Can you take another gander at this please?

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enid
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Location: Labretonie France
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Can you take another gander at this please?

Post by enid »

url=http://peyrenegre.net

I have finally come out of a really down phase re Lay My Hat - everyone seems to know what they are doing so much better than me!!

I took on board the thoughts of my previous reviewers and also spent a lot of time looking at all the other web page reviews and then my head was bursting!

After 2 weeks relaxing with friends I've finally had another go.

I've tried to change all the photos to JPEG - thanks to Alan and Charles for their advice. I've tried to talk more directly to the client and I have played about with the font a bit. I've also tried to make it less wordy.

I've left some pages in the old style so that you can look at them both - The Home page is in the new style.

I am feeling generally fed up :( - lots of enquiries but all for the same weeks so I really would like some more bookings. And it keeps on raining!!! So be gentle with me - but honest as I really do need your help.
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vrooje
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Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Enid,

Don't worry about feeling a little lost and confused -- I'm sure we all do at times. The good news is that this forum is a friendly place, so you can always just ask!

I looked at your other posting here and was surprised to discover that I never reviewed your site; I'm not sure how that happened. But it does mean that I can give you a review with fresh eyes. :) I'll post it as I view it -- in no particular order.
  • I want to say right off that I very much enjoy the look and feel of your site. The colors remind me of a sunny day in the countryside -- I'm sure that was your intent and it works!

    I also think your index page title is very well done -- has lots of keywords in it, but not in an obvious way. I would also suggest inserting slight variations of the page titles between pages: something that retains the keywords but also makes each page title more descriptive of the page.

    Peyrenègre is quite a word! It might be a cute little gimmick to describe its pronunciation and how the name came about. Very memorable.

    "Independant" is spelled wrong on the front page, in the walking tour bits. On the whole it's always a good idea to run a spell check on your entire page (though this is the only error I've seen thus far on your site).

    I think your copy does make people feel welcome, and your pictures are very nice -- great job! I would also love to see larger versions of the pictures, perhaps by linking to larger versions of each. When you have nice pictures, flaunt them! You show several on your front page and that's great.

    I like the bullet list format -- it's much easier to skim than paragraphs of flowery prose. I do think the "hairdryer" bullet seems a little out of place, though. The amenities you list are fairly general, but that one seems like it ought to go in a bathroom description or something. If you've had guests who were picky about it and you want to include it on the list for that reason, I suggest putting it together with other appliances like irons, etc. -- that way you can let people know you show attention to those details without altering the tone of the bullet list.

    Some of your fonts look different on different pages -- is that intentional (part of the old look/new look thing, perhaps)? I'm thinking specifically of the Peyrenègre and Gites pages. The former uses large black text and the latter uses a smaller dark green text. It can be good to give each page a bit of its own distinctiveness, but if you go to far with it, it can seem haphazard.

    Another spelling error -- "toccasional ractor" = "occasional tractor"? (On your Peyrenègre page.) So a spell check is definitely in order and will easily fix these!

    I love your seasons page -- I think that's a great idea. I have two suggestions for it: a) if you get snow in the Lot-et-Garonne, a nice wintry wonderland picture is in order; and b) the "this place is gorgeous even out of season" idea is important enough that I would give it its own menu link!

    I love that you have the standard menu format but have also included links that take the viewer through the webpage as though it were a slideshow or a tour. I think you've got the best of both worlds there. I did notice that the link at the bottom of the Lot-et-Garonne page skips right over the booking page and goes straight to the contact page. Not sure if that was intentional.

    I have one last suggestion -- that you include your contact information at the bottom of every page. That way, when your prospective client is perusing your list of gites and thinks, "I must e-mail them right now to find out if this gite is available," they will be able to.
Overall I think it's very nice! I know that the above probably seems like a lot of details -- but you should take that as a good sign. If I'm pointing out things like whether the hairdryer bullet should be changed, it means you've already worked out the theme and functionality of the site and it's working well!

