Please take a look at my website.

[limousin-cottage]

I have been advised to ask for a review - apart from the 'temporary' photos, is there anything that jumps out at you that may need changing?

[La Chouette]

Just a quickie as I should be doing something else!

Really like the look and feel of your website..but shouldn't you have a French version,particularly as you say you're getting a lot of French enquiries. Although I can't quote chapter and verse, if you run a business in France (and I assume you are resident and do) your website must be in French. Every now and again the French authorities decide to guillotine someone for non-compliance!

Do you have a map showing exactly where you are?

Jan

[CSE]

I always try the contact forms! The one on the front page allows me to hit send without anything being filled in. You need some code to check that there is some information there.
After I hit the send button the page reloaded but I cannot see the top of that page. I cannot navigate any further. Even a refresh the browser or hitting the previous page does not clear this error. I had to click the link again. That is an odd error and I have no answer on how to over come this.
There are several HTML errors, which would help a lot with SEO. There are no meta tags for description, keywords or tile.
There are no H1, H2 etc text
There are no Alt tags for photos.
There is no robots txt file
Maybe change the about us title as that page is not about you more about the location and history of the property.

The site loads quickly and information is clearly laid out.

PS I like the old moped, is it yours.

[pete]

its a bit big for my screen,

on the places to visit page the logo is covering the first words which is distracting,

the pictures took ages to load, mind I am waiting for a program to run on my pc!

if your supermarkets close on sunday lunch then you are lucky, ours close for 3 hours at lunchtime tuesday to saturday they are closed sundays and mondays and any other excuse,

on your prices page I think you should put the prices first and then in euros, then go into details of deposits etc,

as you have to take dogs (!!!!!) I would leave that comment out and make the smoking one a little firmer so people will know that it wont smell of smoke,

the gaps between paragraphs and pictures on the places to visit page are different,

on your contact page you have 'enquiry' at the bottom and then write about the form underneath - which it isnt,

I can see your email address in your code, I would advise that you scamble that asap before you have the problems that I have had with spam,

try here http://www.golivecentral.com/pages/scramble.shtml

I know this looks like I am being picky, but I do think its a lovely site, its well layed out, its clear what it is for and where you are, dont worry about having lots of french guests,

good luck for the season,

[limousin-cottage]

Some excellent and very constructive comments there - thanks very much. I received an enquiry casasantoestevo - was that you? I can't even log in to check! My son-in-law is a graphic designer and he designed and looks after the site for me (when he has time - which is hardly ever!) I just have to keep nagging and nagging him before he gets around to doing it - which is extremely annoying. But then again, I'm not a paying customer. I have a link by the way to add a French version to the website - again waiting for said favourite son-in-law to add it for me. I think I'll just direct him to this thread as a hint!

[limousin-cottage]

I always try the contact forms! The one on the front page allows me to hit send without anything being filled in. You need some code to check that there is some information there.
After I hit the send button the page reloaded but I cannot see the top of that page. I cannot navigate any further. Even a refresh the browser or hitting the previous page does not clear this error. I had to click the link again. That is an odd error and I have no answer on how to over come this.
There are several HTML errors, which would help a lot with SEO. There are no meta tags for description, keywords or tile.
There are no H1, H2 etc text
There are no Alt tags for photos.
There is no robots txt file
Maybe change the about us title as that page is not about you more about the location and history of the property.

The site loads quickly and information is clearly laid out.

PS I like the old moped, is it yours.

No, it's not our moped! Wouldn't dare even ride a cycle on the country roads around here. You give a lot of technical info here - thank you - which I am going to pass on to my son-in-law as I don't understand it.

[cottageguru]

I will steer clear of the technicals - there's plenty of LMHers able to offer that - and will stick to aesthetics and functionality from a visitor viewpoint.

My first impression was good - a nice look and feel with attractive images. It might be better to have your location more prominent on the first page - there's no indication you are in
France until you read into the first paragraph.

In several areas on the home page you ask visitors to Read More..
You may be better served by briefly summarising the key information that visitors are looking for, on the home page rather than expecting them to go further into the site. For example, it is not immediately clear that you have internet access, and accept pets - both of which are must-have features for many potential clients - but if that information is not immediately available, you may lose them,

In the section on The Cottage you have your facilities and features shown within the text. It's not as easy to read as a bulleted list could be. You could consider breaking out the specific features guests have as their criteria for rental.

