Could you spare the time, please.

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.
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wallypott
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Could you spare the time, please.

Post by wallypott »

OK my website is now live, but not totally finished.

www.normandierentals.com

The main property will be the beach house but it is not fit to be photographed and will not be until mid-July at the earliest. But could anyone with 5 minutes to spare have a quick look at the other 2 gites. Anyone got any idea how I might get my first booking, right now I'm suffering from empty restaurant syndrome!

Thanks lovely people

Wallypott
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Hi Wally,
Congratulations on getting your website live! It looks very good and you have an excellent url.
A couple of things I thought of - I think the photos could do with a little "dressing" if you get the opportunity to take other shots in the summer. Some outside flowers would look nice for the gites and inside some touches too, not sure really, I just stick a bottle of wine and some glasses plus a bunch of flowers if I have one.
I'm not sure if I like the sliding photos on the homepage or not - and having the attractions on the homepage, rather than other photos of the gites makes it more like a Normandy attraction website than a rental home one. I also wondered what market you were going for families, couples -maybe it would be an idea to have a specific target market and emphasize what you can offer in this respect. Being close to a village is a huge benefit, being within walking distance of a bakery is something I dream of!
But the whole site is very comprehensive and easy to navigate.
Are you really sure you want to encourage your guests to try andouille? :wink:
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

What could you mean! Apart from the fact that it looks and tastes (I imagine) like something the dog did. At least it smells better than tripe!

I think I am going for 2 markets really, small families on a bit of a budget and the 2 couples with a bit of adventure on their minds. I'm trying to sort out links to all the local scares - bungy jumping, parachute jumping and all that jazz, because I think there is probably a bit of shoulder season to be had there.

I know the area is great for smalls because we are never short of things to do, but then my kids have always been obliged to walk for miles with the dogs. We were making giant daisy chains for crowns on our walk this evening.

I have to admit I did the photos myself so they probably aren't that great and dressing is not my strong point. So much going on and I suspect the smalls must be feeling like I've forgotten they exist.

Do you think I should cheat on my calendar and add a couple of faux bookings? Is the emtiness scaring people off?

Thanks for you input, where do you find the time? Teaching nearly finished for the season now - just endless exams.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Wallypot, it is so refreshing to have someone who has contributed a lot to the forum before asking for their website to be reviewed. It's the least I can do! And my lessons today were all cancelled :wink:
Maybe a couple more photos of the stunning beaches near you would be good on the homepage. I was up at Granville on Sunday and they really are beautiful. I didn't dare venture in the sea, though!
And if you are partly going for the family market, perhaps emphasize things that you have in the house/outside for young kids, what you can provide so that people don't have to bring loads of stuff with them, etc.
And yes, I would probably make up a few bookings, or not have the availability calendar on the site at first.
Good luck!
ccazes
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Post by ccazes »

The site looks great. I like the sliding photos, I think it helps underscore that you have multiple units. If you could slow it down a fraction that would be nice as there is not enough time to read the caption or shorten the caption?
All the same I would appreciate seeing a larger static photo of each gite with its name on the front page too or in the banner above.

The pages list on the right would be nice in bold, as is it kind of fades into the background.
Like LV says you could dress the photos a little or take them again on a sunny day with blue skies. The grey background is a little drab although if you get a lot more colour in your photos then it would be better. The photos of the gites are very close up and give no idea of the surroundings.

All the text reads well and gives lots of info. I don't know that I would mention about international calls, WIFI yes but not the calls included. If someone needs to work and have a phone line they will ask about it. If you keep that info in I would add not including mobile calls and premium numbers in France and internationally, you only mention mobiles in France and someone might "misunderstand" and call a mobile elsewhere.

As you can book the 2 gites individually or together it might be an idea to have a floorplan so people can see how the two units work as a whole. You can do your own on floorplanner.com
The info you have on ferries, airports etc could use a title/sub-title of it's own to make it easier to find.
I like your choice of things to do, they make the area seem very interesting - a definite keeper.
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

... have a quick look at the other 2 gites.
Hi Wally

The frieze of attractive images across the top of your site reels viewers in, but then you immediately smack up against the dreary exteriors of Poppy and Lily which sort of stop you in your tracks. These are crucial images and urgently need to be made friendlier, warmer and open-uppable to a bigger size. Lily and Poppy should be dressed in their finest for your potential guests, rather than looking like two old dowagers to whom time has not been kind.

