our web site

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.
lforro
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our web site

Post by lforro »

Hallo everybody!

We moved from Holland to Sicily in January and we help people to rent their holiday homes, as they don’t speak any foreign language and they have no idea about how to use the computers. Some of them have also their own web site, as my boyfriend is a web designer. I would like to ask your opinion about one of the web sites:

Any suggestions are welcome :D .

Greetings from Sicily,
Laura
Last edited by lforro on Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
eldrep
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Post by eldrep »

Hi Laura

The website looks great so far but I'm unable to view it in English as when I click on the Union Jack flag it just opens the email link. I think most of the people on this website will struggle to do a proper review while they can only view it in Italian! I speak a bit of the lingo but I'm still lost with most of it. One thing I did notice though is that you only have example prices rather than a full price list and this may put some people off.

Cheers
Sonia
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Sonia, on the opening page, I clicked "Welcome", not Bnevenuti, and saw the website in English, but yes I agree, those flags at the bottom do lead one to believe that it will "translate" into the other languages.

Laura,
I think its a lovely looking website, but why is it all in graphics ? There's no (real) text ! This will never be found in the search engines, its impossible for the eyesight challenged to increase font size in their browser and it slows down the loading time dramatically.

Other than that very little to fault or criticise.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
eldrep
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Post by eldrep »

A-ha! Yes, sorry, being a bit thick there...have had a look in English now!

Like the colous, pics are nice and it's easy to navigate. Few problems with the text though...

Home page: There are quite a few repetitions on the first page i.e 'can stay comfortably, can stay comfortably'.
You should refer to a sofa-bed rather than a sleeping couch.
I would get rid of the hypenation as it looks a bit messy.
Should be 'all YEAR through'.
I think mentioning a hill in the first sentence may scare some people off - i.e young families, perhaps you should explain in more detail what sort of hill it is!

Rooms: 'First Floor' shouldn't be capitalised. 'One of which HAS a double bed'.

I think the extras page is a nice idea - be careful of making any vegetarians feel left out though with your 'meat and fish-based' dishes!

'how to arrive' isn't very good English. 'Getting here' or 'how to get here' would be better.

Perhaps some links to airlines that fly to the nearby airports?

Hope this helps!
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Normandy Cow
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Post by Normandy Cow »

Not much more to say really. Nice colour scheme, nice photos, etc.

Agree about the text - should not be embedded in the graphics if you want to be found by the search engines.

Is the "Agenda" your Availability Calendar? If so, then I'd just call it "Availability".

I'd be a bit put off about the prices being "negotiable". I am useless at haggling, and so I wouldn't, but then I'd be nagging myself that maybe I should have haggled and got it cheaper but was too timid... So that might put me off, and I don't know why you need to explicitly say that prices are negotiable.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

It looks smart but I think it's worth really emphasising again how important it is to have real text on the pages - not text embedded in graphics.

Search engines can't see any of the text in this web site and since they work solely with text the site just won't get found (unless you want to pay for links or adwords).

You'll have to let go of having pixel perfect control over the positioning and formatting of the text. Set up containers using tables or style sheets (or both) and allow real text to flow through it. It won't look as smart but that won't matter when the enquiries start rolling in.

And it's not just for search engines either - this site isn't accessible to some disabled users, particularly partially sighted or blind ones who rely on being able to enlarge text to make it easier to read or even have it read to them by screen reader software.

It is also slow to display - I can see blocks of the page building up (and I'm on broadband). Again, caused by over use of graphics. Blocks of solid colour would display almost instantly if they are specified as background colours not graphics.

(Gets down from soap box) Apart from that it's fine!

Just noticed something - is the house right on the beach or has it been photo montaged to look that way? Could be misleading?
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
Lee
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Post by Lee »

Again, nice site but slow loading, maybe large files (graphics, pics) or poor hosting.
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Chianti
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Post by Chianti »

Laura

Your website is very attractive, the colours especially are very welcoming. I had no difficulties loading or viewing in English, however I couldn't actually read the script as it's too small.

Although your photo section is lovely, I feel there is no advantage from those photos, maybe they would be better served in a sub-section and something more important such as prices going into that space as it's not obvious where to find them.

