Hi, new here and would like some opinions on my website plea

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.
JP
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Hi, new here and would like some opinions on my website plea

Post by JP »

Hello everyone,
Just found your forum and thought I would ask you to have a look at our website.
This is our first year of renting and so far all going well.

The site is www.2bis.co.uk

Thanks in advance.

James
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

HI James
Haven't had time to look properly, but at first glance it is all squashed into the left hand side of my screen with the other half of the page the beige background, it seems a bit odd?
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

Hi James, and welcome to LMH :)

I agree - it displays squashed up into the top left hand corner with the rest being blank beige space. There needs to be a captivating home page to make people think 'ooooh, that looks lovely!!' but all I see is a Post It note blocking off the images. People do buy with their eyes when it comes to holiday property so you need to focus on the visual impact more than the narrative. Did you design this yourself or did you get professional input?
rigmover
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Post by rigmover »

Hi James, I get the same, all over to the left, other than that it's hard to tell.
JP
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Post by JP »

Thank you for the prompt replies, can anyone do me a screen shot and post it as I don't get this on my Macbook please?
This is my first year of renting but 90% of my bookings have come from the 5 (commission) companies I use and the others are friends of friends etc so my site doesn't really feature in the plan so far but maybe it will as things go on.
James
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Picture taken on my laptop:

Image
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
JP
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Post by JP »

Yes I see what you mean (scratches head)
I will have to look at this again.
Any thoughts on the content in the mean time would be appreciated.
James
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Ignoring the squashed issue, I would say too much text without any pictures. The pictures in the background are most distracting, although perhaps this effect is less with the correct layout.

It says at the bottom Maligator Web Design. You paid someone for this or is that a made up company?
JP
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Post by JP »

Maligator is the name of a computer company I used to run but as you can tell not web design.
It was designed using a template which gave very little scope for personalisation, maybe its time to redo things?

James
tavi
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Post by tavi »

I'm another one getting it all squashed to the left - exactly as E-richard's screen shot. Am on a desktop.

Great to hear this year's going well - but obviously you will need to work on the website if you want it to do your selling for you.

The house looks v interesting but the photos probably don't do it justice. They're very dark (am sure you know that) and the bedrooms look like someone's just got out of bed...which would totally put me off booking.

As the others have said, you'll do better with great pictures first and foremost. Followed by a snappy headline, bullet list, etc, which would highlight your usp. Have a look at Paolo's original blog posts and website.

In common with most travelers these days, when I look for somewhere to rent I need to know within the first 30 seconds:

Does it look like my kinda style/quality?
How many does it sleep, and in how many bedrooms?


Only then will I read on for the details.

Hope that's useful.
Guest

Post by Guest »

:?:
Last edited by Guest on Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Francois
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Post by Francois »

Hi JP,

Previous members told you the more important comments. I share them and would only suggest, in addition, to suppress the page "Flights & Car hire". This doesn't point out important information about your accommodation. Instead of this, you could follow 7 Aspire's suggestion to embed a Google Map widget indicating the location of your house.

Best regards,

Francois
JP
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Post by JP »

Thanks for all the pointers and a rebuild is now in progress.

James
tavi
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Post by tavi »

oh and Welcome to LMH by the way :)
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greenfrog
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Post by greenfrog »

I have it squashed to the left as well.

My site uses a template too. If you right-click on the page on your site builder, go to properties, then change the width of the page. That works on mine so might work for you.

Best of luck!

PS - you might want to explain why it's become known as the Nut House.... smacks of mental institution and that's never a good USP for a holiday rental!! :shock: :lol:
Lounging on the lily pad...
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