Update-added youtube video, good idea? NarrowsCottage

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Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Update-added youtube video, good idea? NarrowsCottage

Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Hello all,

First off I'd like to say thank you for all the great information I've learned from all of you during my months of just reading here! Have only recently been participating in the forums.

I've just finished my first season of renting, and have heard it will get busy after Christmas so have tomorrow and then the week after Christmas to work on the website. I understand that everyone here is probably busy with Christmas so if you are too busy to look now, if you get a chance next week I would really appreciate it!

I have the AWStats that collect the information about who is visiting the website. Unfortunately I don't know how to use most of the info it gives me.... but some things do concern me. This info is just from the month of December and this has been a very slow month as far as people visiting my website.

1. It says 79.2% of my visitors are only staying from 0-30 seconds, how can I get them to stay longer? I must be doing something wrong to have stats like this... (I think this % is pretty representative for the whole year)

Here is the whole table:

0s-30s ... 103 visits... 79.2 %
30s-2mn ... 10 .... 7.6 %
2mn-5mn ... 9 .... 6.9 %
5mn-15mn ... 5 .... 3.8 %
15mn-30mn... 2 .... 1.5 %
30mn-1h ... 1 .... 0.7 %
1h+ ....

2. Am assuming all the "robot" activity is good? Here is that info.
14 different robots ..... Hits ...... Bandwidth ..... Last visit
\wbot[\/\-] ........ ... 294 ......... 9.86 MB ........ 22 Dec 2010 - 21:36
Yahoo Slurp ............ 67 ........ 2.19 MB ......... 22 Dec 2010 - 21:51
Yandex bot ............. 53 ......... 2.34 MB ........ 22 Dec 2010 - 13:25
Googlebot .............. 28 ........ 805.83 KB .......21 Dec 2010 - 16:51
Unknown robot (identified by 'crawl') ...28....... 871.08 KB .....21 Dec 2010 - 06:40
Unknown robot (identified by 'spider')... 21... ....674.16 KB .........22 Dec 2010 - 11:31
MJ12bot .................. 15 .......... 713.76 KB ... .....20 Dec 2010 - 04:15
Unknown robot (identified by 'robot') ...15....... 506.47 KB ......16 Dec 2010 - 11:59
Nutch ................... 9 ......... 328.57 KB... ...... 22 Dec 2010 - 04:40
MSNBot .................4 ........ 121.29 KB .... ....17 Dec 2010 - 18:36
SurveyBot ................. 2 ....... 93.65 KB .... .....14 Dec 2010 - 05:45
Ask ..................... 1 .... ... 56.56 KB .... ..... 16 Dec 2010 - 15:36
legs ................. 1 ......... 47.53 KB ......... 15 Dec 2010 - 20:38
BaiDuSpider ............ 1 .......... 46.76 KB ........ 03 Dec 2010 - 18:05

* Robots shown here gave hits or traffic "not viewed" by visitors, so they are not included in other charts.

3. I am using register.com, so I haven't programed this or anything. I chose a template to use, and type the info in and upload pictures and can do a bit of moving things but am limited somewhat on colors, etc.. so if your advice deals with codes, etc.. probably won't be able to implement those :o But I can chose a different template.

4. I haven't had anyone actually contact me through my website, only through the listing sites I advertise on. Basically this is where I send them for more information from VRBO, VacationRentals.com, VacationHomeRentals, HomeAway.com, etc... But google does seem to find me along with Yahoo and Yandex? but am not sure the amount they do find me is up to what I should be trying for? not sure what is realistic in this regard.

5. I will be updating the pictures as we've changed out a sofa for a day bed, changed a rocker in the living room, etc.. am going to try my hand at a small video that will give guests an idea of what the layout is, instead of just still pics.

6. We rent from March or April - October and had 97 days rented this year. (March this year, but heard sometimes with the snow we may have to wait till April...)

7. As you can see from the page counters at the bottom of the pages some pages get visited and some don't nearly as much, have no idea why not...

Thank you for any help you can give me! Will be happy to do my part in analyzing others websites but not sure I am the person to do so...
Wendy
Last edited by Wendy@NorthIdaho on Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
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katimari
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Thoughts on your site

Post by katimari »

Hi Wendy,
I checked out your site and have a few suggestions for you. Overall I think it is a great site and all the important information is covered. Below is a list of things you might want to look into. Good luck with everything!

1. On the homepage, my expectation is that the first photo on the page would be a view of exterior of the vacation rental. If possible I would also make sure that it is a horizontal photo and that it took up the entire width of the main content column. That first photo is like the doorway to the site, most people are probably going to land on the homepage initially and you can really capture their interest with that image. When I see sites that don't show a clear exterior shot right away, I tend to think that the rental is probably not much to look at. Also, I would push the picture above the green text (only if it is a full width horizontal image).

2. On the homepage I wouldn't put quite so much information. The average web user tends to skim content and do not usually read so a lot of text can be a turn off for them. Personally, I do think that the vacation rental audience reads more, but only if they are interested in a property. I would use the homepage as more of a showcase. One or two short paragraphs and photos. I like your first paragraph and the paragraph that starts with "The Narrows Cottage is located on the channel that connects Upper and Lower Twin Lakes. ". The rest of the information could go on a separate page like a news page or a blog. Adding that type of page would also give you a place to naturally add updates as needed. As for the photos, I think the outside shots are the most compelling, I would almost think about leaving the interior shots for the secondary level pages. The outside shots are much more emotive.

3. Some of your pictures borders have white patches so they blend into the white borders you have on the photos. You could add a 1 pixel light grey border around the photos to help to define them a bit more.

4. The side menu could be cut back a little to keep from overwhelming the user with too many choices. If possible, I would consolidate all the photo pages into one.

