New wesbite review: Balfour House Apartment, Edinburgh

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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Cymraes
Posts: 519
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:31 pm
Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

I'm sorry but that pixelated first photo has me confused. Is it meant to be a video? It goes black and then reloads still pixelated.

Scrolling down I get some heavily pixelated orbs flying around?

Obviously my business spec lap top is not handling this as the designer intends. As a potential guest I'd have left the site by now.
VillaAntonioLanzarote
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 am
Location: Nazaret, Lanzarote
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Idea

Post by VillaAntonioLanzarote »

Hi
We use Wix on our site, which I think you use too?

We loaded our video(s) on You Tube then embed onto to the website using a Wix App, it seems to help the page speed plus it is good for the SEO, make sure you use the keywords you use for your site when you upload it onto You Tube

Just an idea

Larry
Villa Antonio Lanzarote
a place to relax & unwind
www.villaantonio.co.uk
Jenny7
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
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Post by Jenny7 »

Cymraes wrote:I'm sorry but that pixelated first photo has me confused. Is it meant to be a video? It goes black and then reloads still pixelated.

Scrolling down I get some heavily pixelated orbs flying around?

Obviously my business spec lap top is not handling this as the designer intends. As a potential guest I'd have left the site by now.
Hi Cymraes

It is a looping video and we are trying to optimise it at the moment, thanks for your comment. Do watch out for our revise homepage video :)

The "flying orbs" you see is a sun lens flare visualised via a camera lens.
Jenny7
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
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Re: Idea

Post by Jenny7 »

VillaAntonioLanzarote wrote:Hi
We use Wix on our site, which I think you use too?

We loaded our video(s) on You Tube then embed onto to the website using a Wix App, it seems to help the page speed plus it is good for the SEO, make sure you use the keywords you use for your site when you upload it onto You Tube

Just an idea

Larry
Hi Larry

Yep we are using Wix, easy to use (and no I'm not advertising for wix nor am I a wix agent).

Rather than spending over £1.5K to get a website designer, we went with Wix in the end :) and diy the whole website ourselves.

I think the only thing about embedding a youtube link tends to be the black border.

Am working at the moment on my after effects to see if I can get a looping transition done with a lower size video. I'll let you know once I finished later today :)

Thanks again Larry.

Jen
VillaAntonioLanzarote
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 am
Location: Nazaret, Lanzarote
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Info

Post by VillaAntonioLanzarote »

Jen

Just checked on our Wix site, in the settings of the App you can embed it without a "frame"
Have done a screenshot if you want me to send it , can you send a PM with your e mail address as I cannot attach it to this message

Good luck

Larry
Villa Antonio Lanzarote
a place to relax & unwind
www.villaantonio.co.uk
Jenny7
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
Contact:

Re: Info

Post by Jenny7 »

VillaAntonioLanzarote wrote:Jen

Just checked on our Wix site, in the settings of the App you can embed it without a "frame"
Have done a screenshot if you want me to send it , can you send a PM with your e mail address as I cannot attach it to this message

Good luck

Larry
Hi Larry,

I've just PM you :)

Think I've found a way to do an endless loop of the video without the fading out abrupt end. Should be done soon and reload our homepage again, will let you know and perhaps if you have time, give me some feedback.
Jenny7
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
Contact:

Re: Info

Post by Jenny7 »

Jenny7 wrote:
VillaAntonioLanzarote wrote:Jen

Just checked on our Wix site, in the settings of the App you can embed it without a "frame"
Have done a screenshot if you want me to send it , can you send a PM with your e mail address as I cannot attach it to this message

Good luck

Larry
Hi Larry,

I've just done a "seamless" transition of the endless looping video on the homepage, no more abrupt fading off at the last few seconds.

Had the video size compressed down to 19MB, more than 50% smaller than previous. Though it's taking a bit time to load.

Will play with the youtube app later tonight.

BTW - which availability calendar are you using? It looks like a PIMS calendar?? I'm using the availabilitycalendar.com and trialling it at the moment, except the iCal importing takes over 3-4hours before it updates itself, which is quite slow. Not sure if there are other iCal calendar that loads availabilty faster?

Jen
Last edited by Jenny7 on Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cymraes
Posts: 519
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:31 pm
Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

It's still visibly looping when used as a backdrop to your facilities page and still pixelated everywhere
Jenny7
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
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Post by Jenny7 »

Jenny7 wrote:
zebedee wrote:It does look lovely, but for me, the pages and photos in particular are very slow to load.

When I went looking for your prices, the only way I could find them was to enter an enquiry. Perhaps have prices listed or at least state price bands depending upon the time of year?
Now it may be me, but when people are looking at booking a break, I think they need to quickly identify if you are in their price range or not and also want to quickly see photos (that will hook them into spending longer looking at the website more seriously).

