BK Villa

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.
fariszaini
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 2:59 pm
Location: Malaysia
Contact:

BK Villa

Post by fariszaini »

Hi guys,

I hope all of you have been doing well. Honest to god, I started building my first website like two years ago and it was really really ugly. I used the colour green as my background to showcase us being surrounded in nature and it was awful.

So a few months have pass by, I finally manage to create a new website with the help of squarespace and fellow forum friends. I know my new website isnt that great but I can assure you it is atleast 10 times better than the first one.

I hope you guys can take some time to check it out and could perhaps point out things that I might have missed or improve better. I would really appreciate that.

On another note, might be a bit misleading from this section. As we are located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I have been trying to expose my place to the world. At the moment, I have my place listed on Airbnb, Homeaway and VRBO. Truth be told, the listing side is not doing so good. Well Airbnb is kind of great, but for the past few months I havent been getting any bookings off Homeaway and VRBO.

So, if you could perhaps guide me on how do i market my place to the world would truly be appreciated.

Okay, interesting fact of the day. Our currency the Malaysian Ringgit is dropping really low now. It's like USD 1 to RM 4, best time for you folks to head on over to Malaysia for some sunnies.

Appreciate your kind help guys ! Oh ye, before i forgot my website is www.Bk-Villa.com

Regards,
Faris Zaini
Hi im new here so i hope you can show me the ropes. Thanks!

Do check out my own website

www.Bk-Villa.com
e-richard
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:33 am
Location: Algarve, Portugal
Contact:

Post by e-richard »

Its a beautiful website and conveys a lifestyle, but from a relatively short browse (which is all most guests will do) I cannot fathom what it is you offer, what it costs and whether its available.

I think you have tree houses for 2 or 3 people.
I assume that 1+1 = 2 and 2+1 = 3. But why not say 2 or 3 people - its all just a tiny bit confusing especially when I see photos of dining room for 10 people. What is that ?

I think that if you want me to book, I can only do this at Airbnb and then pay them a booking fee or else I have to go through a long laborious process with you.

I'm sorry if all the above sounds harsh. Its only meant as examples of what needs improving. Remember you only have 15-30 seconds to capture your website visitor. If you have not got her by then, she's gone.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
User avatar
Nemo
Posts: 7062
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

Ditto e-richards comments.

Superficially it looks lovely but now you need to drill down and provide the key information in places where the guests will see it.

The first thing I see filling my screen is a photo inviting me to book now. Why? I haven't even viewed the property yet, why would I want to book before browsing? I wasn't sure whether I needed to click that (which I wouldn't) but then saw I need to scroll down. I'd reduce the size of that picture for starters so that I can see a little more of the rest of the page.

Prices, availability? You've lost me already as I can't see where to find that information. Make a list of the key information someone needs to have, before they can decide to book, and then provide it in the clearest possible way.
Soupdragon
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:13 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Post by Soupdragon »

You've got great copy writing (although there's some tiny grammatical points which are easily fixed) and gorgeous images. Sells it really well. Then you miss the chance to convert the desire you're creating into action because it's far too difficult to find out:

- what's included in the price (housekeeping?)
- if any of the villas are available on the dates I want
- how many people they sleep (better for the small one, that's quite clear)
- how much it might cost
- what the details of arrival/departure are (what time? How to find us)
- what the process for booking is
- what happens if things go wrong?

You just need to think a bit more about adding those bits in and how your visitors will navigate. Ideally put the most striking 20% selling points onto the landing page, then signpost really clearly where people need to go to get answers to the practical stuff, and also signpost clearly the next 80% of gorgeousness.

Hope that helps....and stick around, I think a lot of people could learn from your copy!
User avatar
kevsboredagain
Posts: 3207
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:32 am
Location: France
Contact:

Post by kevsboredagain »

I'm confused too. Straight away it invites me to "Book now" Book what? You have to state your product on the home page or people will simply not look further.

I did look a bit further and was still a bit confused. Is it a blog? I was able to add a comment without any resistance whatsoever. I hope you are prepared for the spam which will come your way with this feature enabled.

The site has potential but needs structure. As has already been said, visitors need to know prices and availability as well as know with more certainty what you are offering.

What exactly is 2+1? To me that makes 3
User avatar
Casscat
Posts: 2692
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:43 pm

Post by Casscat »

Beautiful photos, very evocative, but requiring an awful lot of click through to get to basic info - and even then I could see no pricing(?) As a prospective guest I want to be tempted in by 'the dream' (i.e. stunning pics) but thereafter I want a combination of salivatory narrative that will make me want to mortgage my mother to fund my trip and cold, hard, practical facts. Go back and look at it with fresh eyes. If it wasn't yours and you chanced upon it would the site give you what you needed to actually book? Please don't misunderstand - you have created a lovely looking site but is it accomplishing what you set out to achieve? Why would I 'book now' when I have absolutely no idea as to what that might mean monetarily?

Oh, and never forget that people don't scroll unless the requirement is very obvious( i.e. big arrow pointing downwards with 'scroll down for more' instruction in neon). They will click to change a screen but most will not know that they have to scroll to engage with 90% of your site.
fariszaini
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 2:59 pm
Location: Malaysia
Contact:

Post by fariszaini »

Thank you all for taking your time to review my website and I truly appreciate the effort. I will be trying my best to answer each and everyone’s question. All of you had provide really helpful feedback that I can use to further improve my
website. Since, everyone is asking roughly the same questions all of these is addressed to you guys. I apologize for not being able to address each one of you.

Firstly,

The reason I put 2 + 1 and 1 + 1 because the villa has only 2 rooms and the + 1 is an additional room, I feel like I would be cheating them if I said that I have 3 rooms. The 2 + 1 Villa (Kala) is suitable for family, it is really spacious. Although we have big dining table, in Malaysia no one uses the dining table unless for occasion when someone came over to visit. Usually we would be eating at the smaller table located outside.

