Comments welcomed on website usability

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.
NuBeginnings
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Comments welcomed on website usability

Post by NuBeginnings »

Hi all,
New to the forum, we are not in the strict sense a holiday let.
I would appreciate any feed back on the layout of our website and how easy you found it too use.
NuBeginningsFrance

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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Hi and welcome to LMH
The website just does not work for me at all.
Click on a link, like the video or one of the menu buttons and it opens up a new tab in my FF.
I did not go beyond 2 pages and the video.
NuBeginnings
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Post by NuBeginnings »

Thanks for the heads up, the video seems to work fine on Safari however I tried Firefox and it was hanging so will have a look at that tomorrow.
I have been contributing to Total France for over a year. Things are going well but it has been a steep learning curve French administration and a crash course in historic building renovation.
But over all the quality of life in France is great much better weather and I get to horse ride much more.
So Viva La France
Edit strange I just replied to a post that seems to have vanished.
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

I personally find the scrolling banner of magazines distracting, and I think it makes you look a bit "cheap" which I'm sure is not the look you are going for.

I would also flip over the picture of the video and the chateau. To me the chateau is the big selling point, if people are interested in the video they will scoll down for it.

I am also a little sceptical about your phrasing "unparalleled luxury". We fhave had lots of discussions about the word luxury, and I personnally have no problem with it. But I think that "unparalleled" is just setting yourself up for a fall.

this is an example of 5 star luxury chateau bedrooms. I'm not saying that yours aren't nice, but I think that places like this are perhaps a little higher on the luxury scale.[/url]
gam
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Post by gam »

In your post title you've asked for comments on site usability. I'm guessing from that you mean can a visitor find the info they might need easily and does it all work in a technical sense?

I'm afraid the answer to that, in my opinion, is no, not really.

Overall, I found myself overwhelmed by all the gizmos, things that move, magazine layout and generally jumbled up appearance. As a consequence that left me underwhelmed by your offering. I can see that you want to portray style and elegance but it all comes across as a bit tacky.

In terms of navigation you have in effect two menus at the very top of the screen offering a total of 35 menu items. Each one of those, at least in my browser, opens up a new tab. Too much and very aggravating.

The scrolling banner of magazines is distracting and annoying. This too seeks to open a pdf for every magazine if you click on a picture - again in a new tab.

The static video takes up a large portion of the screen real estate with a huge play button sitting over a slightly startled looking presenter. Click on this and yet again it opens another tab but bizarrely, with a much smaller video box.

Equally bizarrely, your photos on your page aren't hyperlinked to larger versions or a gallery.

No idea if the "Free Personal BMI Report" bit works. I'm not sure how personal it can be. BMI is just a weight/height calculation. It just looks like a thinly disguised attempt to get a visitors email address and the cut out coupon effect just adds to the cheap feel.

Were I in the market for a "luxury" weight loss boot camp and could afford £2500 for a week, I don't think your site would draw me in sufficiently to discover what you had to offer. It's just not coming across as "luxury". It is coming across as shouty.

Which is all a great shame as, by persevering with your site, I can see that you have a lovely place and offer a service which I am sure is desirable to your potential customers. I think "less is more" should be your approach. Draw your visitors in with beautiful photos of beautiful things accompanied by appropriate and discrete text (disable your bold button). Let them find what they want through exploration and don't try to bombard them with the first page. Then I think you'll achieve the desired result.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Something very fundamental: nowhere on the site could I find where the château is and how to get there. Did I miss something, and if I did, is it possible other visitors to the site have done so too? All I could find was the postal address and then, by googling I could see it on the map, and further googling revealed that it's in Indre-et-Loire.
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964kevin
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Post by 964kevin »

Lose the video, puts me off straight away. Put it in testimonials or somewhere.
Lose the banner display, as others have said it looks like a cheapened site and it puts me off, anything that has scrolling/flashing/distracting images immeadiately makes me think low rent desperate.

It does have potential, if you could de-clutter it.

Sorry, just my 2 cents.


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NuBeginnings
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Post by NuBeginnings »

Thank you for the feed back.

The presenter is not a "presenter" its a video testimonial montage.

I get what your saying about the banners being distracting I agree that they are. But on the flip side statistically most people that come to our site are in the market for a retreat, the magazine article are a good convincer. If you are siting on the fence, they are independent revues and can help set some ones mind at rest.

Unparalleled luxury is a bold statement and I agree can set us up for a fall not the case thus far. However unparalleled luxury as a weight loss retreat is a factual statement 90% of the competition world wide cant compete with what we offer accommodation wise. Many retreats have shared bathrooms or dormitories ;-(
I must say the link to the chateaueza was rather nice I may just have to take my partner there for her birthday !

Hyperlinked pictures had not thought about that will implement ;-)

BMI report works well and is also a useful marketing tool.

