Website review

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.
BenG
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Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2021 4:42 pm
Location: Cambridge
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Website review

Post by BenG »

Hi all
We are just setting up ready to accept guests from 17th May and are very close with our website set up . It's mostly there, and you can access it by https://windmillholidaylets.co.uk/ and use the login 'horses' (the latter is because it's still in draft format, and will obviously be removed in due course).
But as it's pretty much there now, except for the booking button we are working on with eviivo, I thought it would be useful to get some feedback that we can work on in due course once it is handed over to us.
Thanks a lot! :D

ps we used a local web designer rather than PMP, as with three separate lets it seemed more cost effective, and better in the long run, to do things ourselves.
Not a high-flyer, more a high-faller with style
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
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Post by newtimber »

The cottages look lovely and you've done a great job at the conversions!

My main concern is your target market. The accommodation is all double beds, cottages for couples and yet the site seems to be aimed at children/families. The map of the site designed by your son, the names of the cottages and the signs all seem to say children welcome along with the indoor play area. It's only when you look in detail that you find out that the family isn't welcome.

You also need to let people know which cookies they are accepting. Are they all necessary for the functioning of the site? It appears to me they are just google analytics which is not necessary at all for the functioning of the site.


I am not at all sure that a 25% admin fee could ever be considered reasonable. (in the event of cancellations etc). As this https://competitionandmarkets.blog.gov. ... ed-fairly/ [/url] makes clear either you have a sliding scale based on how likely it is you will be able to re-let or you refund if you re-let less your reasonable costs.
BenG
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2021 4:42 pm
Location: Cambridge
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re: website review

Post by BenG »

Thanks for the detailed feedback, and glad you like the conversions!.
Yes, we originally were thinking of aiming for young family market as well, but as we are still bedding in the thought was to restrict this for the moment - similarly for allowing dogs, there's too much bare earth round the back where drains have been covered over the mess would be too much!
But I don't so much agree with the names and signage - these are horseshoes and the names are after horses who were born there, so we are being consistent with this history rather than thinking of a market, although it's how this is perceived by the customer that counts, of course!
The outbuilding accompanying is also really now a gym and communal area for people to relax and interact (when allowed to do so), so on the whole I think we're broadly consistent with our market (my son's map aside - we just thought that would add the personal touch, and he was keen...).
On the cookies we will check, likewise on the admin fee we will rethink - I'm sure we were going on what we've seen elsewhere, but who's to say these were reasonable either.
And again, thanks for these comments - much appreciated!
Not a high-flyer, more a high-faller with style
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
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Re: re: website review

Post by newtimber »

BenG wrote: But I don't so much agree with the names and signage - these are horseshoes and the names are after horses who were born there, so we are being consistent with this history rather than thinking of a market, although it's how this is perceived by the customer that counts, of course!
The main trouble with keeping referring to them as "stables", is the search engines will pick up this word and think your website is about stables which is not really what you want. I agree with the history and the names and the names are great, but by keeping referring to them throughout the website as stables, people are going to find your website who are looking for stables and not those looking for somewhere to stay themselves.
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CSE
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Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

I find the cookies tab showing on every page. Under GDPR you reasons for consent are not in compliance with this.
https://gdpr.eu/cookies/
Maybe this site will help you form something to suit your needs.
https://www.privacypolicies.com/blog/gd ... es-policy/ there are others available.
I have had some difficulty in trying to see if there are any coding errors or SEO omissions because of the sign in landing page. I can see some but a robot helps a lot on that. Until the landing page is removed I cannot help you further with that sector.
I think your statement about dogs is perhaps missing the word not. As in
Dogs are generally allowed on site with the exception of guide dogs.....
Several places you write about taking out insurance against Covid. But are there any available? If so are not the costs very high thus making it impossible for guests to meet your T&Cs? I wonder how that (and some other terms) fits under unfair T&Cs?
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
e-richard
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Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:33 am
Location: Algarve, Portugal
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Post by e-richard »

Just an anecdote. Take it or leave it.... (I am a self confessed geek)

When I saw that prominent button "Map of site" I yawned and wondered why a relatively small website with few pages needed a sitemap and why the link was so prominent, so avoided it. :cry:

I hope you know what I mean by "site map"? Its a term used on many websites to link to an index of all the pages.

So, perhaps something more evocative to indicate us to the layout of the facilities? :D
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

Just a couple of things to consider. The site is very slow to load on a mobile phone - this was very noticeable. Not so good when people are looking at individual sites to find one that suits them. It may cause people to leave your site rather than wait for it to load if they are pressed for time or tired.

Some more photos would be good, including the immediate area and wider location.

Do you accept dogs? It’s very helpful to state that very prominently on the first page.

Probably the most controversial point is, that if the property title is “The Stables” then the word “Stable” should have a capital letter in most cases in the text. However I also agree the point above about search engine terms and how “stable” will show up is one for serious consideration.
BenG
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Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2021 4:42 pm
Location: Cambridge
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re: website review

Post by BenG »

Thanks all for your additional / detailed comments. The website is now live, which I think will sort some if not all of the cookies issue. We have also implemented some of the corrections / typos and will change more when we gain control of it.
It's been a huge effort to get to this point, but we are well aware this is just the end of the beginning and not the beginning of the end :)
Not a high-flyer, more a high-faller with style
Nigel Goodwin
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Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:50 pm
Location: Newquay Cornwall
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Post by Nigel Goodwin »

I have to agree, the prominent and repeated use of the word stables is very off putting, and to be honest are potential guests in the slightest bit concerned about how lovely the horses were? They want to know how many rooms, what facilities, what beds. The word stable makes them expect a cramped studio with a slight fragrance of hay.

On the other hand, you have to go to the availability page to see some relevant photos. The evivo site took for ever to come up, and then I found photos of swimming pool etc. which could have been on your own site.

Also it needs to be clear what facilities are private and which are communal.

The descriptiption talks about kitchens and living room - or is the leather sofa in the kitchen? I don't see any photos of the layout of the 'stable', so I would pass and move on. I am not going to download any map of the site, I assume map of the site is how to get to the site, a map of the loacl area?

Isn't £980 a bit pricy for a week in June for a stable with shared facilities?

Aha - finally found some photos of one of the stables, dining table might be OK for two but no more. 'Leather sofa' looks a bit of a museum piece.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Post by Pengman »

I just did a search on ‘Eviivo’ and found this post. Checking Ben G’s site, I notice he currently has the same issue with his booking page as we have with ours - the Eviivo booking calendar is currently down so guests can’t see at a glance when his property is free. It’s been this way since last Friday 21st May and possibly earlier. Over the last weekend I was told on a chat session that it would be up by Monday but it’s not. Today they said within 24 to 48 hours, maybe less, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not impressed. Why would anyone search on dates when they haven’t got a clue if they’ll be available?

Another gripe with Eviivo - I recently commissioned a new photo shoot of my property and the photos uploaded fine to a number of sites- but not Eviivo’s. I’ve had a load of problems trying to upload them and now I’ve been sent an email containing resizing and editing advice, none of which is available on their website, one item of which suggests I’ve had the photos shot in the wrong width to height ratio. I’m livid!
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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