What do you all think?

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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CSE
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Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

But, unlike casasantoestevo, I'm no tekkie, so I'm always interested in more information.
Neither am I. I just read a lot. Learn and take in what has been written. Sometimes many times to fully understand what is being said in the article.
I am now intrigued so maybe I should set up a Moonfruit website to see how it works.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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Jimbo
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Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

clairelou65 wrote: I may in the future pay for my moonfruit site to remove their advert, but this would be the only advantage of paying, at the moment i don't need any more features from them.
Not the only advantage. I've always believed that the first contact with a potential guest may be the only contact and, therefore, everything needs to be as perfect as I can make it. And, for me, a promotional website with a 'free site' banner suggests that I want a guest to give me their money but - hey - I'm not prepared to spend my money on them. I'm sure that isn't what you intended but (IMO) that's how it comes across. Two years back, I bought five sites for fifty quid when I signed up with moonfruit. I've used a couple of the spare sites for other projects, so it's been good value for me.

Good luck with your venture.

Jim
lorca
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:34 pm
Location: The Axarquia, Spain

Post by lorca »

Hi

Your cottage looks lovely, but for me the exterior shots really let it down - grey and dull and unwelcoming. I´m sure with better pictures you´d get a lot more enquiries.

For example

It looks like there are flowers in the little front garden but you can hardly see them. Couldn´t you put some big colourful flowering plants in there, including something growing up the trellis?

Take the picture on a sunny day when the sky is blue rather than grey...and one that´s face on.

Take a close up as well - in one of the pictures it looks like the front door is red, although it looks a dingy brown in the main one

Pots of flowers in the garden shot would make a huge difference too - a the moment the main impression is a scruffy lawn and the drain pipe. The picture could be better quality too

For me the pictures are incredibly important - if they don´t grab me then I won´t even bother reading the copy
If not now, when?
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CarolineH
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Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:12 pm
Location: Nr Dinan, Brittany, France

Post by CarolineH »

I like the feel of your site.

Just a little input - I agree with the photos from the outside - I would like to know what the cottage is attached to, for me there is something to hide.

For getting here, could you put a Google map in place. The web is so transparent now, that I like to see where it is and if possible go in with Google Earth so that I can see exactly what I'm getting.
clairelou65
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:03 pm
Location: North York Moors
Contact:

Post by clairelou65 »

thank you all so much :D , you input has been invaluable, since my first post i have tweaked so much.
I have moved pictures, had them made smaller so they don't take so long to load, taken new pictures form new angles, just have the garden one to redo, getting a summerhouse within the next month so will wait til then
I have framed all the pictures at the side, and placed our mascot giraffe on each page (he is so cute and so at home in the cottage!)
I have figured out how to link to other pages in my site and used this on the contact us page,
Still working on keywords and metadata but we are getting there!
I have figured out how to put a google map on my site and a pin on google places.
I have an up to date easy to understand (hopefully) availability and price page.
Still working on my wording making it more inviting and not so factual but English and spelling has never been my strong point.
I understand flash now but this site was only ever a point of information for people.

Thats all of the top of my head, so thank you all so much!!!!
And if there is any thing else please feel free to tell me.
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wallypott
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Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

Looking at the whiterosesoaps link on Safari - the link is a bit odd looking.
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Nemo
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Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

I would lose the link to white rose soap unless you have a connection with it that you wish to promote? Otherwise make it so that it looks the same as the rest of the text and only shows as a link when you hover the mouse over it?

Do you have any photos of the sofa and the dining table? As a guest I would like to see where I can sit and eat. I just stayed in a place with no dining table which is a bit of an oversight for many!

Otherwise, looking good. Well done!
clairelou65
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:03 pm
Location: North York Moors
Contact:

Post by clairelou65 »

Nemo wrote:I would lose the link to white rose soap unless you have a connection with it that you wish to promote? Otherwise make it so that it looks the same as the rest of the text and only shows as a link when you hover the mouse over it?

Do you have any photos of the sofa and the dining table? As a guest I would like to see where I can sit and eat. I just stayed in a place with no dining table which is a bit of an oversight for many!

Otherwise, looking good. Well done!
Working on the sofa one, due to its positioning its not easy to photo, the table is in the first little photo of the downstairs, will have another look at the soap link, thanks
vignir haraldsson
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 9:43 pm

Post by vignir haraldsson »

Claire,

Comments that Jim, Margaret and others have made are spot on, and a couple more suggestions:

The most important marketing real estate you have is your first page. So use it to 'sell' your place, not for secondary factual information. Remove your address details to the contact page, it is not a 'selling point'. And use that space instead to promote your area or any special features of your property.

Also don't understand why you have two date tabs. Have these under one tab dealing with prices, booking and availability.

Your place looks lovely. Best of luck!
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Giddy Goat
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Location: UK
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Post by Giddy Goat »

gam wrote:Your photo quality is a bit inconsistent - it looks to me as though some are large images which are being scaled down when viewed, some are small and too low quality for the size being rendered. Good quality pictures are very important.
Claire, I missed this thread when you first started it and found your comments today on a more recent topic, in which you were showing concern still about the number of inquiries you're receiving.

I checked out your site before looking to see if you had requested a review and my first reaction was that the photos are not doing your lovely cottage justice. I am going to confuse matters a bit though by adding that (to my eye) it is more about the actual size of the images - both in thumbnail and enlarged forms - that is the problem; they simply aren't big enough yet.

Having then found your review thread, I read that at one point you made them smaller as they were proving slow to load on some servers. Can anyone offer Claire a better solution?

I also felt that the font size was a bit small - I haven't visual difficulties and it's just a presentation issue: you need to make a slightly bigger "statement"overall, if you get my drift, to make those punters sit up and take notice! It looks a bit on the timid side?

Otherwise it's a nice neat site. The actual photo content now looks OK but I haven't time at present to comment further and hope this helps. :)
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
clairelou65
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:03 pm
Location: North York Moors
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Post by clairelou65 »

Thanks for this, I did have someone re size my pictures, I know the garden one is rubbish, we are about to put in planning application for a summer house s owe were waiting to get some lovely pictures of it then, as I have no knowledge of resizing photo's this is a but beyond me, as are keywords, meta data and SEO!!
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