6 year old website revamp near completion - please comment

[fincafern]

I posted a little while ago asking for criticism for our old site.
The site is nearly completely remodelled, except for location page, which the web man is still working on and some photos that have yet to go on activities plus a link.
The new site must have worked though, because we have had 4 new bookings since it went live in partial state.
However, we would still like to ask your opinions whilst we still have time to ask him to make changes.
It is google rank page 1 for some parts, whatever that means, 4th place 6th and 8th depending on search.
He has told me I need to spend an hour a day on the net optimising and rank improvement, etc., but I haven't a clue what he is on about ! Can someone advise me how to do that in plain English ?
At least it doesn't look like an old folks home anymore, at least I hope you don't think it still does !

[Ju]

Wow - what a difference.

I really like it, ant the photos are great.

My only comment would be that there are too many photos on the slide show. I would pick the best photo for each room. I noticed on one of them a really good picutre of the kitchen, followed by another from a different angle which was a bit of a let down, the same with one of the dining room.

Other than that I don't have much to offer.

Ju

Edit - I've just notice that it doesn't make it clear right at the beginning that this is a villa for holiday rentals. You need to tell people what you are selling up front. your tag line (or whatever that little bit at the top of a tag is called) has it but the page itself doesn't.

[Martha]

it looks really lovely!!

a few comments...the text here:
http://www.fincafernandez.co.uk/accom.htm

could really do with being broken up a bit more to be easily scannable - perhaps some bullet points with the main info?

I agree that a strapline would be good - at the moment the words " Grounds Gardens and Golf Slideshow" is the first thing you see which is a bit confusing...

I think it's great to lead with the pics as they really are lovely, but perhaps a little bit of intro first, then the slideshows? Just the number of bedrooms or something would be good.

It looks really super great job!

[greenfrog]

it doesn't make it clear right at the beginning that this is a villa for holiday rentals. You need to tell people what you are selling up front. your tag line (or whatever that little bit at the top of a tag is called) has it but the page itself doesn't.

Hi,

The site looks great! Crisp, clear with some lovely photos.

I agree with Ju - perhaps you could move the paragraph at the end of the home page to the top? That would make it clear what business you're in.

Best of luck with it - and glad it's bringing in bookings already!

[fibi]

absolutely fantastic,what a great improvement, your bookings will flood in now. I do not have one criticism l, love the text, love the photos, its clear easy to navigate and the pictures really do sell it well.

Definately not like an old folks home anymore (sorry that was my comment )

[Giddy Goat]

Incredible transformation - you would hardly know them as the same properties: it really serves to illustrate how seriously undersold they were before. Well done - and I agree, great photos; if Jimbo were seeing this, he'd say that here was a perfect example of the benefits of getting a professional on the case.

[Big Sis..]

Hi Finca does look great the website and your props...

Just a few points on the first page you said can rent one or both but dont seem to mention how many each can sleep..not there anyway..If people are looking for grouped accomodation its the first thing theyre interested in I think..from you Portside website I see its 13...
[Im with them as well how have you found them I was pleased initially but its flagged a bit compared to others]
Also do you really only ask for the balance a month in advance I would find that a bit of a worry especially if a large group have booked both..lots can happen with large groups and you might end up with a late cancellation...
But as I said its great hope you do well....

[KathyG]

Have only looked at the front page so far but Ros is right, needs to be obvious how many people this sleeps. Also, your guest comments don't look genuine - that's not the sort of comments that guests make...........usually stuff like great house, great pool, can't wait to come back etc. What happened there?

EDIT: Sorry Finca, just realised what happened. I thought the text under "Guest Comments" were the actual comments. Didn't realise it was a link Maybe that should be made more obvious?

[Topcat]

It's a really lovely site, and in a great location. The properties look fabulous.

I agree though that some of the text needs to be broken up a bit.

TC

[fincafern]

Thanks for the comments - the guest comments are absolutely genuine, I wouldn't dare put them on otherwise, but understand how you became confused !
I would have liked to add a booking form, counter, take some pictures off and add a new link etc., but my webman is too busy right now with bigger projects and I don't want to pester him any further. He has already spent ages on this with his wife who took the pro. photos.
I haven't put the site up for further review because I am stuck with what I have, but at least it is a lot better than it was and has already gained extra bookings which was the point of the exercise.
I had a lesson in web work at home, but it wasn't long enough so although the computer is already connected to my site with dreamweaver etc., I dare not fiddle with the site incase I knock everything off into cyberspace !!!

