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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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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

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Last edited by Hanorah on Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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juco
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Post by juco »

Hey don`t panick.
Others will be more constructive I am sure but to open for debate....... your availability section shows Mmmm nobody is booking this villa. Its an area that I have been advised to keep out as it can be quite negative if there are no bookings.

Just my pennies worth
Juco
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Hanorah
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Location: Turkey

Post by Hanorah »

Good point I did wonder if I should show the availability calendar as the season in Turkey is from May until October due both to the weather and this is the time the charters fly to Izmir. We do get enquiries for other months but I am honest about the weather and that the resort is bascially shut during these months so don't recommend they go if they are looking for a sunny break. I suppose I could show November to April as booked and put a note on the page saying that the resort is closed during these times but if people are interested in site seeing rather than sun then they should contact me for further information. Thanks very much.
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Linda Freese
Posts: 175
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:00 am
Location: Costa del Sol

Post by Linda Freese »

Hi Hanorah

There appear to be just three pictures on the home page with huge blank spaces in between them. There is text at the side of the page which appears to be in a different font! Not sure, but perhaps this is a problem with my pc? :?

The photos on the home page are good but personally I think the first one looks like a holiday snap and doesn´t do anything to sell your property. I think the first picture you should see on the home page is one of your property!

Also not sure about the actual background - it feels too corporate to me.

Anyway, I hope I haven´t been too negative! :D

Good luck!

Linda
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oskar
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Post by oskar »

Got to agree.

I had to hunt all over the place to find a picture of the villa!

I don't know if prospective clients would be willing to spend that time.
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Hanorah
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Location: Turkey

Post by Hanorah »

More good points. Re the display I assume that you have 800 x 600 so I will relook at the site design and change where necessary to make it look ok. I would like to redesign the site at some point now I know more about dreamweaver but will need to do it slowly as it takes so much time. Re the lack of the villa pic this is deliberate as when we first went we were doing a lot of work and my husband was tasked with taking one in October just gone (I did not go) and it was not very good. I did not want to put a dodgy looking picture on as I thought it might put people off. I will have to rethink that one and get over there asap and take one that I think does the house justice. Again many thanks for your comments they are really helpful.
Always Learning
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Hanorah,

Don't be afraid, everyone here wants you to succeed!

I think your site is great, it does things we could all learn from, and it goes out of its way to be helpful and informative. There are some improvements I would suggest, but I will start with the ideas we should all think about copying from you:

- Competition page. This I have never seen, a photo competition for past renters. It's a great idea because you are keeping contact with past guests, as well as giving your site a unique twist for potential guests. Differentiation is the name of the game - if you can offer something eye-catchingly different in your marketing, you will stand out from the competition.

- Basic Turkish page. As above, I haven't seen this before and while few people are going to use it to help them learn Turkish, they may browse through it out of curiosity. It's something that makes your site 'sticky' - a sticky site is one that keeps people looking around and returning for more. It is much more likely to make a sale than a non-sticky one.

You could make the list of phrases easier on the eye by using bold or italics, and spell out what’s what for the first example, by which I mean:

English: Hello
Turkish: Merhaba
Pronunciation: MEHR-hah-bah

Good morning, good day
Günaydin
gew-nahy-DUHN

And so on…

- Turkish culture page. Like the Turkish language page but a little less readable because it is copy-heavy. I'll suggest below how I would improve this.

- Essential information page. Like all the above, the trouble you have taken to write this page shows that you really care, and it gives a visitor confidence that they won't be let down when they arrive.


And here are my suggestions for improvements…

Homepage
The text at the top is fine until it gets to ‘Our villa is located in a very special part of Turkey’ and then stops – the voice in my head is yelling out ‘Why?’ This is the first thing visitors will read so you have to give them convincing reasons to want to read more and ultimately make an enquiry. There are good reasons expressed in the ‘Why Dikili’ paragraph on another page: unspoilt; outstanding sights and scenery nearby; authentic Turkish culture that is lacking in the commercial resorts.

When you have a good one, you need a villa pic here – not showing it on the homepage looks like you have something to hide!

I’d fix this line where a word is missing: “In the summer months the Turkish professional classes arrive from the enjoy their yearly holiday�. In fact I wouldn’t mention that at all, it sounds like the place gets packed and one of your selling points is that it is not commercialised.

