It's that time of year again when I'm thinking about having a few changes made to our website. It was put together for us 4 years ago when we started and, apart from changing the odd bit of text and adding a few pictures, it has remained unchanged since.
Can you lot cast a fresh eye over it for me and give me the benefit of your opinions. Is there anything you think I should change?
MM
Please cast a fresh eye over our website
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The Moles Mother
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- Location: Burgundy, France
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Please cast a fresh eye over our website
A vegetarian oasis in the heart of Boeuf Bourguignonne country
http://www.lesbattees.com/
http://www.lesbattees.com/
had a quick look, like it a lot but not keen on the background colour and think the photo on the left could be changed to something more colourful
my own personal opinion is would be to leave the text alone as you have a PR of 4 which is good so obviously the content of the site is working for you, I would just change the colours and get maybe a few better photos especially the bedrooms and lounge on the main accomodation page and the shot of the property on the home page
Hope that helps!
my own personal opinion is would be to leave the text alone as you have a PR of 4 which is good so obviously the content of the site is working for you, I would just change the colours and get maybe a few better photos especially the bedrooms and lounge on the main accomodation page and the shot of the property on the home page
Hope that helps!
Hi MM,
Haven't seen your site before, didn't realise there were meat-free places available
Anyway, I think the blurred edges of the pics on the home page are a bit old-fashioned now and could do with being a bit sharper too. Going by the comments on your guest page, you should change good food to great food, I thought that before I'd read it too, and I'd dress your indoor dining table as well.
Otherwise all good!
Haven't seen your site before, didn't realise there were meat-free places available
Anyway, I think the blurred edges of the pics on the home page are a bit old-fashioned now and could do with being a bit sharper too. Going by the comments on your guest page, you should change good food to great food, I thought that before I'd read it too, and I'd dress your indoor dining table as well.
Otherwise all good!
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
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Rosbif
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Moley, like the little moley too!
Being a veggie I would love to come and stay at your place
What I would like to see is some really nice pics of the great veggie food! This is one of your USP's and I don't see any pics of the food on there.
Also on some of your pages you have some really long lines, I would maybe break it down into two columns or make it narrower as its a lot for the eye to follow across. Around some pics the text is very close to the picture, it would look better with more space around the pics.
Agree some new pics would be great, a bit more modern in theme. I would also lose the underlining of headings.
Hope this helps.
RB
Being a veggie I would love to come and stay at your place
What I would like to see is some really nice pics of the great veggie food! This is one of your USP's and I don't see any pics of the food on there.Also on some of your pages you have some really long lines, I would maybe break it down into two columns or make it narrower as its a lot for the eye to follow across. Around some pics the text is very close to the picture, it would look better with more space around the pics.
Agree some new pics would be great, a bit more modern in theme. I would also lose the underlining of headings.
Hope this helps.
RB
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The Moles Mother
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Thanks everyone for your replies - quite a lot of food for thought there. I'm going to sit down and go over what you've said with hubby before we contact the web designer.
Thanks again to all who commented!
MM
Thanks again to all who commented!
MM
A vegetarian oasis in the heart of Boeuf Bourguignonne country
http://www.lesbattees.com/
http://www.lesbattees.com/
Had a look. I have to say it was the accommodation page that made me say wow, I didn't really feel that from your home page. The bedroom shots with the sun and doors open are just so inviting and so is your guests living room! I too feel that the front page images do not do your property justice, the photo on the left is a little squished? The exterior photo doesn't appeal to me.
I would also have "the house and its history' in a prominent place on your home page! I'm always surprised that people seem to hide a houses interesting history in deeper pages. In general though I think the amount of text you have is just about right.
I wouldn't have booked from your home page, but after reading the rest of the site your in my 'places I'd love to stay'
Sorry, I feel this reply is a bit discombobulated, tis the lack of morning coffee.
I would also have "the house and its history' in a prominent place on your home page! I'm always surprised that people seem to hide a houses interesting history in deeper pages. In general though I think the amount of text you have is just about right.
I wouldn't have booked from your home page, but after reading the rest of the site your in my 'places I'd love to stay'
Sorry, I feel this reply is a bit discombobulated, tis the lack of morning coffee.
I agree about the backgournd colour. I can see you are trying to tie it in to the colour of the barrells, but how about going for a burgendy colour instead?
I didn't realise it was vegetarian until I read the comments here. Admittedly I didn't read all the text - but neither will your potential guests. Everyone scan reads websites so you need to get the important information upfront and in their faces.
I think all your photos could be improved - set the table, put some flowers about and get some cleaner brighter photos.
Ju
I didn't realise it was vegetarian until I read the comments here. Admittedly I didn't read all the text - but neither will your potential guests. Everyone scan reads websites so you need to get the important information upfront and in their faces.
I think all your photos could be improved - set the table, put some flowers about and get some cleaner brighter photos.
Ju
Hello! this reminds me that I'm going to steal someone's idea of "Stops on route to the alps" and add you to it - I'm really looking forward to staying sometime myself!
I agree that the homepage doesn't do the house justice, I'd love to see more photos of the food and the house. More pics all round!
this one for instance is a bit hidden away, and small -
and it's so lovely...
I would definitely ask the designer to get the site out of the frames coding it's currently in, as it isn't great for Google, and there's no real need for it now anyway
Maybe get a couple of your guestbook quotes on the home page? (Is that one about towels I see there?!)
hope this is helpful
I agree that the homepage doesn't do the house justice, I'd love to see more photos of the food and the house. More pics all round!
this one for instance is a bit hidden away, and small -
and it's so lovely...
