My new website - comments please

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My new website - comments please
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boisdevie1

Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3897
Location: Lancaster

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 7:51 pm Post subject: My new website - comments please
Hi all, I've just put together my very first website for the B&B. If anyone would like to have a look and tell me what they think I'd be ever so grateful. It's at www.edenbreckhouse.com Ta.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 7:59 pm Post subject:

Great - really clear, few trivial suggestions...

Perhaps alter the background colour, the fuzziness makes a text a little more difficult to read.

In the "Convenient" bit, perhaps you could say which station, and which town centre, just to ram home the point

And are you able to change the colour of the links in the text? May make it easier for people to see they are links.

These are really trivial things I know - the site is really good

missysx

Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 157
Location: Buckinghamshire

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 8:46 pm Post subject:
looks nice, though personally i would centre the contents of the page instead of it being to the left and i would also have the links at the top of the page, below the Header.

MarkS

Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2626

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 10:00 pm Post subject:
sorry - it looks a mess on my system all the links in blue are on top of the text at the bottom of the page. it gets lots of errors when run through a validator https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edenbreckhouse.com%2F although some are spurious.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 10:30 pm Post subject:
Looks okay from here. Agree with Penny on the background.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 07 10:38 pm Post subject:
As a stayer at places, I'd like to know, do you take plastic?

Azura Skye

Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 2199
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 12:38 am Post subject:

I like looking at photographs, so when looking at the pics of the bedroom its (only slightly) a pain to press "RETURN to homepage" and then scroll down to click on the next picture of a different bedroom. It's good that it opens up in a new window, but on the top of that new pop up window, couldnt you have a 'next' button which scrolls through the rest of the pics? Or have the links on the top of the page.

lovely building tho! i love the autumn leaves

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 8:43 am Post subject:

I would re- do the photo of house later in season when you have one with sunshine, spring flowers and a blue sky and re-do the one of the master bedroom bathroom as the panel on the bath catches the eye. Rest looks fine. I am in the process of helping my parents-in-law refurbish a holiday cottage and am having a battle with MIL about trying to simplify decor to a appeal to a wider and younger cross section.( A bit like the de-clutter your homes before you sell them programs). I don't know who is going to win, but the guy from the renting agency is coming to take internal photos for the web page soon.

MIL's Cottage

Phiil

Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 7
Location: Cardiff, land of rain

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 7:23 pm Post subject:

As a Firefox user I'm noticing the same problem as MarkS, the links on the bottom are overlapping the text and are pretty much illegible. Looks good in IE on my other PC though.

The main picture could do with a little more punch, with more saturated colours in particular as it seems a bit washed out, cold and wintry - it's a 2 minute job in Photoshop, so if you want I can PM/email you a tweaked version with a bit of blue in the sky and more colourful foliage.

If you want people to find you through search engines, some of the code could do with modification. Addition of title and description tags at a minimum as they are the basis for Google (and other search engine) results listings.

Of course there are hundreds of things you can do to a website, but from my perspective these are the most important things you could do that don't require you to do any radical alteration.

boisdevie1

Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3897
Location: Lancaster

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 7:47 pm Post subject:
Thanks to everyone for all their comments, especially those who said what they didn't like about the site. I bashed it together pretty fast so at least I'd have something. I shall redo it very soon, esp the first photo - the garden does look a bit sad this time of year. Keep the comments coming - much appreciated.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 8:08 pm Post subject:
make it easier on the eye the backgrounds /fonts and stuff make my eyes wobble the content is fine a neutral background ,simple ,large text and an easy way to interact . only good images best of make it good to look at then folk will read the details

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 8:29 pm Post subject:
Have you remembered the link to your advert here?

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 9:24 pm Post subject:

Would it be better to have the links opening up on a new page, so the customer doesn't get distracted by following a link, and not coming back.

Would it be worth stating how many bedrooms,and their capacity, so people can work out if there is room for their family groups. I wasn't sure if it was all the rooms pictured, or if there were more.

A page with tariff looks good, and posibly updated availability.
(I know I haven't got one, and it is something I must address!)

How about a local amenity or attractions page, with paid attractions, and local walks, points of interest etc mentioned.

I prefer hotel websites to have the name and picure with little information then various pages linking off it.

the background is hard to read, and could be clearer.

Do you have any diamonds or stars? There is no mention of any scheme.

When you have people in it may be good to take a couple of photos with them in, as it gives it more life. (Again, talking to myself here too)

A legal page with terms and conditions, and all the legal stuff is also useful, even if it says your appliances are checked regularly, and the fire certificate is up to date.

A map and directions are crucial.

With the eco highlighting there is also th bumph about not washing towels everyday, to concerve water that you may want to use. In the Eden catalogue there is really good wording for this, if I can find it.

I hope you don't find this too critiacl, I am updating my own website, and thes are some of the things I want to put in mine too.

hedgewitch

Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Posts: 5834
Location: Daft wench GHQ

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 9:29 pm Post subject:
You mention internet access - would guests have to pay an additional charge for this? I couldn't see this info.

Tay

Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 2811
Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 07 11:30 pm Post subject:

Hi

A few points...

Use a sans-serif font (arial, verdana, tahoma etc) as they are much easier to read.

I second the comment about the fuzzy background - makes it difficult to read.

Put the menu at the top - if a user can't find the menu easily, they will go to another site. Also have a 'home' link/button at the top to make it easy for users to return.

Having links opening a new page is generally considered bad practice - I personally hate sites that do that ( I have enough tabs and windows open already), and will leave a site as soon as it does it.

Advertise the site where you can - Google needs good, relevant links to your site to help get you higher in the listings.

Sign up for a free Google Analytics account as you will get good site stats info. That can help you think about the design of your site/your 'product' as GA tells you what pages people exit your site, and much more.

It's good that you have plenty of photos as that is something that I like to see. Personally, I would plug the 'green' issue more as it helps to have something different to other competitors, and makes your B&B memorable.

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