Website reviews wanted please!

[PLF]

Hi, I've just registered on LMH to get some opinions on what we may be missing with our site. A quick summary of us and the site is below:

We've been open for 12 years; I built our current site three years ago after we decided that it was time to have our own site having previously relied on websites similar to farmstay etc.

The site is built using wix.com, it is a flash site but ranks pretty well for our county and generates a fair bit of traffic.

We run google analytics so have a good idea of our site stats.

We are aiming for families, longer term lets and business users. Repeat bookings feature highly within our customer profile.

We don't use any of the major agencies or on-line listing sites, I don't feel we need their expense or commission dipping in to our income.

I know and understand the SEO limitations of flash sites; we seem to be ok in this regard and are lucky that we are in an area that has a limited amount of competition. I've looked at a few options regarding html5 etc but until I feel I can reproduce a site similar to our current one I'm not looking to change from flash.

Here is what I would like from the reviews please:

Do I need a better availability calendar? We have looked a few times at the options available and I can't find a service that really looks right with our current format. We don't want to offer full on-line booking at this time as we find personal contact with customers often results in changes to arrangements which may not take place otherwise.

Are the pictures that we have on the site ok? Some of them are getting quite old now but we've shied away from including lots of interior shots in the past as it's our location that we feel sells our cottages more than a picture of the bathroom!

Do we tell potential visitors enough about the cottages and facilities that we offer?

I've run an SEO tool on our site, it suggests that I ought to be more than doubling my key word density (my main ones are Northamptonshire, holiday cottages, self catering) within my text but I feel that it will become too obvious that I am dropping these words in for effect rather than for a purpose if that makes sense. What do you think?

Any other comments will obviously be gratefully appreciated but these points are my main concern at the moment.

Many thanks,

Mark (oh and the site is www.meadowviewcottages.co.uk)

[Pmagowan]

Only looking at the mobile site at present; looks good, definitely needs more photos and internal shots. I don't see that you need your 'accordion' style text as this just adds another click when there really isn't enough text to justify it. This is probably best used on a standard site where there would be excessive scrolling without it. I like that the gallery uses the phones swipe gestures. As for availability calendars have a look at PIMS from eRichard of this parish.
I will have a look at your main site later

[Pmagowan]

Ok, looking at it on Safari;

Your Facebook text goes off the visible page. You use very small text and do not make full use of the size of the screen. The gallery definitely need some more images of the properties. To me it seems slightly too forced to have a large block of text for each property with a mini-gallery ticking away. I prefer the standard layout of a non-flash website but I suppose this is just personal opinion. It would allow for a more user-influenced control.

Re availability calendars; I would say yes. A good calendar is essential. otherwise it is similar to being in a shop with no price tags and having to constantly ask. this is prime information and people will want to know exact availability and prices.

Re Keywords; I would say design the site for humans not SEO. I think this is one of the problems of Flash as you perhaps have less opportunity for inserting keywords and images with keyword titles.

Once again, overall the site is very good and I am just picking holes for constructive purposes. many of the points I make may be more personal preference than anything else.

[Nemo]

Just a quick look. I would definitely get an availability calendar.

I don't like sliding, moving photos. It's far better to have a slideshow that you click on if desired. Moving objects are very distracting otherwise.

Sentences dropping down, as on the price availability page and pages sliding in from sideways is very dated I think!

No Gallery? You do yourself a disservice without one. Lots of photos of every room please - that's what guests want.

Lovely properties, but I think a cleaner site without all the moving sliding objects would do you a better service.

[madmikefrog]

Hi,

It great to see a website not far from where I live, just down the road in Rutland. I was having a look in the what to do which is great.

I found the paragraph text a little small to read on the home page and the weather at the bottom a distraction from the main message. Maybe add some white space before the weather


My fav page was the contact us.

Kind regards

[PLF]

Thanks for the comments so far, I will certainly have to look at the scaling of the page as I thought it was set to automatically scale, maybe not though?! Likewise the facebook button, I've obviously made the mistake of thinking as it works in my browser it works in all so some more tweaking there too and next time I will try some different resolutions when proofing it too.

I'm not massively surprised you feel it is dated, I'm often accused of being behind the times so it follows through really! I have noticed the trend in recent times for very clean site layouts without clutter so this will be my next project, html5 may prove a better option than flash for that as it will reduce the options for slidey moving things but it will mean a new site build. In the meantime I will have a look at de-cluttering the current layout.

Regarding the mobile site, I'd forgotten I'd done that when I posted above and it really does need some more time spent on it. The last time I had a play with it the editor was fairly limited, I think it's improved since then so it will join de-cluttering on the to-do list. Google Analytics shows a huge % increase in mobile device vs desktop visits in the last 6 months so it will become increasingly important in the future.

Once again thanks for the comments so far, I'm returning the favour with some reviews etc of my own and appreciate you taking the time with this.

Mark

[Damien Meuzac]

Hi

So even though it's outdated, at least you have a website, it's very very important

You need a proper photo galleries for your properties, especially where the guests can select the pictures, or click through the slideshow and not be at the mercy of those sliding pictures. and use some professional pictures! It's one of the most important thing to sell you place, your pictures.

If you can't afford to pay a professional, try some bartering (offering free nights in exchange). Or at least get a savy amateur that can take good pictures but also stage the rooms to look great on pictures. Get pictures of every bedroom (I do insist on every), kitchen, living room, other rooms if you have, some bathrooms (you don't need all of those )

Also if you could put a contact form or number/email on your homepage would be great, to be much more visible than the small "contact us" link that you have.

I like the fact that you have the weather on the homepage, and well placed too.

[twinhope]

Hi.

The review I am giving on your site is from the perspective of a potential guest. I am searching for a place for our vacation next year so have been looking at lots of sites. First, I noticed that you did not have many photos of the interior of the home. I need to see what the bedrooms look like and also the kitchen setup. Also I find the pictures are changing too fast if you wanted to have a really good look. It is nice to let guests know what the weather is like but it seems to be one of the most important parts of your main page. Also, I think your font should be a little darker. I know how difficult it is to set up a website and I think you did a good job. I have decided to start reviewing some of the sites that ask for reviews because I have a site I made and someday (once I feel brave) I may ask for a review so wanted to give some reviews first. I think it is very important to have your own site and I do receive guests from our site. (I have no idea how they find us.) . All the best

Sharon

[newtimber]

I agree with Nemo and Twinhope.
The sliding photos are so distracting. I want to click on a photo and study it in detail or read some text (which could do with some more paragraphs/spacing/sub-headings) without having anything else moving around on the screen.