I love a picture of the sea but three out of three is too many. The picture of the cliffs illustrating ‘Things to do’ is puzzling and could show something stunning like ancient ruins.

I don’t know who the ladies are in the top picture but they seem to be having fun so why not!

The bottom pic – cloudy day, and the sea not looking particularly appealing – I’d change it!

Travel planning service
This is a significant benefit for anyone planning a trip to Turkey. There are cultural and linguistic challenges to overcome with a destination like Turkey, and if you are offering to help with trip planning, I think you should make it very prominent. I’d mention this on the home page, along the lines of ‘As an English-Turkish couple with years of experience in the Turkish travel industry, we can help plan your whole trip at no extra charge…>> find out more�

Then, on the Travel planning page I would lead with a paragraph about yourselves, instead of where it is now, on the Villa page.


The Villa
I think this page needs to be re-done. It’s obviously an important page in the decision-making process and one that will be clicked onto early in any visit to your site. The pics and text can be improved.

This page should show a good external pic of the villa, in very sunny weather, as well as some internals. The ones you have in the gallery are not good enough, as you said. The internal ones here are not great either, they are taken at night which to me means one of two things – either it’s so dark inside that you have to turn all the lights on during the day, or you have taken them at night so that we can’t see the awful views! The picture of the two girls is not captioned so we don’t know what we are looking at – don’t rely on people hovering their cursors over the pic to get the explanation.

Elsewhere it says there is a beach by the villa – if there is a nice view of the sea from the villa that needs to be seen.

In the writing you go straight into the unsexy stuff – safety features, instruction booklet, and “a maximum of 6 adults, who should all be named on the booking form�.

What you should be doing here is lining up the best reasons for renting your villa and nobody else’s, and going through them one by one, starting with the most important. You have baby-sitting service right at the bottom. I think this should be near the top, as it’s a good selling point for parents who don’t want to be stuck at home every night.

As mentioned elsewhere in these reviews, make sure you tell the renter the benefit, not just the feature. For example, here you are sort of stating a benefit:

“If you have young children and would like some time on your own either during the day or in the evening we can also supply a baby sitting service.�

I would try to put your reader more explicitly in the picture:

“Dikili has some great restaurants, and if you want a night off from the kids we can baby-sit for you, etc.�

The floorplan – I am a fan of floorplans, but this one is not very clear. Is it all on one floor? If not, isn’t there a bathroom upstairs? I would mark in the doors, windows and large pieces of furniture.

Photo gallery
Cloudy pictures are not allowed!
Instead of captioning these pictures with the name of the pic, e.g. “acropolis_bergama.jpg�, I would give a little information to tempt people to click: “Still standing: the ancient theatre carved into the hill at Bergama’s famous Acropolis.�

Dikili page
Two cloudy pics – boo!
The ideas expressed in the ‘Why Dikili’ paragraph at the bottom of the page should be much more prominent, certainly at the top of this page, and I’d also put it at the top of the home page. You need to sell the location on this site, as it is not on the obvious tourist route.

I think this page has a false start with the paragraphs on Tom Brosnahan, and the ‘Why Dikili?’ needs to be above that, as this is the information people want to see immediately. The question you need to address straight away is ‘Why should I go to Dikili (and not Bodrum, etc.)?’

Turkish culture page
Great idea, but a lot of copy makes reading it on screen a daunting prospect. Also there are some interesting nuggets about Turkey hidden away on a linked page, but that linked page also takes some reading and is right at the bottom – few will get to it.

Solution: take some of the best nuggets from that page and scatter them on your page to break up the solid text. You could put each in a box, or in a different typeface and colour. Anything that really stands out from the body copy. Preface each with ‘Did you know?...’ or similar. Which are the best nuggets? In my view the top 11 are good.


Prices page

At the top, above the prices, I would state what is included in the price, to make it even more appealing.

Contact us
You say ‘fill in the form’ but there isn’t one. I think forms are over-rated for this sort of page. Why not just let them write what they want in an email?
The email link text is ‘Villa Hanorah information Desk’ – that makes it sound like we’re not dealing direct with the owners any more.

