For photographers sent by David Wittig: I'm too busy to work on my own site and have very limited time for web design. You should contact me if you have some interesting ideas to make your site stand out from the rest (i.e. from Blud.....) and you're willing to spend quite a bit of your time (for thinking it out) and money on this. Have a good day! Alex
The first impression
Visitors form an opinion about a website and its owner quickly, in the first few seconds. The site's front page has to make a favorable impression, assure the visitor that she is at the right place and avoid annoying faux pas. While in person there's usually a second chance to overcome an awkward introduction, on the web the meeting could end in a click - there are too many other photographer portfolios and other interesting sites waiting to be seen.
There are a few simple things to keep in mind when designing a front page for your site. The page should load quickly. The visitor should see your name right away. Links to content sections of the website should also show up quickly and should be easy to find. Seeing the titles of website sections tells the visitor immediately that there is more on the site than the front page to be seen and explored. Clearly visible links assure the visitor that the particular information she's looking for (prices or your contact information) is indeed available on the website. Menus should not appear with a significant delay or be hidden away to slide out by some sleight of magic.
Naturally, photographers want to focus the viewer's attention on their images and the website's front page deserves to display one of their best ones. Make sure that the photographs do not visually clash with the page's background color, design elements and the text. While focusing the attention on a gripping photograph or slideshow is important, the front page shouldn't be the only one that your visitors see, thus you have to balance the focus between the image and the links to other parts of the website. Pick the right size and color for the links so that they're clearly visible, but do not clash with or overpower the images.
Finally, a word about music. Personally, I am not a fan of background website noise. I have my own playlist and when it collides with a song playing on a website, the impression is always an unfavorable one. Be mindful also of people who visit your website from work. A lot of them have the sound turned on, but your website's soundtrack may draw attention from their coworkers that your prospective clients may not appreciate.
The best rule of etiquette to follow is to give a fair warning to your website visitors that music will play and give them an option to turn it off before it starts playing. If you want to set the whole website to music, make sure to put a very visible option to turn it off (the upper-right hand corner is a good place for that) and delay the start of the song a few seconds. An even better option is only to use a soundtrack on individual slideshows and give visitors an option to play the slideshow with or without music. This is also one of the best ways to use music because you can intricately time it with the slides.