Hi,
Well we're making good progress with the cottage, and should be in a position to proactively market it within the next six to eight weeks.
So before linking our site to any paid listings sites, I would really appreciate your views on what you think is good, bad, or ugly!
I'm aware that there are no bedroom pictures yet (as one of the jobs left to do is to fit new carpets in those rooms) and the exterior shots will need to be updated once I can get some with blue skies, but the rest is pretty-much finished to my mind.
Thanks as ever to you helpful folks - I've learned so much here in the last year or so!
Regards
Dave
Critique for www.oaktreecottagenorfolk.co.uk please...
Critique for www.oaktreecottagenorfolk.co.uk please...
Open for business.
Will you be putting your rates on there?
Have you any photos of the area and places to visit?
The collage at the top of the page is a nice idea, but is perhaps a little dull in colour and I think does not sell it as well as it could.
JMHO - I know I was always told to get more photos on mine. (still work in progress for me as well!) Otherwise, I like the format, so you're off to a good start.
Have you any photos of the area and places to visit?
The collage at the top of the page is a nice idea, but is perhaps a little dull in colour and I think does not sell it as well as it could.
JMHO - I know I was always told to get more photos on mine. (still work in progress for me as well!) Otherwise, I like the format, so you're off to a good start.
You should state clearly this is a whole let property.
After recent debates is seems even more important to say if you allow (or not) smoking inside the property.
On the front page you can click on the photo, but all it does is display the photo why is the link there?
There are no prices included.
The links on the “In the area” page do not open new windows, thus the visitor looses your website when look for more information about the area.
The web pages within the site have some strange names, like “?page_id=2” I think it helps search engines if they had names which refer to content details.
There is no map to show where you are located. It does not have to be exact but it should show some relationship to major towns nearby at least.
In the “about” page you say have a look around the gallery, I cannot find one.
The general layout is clean and loads quickly.
On your “who is” details I can see your full home address, maybe pay to make this bit confidential.
http://www.whorush.com/
There is no robots text to allow search engines to index your site.
There is no site map either.
The HTML is working fine but the CCS has a lot of errors.
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/vali ... k.co.uk%2F
Good luck with this years bookings.
After recent debates is seems even more important to say if you allow (or not) smoking inside the property.
On the front page you can click on the photo, but all it does is display the photo why is the link there?
There are no prices included.
The links on the “In the area” page do not open new windows, thus the visitor looses your website when look for more information about the area.
The web pages within the site have some strange names, like “?page_id=2” I think it helps search engines if they had names which refer to content details.
There is no map to show where you are located. It does not have to be exact but it should show some relationship to major towns nearby at least.
In the “about” page you say have a look around the gallery, I cannot find one.
The general layout is clean and loads quickly.
On your “who is” details I can see your full home address, maybe pay to make this bit confidential.
http://www.whorush.com/
There is no robots text to allow search engines to index your site.
There is no site map either.
The HTML is working fine but the CCS has a lot of errors.
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/vali ... k.co.uk%2F
Good luck with this years bookings.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Thanks for the comments so far.
We will be adding the rates - but have yet to finalise them.
Good point on photos of the area - I have plenty on film - I'll have to get scanning!
I take you point Nemo about the collage. I'll look for some more colourful shots at the weekend.
Good point about smoking - it is a non-smoking property, so I need to include that. Front page maybe?
The front-page photo will link to a larger one once I have a decent sunny-day picture. At present the photo that I have is no larger than the thumbnail...
Good point on the links - these now open in new windows.
The web page urls now reflect the page title. This is a wordpress site, so the names were auto-generated before.
Good point on the map - I'll get on to that.
The gallery should be coming soon when the decorating is completed - so I've removed the reference for now.
The robots text is not something that I know about to be honest - more research required I guess! Likewise the site map - is that also for SEO?
The CSS also falls into this category - I'm guessing that the Wordpress theme that I'm using has some issues.
We will be adding the rates - but have yet to finalise them.
Good point on photos of the area - I have plenty on film - I'll have to get scanning!
I take you point Nemo about the collage. I'll look for some more colourful shots at the weekend.
Good point about smoking - it is a non-smoking property, so I need to include that. Front page maybe?
The front-page photo will link to a larger one once I have a decent sunny-day picture. At present the photo that I have is no larger than the thumbnail...