Cheers!
Brooke
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Enid,
I haven't been brave enough to put my own website up for scrutiny, so well done to you for that! Being a complete novice at reviewing other people's sites, I just had the following comments, mainly about some of the content as I found your site has a very attractive, readable layout. Firstly on the homepage, you say that the gites are in Lot et Garonne - I just wondered if your average visitor knows geographically where that is in France, would it be worth adding SW France, or add a little map. I find that people often aren't that good on French geography! Also, you mention the 3.5h grounds, and have some lovely photos of the pool, but there are no photos I could see of the garden, which can be quite important to some holidaymakers. You have some good links, I wondered if you had any low cost airlines near to your place, I find that more and more people are flying and renting a car, even though our gites are relatively close to several channel ports.
Lastly, though this may belong to a different place on the forum, do people see it as an advantage or disadvantage to having the owners living on site :?:
Finally, I do hope you have increased bookings as a result of all the work you have done on the site!
Sue
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enid
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Post by enid »

Thanks so much Vrooje and Susan - your feed back really cheered me up. I did deliberately leave the two styles with the coloured font and the black font to see which people thought was best. I'll have another look at the site and pick up on your suggestions - having spent all day on it I'll need a day off tomorrow!
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tansy
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Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

Enid - I've just had a look - well done - if my web site comes up as well as yours I will be very pleased - easy to read - friendly and reassuring...I can't give techie advice - just what I thought of the content...it is excellent the way you have introduced Sally & the 2 cats...I personally like the idea of a cat perhaps sneaking in!

Large glass of wine is in order...still under the cosh now?

:wink:
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

Hi

I love the site!!! Its not very often that I feel inspired but your site is very enjoyable to look around.

I was so interested that I wanted to know where exactly you are and how would I get to your gite..buts its not that easy to find this information on your site?

I suppose people intersted in renting would know the area but I think if you could add a map of France and transport info it might help?!?

I hope you dont mind if I borrow a few of your idea...you have a super site!!

SARAH
WWW.ISLACANELAHOLIDAYS.COM
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enid
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Post by enid »

Thank you everyone for your feedback - very helpful. I've started to make the amends. Have also had feed back from Fand F who prefer the larger black font - perhaps I was trying to be too clever with the green. Your responses have given me such a boost and I will certainly pick up on your advice.

Re Susan's point on whether owner on site is a selling point - well we thought we wanted to make it one - we are here so why not make a feature of that - we can make sure the pool is always clean and that gas cylinders and light bulbs etc are replaced toute de suite so that is an advantage we think! Perhaps we should have a poll!

So all in all I am much cheered up - thank you - and the sun shone today - and the builders turned up so our old hen house is much nearer to becoming a sauna - and they are coming back tomorrow - well so they said!!!!
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Enid,

I missed the boat on this but better late than never.

I think you site is super - uncluttered, bright, welcoming, clear type, easy to read and navigate, good pictures.

A couple of suggestions, as I know you like to consider this an ongoing project :) :

- picture captions are best in a different type size or font to the body text. Or in italics, which is what I always do. That tells the eye that it is not part of the body text and should be read separately.

- I only found the seasons page because Brooke mentioned it. I would have this linked from your navigation menu.

- I'd also have a link in the menu to your guided walks page.

- the black text on white is definitely better than the green.

Overall, a gold star, well done!
Paolo
Lay My Hat
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enid
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Post by enid »

Thank you for that feed back.

I agree about the black type and I'll get on and change the whole site now. I still need to do the amends following the feedback on this thread but whoopee I am going on holiday next week - well the hubby is speaking at a conference in Copenhagen and I got him to extend the visit and take me along!

I am very pleased to get the gold star :lol: - I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing but you guys have certainly bucked me up. The feedback I got and the info on other people's posts has been really useful.

Now I just need the site to bring in the bookings!
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