Oherwise, your gites and location are lovely and your site is full of good things. But getting started with any enterprise is always the hardest part. As Churchill said, you just have to keep buggering away at the little stuff until it happens - and it will.

Good luck!

Jim
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

God Jimbo you have depressed me but I fully acknowledge that I took the photos and I am far from pro at both photography and dressing appartments. I guess I will have to call in a pro and go any buy some more damned plants and pots - more watering and aftercare though - and I'm not sure dead plants are going to be a real good look in the long run but hey ho!

Thanks everyone for your comments really helpful and I am taking them on board, just rather slowly.

Wallypott
ccazes
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Post by ccazes »

HI Wallypo,
Just a thought for the plants, it would be much less work (at least as far as watering is concerned) if you can plant a few low maintenance plants in the ground. They will thrive better and need less watering. There are a few threads about plants on LMH, might be worth a look.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Hi Wally
Ccazes makes a lot of very good points - if you only took the photo on a sunny day in May, you'd have blue skies and leaves on the trees behind. You just can't sell people a holiday dream with an external shot taken in winter! A few pots of geranuims would just liven thngs up on the colour front too.
As for the internal shots - I'm not an expert at all and am useless at internal design, but still manage to get compliments about the photos on my site, so it is possible, even if you are a novice. There is lots of advice on LMH about how to take good photos from experts such as Jimbo, so it may be worth having a look at that. A vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit, a nice book, a bottle of wine and a few glasses, a camenbert, a laid table outside with a nice jug of orange juice all help to make potential guests picture themselves on holiday there.
But get yourself over there from tomorrow and take some photos in the sun. That will start by making a contrast against the grey background you have chosen for the blog. At the moment everything is just a little too grey for a summer holiday destination website.
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

I am far from pro at both photography and dressing appartments ...
Wally, if I was considering buying your car, I probably wouldn't if you hadn't taken the trouble to wash and hoover it, if the MOT had run out and you couldn't find the service history. Not because it's necessarily a bad car or you're a bad bloke but I'd figure why take the risk when there's 20 more clean and sparkling Ford Mondeos with new MOT's and FSH available in the near locality.

It's the same with gites. Most of the successful owners on here don't have Ferraris in exotic locations but rather Ford Mondeos situated somewhere that's quite nice. But what Mondeos! Polished and honed to perfection by highly professional owners who endlessly sweat the small stuff to reach something approaching perfection. Indeed, drive some of these Mondeos and you might be forgiven for thinking that you're in a Ferrari.

Jim
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

OK so I have now bought lots of plants - big tubs with roses, window boxes with things that trail etc so I wil try again on the photos next sunny day we get. Jimbo, do you ever come up north? Do you fancy doing a photo shoot for me, well for Lily & Poppy? I was looking at your photoshopping on another thread and see that you are clearly a bit of a pro, or maybe a total pro. Interiors wise the spaces are quite tight and I don't have very pro equipment, but I can clearly do a better job of dressing - more pictures the odd bowl - candle sticks or the like.
Thanks again for your support everyone.
Wallypott.
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La Chouette
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Post by La Chouette »

wallypott wrote:G I guess I will have to ... go any buy some more damned plants and pots - more watering and aftercare though - and I'm not sure dead plants are going to be a real good look in the long run but hey ho!

Wallypott
We've had problems keeping our hanging baskets going on our south facing house especially as the ideal time to water is when we're doing breakfast or dinner until last year, when we installed a micro watering system.

We now have a load of discreet pipes running to our tubs and baskets, attached to a timer on the outside tap, and 5 minutes twice a day keeps everything growing beautifully even in the hottest weather. Have a look in Casto or Mr Bricolage for systems.

Jan :idea:
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

LC what an excellent idea - can I make them work from water butts? Then it would be a fairly eco solution too. Do attractive water butts exist?
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La Chouette
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Post by La Chouette »

wallypott wrote:LC what an excellent idea - can I make them work from water butts? Then it would be a fairly eco solution too. Do attractive water butts exist?
Not sure about whether it would work off a water butt, but I'm sure it would it you could fit a tap. Look here for more info on micro watering systems http://www.easywatering.co.uk/
We read up in English and then installed what we could buy here - I think we have a Kleber system and it's brilliant.

Jan
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Water butt -> hanging basket is unlikely to work unless the water butt is higher than the baskets. You need some pressure and/or gravity to move the water.
** Richard
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They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
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