I think one must always remember that those who view our websites won't necessarily have the same skills as we do and they don't have time to waste on searching for important information which should be clear and easy to find such as prices, contact details etc.

You're almost there, well done :lol:

Chianti
lforro
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Grazie!

Post by lforro »

Thank you all for your feedback. It’s so helpful to know somebody else’s opinion about something you have.

Regarding some of your comments:
We're glad you like the design. The text in graphics was the owner's choice but maybe that will be changed in the future. We agree with the advantages of having text on your page, but on the other hand having a lot of competitors it’s hard to be on top of the “Google list�. If you search for holiday home you’re bound to find first a list of all the portals before you start seeing private sites. I think that before arriving at one of those sites, many people will already have given up…

Thanks for all the comments about the English text. We will change the errors!

The house is not directly on the beach and we think it's clear it is a Photoshopped image. When you visit the website you see views from the balcony and terrace that show also clearly that the sea is further away. The idea behind the picture is to show the house is in an area where the sea plays an important role. We do agree that it might be unclear to some people.

About the agenda: the owner wanted an agenda to show the people that all year through all kind of things are organized. The idea was that he provided us with the agenda which we would translate, but we're still waiting for the agenda items. Probably the page and title will be changed (maybe with useful links or what people say about the house etc.)

Martijn is making another site with text this time though and we’d appreciate your comments. The temporary address is fdesign.eu/valledorata/

Greetings from Sicily,

Laura & Martijn
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Mountain Goat
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Post by Mountain Goat »

We do agree that it might be unclear to some people.

You're right there. We're all reasonably clued up with what can be done with a bit of Photoshopping, but I think you could end up with some very disgruntled guests with this image.

MG
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

The house is not directly on the beach and we think it's clear it is a Photoshopped image.
Modified images are sometimes a can of worms. Here, because the image is used as the homepage header and combined with a logo, I think it's clear this is a montage. Licence can be taken with header pix. Plus, it just doesn't look realistic - first storm and the house would be floating out to sea.

If the picture had been added to the photo section, that would have been a different matter.

Jim
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Mountain Goat
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Post by Mountain Goat »

Jim, you've got more image-handling experience than the rest of us put together, and you could see without hesitation what it is and make us see sense.

A straw poll of a few passing non-techies, asked to comment, without hesitation said what a 'fantastic by-the-sea property'.

I know, I know, but I still think a bit dodgy. It's tempting to do it on our place with the snow piled up outside, as we drift into winter, and dead easy.

Or, on reflection, look at our home page header (another 2 weeks to go on that site BTW) - are we that nice place on that stunning mountain with our private ski-lift or not? Don't laugh, but we have been asked.

MG
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greenfrog
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Post by greenfrog »

Hi,
I like the sites, prefer the casita one.

A comment for both - I think it would be a good idea on your home page to say where on the island Balestrate is located - Sicily is not so well known. I've been there (east coast) and had never heard of it. It might be a good idea to add a line on where it is and why it's so special, to reel in those travellers who like the idea of Sicily but know nothing about it.
Lounging on the lily pad...
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

... I still think a bit dodgy ...
MG, I think all advertising can be construed as 'a bit dodgy'. When I chose a pie from the supermarket as a result of the photo on the box, I know that when I pull it from the oven, I'll be disappointed. It just won't look like that mouth-watering confection on the packet. But I won't take it back to the shop and stamp my foot because I know that I've been seduced, not cheated. We're all sophisticated enough to know this stuff inside out, we've been bombarded with photographs and propaganda and advertising pitches since we were on the breast.

Jim
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CSE
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Re: Grazie!

Post by CSE »

lforro wrote: About the agenda: the owner wanted an agenda to show the people that all year through all kind of things are organized. The idea was that he provided us with the agenda which we would translate, but we're still waiting for the agenda items. Probably the page and title will be changed (maybe with useful links or what people say about the house etc.)
Hi there L&M,

We are a Dutch/English couple, so hopefully we can help you a bit. Instead of the word Agenda maybe you should use the words Activity Calendar. Agenda literally translated means diary in English. Diary, in English, means; a book in which you write a reminder of things to do or you have done.
The site does take some time to load and we are on ADSL.
The photos are OK, but are meaningless without a location/description.

Why have you got a link to your personal photos on the contact page? It is nice though. :D
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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