A lot of suggestions there, but it is a big site. I think your attitude is spot on - you demonstrate your commitment to your guests right from the start of your relationship with them :D
Paolo
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Hanorah
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Location: Turkey

Post by Hanorah »

Thanks so much for that I really appreciate the time you must have taken and for such detailed feedback. I am going to start working on a new site, it was all a bit of a rush last time and I was so busy working on the content I did not spend enough time on design.

From all the helpful comments I have here I am sure Villa Hanorah Phase II will go from strength to strength.

Happy Christmas everyone and thanks again
Always Learning
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Hanorah
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Location: Turkey

New Home Page Based On Feed Back

Post by Hanorah »

Hi

Not one to wait around and thankfull for all the constructive feedback I have been busy looking at a total redesign for my site.

It is still a work in progress but I have found a design I am happy with apart from I had problems with flash buttons so have removed them.

Before I redesign any more pages though I wondered if I am on the right track. The only page so far is my home page but I will base all the templates around this so want to get it right.

Until I have a decent picture of the villa I will not use it on the homepage as advised but am selling a trip there more as a unique experience (we are the only foreign tourists with accomodations in Dikili).

Questions are does it look ok in 800 x 600 as well do the pics take to long to download does the copy sound convincing and does it look semi professional.

The links do not work yet by the way but am I on the right track or can I improve it further. I think I have implemented all the advise but am still unsure. Be sure to let me know

http://www.villahanorah.co.uk/villahano ... e/test.htm

The previous was

http://www.villahanorah.co.uk

PS I am no longer shaking in my boots just grateful that I came across this wonderful website. Thanks in advance.
Always Learning
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HolidayWebs
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Location: Puerto Pollensa, Mallorca
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Post by HolidayWebs »

Hi there!

Well done. I think the overall look & feel of your new design is so much better.

As you haven't yet added any pages I can only add my first impressions & comment on whether this page would invite me to click on any of the links - which is good as the Home page is THE most important page.

No 1 ) you must use pictures of the of the property itself. I've looked at your photo album from the live site & you have several photos of the outside & some of the terrace. Use those now in the appropriate places on your new home page so that we can all see how this would look. I would ditch the Photo album & use the photos in your pages to illustrate the text. Just use 3 or 4 per page. The photos you have used are quite large (in file size). You can get away with a maximum of 20k if you use photoshop (or similar) to tidy them up (use Unsharp Mask).

I like the text on the new page, it just needs the photos but do remove the apologetic sentence at the bottom of the page "You may have also noticed that our website contains a lot of information there is a good reason for this there is a lot to write about so please browse the site and then contact us to find out how to book your next holiday at Villa Hanorah. " If you want people to browse your site, then use an imperative e.g. "Want to know more? then browse through our site!" Be confident!

No 2. I find the way you have listed the different pages very confusing & get the impression that you have a list of pages & were just fitting them in to 3 different places top nav-bar, left nav-bar & even a pull down above the amazon books. List all your pages out & then put them in categories - my guess is that you have pages to do with 'Our Villa' & pages on 'Visiting Turkey'.

Why not just list your pages down the left with a separate category heading to divide them up? Drop the pull-down - people won't notice it. If you want to to use the top nav-bar, it is normally used for key pages such as About Us, Contact Us etc. Or if you only had a few pages on your villa (or can merge some of them e.g. Prices & Payment Plan), I would suggest listing pages to with the villa at the top & pages to do with the area on the left. You could have extras such as the competition, & maybe special offers on the right.

Basically, have a look at your page from the point of view of someone seeing it for the first time & wondering how to find out about the villa.

Finally, I liked the testimonials but on my screen they are tiny & very difficult to read.

Hope that helps as I think it's going to be a great site!
Visit http://www.puertopollensa.com ... you'll love it!
The most beautiful resort in Mallorca.
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Hi Hanorah,

I am impressed with how you have implemented all these new ideas and I agree with everything Holidaywebs said.

It is looking much better, but there could still be some work to do on organising the navigation links.

You need to thin out the top navigation links so they flow into each other less and stand out more. I would move what is explicitly to do with the villa to the left hand menu - so move Chauffeur and Baby Sitting there.