Giddy Goat direction are under contact at the top right of the page http://www.nubeginningsfrance.com/contact.php

Thank you for the feed back most useful
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

As I said, they are not immediately evident, (directions are three further clicks away!) and the only reference to the surroundings on the home page is the statement "set in some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe."

Surely some of your clients would be looking to tie in a few days/ a week or whatever of pampering with a tour of the region: Loire valley eg, or even Paris. Unless you're already getting enough bookings then talking about the area, how to get there, (ie nearest airports etc) is an important aspect of your marketing? :)
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NuBeginnings
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Post by NuBeginnings »

Giddy Goat wrote:As I said, they are not immediately evident, (directions are three further clicks away!) and the only reference to the surroundings on the home page is the statement "set in some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe."

Surely some of your clients would be looking to tie in a few days/ a week or whatever of pampering with a tour of the region: Loire valley eg, or even Paris. Unless you're already getting enough bookings then talking about the area, how to get there, (ie nearest airports etc) is an important aspect of your marketing? :)
On the contact page there is a download directions (Word DOC)
However I am going to make some changes to that as there is not enough info on it. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

Our clients come to stay to take part in the program, they don't generally leave the grounds unless they are off for a hike !
Too much temptation out there lol

Out of 232 clients last year 18 stayed in Paris for a couple of extra days before they flew home. 8 drove 35 came in to a local air port the rest flew in to Paris then took the train down.
I am vert statistic orientated, thus I like google analytics as you can see what visitors you have had on your site what pages they have looked at and for how long at where they are from ;-)
Incidentally most came to us not actually because of the location but because what we offer, however we chose the chateau because we fell in love with it and the location is beautiful and we are only 1hr20 from Paris.
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Post by pepsipuss »

I would have to agree with pretty well everything that has already been said and would underline the difficulty of justifying 'unparalleled'. You say 90% of the competition worldwide cannot compete then presumably 10% CAN and that means that ten percent are on a par and you are not unparalleled. In any event this is pretty dangerous territory and opens you up to all sorts of complaints should you fail to deliver on even the smallest item.

To me it is all too cluttered and slightly tacky for something which is supposed to be 'luxury'. Sorry.
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Post by e-richard »

NuBeginnings wrote:I get what your saying about the banners being distracting I agree that they are. But on the flip side statistically most people that come to our site are in the market for a retreat, the magazine article are a good convincer. If you are siting on the fence, they are independent revues and can help set some ones mind at rest.
OK, you have a point about the importance of the reviews, but bear in mind how you present this.


Here is a very simple article on web design no-nos that is worth reading. See numbers 4 and 5
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NuBeginnings
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Post by NuBeginnings »

e-richard wrote:
NuBeginnings wrote:I get what your saying about the banners being distracting I agree that they are. But on the flip side statistically most people that come to our site are in the market for a retreat, the magazine article are a good convincer. If you are siting on the fence, they are independent revues and can help set some ones mind at rest.
OK, you have a point about the importance of the reviews, but bear in mind how you present this.


Here is a very simple article on web design no-nos that is worth reading. See numbers 4 and 5
Interesting website with some useful tips thank you for the link, I like the content slider which is a good alternative to rolling text.
I will have a look to see what the site will look like with a content slider.
I take the point about rolling "text" looking like some thing out of the 90s ;-) However its not text but a slow rolling magazine cover which does stop rolling when you hover the mouse over it.

As for unparalleled I opened my self up for a fall ;-) 10% of our competitors compete in certain aspects but not all.
We are not a 5* Hotel but a 5* boutique weight loss retreat there is a big difference. I would never use the term unparalleled if we were competing against a 5* boutique hotel.
Saying that we have just been reviewed by Tatler and they have put us in to there 101 best spas for 2012 which is rather a good accolade. Its not on our site yet but have attached a link to the scan of the article.
http://s1116.photobucket.com/albums/k56 ... ents-1.jpg
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964kevin
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Post by 964kevin »

You'll probalby take a disliking to me for this, however.

You asked for feedback, and have then defended your decision to do what you did in the first place, negating some very qualified opinions here.

I think a step back, deep breath and take it with a pinch of salt, how do I know, because I went through the same defensive it's my baby process.

Kevin
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gam
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Post by gam »

NuBeginnings - Please take this as positive criticism as that's certainly my intention.

I do feel that you are being overly defensive about the content when other than the discussion about whether "unparalleled" is reasonable or not, pretty much all other criticism has been about the presentation of the content, not the content itself.

Quite possibly the LMH membership doesn't sit squarely in your target demographics, but as a group they are mostly professional people running successful businesses. There's quite a weight of opinion (no pun intended) saying your website isn't attractive or engaging. Adjectives used like "tacky", "cheap", "annoying", "cluttered" and "low rent desperate" must surely give you some concern? Of the seven people to respond to your request for feedback, all have been pretty damning about the look and feel and that's not going to be fixed with the odd tweak here or there.
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