A Florida website to 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.
Rick in West Palm Beach
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:14 pm
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Contact:

A Florida website to review....

Post by Rick in West Palm Beach »

Hello Everyone,

I would appreciate a review, comments and suggestions on my website. It may (or not!) seem ambitious at first, but I am sure there are many things to improve, as I've have only been doing this for 15 months now. Anyone up to it?

www.city-oasis.com
A real Florida native, who often rents to those classy Brits.
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Rick,

Welcome to the forums! I hope you'll also take the time to review some of our other users' webpages.

I like your front page very much -- it's so colorful and the photos are excellent. I did get a message from Firefox that additional plugins were required, though, and I'm not sure what type of plugin it was. In any case, I couldn't see the place the plugin was needed until I scrolled way down the page. I'm not sure that area is necessary, nor is the weather report, since it probably won't be seen by most viewers.

The "West Palm Beach In the News" page shows several broken images in my browser.

Overall, I think the rotating photos rotate a bit too quickly for my tastes. On most of the pages I only get to glance at the photos! I'd really like to see some captions, too.

Your page titles are good, and a spot-check of your images shows that they're well-optimized. That's great! I also suggest using ALT tags on your images -- this is a good thing for search engine optimization.

I think the site is very well designed in general -- these are small details. Well done!

Cheers!
Brooke
charles
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:00 am
Location: London.UK
Contact:

Post by charles »

Hi,

Dump the music - very annoying when you're listening to Bob Marley! (and it doesn't remind

And I'd say that there a few too many slideshows on the houses page - it's difficult to keep track of what's going on. I think a manual slideshow for each property might be better.

Not sure what the implications of having zillions of keywords in the meta tags - I heard some SE's penalise sites doing that.

Otherwise an excellent site - very professional looking - the pictures are excellent.

Cheers
Charles
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roxytoo
Posts: 1701
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:23 am
Location: Spain Costa Blanca

Post by roxytoo »

I'd go along with the above, took a while to download, text slightly too small ?? ( I only have one eye!!) Also don't understand the keywords? And the white space underneath? (You may gather I am not techie minded!!)

Other than that pictures and website are excellent!!
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

*gasp* There's music? Oh, yes, please take that off right away!

:)
Brooke
Fraise
Posts: 2079
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:25 am
Location: Charente Maritime and Middle England

Post by Fraise »

I enjoyed looking at your site- I don't like the music but then there was an "off" button on the screen so it's personal choice.It was annoying that when I clicked on "availability" there was nothing there and when I clicked on "attractions"only the top half of the page had photos, the bottom was captions with nothing to substantiate them! Other than that, an excellent site!What lovely properties, :lol:

www.thepetitmanoir.com
charles
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:00 am
Location: London.UK
Contact:

Post by charles »

*gasp* There's music? Oh, yes, please take that off right away!
Didn't see a toilet though :shock:
Fraise
Posts: 2079
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:25 am
Location: Charente Maritime and Middle England

Post by Fraise »

Didn't see a toilet though :shock:[/quote]

Chuckle, I'm still not sure about that so I've left mine -with the seat firmly down I hasten to add!I have tweaked the photo a bit though so that only a glimpse is viewable! :oops:

www.thepetitmanoir.com
Rick in West Palm Beach
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:14 pm
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Contact:

Post by Rick in West Palm Beach »

Thanks so much for all the replies! They have been better than anticipated - affirming some suspicions, reminding me of other bits to finish. This forum is so much wittier than the Yahoo/American rental forum.

"Cheers"
A real Florida native, who often rents to those classy Brits.
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Ju
Posts: 1949
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:56 pm
Location: Vendee, France
Contact:

Post by Ju »

What lovely properties, and very well photographed.

I think it is a good site, and it would certainly entice me to come and stay. One or two comments:

a) Font size is definately too small - and I have the full complement of eyes.

b) One of the properties (Oasis Caribe) has a line under the title saying 3 beds, 2 baths etc. I would add this to the other properties to make it easier for people to find the property that suits them.

c) The rotating pictures are distracting, perhaps just pick the best photo of each property for the houses page.

I didn't get any music, have you taken this off?

Ju
Rick in West Palm Beach
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:14 pm
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Contact:

Post by Rick in West Palm Beach »

Although I have thanked my critics, I do welcome more, if there additional unique observations not heard yet. :)
A real Florida native, who often rents to those classy Brits.
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tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

I thought it very busy quite frankly...the changing pictures for me I didn't appreciate - I wanted to take in what I was seeing...but it was all too much to fully appreciate so got bored.

Also speed reading the text I kept reading about taking a snooze...I think for each house that has a hammock...it's just something I noticed.

You have one picture in my opinion that makes me feel the most attracted - on Oasis the shot of the veranda - I could imagine myself there...the shots of the pool etc look really lovely but it struck me that it is all a bit sterile...are people really allowed in those pristine surroundings?

Everything looks really lovely and clean...but slightly too perfect - would I be able to relax was going through my mind....what about children, can they come?

Hope that helps.

Bets wishes
Rick in West Palm Beach
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:14 pm
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Contact:

Post by Rick in West Palm Beach »

Thanks Tansy,

Interesting observations. I do aspire to perfection - the same perfection one expects in fine hotels and bed & breakfasts. My guests like this - and well-behaved children are always welcome. I am in a continual process of perfection because I want to be able to charge higher prices to people who appreciate it and are happy to pay for it. There are plenty of rentals where people may as well be slobs, for people who only care about the cheapest deal that puts a roof over their head. Ironically these same type of guests can seldom be satisfied regardless. My guests all use terms like warm and comfortable to describe my properties. If people are worried that their kids are destructive, then by all means they can stay somewhere with plastic chairs in the living room. I put out quality and care, and that is what I get back.
A real Florida native, who often rents to those classy Brits.
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rich_sipe
Posts: 69
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:35 pm
Location: Redmond, OR
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Post by rich_sipe »

I like the site but would work on changing the home page font color/style. I don't know but it takes away from the otherwise nice look of the site instead of adding to it. The orange and red and the boldness of the font are a little bulky for the nice clean lines of the site.
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tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

sorry - didn't mean to ruffle feathers - perhaps we are what is termed shabby chic here - we have as a norm senior management and a sprinkling of well known personalities as our guests...would sincerely love to have perfection :wink:
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