Abby's Lake House - Please review

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Lori Martin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:49 pm
Location: Kingsley, PA

Abby's Lake House - Please review

Post by Lori Martin »

Hi, I've been a member for awhile but I've been only reading the forums while my husband and I worked on our lake house. :) It's almost ready to rent and the web site is almost finished (we still need: more interior shots, rates and availability calendar -I'm still setting up HomeAway account).

We really would appreciate any comments on improving the web site. Thank you for your time!

Here's the url: http://abbyslakehouse.com/index1.shtml
Lori Martin
**Newbie with LakeHouse - still setting it up!!**
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Hi Lori,

Welcome to LMH, and I hope you'll take the time to review other owners' websites -- we have a couple of active website review threads right now besides yours, and I know those owners would appreciate feedback, too.

Here are the thoughts I had while browsing your site:
  • For starters, your house looks charming and the photos you do have -- of the lake and water activities in particular -- are very appealing. I do agree that you need more photos, but I'm sure that will come as soon as the weather changes.

    I like your color scheme, but the page layout is a bit confusing to me, mainly because there are three separate navigation bars. At the top right you have a link series that changes depending on whether you're at the home page or not (I prefer a fixed navigation menu even if it means each page contains a link to itself). Then you have a top nav bar just below your logo, which does not have a link to the home page (it should), but has some other links. Then, your right nav column has a different set of links that are broken up by a photo slideshow. I think it would be easier to navigate your site if all your links were in one place, or if at least there was one place that contained all the links. It's not a bad idea to have your home or contact pages accessible several different ways, but right now your website looks smaller at first than it actually is because the links to various pages aren't all in one place.

    Also, I think the content of the home page could be better. For example, you never say anywhere on your home page that the house is available for short-term rentals. You say "lakeside living," which makes me wonder if this is a long-term rental, a place I would live. You also talk about guests and occupancy and a place to unwind, all of which is good, but I suggest that you explicitly say the lake house is available (year-round or seasonally) for vacation rentals. And I would make "vacation rental" part of your page title and headers. Right now, I don't think your home page will come up on any searches for vacation rentals, even those specific to your area, because you aren't using the search terms in your website text.

    I would also suggest giving basic price information on your home page, perhaps just a quick summary of nightly and weekly prices. People appreciate having all the information they need up front. If they can't afford it, they'll move on, and if they can, they'll know that right away and it will make it easier for them to picture themselves staying at your house.

    I also think it might be a good idea to break up the contact-directions page into two separate pages. One page could be a contact page with an inquiry form, and the other could be an "about the area" page that gives details on the lake and surroundings, and also links to the seasonal pages you already have. Since you're not running a retail location where people would need to get directions and perhaps call you to find out hours or your stock, you don't need to have directions & e-mail on the same page. I think it's more important that vacation rental sites put a contact form on their rates/availability page.

    Actually, there's really no reason not to put a link to your e-mail address on every page of your site. Just make sure it's a safe link so that your e-mail address isn't picked up by spammers.

    I think you've got a nice FAQ, and I think this feature in general is useful enough that it should be more prominently featured. If you combine nav menus, that will take care of itself.

    On the other hand, why does the link to the Improvements page get such a choice position? That's basically extra information and I don't think it's as relevant to potential guests as the FAQ. I know that some people like to see before & after photos of renovations and so forth, but -- at least for me -- that's the sort of thing that I only want to see after I've seen all the other things your property has to offer. The last thing you want is for the "before" photos to be part of the first impression a potential guest has of your property. So I would move that link way down the list, or even make it a secondary link that can only be accessed once someone has scrolled through the amenities page, which is the page I presume will have lots of photos on it eventually.
I hope I haven't been too harsh. I think this site has lots of potential, so keep working on it and I hope the inquiries have already started coming in!
Brooke
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Windy
Posts: 3219
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:21 am
Location: Windermere UK

Post by Windy »

I think Brooke has said most of it, but I thought I'd mention a couple of things

The design looks a bit "dated" to me (and I can say that as my own site got that same comment from Heather last week so I'm in the same boat :lol: In both our cases it's too many straight lines / square edges and quite a busy page )

I know you have put your heart into this and you want everyone to see what you have acheived, but I'm not sure your guests should be seeing the Improvements page so prominently.

Cracked concrete is NOT going to sell a dream but if you HAVE to show it then remove the tangled hose pipes from the "after" pictures.

I don't know whose those legs are, but, lovely as they might be, get them out of the picture as they aren't selling your place either :wink:

Also I was a bit alarmed to read hat you had electrified the pergola :shock: I know what you mean but I had an instant vision of fried guest.
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Bellywobble
Posts: 1262
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 7:40 pm

Post by Bellywobble »

I love the icons for the different seasons. Great idea.

There weren't enough photos on the site for me, I wanted more. I found what I wanted when I clicked to see your availability as they were on the Home Away site but as a potential guest, I may not of got that far.

I would suggest putting more of the interior onto the web site.
Lori Martin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:49 pm
Location: Kingsley, PA

Wonderful Posts! Thank you!

Post by Lori Martin »

Wow, great feedback! Brooke, it's not too harsh. We want to have the best possible web site as we can to ensure our house rents as much as possible. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reply.

Interior shots...we realized when we took them the first time that winter time just doesn't offer enough light. So we're going to redo all of the interior shots with some additional lighting. We also realized we just needed additonal lighting...thus a flurry of finding, purchasing and installing lights has been delaying us on this....hopefully we've be done soon.

You comments on the home page, navigation, and contact-directions pages all make sense. My husband and I will definitely be revising these areas.

I got a chuckle from your comments about the improvements page. I guess it got such a prominate location because my husband worked so hard....but of course, that doesn't mean anything to anyone looking for a holiday rental. You're absolutely correct in that the FAQ needs more prominance and the improvements page less.

Windy, yes the improvements page is going to probably become a secondary link as Brooke suggested. Once we have better photos (without hoses and legs) we'll replace those.

Hmmm, it's not concrete, it's bluestone. The old stone was broken and had no base. The new stone is all cut pieces and was laid on a nice base so they won't shift. Obviously we need better photos if you saw it as concrete.

Crispy guests are not my idea of a good time either! LOL
I'll definitely reword that - thanks for pointing that out.

BellyWobble - Thanks for your comment about the amenities icon. We're working on getting more interior shots.

Well, I think we have some work ahead of us. Thank you again for all of your comments.
Lori Martin
**Newbie with LakeHouse - still setting it up!!**
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