Thoughts on my website

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.
adam2308
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Location: St. Vlas, Bulgaria
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Thoughts on my website

Post by adam2308 »

First of all, this is my post on this forum after reading over the threads for the last few weeks and i'd just like to congratulate Paolo and all the users for creating a very useful and informative forum.

I'm sure i'll have many more questions over the coming months but i'm going to start off with your opinions on my website. I've done this myself using front page which i happened to have on my laptop. Before creating this i've never done a website before so i'm quite pleased with how it is looking, however i am always looking to make improvements and would welcome any criticisms or suggestions.

The address is http://www.bulgaria2rent.com
Last edited by adam2308 on Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
goosie
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Post by goosie »

Adam, welcome to the forum - I'm new this year and it has been invaluable! I'm afraid that the link to your website is wrong and when I try bulgaria2rent.com it is very very slow to load - can you check it?
adam2308
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Post by adam2308 »

if you try the link again now it should work. not sure why it loading slowly, it is fine on my computer here.
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

This is a very quick comment because I'm in a rush, but the first thing that strikes me is that your thumbnails don't enlarge. Can you do something about that? People really want to see good-sized pictures.

Will trya nd look more closely later on.

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
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Beanie
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Post by Beanie »

Hi there and a very big welcome to the forum.

I'm also dashing and just a couple of quick comments.

Could you add some nice shots of the interiors of the apartments? Potential guests always love to see those and get a feel for the rooms, furnishings, comfort level etc.

Also, there seems to be a lot of third party advertising on your site which strikes me as a little odd.

Just my tuppence worth and as I've never built a website from scratch in my life - very well done and getting yours not only up and running but looking smart and professional too.

Beanie
adam2308
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Post by adam2308 »

Thanks for your replies, always good to hear feedback. As i've said the website is something i've created from scratch on a very limited budget with very minimal knowledge so it's improvements are always ongoing.

With regards to the thumbnails i assume you are both referring to the photo gallery page. Do you realise that clicking on the thumbnail changes the larger picure? Or do you think the larger picture needs to be bigger? I keep meaning to have a look around on the net to see what i can find to improve the photo gallery.

The internal pictures are something i am aware thanks. The last time was over i took photos but we managed to lose the camera while there so will need to take these photos again when i next go over there next year.

The third party ads are just something i figured out to do and thought looked fancy!! :D . Do we think they should be ditched?

I've been trying to work on the search engine optimisation when i have time. I've recently found that typing "holiday apartments to rent st vlas" has brought my site to top of the list on yahoo, 4th on msn but unfortunately nowhere to be found on google. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

In my browser (Firefox) the thumbnails wouldn't enlarge. What about other people - anyone else have problems?

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
adam2308
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Post by adam2308 »

I see what you mean, i've just downloaded firefox and it certainly looks like a firefox issue. I'll have a look into that.

Thanks.
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Beanie
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Post by Beanie »

The images enlarge into the centre window for me on IE7 so that seems ok.

As for the ads - unless they're paying you handsomely - I'd say ditch up. They're a real distraction and I actually think they cheapen your site. Just my opinion and perhaps others think differently.

Beanie
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mpprh
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Post by mpprh »

Hi

just a point ....

The menus are images, so don't translate when you use Babelfish.

If you set up the table, then insert the puffy clouds as background image for each cell, you can then use plain text that will translate automatically. The plain text is probably better for search engine robots, too.

You will have to play with the sizing to ensure that a long translated word doesn't prejudice the width of the table (and background image).

Also worth adding the alt text on all images to help the robots.

I would read up about meta tags ........... search on google. There are various tags, some help with some search engines, some don't. There are some you could add.


Peter
The Languedoc Page
www.the-languedoc-page.com
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DrRichard
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Post by DrRichard »

Hi Adam

It's a nice site. Here are a few comments:

- the width of many of the pages looks a little large - should be 1024 pixels max - what does everyone else think?

- Firefox shows some white space at the bottom right of the home page - possibly some flash?

- the images on your links page looked a bit stretched to me - I guess you're trying to make them all the same size? Also some of them don't line up very well

- I would really go to town on the content on your FAQ and links pages. Add your own info and spice it up a bit. Visitors and search engines love content!

- I would chuck out the adverts too. You want bookings, so don't offer your valuable visitors the chance to go to SkyKings casino (I'm sure it's great but...)

Keep up the great work!

Dr. Richard
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

I agree that the site is too wide. On the photo gallery page, there are so many thumbnails that you have to scroll (very slowly) across a huge expanse with nothing underneath. Do you think you could put the thumbnails in a block, rather than in a long line?

I also have a white square on the bottom right.

Definitely chuck out the ads. The front page invites me to look at hotels in Bulgaria, and you don't want people doing that!

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

I've just had another look, and you definitely need some interior shots. Is it not completed yet? People really like to see what the interior is like.

I really like the FAQ page. That's a good idea. But on the accommodation page, I personally would want more details (and pics!). For instance, you say 'sleeps 3 in comfort' but I would want to know the exact logistics of that. 3 in one bed? 3 single beds? One double and a bed-settee?

You've made a fantastic start - building a website takes a lot of time, skill and thought, so well done for what you've got so far. I wish I could tell you how to tackle the FF problem but I can't.

By the way, about Google, have you submitted the site to the search engines? I can't remember how to do that (I did everything through trial and error!) but I'm sure someone on here can tell you.

Best of luck,

Top Cat
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
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mpprh
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Post by mpprh »

Topcat wrote:By the way, about Google, have you submitted the site to the search engines? I can't remember how to do that (I did everything through trial and error!) but I'm sure someone on here can tell you.

Best of luck,

Top Cat
It is indexed by google. The page title comes in at No3 :
www.google.com/search?q=Holiday+Apartme ... In+St+Vlas

Now comes the hard SEO work !

Peter
The Languedoc Page
www.the-languedoc-page.com
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adam2308
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Post by adam2308 »

I have (eventually!!) managed to change the photo gallery so it now works in both IE and firefox with a new type of photo gallery which i think works a lot better (Internal pics to come later). What do you guys think?

Old photo gallery (only worked properly in IE) http://www.littlewigan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photo.htm

New Photo Gallery (works in both IE and FF) http://www.littlewigan.pwp.blueyonder.c ... allery.htm

I've decided to ditch the third party ads. They don't create any revenue and like said before, this could easily take people awat from my site.

Peter,

Thanks for your comments, i've not had chance to tackle those yet but look worthwhile fixes.


Richard,

Thanks for your comments too. Most issues you mentioned sorted, still need to look into the page width.


Any other comments would be really welcome. Thanks all.
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