I see what you’re saying but do you think I should put 3 Villa Bedroom instead? Kala, our main villa has 3 rooms and each is equipped with a queen sized bed while Jane & Tarzan (1 + 1 Villa) has a master bedroom with a queen size bed and an additional room with a super single bed. Perhaps I could change 2 + 1 Villa to 3 instead but do you think I can make the 1 + 1 Villa into 2 Bedroom Villa considering the + 1 room can only fit 1 guest.

Another question, when you click the Type of Three House tab, instead of drop down button revealing the 2 + 1 Bedroom or 1 + 1. Would it be better if I label the name instead such as Kala and Jane & Tarzan? It seems that many does not realize that is the name maybe because of poor labeling. I will definitely have to improve this page further.

Now, for the big slider has been set to fill up 2/3 out of the screen but I think in some cases where a different monitor was used it filled up the whole monitor.

Okay, the big question. Thank you for pointing this out, I would like to ask for an opinion. The reason I did not put the prices in because I feel like visitors tend to check out my website and upon seeing the prices they tend to run away. It seems that If they were indeed interested they would be trying to contact me and I would have that moment to convince them to stay with us.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still new at this I might be wrong so I would like to know base on your experience should I put my prices up?

In regards to the availability, since we are newly operated with a high tier product we don’t get much customers for now. I am really scared that if visitors saw our availability calendar and there are no bookings whatsoever, it might make them think ‘Huh? There is no one staying here for the next 6 months.’ That would make them lose their confidence in me.

Again, I would like to ask for everyone’s advice, in this case should I still put up an availability calendar?

This is specifically to Soupdragon, thank you so much for taking your time to help me out. I would love to incorporate all these new ideas but I just have a question. Do you think I should be putting some of these questions such as the last three question into a FAQ page or should I just throw the info such as booking process into the bookings page?

I am still a greenhorn at this but I am sure with everyone's guidance that I would be better at this. I cant stress enough how thankful I am that everyone pitch in together to help me out.

Kevs, If you don't mind I'm browsing through your website to see how do you address your product on your home page. Something that I can learn further.

e-richard, it's true and been bothering me for sometime now, if guest were to book with me they would have to go through a laborious process. In this day and age, guest would like to be able to pay online straight away. I'm still trying to find a good availability calendar with online payment getaway. I have heard that your PMS System is pretty good, something that i might consider in the near future. Before that tho, I need to list down the low-mid-high season and set prices accordingly. At the moment, I'm just using the same price everyday, still not knowing whats the high or low season is (Considering not having many people yet D:).

Regards,
Faris Zaini
Hi im new here so i hope you can show me the ropes. Thanks!

Do check out my own website

www.Bk-Villa.com
e-richard
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:33 am
Location: Algarve, Portugal
Contact:

Post by e-richard »

I like your approach to full transparency.
The general convention for your 2+1 issue is to just refer in the headlines to "sleeps 3", then you can talk about the detailed bedroom layout deeper down inside the detail.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
User avatar
Casscat
Posts: 2692
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:43 pm

Post by Casscat »

fariszaini wrote: Okay, the big question. Thank you for pointing this out, I would like to ask for an opinion. The reason I did not put the prices in because I feel like visitors tend to check out my website and upon seeing the prices they tend to run away. It seems that If they were indeed interested they would be trying to contact me and I would have that moment to convince them to stay with us.
If they can't afford it they can't afford it whether you reveal the pricing or not. I may fall in love with a property on the internet but without prices my starting point is either 'I can't afford it' or 'I probably can't afford it.' I would probably jog on to something that I loved and still couldn't afford, but at least I could be tempted to stretch my budget because I know how far I have to reach to touch that star.
User avatar
teapot
Posts: 842
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:08 am
Location: Loire valley

Post by teapot »

Love the pool 8)
Passivpool Energy "A" rated Swimming Pools, the most efficient, lowest running cost pools in the world
Gordo
Posts: 188
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:59 pm
Location: UK, Spain, Ireland

Post by Gordo »

Fantastic looking property... after seeing the pics I want to go there!!!

Sadly, I fear very few people browsing the home page will go any further though. You absolutely MUST install some sort of "hook" there ANYTHING that will make a first impression that compels the prospective browser to want to see more.

As many have said the "book now" is completely in the wrong place. Yes it's great to have that type of call to action but it needs to go in much further down.

If it were me I'd...

1. Replace that mass of wasted space and 'book now' perhaps with a large photobox. Either use a single pic or better still a few that auto-scroll sideways. By the look of that location I think a short video might work really well.

2. Think logically of where to move that 'book now' call to action. Personally I'd make it smaller and consider extending it with a few words to give a reason to book now. Then you could throw that in at least 3 or 4 different places depending on where your prospective booker is most likely to be persuaded - and that's NEVER at the start! (hook them, nail a foot to the floor with your copy/pics, then throw in the call to action).

3. With 2+1 you sound almost apologetic about that third space. Think glass half full versus half empty e.g. it's an "extra", "plus" or a "bonus". You can explain more as the guest drills down for more info (so it's not cheating) but keep it as a positive on the first impression.

4. Definitely need to put prices on otherwise you'll always be a busy fool answering enquiries but taking no bookings.

5. For the sake of £118 (£69+£49) might be worth throwing all that content at promotemyplace (for example) and letting them put it together for you.

6. As a listing I'd try it on HomeAway on pay per rental basis and reckon it would fly out

So how do I get to claim my free week?!!! LOL ;)
Happiness is a journey not a destination,
So work like you don’t need the money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
and Dance like no one’s watching…
Post Reply