Please give us feedback
Please give us feedback
We have a new website for our cabin rental in the Rocky Mountains. Please tell me what you think.
www.estesriversidecabin.com
Thank you!
Sue
www.estesriversidecabin.com
Thank you!
Sue
- bananacake
- Posts: 384
- Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:55 am
- Location: Adriatic Coast, Pescara, Italy
- Contact:
Please give us feedback
Your place looks lovely. I did find your main page very busy. I did not know where to look first because I was trying to read and look at changing pictures at the same time. I don't know how many people would take the time to scroll down to see your desciption. (the one with pinkish background). There is a lot going on. You place does look inviting though and best of luck.
Sharon
Sharon
- Don Ciccio
- Posts: 481
- Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:39 pm
- Location: Trapani, Sicily
Hello,
Some things that struck me straight away were that the pictures looked a bit fuzzy and I feel that you are not doing yourself justice. Light the lamps, open the curtains and take some more, Use photoshop to tweek them and show people what the place is really like. Looks like a great place and you need to convey that.
There is a lot of information on the front page, a lot. I had this problem recently and (on my own review thread) got advised to trim it down to the bare minimum. One member (Jimbo i think?) made some very good analogies about your front page being like the starter in a restaurant - if its no good you're unlikely to enjoy or want to go on to the main...
A lot of the info on the lower portion of the page could go on a new page, and de clutter the front page.
Two other points I noticed.
1 - There is no immediately obvious way back to the front page once you have left it (I tried the header, which got me back), which should be more obvious - particularly if you are going to keep some of the info on the front page.
2 - None of the guest feedback is attributed to any named people or dates. I am aware that you want to respect people's privacy, but surely a first name is not impinging on anyone? I'm not doubting their authenticity, but if i saw comments with no names, or dates, I'd wonder if they were 100% true. Is there any way you can alter this? What do others think of this suggestion?
The site banner colours are dark, which could be making the photos look dark? - but the banners match the 1930s feel you are describing about the place and are offset well against the lighter yellow.
I was impressed witht he level of information on your site, but think that you could order it a little differently to maximise how visitors navigate through it.
Hope that helps and hope that my (humble opinion and) comments are seen as constructive rather than critical.
DC
Some things that struck me straight away were that the pictures looked a bit fuzzy and I feel that you are not doing yourself justice. Light the lamps, open the curtains and take some more, Use photoshop to tweek them and show people what the place is really like. Looks like a great place and you need to convey that.
There is a lot of information on the front page, a lot. I had this problem recently and (on my own review thread) got advised to trim it down to the bare minimum. One member (Jimbo i think?) made some very good analogies about your front page being like the starter in a restaurant - if its no good you're unlikely to enjoy or want to go on to the main...
A lot of the info on the lower portion of the page could go on a new page, and de clutter the front page.
Two other points I noticed.
1 - There is no immediately obvious way back to the front page once you have left it (I tried the header, which got me back), which should be more obvious - particularly if you are going to keep some of the info on the front page.
2 - None of the guest feedback is attributed to any named people or dates. I am aware that you want to respect people's privacy, but surely a first name is not impinging on anyone? I'm not doubting their authenticity, but if i saw comments with no names, or dates, I'd wonder if they were 100% true. Is there any way you can alter this? What do others think of this suggestion?
The site banner colours are dark, which could be making the photos look dark? - but the banners match the 1930s feel you are describing about the place and are offset well against the lighter yellow.
I was impressed witht he level of information on your site, but think that you could order it a little differently to maximise how visitors navigate through it.
Hope that helps and hope that my (humble opinion and) comments are seen as constructive rather than critical.
DC
The fuzziness is my fault because they took the photos from my vrbo site--I should email them the originals I guess.
They made a lot of changes since I first posted this in April but apparently problems still remain.
I will see about adding more reviews too. The place these were taken from did have the guest name.
www.vrbo.com/138908
Thanks!
Sue
They made a lot of changes since I first posted this in April but apparently problems still remain.
I will see about adding more reviews too. The place these were taken from did have the guest name.
www.vrbo.com/138908
Thanks!
Sue
I am such a novice at this.
I emailed some of your points to the person in charge of designing our website and this was the response I got--
"Of course the material on it can be split into several pages, with different navigation. You hired us to do a landing page (that is one page), not a full website - the setup fees are much higher for a full website, which is why you went with a landing page. If you are interested in upgrading the landing page further, we would be happy to do so, at the lowest price possible."
I don't know if I want to spend any more on this, if it's worth it.
We had also thought of doing a google campaignbut at $200+ per month for ad fees and management fees....
I emailed some of your points to the person in charge of designing our website and this was the response I got--
"Of course the material on it can be split into several pages, with different navigation. You hired us to do a landing page (that is one page), not a full website - the setup fees are much higher for a full website, which is why you went with a landing page. If you are interested in upgrading the landing page further, we would be happy to do so, at the lowest price possible."
I don't know if I want to spend any more on this, if it's worth it.
We had also thought of doing a google campaignbut at $200+ per month for ad fees and management fees....