The best web sites don't make their site visitors work to find the information they want. They have clear navigation to pages where the information is clearly displayed.

May I also suggest that you make your About Us page a bit more personal, for example, what you love about the cottage and the region; how long you have owned it; why you bought it etc. This creates a bridge to a relationship with your prospective guests.

You have a great framework here to build an attractive and appealing site. I'll look forward to seeing it develop.

[limousin-cottage]

Thank you all, strangely, it just occurred to me that no-one has yet mentioned adding client's testimonials to the site. Good idea?

[Giddy Goat]

Speaking personally, yes of course - most websites have a Guestbook page I think. Have you enough feedback to include yet L-C?

[limousin-cottage]

Speaking personally, yes of course - most websites have a Guestbook page I think. Have you enough feedback to include yet L-C?

Not yet - but could ask the couple vacating at the end of this month!

[Giddy Goat]

Yes, do!

I have just been looking at our stat counter to see how many recent visitors get as far as our Guestbook page: roughly 15%, so it is worth adding. I don't know what others here think but even if you simply inlude a para on the page your link takes visitors to pro-tem, explaining that the cottage is new to the holiday rental market, and this section will become more populated over time, might help.

On some listing sites the properties new to the market (or new to the listing site) are highlighted, so clearly a "new" rental has a certain appeal to some: everything nice and fresh etc.

[Wendy@NorthIdaho]

Nice site, I really like the design of the pages, colors, and layout.

I'm not one to give technical advice since I don't know any

I did notice the location was found only by going to the "about us" page, maybe have a location page? or someway for a person to know where to find it easily. Also, as someone that doesn't like to rent a car outside of the US, I always like to see if a place is acessible by train, which one, how far from a major city and if a car is an absolute must for your location or if a person can get about with public transportation. So as a potential visitor I would be looking for that info.

Beautiful place!
Wendy

[Giddy Goat]

The best web sites don't make their site visitors work to find the information they want.

I agree with Heather and Wendy that the navigation is a bit clunky. I took a lot of advice from LMH when we first designed our site and ideally, you need to re-think your home page. You're making your visitor turn a few somersaults to collect the stuff that's important to them. Look at the home page as your shop window - mention how many bedrooms you have and how many it sleeps, where it is and a brief but juicy run-down on the region. Keep scrolling to a minimum.

The more detailed information should then be represented by separate tabs on the menu, ordered logically so people know the kind of info they will be getting when they click (= go into the shop and check the shelves!)

Currently, the links on your home page are:

(Menu)
home
about us (which as Ian and Irene pointed out, isn't about you)
places to visit
prices
pictures

(Body of the text)

contact us
Charming Self  Catering Holiday Cottage Sleeps upto 4
The Cottage
The Location
Things to do in Limousin, France
Weather in Limousin, France
Travel to Limousin, France

Fewer tabs with all the relevant info when they click is what you should be aiming for.

Typo alert: "it's" is short for "it is" ... common error and it won't lose you bookings but you look like a perfectionist to me!

You have a great framework here to build an attractive and appealing site. I'll look forward to seeing it develop.

Yes, me too.

[limousin-cottage]

I've just about given up on trying to operate the website successfully! Trying to keep up with the changes necessary is virtually impossible as I have to ask my son in law every time - then wait - sometimes even for weeks - until he gets around to it. (I know he is extremely busy but things like availability need keeping up to date) He's a very talented website designer (that's his job) but is more used to corporate websites, nightclubs, etc. He has won awards for designing NHS websites and promotional material, and has even just had a design and logo accepted for a French pate company (and guess who came up with the French logo - moi!) Anyway - I had a go with an iowners website myself - and use both, here and there.

He has eventually gotten around to adding a few new photos - but didn't think my exterior photos were good enough! We have been doing a lot of work to the garden, and they tactfully bought me a new camera for Mother's Day

So, now I have this new website:

http://www.self-catering-gite-in-france ... /home.html

This one I can make changes to myself - so fire away!

[Dotty]

I had a quick look at your iowners site - its looking good.
I use an iowners template and can confirm that its easy to edit and manage yourself.
Had a quick look at the map page, (to see if you are near our route down, as we usually stay overnight in the Limoges area) and your map opened up as a world map and when I zoomed in the pin was in the Girona region of Spain.