It does look a nice place to stay though.
Hi zebedee, thanks for your comment! Will look at your suggestions on pricing and see how best to show them on the website :)

The website only went live this morning, maybe the provider servers is still churning thru but I will definitely be following up on it with them.

Jen

Hi all again,

I've inserted a price guide on the availabilty/booking page, may I take some of your free time and ask of your feedback?

Thanks

Jen
Jenny7
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Post by Jenny7 »

Cymraes wrote:It's still visibly looping when used as a backdrop to your facilities page and still pixelated everywhere
Thanks for your comment. The original plan was to get rid of the last few seconds of abrupt black blanking off ending for transition.

I'm still using pixelating for the moment until later tonight when I have more time to get round enhancing the never ending looping video.

Jen
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
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Post by newtimber »

Thanks for removing the music.
Looking at the terms and conditions, I'm a bit concerned about keeping the equipment "in a like state of repair". If the cooker develops a fault, is the guest supposed to repair it? I also think your cancellation policies aren't reasonable - most owners will refund if they manage to get a replacement booking.

Similarly, this clause "Providing these actions are taken the client will not be responsible for any forced entry" seems unreasonable as if the entry is forced, it wouldn't matter if the doors/windows were locked or not. I think it should read 'Providing these actions are taken the client will not be responsible for any theft or damage..." I also can't find out the layout of the property and which bedrooms are on which floor or indeed how many floors there are. You have a photo of the stairs but I'm not sure whether those are the stairs to the building or those are the stairs within the apartment and there is one bedroom on each floor. I suppose this raises the question about whether it is necessary to lock windows on upper storeys overlooking private gardens - are there undesirables with ladders wandering through the gardens during the day forcing their way into apartments? It's not sounding like a nice area to stay.
Jenny7
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
Contact:

Post by Jenny7 »

newtimber wrote:Thanks for removing the music.
Looking at the terms and conditions, I'm a bit concerned about keeping the equipment "in a like state of repair". If the cooker develops a fault, is the guest supposed to repair it? I also think your cancellation policies aren't reasonable - most owners will refund if they manage to get a replacement booking.

Similarly, this clause "Providing these actions are taken the client will not be responsible for any forced entry" seems unreasonable as if the entry is forced, it wouldn't matter if the doors/windows were locked or not. I think it should read 'Providing these actions are taken the client will not be responsible for any theft or damage..." I also can't find out the layout of the property and which bedrooms are on which floor or indeed how many floors there are. You have a photo of the stairs but I'm not sure whether those are the stairs to the building or those are the stairs within the apartment and there is one bedroom on each floor. I suppose this raises the question about whether it is necessary to lock windows on upper storeys overlooking private gardens - are there undesirables with ladders wandering through the gardens during the day forcing their way into apartments? It's not sounding like a nice area to stay.
Thanks for letting me know it's sounding not a nice area/place to stay :)

Jen
VillaAntonioLanzarote
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 am
Location: Nazaret, Lanzarote
Contact:

Calendar

Post by VillaAntonioLanzarote »

Hi Jen
I use
http://www.pimscalendar.com/ got the info from a LMHF member - free and easy to use

It syncs with our website near enough immediately and we have it linked with three other 3rd party sites ( TripAdvisor etc ) and it updates those seamlessly

Hope that helps

Larry
Villa Antonio Lanzarote
a place to relax & unwind
www.villaantonio.co.uk
Jenny7
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:26 pm
Contact:

Re: Calendar

Post by Jenny7 »

VillaAntonioLanzarote wrote:Hi Jen
I use
http://www.pimscalendar.com/ got the info from a LMHF member - free and easy to use

It syncs with our website near enough immediately and we have it linked with three other 3rd party sites ( TripAdvisor etc ) and it updates those seamlessly

Hope that helps

Larry
Hi Larry

I thought that was PIMS too when I saw the layout :)

ATM, am looking how best to optimise the front page further, in terms of loading speed.

Always happy to fine tune the site with new suggestions that are useful!

Thanks again Larry

Jen
VillaAntonioLanzarote
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 am
Location: Nazaret, Lanzarote
Contact:

Idea

Post by VillaAntonioLanzarote »

Jenny
Just run another speed test and it is taking 30 seconds for first view
https://www.webpagetest.org/result/170708_AA_70H/

I would try this
Go to "Site Manager" on your Wix website ( Not the Editor) and "duplicate site"

On the duplicate site , delete the video , then run another speed test - (the duplicate site has a unique URL ) if that is the issue, I would move the You Tube video to another page maybe "About our story " tab

If there is still slow page speed, again , on the duplicate web site I would delete some of the parallax scrolling images , maybe one at a time to see if that helps
Looking at the Web Page speed test , detail tab, the images which might be causing the problem are
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5f29 ... 17_s_2.jpg
and
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5f29 ... 65~mv2.png
You can click on the link above to see the image

Tell us how you get on !

Larry
Villa Antonio Lanzarote
a place to relax & unwind
www.villaantonio.co.uk
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