On the left hand menu I would move 'Diving holidays' and 'Special offers' down to the bottom of the list, to give it a more logical order. You could put the 'Chauffeur' and 'Baby sitting' links just above 'Getting there' on that menu.

I woud drop the drop-down menu on the right - you don't want too many ways to navigate as it actually makes things more confusing rather than clearer.

The headline:
"Villa Hanorah Your Dream Turkish Holiday"
would be clearer if broken up:
"Villa Hanorah - Your Dream Turkish Holiday"


On the pictures:
The top left picture is important because the eye will move across that montage from left to right. It is a picture of olives, which is fair enough as that is a strong image of the region. But is it going to make people want to come over? If not, it shouldn't be there. I would look for a better picture of olive trees, or something else. The montage is slightly confusing because two images are repeated - perhaps this is a work in progress?

Where you have the temple ruins you must have a picture of your house when you can get a good one. Otherwise this site looks like a tourism site about Dikili.

I agree with Holidaywebs that where you should be ramming a point home you tend to back off and be too shy in tone:
Looking for something more, then why not consider Villa Hanorah.
Still not convinced read just a snippet of our 100 % positive feedback.
These are calls to action and need to be more positive. More like:

"Then it's time you came to Villa Hanorah in unspoilt Dikili - it's Turkey's best-kept secret."

"Don't just take our word for it - see what previous guests have said:"

I do find the testimonials hard to read and as they do not contribute any keywords in terms of search engine optimisation, I would turn them into one graphic image (GIF) to make them more legible.

The last para I would rephrase so it does a job of reassuring:

"You'll notice our website contains a lot of information - that's because there is a lot to say! Please have a good browse and if you have any questions about the villa, the region or getting to Turkey - we're here to help. We have years of experience in the Turkish travel industry and we can plan any part of your trip for you. Contact us at [email address]"

Well done! :D
Paolo
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vrooje
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Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Hanorah,

I'm not sure at what stage I'm coming into this review, and what you've changed and what stays the same... but I'll have a go anyway!

I love your color scheme, first off. It makes me think of a tranquil body of water, which is probably just what you want.

The photo competition is brilliant! What a marvelous idea! I might use the idea of your "Basic Turkish" link someday for my site -- we're not really in direct competition (we're in France) so it should be okay, but let me know if you would prefer that I not do that.

From a very quick scan of your homepage, it wasn't actually obvious to me what your villa has to offer. I'd like to know right from the start how many people the villa can sleep, and what the prices range from/to.

Your photo album is really quite extensive, so this may be daunting, but consider adding more descriptive captions than the image names.

Your availability calendar is looking full, but not too full -- that's good.

Others have already mentioned the other things I notice e.g. cloudy pictures...

...one last thing: there are a lot of links on your site. A complex site can be a good thing, but it shouldn't be too big. Also, I would perhaps move the Amazon links to be embedded within your Turkish Culture or Basic Turkish page. It's my personal opinion that you should never make it too easy for someone to leave your website. You probably make a small sum of money if they buy a book through your site, but what if they then get distracted and don't stay to inquire about a villa booking?

Overall, this is full of information and a nice site!
Brooke
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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

Ok Here we go

I have redesigned site after all the excellent advice I received. It has been a lot of hard work as I had so many pages.

Still Outstanding Though

Picture of Villa on Home Page until I can get a decent shot.

Same goes for the internal shots of the Villa but I did create a new page giving a virtual tour. The Villa is much nicer than it looks so I added some guest quotes here as well.

Changed the navigation hope it makes more sense now and agreed with the comments.

Changing front page guest quotes into a graphic image.

Changing the Olives for a photo of our Villa when I finally get out there again (am going to Portugal for my brothers wedding in April which is costing a fortune for my family of 4).

Apart from that I think I have done just about everything suggested but have only uploaded to-night so will all need a good check in the morning for spelling errors etc.

Vrooje please feel free to copy the basic Turkish link I'll take that as a compliment.

Thanks again everyone.
Always Learning
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Hanorah
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Location: Turkey

Post by Hanorah »

sorry forgot to add that I have one technical problem that I think is related to the template. It is quite serious as it does not allow someone in internet explorer at least to resize the text so makes it non assessable. Not sure what I did to make this happen but if any one has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks Again
Always Learning
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