Guest book

[Topcat]

Would you mind having a look at my guest book? www.spainbeachapartment.eu The link is at the bottom of the homepage. I'm very aware of how 'faked' these things can look, but these are all genuine. They were e-mails, so I can't scan the handwriting as some people do. Do they look OK? Well, credible is what I really mean.

Also, please have a look at the 3 interior photos on the second page (penthouse page). My webmaster hasn't quite got the hang of compression, and until you enlarge these pics they're a bit fuzzy. Are they off-putting?

Thanks,

TC

[Giuliana]

Looks geniune to me. I have always thought that my guestbook looks fake but it isn't so get your drift. Photos also looked good.Small they are grainy but when you open them OK. Don't you get reviews in any other language apart from English? Think that it would be better if you also put other language reviews in your guestbook. We do

[Margaret]

I don't think they are over the top at all. We also publish all of our guest book comments on our website. We could scan them in I suppose but I am not a great fan of that - just as easy to fake (you just need enough friends!) and a lot more difficult to read!

[Topcat]

Thanks. Giuliana, I don't have any other reviews. We have had Spanish guests, but that's always been arranged through my agent. It's a good idea though, next time we have Spanish people staying I'll ask him to ask them to make some comments.

TC

[la vache!]

I don't think they are over the top at all. We also publish all of our guest book comments on our website. We could scan them in I suppose but I am not a great fan of that - just as easy to fake (you just need enough friends!) and a lot more difficult to read!

Sorry, but I really don't agree. It would be impossible to find enough people with the different handwriting styles to fake the comments on my guestbook. And what is the point in publishing EVERY comment, do you really think people will read them ar me, the purpose of the guestbook on the website it to try and make the gites seem as interesting as possible, so I handpick the comments that will highlight lots of different good things about them and that will be interesting for the reader.
Typing them in also means that they are a lot less visually interesting, so anyone reading them is likely to get bored a lot more quickly and not bother reading past the first two or three.

[Ju]

I think it looks fine, but if I were you I would put the most recent comments at the top and work backwards. It looks better having a 2008 quote for 2009 bookings than a 2007 one, and I think the later quotes are more complimentary.

Ju

[Margaret]

Thank you for your comments LV. As our guests do not agree with you I shall continue as I am.

[Topcat]

Thanks Ju. You're probably right - I'll get that changed.

TC

[e-richard]

Yes, I also agree with Ju on the order in which they are published.

But, I also liked the teeeeeeny bit of negativity in your oldest post. I always think that such a balance gives all of the rest of the comments a lot more plausibility. So many guest comment pages are filled with only glowing reports and leaves me wondering what the owner has edited out.

[la vache!]

Thank you for your comments LV. As our guests do not agree with you I shall continue as I am.

You know your market, Margaret, I'm just giving my opinion as someone who has a low boredom threshold when it comes to reading non essential information on websites
TC, I think your comments come across as very genunine. The different colour on your guest book page breaks it up nicely - some people use different fonts on their guest book too for effect.
Regarding the interior photos on the second page, when I clicked on them they didn't come up full size, are they supposed to? I think they are big enough on the site as it is, I'm not an expert, but they look as if they just need sharpening a little.

[Topcat]

Thanks everyone. LV, they enlarge in FF and IE. What are you using? They are actually quite sharp when viewed large, but there's a compression problem that my webby hasn't quite mastered. A kind person on Flickr gave me a piece of code to help him, but it hasn't done the trick on all the photos. I'm not sure where to go from here - I just wondered if they would put people off as they were.

TC

[Big Sis..]

Hi TC

The photos are fine for me, and all enlarge when clicked onto.
I agree with the other comments about order of the gusts feedback.........
Your place is lovely BTW


Take Carexxxxx

[Topcat]

Why thanks Big Sis for the vote of confidence. I wish some prospective renters thought so too!! I've got one woman hanging on who insists she's definitely going to book for two weeks next Summer, but no deposit so far. And that's it!

TC

[Margaret]

I actually think you are putting the factual information which will get people searching too far down the page. First you have 3 fairly major headlines - I would cut that down to 1 - you will have to drop the reference to brand new some time anyway!
Then you have buttons AND photos, and a photo slide show at the side. I would take out the photos which are with the buttons.
Then you actually don't refer to the fact that it is a holiday apartment - I'm not being facetious here (or not intentionally!) but you could be selling the apartment....
Then the red line about spam - I just wouldn't! It seems so negative.

I know you didn't ask directly for a critique AND my ideas on these things are usually out of step with most other people's but these are things which put me off going further into the site.

[Topcat]

Some interesting points Margaret. I'll give them some thought. You're right, I do need to drop the 'brand new' pretty soon!

To be honest I never liked the red bit either. Someone on here advised us to do that ages ago (though not actually in red, it's true), but it hasn't stopped any spam anyway. I think I'll just take it out.

I don't know what you mean by 'the photos with the buttons'.

But thanks for your comments, I appreciate them.

TC