- Don Ciccio
- Posts: 481
- Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:39 pm
- Location: Trapani, Sicily
Step away from the Google adwords campaign and put your hands on the wall. I do not think that this is value for money.
There is a lot you can do for the same amount of money that would be more beneficial.
Many people here built and update their own websites on IndependentOwners's site. I cant rememeber the URl but someonw will have it. They offer free simple templates to adapt and approx 11 page site. I dont use it myself, but many pople say its very good and its something you could look into.
Do you have any youngsters in the family who know a bit about web design? could you ask them to help you for a nominal sum?
There is a lot you can do for the same amount of money that would be more beneficial.
Many people here built and update their own websites on IndependentOwners's site. I cant rememeber the URl but someonw will have it. They offer free simple templates to adapt and approx 11 page site. I dont use it myself, but many pople say its very good and its something you could look into.
Do you have any youngsters in the family who know a bit about web design? could you ask them to help you for a nominal sum?
-
- Posts: 378
- Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:10 pm
- Location: Dunkineely, County Donegal, Ireland
- Contact:
hi
like others here i found the fuzzy pics a turn off. you should sort this pronto because they don't give a good first impression of your beautiful property.
regarding website builders, i couldn't afford those fees and found weebly.com via a computer mag. i have now built both my holiday home site and another couple of sites using them. it is so easy to use, you can upload lots of pics and the results are very good (imo).
so i would suggest using weebly or a similar site and building your own site where you have full control and the opportunity to learn as you go and keep improving plus you can keep it 'live' by adding bits yourself rather than having to ask someone else to do it for you.
like others here i found the fuzzy pics a turn off. you should sort this pronto because they don't give a good first impression of your beautiful property.
regarding website builders, i couldn't afford those fees and found weebly.com via a computer mag. i have now built both my holiday home site and another couple of sites using them. it is so easy to use, you can upload lots of pics and the results are very good (imo).
so i would suggest using weebly or a similar site and building your own site where you have full control and the opportunity to learn as you go and keep improving plus you can keep it 'live' by adding bits yourself rather than having to ask someone else to do it for you.
Yes you just gotta learn to do the site yourself, paying to have a website built is fine for large organisations, but not for someone with a holiday place to let.
When the site ' breaks ' you will have to pay them to fix it. They will also charge to do SEO work etc etc.
No doubt they will host it on thier server and charge above the odds also.
When the site ' breaks ' you will have to pay them to fix it. They will also charge to do SEO work etc etc.
No doubt they will host it on thier server and charge above the odds also.
I get phone calls most week (sometimes days) from sharks offering to get me on page 1 of Google for £200 a month.We had also thought of doing a google campaignbut at $200+ per month for ad fees and management fees....
Tell them to sling their hook and do it yourself. Find about about "long-tail keywords" and go from there. It's not rocket science, takes little time to set up at a basic level (although you could spend the rest f your life tweaking it) and I pay a total of about £25 a month for Google adwords campaigns for 4 property websites and two websites for my other business.
- visitslovenija
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:43 pm
Sue,
Actually, I don't have a problem with all the text on the home page. I like the general look and feel of the site. As mentioned though, you are missing a HOME button to get you back there - I know it's there under CONTACT, but would be better to change the name.
I also think the summary description visibility could be better - I managed not to notice the two lines you do have under the photos, first time round.
Ah yes, the fuzzy photos. With 4 bedrooms I guess it's pretty big, but you don't get that impression from the photos either.
Are there really 4 bedrooms? Couldn't see how that ties in with the beds you list. How about a floorplan - they help a lot (use www.floorplanner.com, it's easy and free).
Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't see a location for the cabin on the map page.
I think the contact form on the home page is neat - but the heading had me confused: 'Sign up Now' (for us Brits anyhow) sounds like registering for a newsletter or something.
And my view is also to forget Google Adwords. Been there, tried it, waste of money.
I do use a professional to host and build our site. Doesn't really cost that much and saves a lot of headaches!
Hope my ramblings help.
Ralph
www.visitslovenija.eu
Actually, I don't have a problem with all the text on the home page. I like the general look and feel of the site. As mentioned though, you are missing a HOME button to get you back there - I know it's there under CONTACT, but would be better to change the name.
I also think the summary description visibility could be better - I managed not to notice the two lines you do have under the photos, first time round.
Ah yes, the fuzzy photos. With 4 bedrooms I guess it's pretty big, but you don't get that impression from the photos either.
Are there really 4 bedrooms? Couldn't see how that ties in with the beds you list. How about a floorplan - they help a lot (use www.floorplanner.com, it's easy and free).
Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't see a location for the cabin on the map page.
I think the contact form on the home page is neat - but the heading had me confused: 'Sign up Now' (for us Brits anyhow) sounds like registering for a newsletter or something.
And my view is also to forget Google Adwords. Been there, tried it, waste of money.
I do use a professional to host and build our site. Doesn't really cost that much and saves a lot of headaches!
Hope my ramblings help.
Ralph
www.visitslovenija.eu