[Garri]

my webman ... has already spent ages on this with his wife who took the pro. photos.

Has he really? I don't remember how it was before but it still needs loads of work, which you seem to allude to yourself.

The copy is too dense. Most of the info is a list of features punctuated with commas, whereas they would be more effective as bullet points down the side of the page.

The 'slideshow' took ages to load and wasn't a slideshow - I had to select from a drop down which is a tedious affair from a usability point of view (but at least it wasn't a long list!)

Edit: I can see how it works now but it was so slow on my system

The mouseover on the pics on front page is annoying and confusing. When I click on them, which I instinctively did because they are styled as links, nothing happens.

The shot of the private bar got me excited as that is a great feature and one that certainly caught my eye as one of your USPs - but you don't make it compelling in your site.

The Guest Comments in red is looks like a sub header for the content under it: not guest comments but a series of bullet points, most of which need further indented sub-bullet points.

That said, the photos in your slideshow are very good quality. At least your webman's wife knows what she's doing

[fincafern]

Thanks for taking time out to comment, Garri. We agree with all you say - the site is unfinished and I am afraid it is looking as though it will remain so for the forseeable future because the webman is still busy.
If you think it's bad now, you should have seen it before !!
The photos saved the day and we are just about to take our final double villa fortnight booking early OCT. to complete our year. I am just waiting on confirmation of flight details.
We have a Nov 5 month winter rental on the two villas, taking us to mid APRIL 08 with two rebookings in the bag for next year.
In real terms, since the site altered, we were fully booked from early June after an appalling start when we felt like giving up altogether, so I have much to be grateful for.
I will try to find someone to tidy the site / speed / tweak it or whatever you techies do.

[Giddy Goat]

Finks, take no notice of Garri - he's a bit of a guru, but he has been rather too hard on you I think (ya hear, Garri?!) so don't let him discourage you, he must have been in Grumpy mode when he posted. His comments are well worth listening to, but if you're already seeing a difference in respect of interest and bookings, that's the bottom line, and any further tweaks will be the icing on the cake.

[Garri]

Finks, take no notice of Garri - he's a bit of a guru, but he has been rather too hard on you I think so don't let him discourage you, he must have been in Grumpy mode when he posted.

GG, hard on him? I was actually in Gentle mode

Having re-read the title of the thread I am wondering if it's referring to the age of the website or the person who created it

but if you're already seeing a difference in respect of interest and bookings, that's the bottom line, and any further tweaks will be the icing on the cake.

Makes me really want to see what the site was like before the 6 year old revamped it

Any further tweaks and Finks will have to buy a couple more fincas

p.s. finks, don't take it personally, just a wee bit of banter

[e-richard]

OK, I've come late to this one, but I do want to add some comments. Mostly because I really like what you've done. Clean crisp look, excellent photos, and relatively easy to get around and find stuff. Clearly the site works, so why improve it ?

Well, my answer is: because you can ! Nothing that I suggest is rocket science, but please believe me they will have dramatic effect.

1. I found those red links on the front page a bit weird. They are bigger than the main navigation, seem to be randomly dotted around and what are they ? And why are they where they are ? I just don't know. They are not obviously hyperlinks until you mouse-over, they are not part of the site navigation, yet they are. Dunno, its just not quite right.

2. I Liked the big round bullets, but felt that they were just a bit too close to the text to be in the right proportion. I feel that the space between bullet and text should be about the same size as the bullets.

3. Blocked text can make a site look crisp and smart, and it mostly works on your site. However, when using this technique, there is a limit to the length of a line, and I fear you have exceeded this limit. If the maximum width of all pages and the text were the same width as that measured from the left of the left picture to the right of the right picture on the Home page, then you'd be at the maximum. Gosh that may sound very pikkie, and you may argue "who the hell would notice" and you'd be right, but if you made the change, nobody would notice what the change was, but they would feel so much more comfortable using the site - without realising why.

4. And finally, those banners. Oh dear oh dear how they let you down. Great looking site, with clean design but the banner on each page is at a different height from the top, and worst of all the size varies from page to page. There's nothing wrong with the text, the font, the colour, and its only another little thing, but the consistency you could achieve would repay all the hard the labours so much better.

None of the above will stop me booking your place, but all of it is likely to make me linger a bit longer at your site in the event that I am hesitating, very busy or have other places in mind.