loire valley property wesite review?

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.
chris mooney
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loire valley property wesite review?

Post by chris mooney »

would appreciate any constructive comments and criticisms of our website..www.laconfiance.net...we are about to open up for business in may so this would be the ideal time to get the admin issues resolved
chris mooney
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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Chalky
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Post by Chalky »

I think your site is excellent, Chris. The colours of the home page are very 'atmospheric' and I like the way the pictures at the toip of each page are appropriate to the subject. My one minor gripe is at the rash of capital letters ( e.g. To, Over) on the accommodation page.
Chalky

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Ju
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Post by Ju »

Not a bad site Chris, but I think you could do with some work on your interior phot's. They do not entice me in. There has been lots of discussion on the forum about how to take good interior photos, one of the most important ones for me is "Make the bed". The photo of the chef is not a bad one to include, but it is badly lit.

Hope this helps.

Ju
chris mooney
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website review

Post by chris mooney »

thanks for the website comments people...yes you are right the interior shots need to be freshened up a bit...ju where in the vendee are you??you can't be a million miles away from us?
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

We are in the South of the Vendee, near Fontenay le Comte. I gues it would be a little over an hours drive from you.

Ju
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I like the colours, but I agree with Ju that the indoor photos are a little dark. I would rather see fewer photos, better quality and also perhaps one of the dining/living area? I think you need to add some shots with garden furniture too as presumably the garden is accessible to guests?
It's not really relevant to the website, but have you thought about advertising with Gites de France? I think most chambre d'hote owners finds this brings them in most of their business.
chris mooney
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Location: indre,loire region
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website review

Post by chris mooney »

thanks susan for the comments....we will do some more interior shots thing is the artisans are in there at the moment so will have to wait until end of march to get back in and revamp the site.similarly the 'dining room' is actually an outbuilding at the moment so again will have to wait till the renovations are completed.good point about the garden and outside furniture..we want it to be a feature of our property and some imaginative views as well as an al fresco dining shot will i'm sure be worthwhile.
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Chris,

I’m not dismissing anything said by anyone else but I would like to be supportive here.

I eat in a restaurant for the food. The ambience has an importance but the cuisine is paramount. OK, the pictures may leave something to be desired but just look at the menus. I know what my priorities are.

Alan
chris mooney
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website review

Post by chris mooney »

i take it alan i've whetted your appetite?
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

The trouble is Alan, that the photo's need to be good enough for me to be interested in reading the text. Good food is not enough to make a sucessful business.
chris mooney
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Location: indre,loire region
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site review

Post by chris mooney »

yes fair point ju and something we will rectify as soon as we can get the property back from the artisans!!!better lighting and camera angles would be the priority...and perhaps alan one of those webcam shots of me flambe-ing a lobster!!or perhaps crepe suzettes?or was it tiger prawns in garlic dressed with some fresh basil is what your missus fancies??!!!
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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thisfrenchlife
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Post by thisfrenchlife »

Alan Knighting wrote:Chris,

I’m not dismissing anything said by anyone else but I would like to be supportive here.

I eat in a restaurant for the food. The ambience has an importance but the cuisine is paramount. OK, the pictures may leave something to be desired but just look at the menus. I know what my priorities are.

Alan
Must agree and so I'd get a few pics of the food itself, take inspiration from a cook book or two as to how they prepare food so your photo is great.

Pics of the actual dishes produced is something I rarely see on chambre d'hote websites, yet they are slapped all over receipe books!!!

A minor point but something that might help is that it is worth giving an image an alt tag which describes the pic - good for Google searches and accessibility.

Also put your address in the footer of every page as it helps location specific seraches.

Otherwise I think the site looks clean and simple and gets across what is on offer.

Regards

Craig
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la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Chris,
can I be really intrusive and ask how you came by your location map plans? They are really good - I haven't managed to find any like that that didn't have copyright issues. My place is lost in the countryside and I would really like to be able to provide more accurate directions!
chris mooney
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Location: indre,loire region
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Post by chris mooney »

susan
i have to be very honest and tell you that my son built and designed the site...he had a week between finishing 'uni 'and starting work so we bullied him in to doing the site for us...unfortunately he's very rapidly become a 'Docklands Gordon Ghekko" and is out securing "Billion pound deals' worldwide! so when he gets back from his latest "jolly" at the weekend i'll get the map info for you and pm across
chris mooney
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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