Please Review

[Canaryvilla]

I am just in the process of building a web site, and before I go to far down the road I would like comments and feedback as to what I have built so far.

I have uploaded to a temp free host

We are mainly looking to attract families or larger groups.

I do advertise with online agencies as well.

Would be grateful if you would check Meta tags .

http://n.domaindlx.com/Canaryvilla/

[vrooje]

The yellow background is very bright and sunny... I wonder if it's too bright? It works for me, but it's right at the limit.

Then again the page backgrounds switch to blue for all the other pages I saw, so maybe it doesn't matter very much that the first page is yellow. However, it does seem rather like looking at two different sites based on the background.

Speaking of the blue, the header that's at the top of the "Canary Villa" sub-pages was a bit shocking to me. What's the purpose of having a woman's bare bum (okay, not technically, but essentially) in the header image?

Nowadays the meta description tag is useful for search engines, but the meta keywords tag isn't as important as the page title. I noticed you haven't mentioned "holiday" or "vacation" anywhere in that title.

Sorry I don't have time for a detailed review -- but these are the things I noticed right away.

Cheers!

[e-richard]

Some random comments. Admittedly personal observations:

Clearly you intend having a lot of interesting pages there. Thats always good - shows that you have a lot to offer, but I fear that many of them take us away to other people's sites. In fact the whole navigation caused me some concern and it looks like you're not sure yourself yet.

I belong to the school that hates too much animation. Your header pictures (bare bums and all) are very cool, and not overbearing - and within my limit of animation. Sorry, but I did not like the bouncing menu bar. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea to always have it visible wherever you are scrolling, but after a while, it got annoying.

I liked the repeated links at the foot of the home page, and looked for them at the foot of all the other pages. I think this is a good idea. You may want to think about re-organising the pages so that you don't have so many top level links, but at the top level you have links that take you to special subject area pages with sub-pages. One needs to be careful not to lose the reader, but it can be done. (Think for example about putting one link to "Flights", then listing all the operators on one page). Maybe others will disagree with me and will like the fact that you can get to everything from the ONE menu or ONE list of links on every page. I'd be interested in views on this subject myself.

Finally, the color scheme is not too bad. I personally prefer lighter pastels, but if you're going to use bolder colors, remember that different screens/monitors/laptops will render these slightly differently and the contrast when you also have colored text may not always work. For example the greenish text under the thumbnails on the right of the photo gallery is not very readable (on my screen) on the blue background. White text may work better, and also a crisper font (like Verdana or Tahoma) helps too - but do not mix too many different fonts on the same page.

Good luck with the bookings.

[alexia s.]

I personally prefer lighter pastels, too, but here the canary yellow colour is perfect! (It's not often a colour makes me laugh.)

[alexia s.]

ps If the header that's at the top of the "Canary Villa" sub-pages was a bit shocking to Brooke (who is, I think, a youngish person), what is it going to be a less young person (the generational issue IS there)? I'd get rid of it: you'll lose more clients than you'll gain.

[Alan Knighting]

I probably count as a less young person and my only problem is the distraction of the random blue lines. I wouldn't mind a client like that! What a shame - there's no room for Fluffy there.

It's a frame of mind not a generation issue.

Alan

[Chalky]

Hi,

I like the home page - the information is clear and tells you what you want to know. I'm a bit puzzled by the "bungalow" description, as I thought a bungalow, by definition, had everything on one floor.

I agree that the yellow and blue backgrounds are a bit too bold, and the fact that they are different detracts from the site's identity. The "Canary Villa" banner is very pretty, but is it really necessary and will it attract the sort of customer you're looking for? If you think it will, fine.

There are a number of spelling/grammar mistakes in the text on the bedroom page. None of the links on the Beaches tab work, but you probably haven't yet got round to completing that bit of the site.

I agree with Richard that you probably have too many links to other people's sites - as he says, put all the airlines together.

[alexia s.]

Maybe it's a gender issue, then, Alan. Would you be keen to rent a place that featured a guy's naked backside? Indifferent? In each case I'd wonder what kind of client the owner was looking for ....... maybe that's the point!

[enid]

I liked the clear information on the home page so I know where you are and what the villa provides right up front. I also liked the photos which were clear and loaded quickly on my very slow connection.
I always have a bit of a problem with text - needs to be a little larger for me and the text isn't consistent throughout. Also the colours change too much for me - I like a theme throughout - prefer the blue to the yellow but don't like the lime green link colour. The other bit that got in the way of a smooth visit to your site was that on the homepage there is a bottom menu and then I have to use the side menu on the other pages - not a big problem but again a question of consistency.
Overall I was happy to stay exploring but a more connected design sytle would improve the site for me. Good luck!

[Alan Knighting]

Alexia,

Maybe it's all about what is being sold, how it is being sold and to whom is it being sold?

I have a "rural retreat" so a picture of the back end of a bovine quadruped would perhaps be more in keeping but, it might be taken as an observation of some of my guests, so I don't include it.

Regards

Alan

[tansy]

Your comments about the bare backside intrigued me so had a look...depends who you are trying to attract I suppose.

I found it quite hard to navigate round the photos...if it possible make it easier to click on instead of having to go back to click on the titles.

[alexia s.]

Enid,
When you say "there is a bottom menu", what exactly do you mean?

[Hanorah]

If you are looking to target groups of blokes between the ages of 18 to 28 then the bum should stay. It could be you are trying to fill this gap in the market as rental owners would not want them anywhere near there places. People do make judgments on the design and this is obviously causing a lot of comments here so your browsers would make similar judgements so you might want to leave it or remove depending on your target market.

[vrooje]

Yeah, that was my thought too. "Well, this would really make the guys want to stay here."

I guess by shocking I didn't really mean scandalous, but more that I was looking there when the page loaded because that's where the title usually is, and instead of a beach theme that makes me think of relaxation and tropical breezes, I was shown an image that strongly implies sex. So I was pretty surprised!

I agree with Alan -- it's not done in a really vulgar way (though I wouldn't put it as classy, either -- there are many ways to show a sexy woman on the beach and this is pretty in-your-face), so it could be very appropriate depending on what market you're trying to attract. Hanorah's and Alexia's points are also well-taken. A husband might say this site really appeals to him for some reason whereas the wife might say "right, let's go to *this* place so you can stare at other women all day? No way!" And teenage boys on spring break would love it. But do you want them as clients?

[Canaryvilla]

Thanks for the responses, I have taken on board what everyone has said and at present I am altering the site to something that will be more in taste. Hope you will all review it once I have finished and give more honest feedback.

Once again thanks to all who have taken the time to help.