).
You have probably also seen that the image gallery pages have changed (no one has complained about that, so I assume everyone agrees they are awesome!), and perhaps a few other changes like that.
Another major change to these three pages (tour, shoot, and model) is they are mobile-friendly. That means, when you look at the page on a smart phone, they are easy to use - different to how they look on desktop or laptop, but all the same material is there, presented in a useful way.
You may be aware that that Google is a powerful marketing tool for pretty much every website in the world. People type in things they want, and Google shows results that match. You'd probably agree, it works pretty well! Behind the scenes, people fight tooth and nail to get listed at the top of the first page of google search results, because, like me, when you search for something on Google, you only really look at the first three results. If your site is listed on page 2 of Google, well, you're fuc*ed!
In October 2015, Google released some changes in how they choose which sites are listed higher on results, and one major change was, being mobile-phone-friendly. That is, if your site, or pages on your site, are not deemed by google to work well on smart phones, google will de-rank your site (compared to a site that is mobile friendly). Even if you search from a desktop computer, a mobile un-friendly site will be de-ranked!
Like it or not (I hate it, myself) more and more people are using mobile phones to access the internet (Google says more than half of all searches are from mobile devices now!), and we are seeing more mobile traffic on abbywinters.com than we have before.
We need to change with the times, and ensure we have the best chance of making a sale when people search on Google for "redheaded with freckles nude" (or whatever).
So, this is the main driver behind the changes, but also, we last designed many pages on the site back in in 2008, 2009 and a lot has changed since then. We can do things that are more useful to customers and us, do things to reduce the load on our servers (saving on costs), and have a look that appeals to people who have never seen our brand before (I worry that if we look "old fashioned" we risk losing people who want their sites to look and feel modern). This has to be managed against people who have been a paying customer for a long time, and like the site the way it is just fine. It's a difficult balance!
I hope to soon provide here a screen shot of how it'll look, for everyone to comment on, and soon after, we can release it as an option (as Month 1) to interact with. Your feedback will be welcome.
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