Good point on the links - these now open in new windows.
The web page urls now reflect the page title. This is a wordpress site, so the names were auto-generated before.
Good point on the map - I'll get on to that.
The gallery should be coming soon when the decorating is completed - so I've removed the reference for now.
The robots text is not something that I know about to be honest - more research required I guess! Likewise the site map - is that also for SEO?
The CSS also falls into this category - I'm guessing that the Wordpress theme that I'm using has some issues.
Open for business.
REf Robot text.
http://www.robotstxt.org/
and SEO for wordpress.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Search_Engin ... _WordPress
ooh you are going to be busy!
http://www.robotstxt.org/
and SEO for wordpress.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Search_Engin ... _WordPress
ooh you are going to be busy!
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
I like that the design is fairly clean, but there are a couple of things I think could be easily improved.
The pictures above the menu are nice and give a good feel of the place, but unfortunately they, the title and the menu bar takes up a lot of real estate on the screen - on my 13.3" about half the height. This means people have to scroll a lot before they see much content - and according to Jakob (useit.com) that means few will see the bottom of it.
I would put the About on the menu to the right - it is for most visitors the least important part and should be given lover priority.
Under Availability I got something garbled in Safari on OS X, Firefox works fine. (how do I attach a screenshot?)
I strongly disagree with external links opening new windows - the second most used navigation tool in a browser is the Back-button, that does not work when you open new. Check useit.com
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/open_new_windows.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html
I know lots of sites do it, I still hate it.
I suggest you write some overview sentence on the Accommodation Page, along the lines of "The Cottage has 2 bedrooms and sleeps 4, kitchen with all the stuff, ...". Then the details below.
Have fun!
[/img]
The pictures above the menu are nice and give a good feel of the place, but unfortunately they, the title and the menu bar takes up a lot of real estate on the screen - on my 13.3" about half the height. This means people have to scroll a lot before they see much content - and according to Jakob (useit.com) that means few will see the bottom of it.
I would put the About on the menu to the right - it is for most visitors the least important part and should be given lover priority.
Under Availability I got something garbled in Safari on OS X, Firefox works fine. (how do I attach a screenshot?)
I strongly disagree with external links opening new windows - the second most used navigation tool in a browser is the Back-button, that does not work when you open new. Check useit.com
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/open_new_windows.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html
I know lots of sites do it, I still hate it.
I suggest you write some overview sentence on the Accommodation Page, along the lines of "The Cottage has 2 bedrooms and sleeps 4, kitchen with all the stuff, ...". Then the details below.
Have fun!
[/img]
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Wendy@NorthIdaho
- Posts: 744
- Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:03 pm
- Location: North Idaho, USA
- Contact:
Beautiful place! Like everyone else would love to see lot's more pictures. The one of the outside of the house when clicked on is the same size, the ones of the interior when clicked on are larger, I really like seeing the larger size. I think you can use the same picture on different pages, so to my mind use them again in case someone doesn't give a thourough look at the site.
Also, I found myself wondering how far the cottage was from the different sites/towns. Is it on there and I missed it? if so then someone else may miss it too.
Love how you've decorated, it looks very comfortable and welcoming!
Wendy
Also, I found myself wondering how far the cottage was from the different sites/towns. Is it on there and I missed it? if so then someone else may miss it too.
Love how you've decorated, it looks very comfortable and welcoming!
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
Thanks so much for all the helpful comments.
I have re-ordered the menu bar, added floor plans, added the "no-smoking, and no pets" information, and added the rates.
I have also been building on the 'In The Area' part of the site.
I still need to read up on the SEO for Wordpress topics.
I have also hired a wide-angle lens for next weekend so that I can get some interior shots of the bedrooms, bathroom etc. It's not that the rooms are particularly small, but I just can't get a shot that I'm happy with, with a 35mm equiv lens.
I have re-ordered the menu bar, added floor plans, added the "no-smoking, and no pets" information, and added the rates.
I have also been building on the 'In The Area' part of the site.
I still need to read up on the SEO for Wordpress topics.
I have also hired a wide-angle lens for next weekend so that I can get some interior shots of the bedrooms, bathroom etc. It's not that the rooms are particularly small, but I just can't get a shot that I'm happy with, with a 35mm equiv lens.
Open for business.