Hi, New member, New Web Site, New Everything

Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
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Gite Guru
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:26 pm
Location: Tignes
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Post by Gite Guru »

Hi,

just had a bit of a peek around and got a few comments. Firstly the domain redirection will confuse users (and give you no SEO benefit), are you going to be getting rid of the 'officelive' part of the domain at some point and have a 'proper' domain correctly in use?

Secondly (and Garri's touched on it), the site's not well set up for SEO. Page titles need improving, page names improving, meta description adding etc etc. There's loads of SEO tips on the forum so if you search around you can get more details on what I'm talking about.

Additionally, I'm getting some errors on certain pages of your site using firefox, sometimes the page doesn't load, sometimes it loads but without the associated stylesheet (just the html) and sometimes it loads fine. Using the search box produces an error on the page on your website (but returns the live search results fine in a new window).

Finally, I find the overall design template used to be a bit 'corporate' and blocky, but that's just a personal taste thing.

hth,

Dave
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elena
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:48 pm
Location: PERIGORD NOIR
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Post by elena »

Hi John & Kate!

I've had a quick look through your site - it looks good but the thing that struck me first was that it wasn't very obvious how to get more details of the apartment.

The first two large photos are both of sea/beach - I personally found the first one a bit "empty" and would have liked to have seen a more striking one there. The apartment one further down the page looks lovely and when I wanted to find out more, it took a bit of looking around to find the details under "About us". I was looking for something more obvious such us apartment or accommodation.

Also on the contact us page the first thing I see is an advert for buying property in Egypt and I had to scroll down for the relevant information. I would put the ad at the bottom of the page instead of the top.

Just my personal opinion but hope it helps! Good luck!!
Elena
www.lescrouquets.net
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greenfrog
Posts: 885
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:08 pm
Location: Paris, France

Post by greenfrog »

Hi John & Kate, and welcome!

My, Hurghada has grown since I was there in 1991! I really loved the location and the beaches and the coral reefs - and then the Gulf War came along and so much was destroyed! Glad to see from your slide show that there's been some recovery.

I agree with others that your opening pictures are not the best way to sell your place. Okay, it's got a beach and clear sea but so have thousands of other places. I would prefer to see your apartment shots sooner - and they're very nice. I'd also put a shot of the coral up higher - it is one of the main attractions. (when I was there, it was really the only attraction, unless you were in the oil business...)

Naming your page about the apartment "About Us" is misleading - I assumed it would be about you, not your place. Usually, I wouldn't bother clicking on that link unless I'd already fallen for the place and decided to be nosey about the owners.

Your text includes a few too many warnings for my liking! Telling me your place is on a building site is a bad idea - I would leave that for your inquiry follow-up. And the bit about the stairs could wait until the page about the apartment itself.

There are rather a lot of capital letters on words for no good reason (eg For Sun 12 Months of the Year). It looks untidy.

I really think the info in your FAQ should be available in your text.

I like the travel info and weather - smart idea, esp the bit about the passport. That came as a hell of a shock to me the first time I went to Egypt and I found myself pulling strings at the embassy to renew my passport just days before flying! Although I don't see why you have "From the UK" at the top of the page - the passport/visa requirements are pretty much the same for all western nationalities. Move it down to just above the flights link.

Re your calendar - it looks like weeks booked are in purple but there are also dates in blue, with no explanation. A clearer key would help.

Just some thoughts - I just think your site does not do your property justice. Best of luck with it!
Lounging on the lily pad...
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hurghadasun
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:51 am
Location: Hurghada Egypt
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Post by hurghadasun »

Thank you all for your input, it has been a great help and thought provoking. Obviously we shall be taking more photographs when I visit in March. The web-site was created "on the cheap" and with the photographs that I had from our last trip. What we intend to do is to take some better thought out photos this time and completely re-jig the look of the site. I'm aware that some of the photos don't do the apartment justice....this will be rectified on our next trip.

One of you mentioned about the warning on the site about steps to the apartment and the area not being finished etc. We find telling the truth to be paramount in advertising, we would have been very disapointed had we spent hard earned cash to find stuff we hadn't been warned about. We look towards word of mouth and re-bookings as a way to help fill the diary....two of our guests have already re-booked for this year and commented about our honesty.

As can be seen on our web-site by those who saw it in its "raw state," we have taken a lot of your advice and we thank you for this.

We can't wait to go back to Hurghada for some sun and a rest from work. Having said that, I bet we're out shopping for apartment goods most days :0(
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hurghadasun
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:51 am
Location: Hurghada Egypt
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Re-Jigged

Post by hurghadasun »

Well we are back after a very busy two weeks shopping and building things in the apartment. We also did a "deal" with a local hotel to allow our guests free use of their facilities.

We have altered the site somewhat and invite your comments!

Cheers

John
www.hurghadasun.co.uk

For fun in the sun
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omar
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Orlando, FL
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Hi, New member, New Web Site, New Everything

Post by omar »

Hola John and Kate

I love the photos you are using on your home page. I am not sure who can do that for you, but you should try to get a flash tour. I didn't like that I had to keep going moving my mouse to the bottom to see more photos. The photos makes me want to fly there :) :P

I am also still working on my new site www.orlandovacationrentals411.com

Hopefully by reviewing a few sites I will get more responses on my new post :)

Saludos

Omar
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