5. Not a big deal, but if you have the ability to have a contact form instead of just a link to contact you, you might see an increase in your contact rate. The way my computer is set up, when I click a link like that, it opens a program I don't normally use to email others. A lot of people using gmail and internet based email would probably have the same problem. If you can't create a contact form, and easy way to solve the issue would be to keep the link but also write out the contact email address.

6. I would change the order of the side navigation links so they have more of a hierarchy that users might expect. I think everything up to the photos is in good order then I would switch them to be Area Activities, Location, FAQ, Guestbook and then Contact Us.

*Kate*
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Thank you Kate for taking the time to look at my website and give me advice. I will go through your suggestions and see what I can do. The template I'm using might not allow me to put the picture across the whole top, at least it wouldn't the last time I tried it. Will see what I can do about that and the other items.
Thank you again,
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

I'd agree with all of Kate's points , especially as regards the contact form, and I'd add that your guest book page is a bit off-putting being totally empty.

Do you have a guest book in the property from which you can add some lovely comments from last year?
ccazes
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Post by ccazes »

I don't know if you can add a widget or a link for a contact page but it might be worth looking at a website like kontactr.com where you can get free contact widgets. this could be added to your contact page.
I use it on my website (fayencevilla.co.uk).
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Thank you so much all! the guest book page you have to click on the "view my guestbook" don't really know why but that is how the hosting site has the template set up... I can scan pages from my physical guest book from the property and have a page with those. Is that an o.k. thing to do? maybe if I block out the last name of the guest?

Will check into the link for the contact page situation.

I was able to go in and make the opening picture larger on the home page (hopefully an improvement?).

I don't have a good outside picture of the cottage, waiting till we paint it this spring/summer as it's not very "cute" as it is right now.

Thank you again, I really appreciate your suggestions!

Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
ccazes
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Post by ccazes »

As for guest reviews I would just paraphrase a few giving the dates and first names and maybe where the people came from if you have a varied or international crowd.

If you have any VRBO or other listing reviews it might be an idea to add them in written form then with an active link to the website where they can find the review too link. If you don't already have any, it might be an idea to ask a few former renters to write an independent review on VRBO.
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

o.k. spent the morning trying to implement the ideas given here. Thank you all so much!

Refering to Kates suggestions.

1. changed the first picture you come to on the home page. It shows some of the outside of the house and also the part that the original photo showed (deck). This is as large of a space as my template will allow.

2. Will have to work on changing the homepage, didn't have enough time for this suggestion, will consider how to do this.

3. Changed the border used on some of the items, used the dark grey on the guest book page.

4. Was able to get the photo pages down to 2, had a bit of a problem getting the one page onto the other, will have to spend more time to accomplish this one.

5. Didn't realize it but had the ability to have a contact form all along! so after I signed up for kontactr.com ended up not needing it. Big improvement!

6. Changed the order of the side navigation links.

7. Scanned my physical guest book reviews and added them to the guest book page. I like this much better. Just needed the "push" to do it...

So if anyone has the energy to check out the changes and see if you think it's an improvement I'd love to hear your thoughts. Will continue to try and think about the ideas of point number 2 above.

Again, Thank you all!
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
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cottageguru
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Post by cottageguru »

Hi Wendy

Your front page looks much better now - that's a nice exterior photo. You have some lovely lakefront/waterside images and it would be a nice idea to make them more prominent somehow. Your unique selling point is the water so capitalise on it and you should get people hanging around more,
Heather

Vacation Rental Success Podcast
www.cottageblogger.com
www.twitter.com/cottageguru
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Heather, I shared your comments and all the others here with my husband and he thought you were all spot on. So will continue to try to make all the needed improvements over the next week or so.

So glad you like the improved home page! Will try to keep in mind to capitalize on the water front aspect.

Thank you again,
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
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katimari
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Great improvements

Post by katimari »

Hi Wendy,
I really like what you did with the site and SO fast!! BTW - I absolutely love your chipmunk pictures, they are too cute.

Kate
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Thank you so much Kate! Hopefully I can continue to implement the changes recommended by you and the other posters here and on rentingforprofit that have given me so much good advice. Will see if people will stick around my website longer than 30 seconds...

Thanks again for your encouragement.
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Continuing the update, changed the headline to emphasize the water front aspect, etc.. also on Kate's advice changed the picture "frames", the dark grey looked best from the choices I had with the template but not sure if it makes everything look too dark?
Opinions on that?

Made the fonts and paragraph justification more consistent, am wondering if the font should be larger, is it too small?

Really hesitant to change the color of the whole website as that means changing the template and am really wondering if it is going to be worth the extra work involved. I am willing to do so if you think it will really make a difference but if not then I wouldn't mind saving myself a lot of work...

So if anyone wants to take another look and let me know if further changes in addition to the ones below need to be done I will then continue on!

Things still on the to do list:
1. Adding Google Analytics in addition to the awstats
2. More staging in the bedroom area, concerning the bare shelving.
3. Perhaps changing the background color (by changing the template) to a lighter color.

Thank you all for your wonderful expertise!
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
bentisdall
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Photos

Post by bentisdall »

I'd be inclined to retake most of the page 2 photos as some of them are slightly out of focus or dark or just don't flatter the accommodation. eg the one called upstairsbedroom4 is really not doing you any favours. I'd also splash out $500 on a decent flat-screen telly as an old CRT one is really off-putting these days.
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Yes, new pictures are on the agenda when we go up there, we need to show the new bed versus the sofa also.

We have changed out the TV downstairs and are working on replacing the upstairs one, hopefully soon.

Unfortunately the new pic's have to wait as it's very snowy where the cabin is and not easily accessed when it is like that.

Thank you!
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
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