I'm starting to go round and round now...

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.
sazzleevans
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Location: costa de la luz
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I'm starting to go round and round now...

Post by sazzleevans »

Hi

My new websites been live since Easter. I got bogged down with it and so left for while. Now I'm revisiting it and jigging things about. I need to reshape my apartment page. I'm just after feedback as sometimes you just can't see the obvious when you design something yourself.

I'd really appreciate some feedback on the site.

Www.islacanelaholidays.com

Thanks!!!!
Sarah
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

Haven't looked except to click and come straight back here to tell you that you have a typo staring me in the face straight away - on the photo streaming - "captavated"
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

Thank you!!! I'm dyslexic so can never spot them!!
tavi
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Post by tavi »

Hi,

Just had a quick look...

I love the home page - I like the captions on the initial slider photos. It's all clear and inviting.

The highlights -
where you say 4th floor - think you should say if there's a lift (or not)
sleeps 5 - think you should say .....in two bedrooms.


photos - think you shouldn't have people in the interior shots, newspapers on bed, teacups on table... I think generally guests want to feel it's all theirs, to imagine themselves there - not sharing with someone else.



8)
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

That's great feedback!! I will add about the lift! Ver good point. We have a lift that services just 3 apartments on each floor and the lift entrance is right outside out apartment so that's something I should add!!! Yes, I need to be vela about then sleeping arrangements! We have a sofa bed in the lounge too.

My husband agrees with you on the personalisation of the photos. In torn. It helps me to imagine being somewhere. Maybe I'm alone on that one though lol

Thanks!!!!!!!! I'll add those details!

Do you think the apartment page is too long?
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

The word 'hub' only had one 'b' - see 'colourful hubb'. And I agree, no people in the photos - including kids. There will be adults who want to book and the children might suggest that it is geared towards families.

I don't know the first thing about catching the eye of a search engine, but should your headline say something more about where you are? I've never heard of Isla Canela, and I guess that unless they are already a regular visitor a Googler won't use that search term.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

Just quickly as I am dipping in and out and busy doing other things in between.... I hadn't heard of Isla Canela either - suggests an island to me, but it isn't, is it? On the borders of Portugal and Spain I gather from your blurb so might be helpful to Spain/Portugal border somewhere in there in your description (sorry, if you have this on another page, I have only looked at two so far). I like your local guide page. Difficult being dyslexic I know - perhaps get your husband to proof read? Coast of Light, not Cost of Light!
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

That's guys!! I do the blog every day and it a quick hit when I have 3 seconds so the dyslexia really goes to town! It helps SEO
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

It's a strange place ;-) It's an island hence the name Cineman Island. It's reached through wetlands which are a nature reserve.

I've been playing the SEO game for quite a few years on page one of the search "Isla Canela" you'll find all the top tour operators and for the first time this year I come above first choice. That's a bit of vanity though as very few of my booking come from my website!
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

sazzleevans wrote:
I've been playing the SEO game for quite a few years on page one of the search "Isla Canela" you'll find all the top tour operators and for the first time this year I come above first choice.
Which is fantastic if you are searching specifically for your location, but I wonder if you could work on extending your appeal to a wider market. If you'd never been there before and had never heard of it, what might your search terms be?
Last edited by Casscat on Sun Jul 05, 2015 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

No, your right I don't think you would search unless you knew the place but I am happy with capturing that market. It's big! I only have the one place so that would do me lol

The website defo helps with conversations. I do get booking from it but wondering why people prefer listing sites. It is importing with all my social media work though. I get about 50/50 repeats and website and 50 holiday rental portals. The completion is quite steep in Isla Canela. There are hundreds for rent! It's just keeping ahead!!

I have added some text now to my apartment page more about our location. Not sure it it's a bit long now?
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

A nice example of how to use a Wordpress theme and make it work with your own content. I like the general look and feel of the site.

There were only a few areas where I found it confusing. Sometimes a line of text would be colored and I thought it was a link but wasn't. Also some images seem to be placed to fill out spaces but again I wasn't sure if they were links or not. I found myself moving the mouse around a lot to see which parts were URLs and which weren't. For example a grid of images in the travel page. I thought that might be a link to your photos but it wasn't.

The online message thingy is something I tried myself and decided it was too irritating for visitors. Nothing worse than a pop up when you first visit a site. If your visitors want to contact you, they will click on Contact Us and don't need something pushed in their face.

Some of the images were oversized by a huge % which is unusual for Wordpress. I would try one of the image optimisers to fix the images which are slowing down your site. There are some nice free plugins for that.

As others have already said, I would ditch the family photos. I'm sure they had fun but it makes me feel I'll be sharing with them.
Last edited by kevsboredagain on Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

Thank you! I've toned down the page which had most of my family albums on it :-)

http://islacanelaholidays.com/our-apartment-2/

I need to look photo size. I created the website on my iPad rather than on a computer so I probably missed the issues with the flying mouse!!! I'll have to sort that out!!!!!
sazzleevans
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Post by sazzleevans »

Don't you want to stay with my kids lol
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

This is very quick so it's just about what hit me on a quick look - which is probably the kind of feedback you need!

I'd never heard of your location so would definitely like a bit more info on the index page. It actually sounds like an interesting place - so sell it to me before I click away.

Please get rid of the contact pop up and chat stuff. Nothing annoys me more than having to close a window or two before I can get on with what I've clicked onto the site for! So many sites seem to have them now that it makes surfing a real trial, not a pleasure - to me it's the equivalent of cold calling :?

There's a bit of duplication in your local guide - the birthday photo from your guest appears three times! Otherwise I like the guide.

And yes - lose those kids! You might love them, but I don't want to see them :wink: . Sorry ...
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