I would definitely ask the designer to get the site out of the frames coding it's currently in, as it isn't great for Google, and there's no real need for it now anyway
Maybe get a couple of your guestbook quotes on the home page? (Is that one about towels I see there?!)
hope this is helpful
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
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Hells Bells
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MM, sorry for not looking at your site earlier. I think your place looks fantastic, but I agree with OB, because you are offering B&B I'd definitely like to see a couple of the bedroom photos on the homepage and the lovely photos of the outside dining area too. I'm not a big fan of white text either, I found it a little small and quite hard to read (and I have good vision).
You'd get more on your homepage if you have a seperate French homepage, that's what I do and it seems to work OK
Would it be possible to give your rooms names? I really like Cassis' way of marketing by naming the rooms
http://www.normandie-chambres.co.uk/
it is more personal and people know exactly what they will get if they specify a room(I'd definitely get a photo of each room on the site too).
When we bought our gites 6 years ago, they were unimaginatively called gite 1, gite 2 and farmhouse, our bookings have certainly increased since we named them.
HTH
You'd get more on your homepage if you have a seperate French homepage, that's what I do and it seems to work OK
Would it be possible to give your rooms names? I really like Cassis' way of marketing by naming the rooms
http://www.normandie-chambres.co.uk/
it is more personal and people know exactly what they will get if they specify a room(I'd definitely get a photo of each room on the site too).
When we bought our gites 6 years ago, they were unimaginatively called gite 1, gite 2 and farmhouse, our bookings have certainly increased since we named them.
HTH
Is there anything you think I should change?
I find the background a bit dark and oppressive, overpowering the text and the pictures. I particularly don't like the way the red has bled into the fuzzy table picture on the left of the page.
The idea of a B+B'ers vegetarian paradise in France is very appealing but I'd be tempted to reassure non-veggie partners of guests that they won't go hungry - some people think they'll die if they don't eat meat every day. I like your tagline 'A vegetarian oasis in the heart of Boeuf Bourguignonne country' but didn't see it on the site?
Some of your photographs might benefit from a re-shoot but I did appreciate the fact that you've credited the photographers - a nice touch but rarely done.
Good luck with the update.
Jim
I'm a bit late coming to this as well. I love the burgundy (Burgundy, geddit!) colour, but find the writing hard to read. You could try a different font (Trebuchet or Comic Sans are particularly easy to read) or just enlarge it.
The photos are good quality, but I agree that you need to push the 'food' thing more, with pictures of set tables and steaming casseroles and scrumptious salads etc. I think it's wonderful that you're totally vegetarian. I'm not veg. myself, but it wouldn't put me off in the least - but you might need to reassure some people who still think veggie food is all lentils and lettuce leaves.
Loved the dormouse!
TC
The photos are good quality, but I agree that you need to push the 'food' thing more, with pictures of set tables and steaming casseroles and scrumptious salads etc. I think it's wonderful that you're totally vegetarian. I'm not veg. myself, but it wouldn't put me off in the least - but you might need to reassure some people who still think veggie food is all lentils and lettuce leaves.
Loved the dormouse!
TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle
http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
I'm new here and currently undergoing remedial therapy myself so I'd better be careful 
I do like the burgundy colour, and thinks it's really appropriate to what is a major part of your offer (i.e. being in Burgundy obviously) but I do agree with Topcat that the text could do with being a little bit larger (I thinks that's because of the colour combination - I can feel my eyes "trying" as I read it). Trebuchet, as sugggested, might help here a it seems slightly bigger per font size that other similar fonts like Arial.
I also like the border photo on the left although it looks amybe a bit "stretched"
I have to say I though that I am not that keen on your main photo of the house (it would actually put me off I hate to say). This is all the more surprising as the internal photos are so lovely and would really grab me! All that sun!
I agree with Kathy G about the fuzzy border on the house pic as well.
Oddly enough as the site opend in a window that wasn't maximised, and I found myself thinking that a panoramic wide shot would fill the space at the top quite nicely, and then, when I did maximise the window saw that you have one at the bottom, which again is a lovely shot.
If I were you I think I'd try to get a really good similar shot of the front of the house, maybe a bit closer in.
Just my 2 p worth
Best wishes
John
I do like the burgundy colour, and thinks it's really appropriate to what is a major part of your offer (i.e. being in Burgundy obviously) but I do agree with Topcat that the text could do with being a little bit larger (I thinks that's because of the colour combination - I can feel my eyes "trying" as I read it). Trebuchet, as sugggested, might help here a it seems slightly bigger per font size that other similar fonts like Arial.
I also like the border photo on the left although it looks amybe a bit "stretched"
I have to say I though that I am not that keen on your main photo of the house (it would actually put me off I hate to say). This is all the more surprising as the internal photos are so lovely and would really grab me! All that sun!
I agree with Kathy G about the fuzzy border on the house pic as well.
Oddly enough as the site opend in a window that wasn't maximised, and I found myself thinking that a panoramic wide shot would fill the space at the top quite nicely, and then, when I did maximise the window saw that you have one at the bottom, which again is a lovely shot.
If I were you I think I'd try to get a really good similar shot of the front of the house, maybe a bit closer in.
Just my 2 p worth
Best wishes
John