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josh

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Hello all,
I am looking at having my Web Designer Freshen" My web site,
What suggustions might you all have to add, change, delete?
If you were a customer /Guest looking at it?
Remember I have a Bed and Breakfast, and 2 Guest/Vacation Rental Homes.
Thanks, I appreciate your Feedback in advance?
Josh
www.innharmonyguesthouse.com
help.gif
 
Hi Josh,
I like your site, but a few things did come to mind as I looked through:
  • The "check availability" buttons on the individual rooms blend into the background. While the reservations button at the top is very prominent, I'd still want these to be more visible.
  • The rainbow bar in the footer doesn't really add anything.
  • The directions are listed from "North-bound on I-5" and "South-bound on I-5". Maybe this makes complete sense if you are local, but I like to see directions from actual things (other cities, airports, etc.)
  • Why no picture for the outside of the Harmony House?
  • You have a link on the homepage to your blog, but no content there once you click. If you are going to update the blog frequently, the link could be more prominent. If you are never going to update it, I'd probably just get rid of the link.
  • The "Copyright 2007" text at the bottom makes me wonder if everything is out of date.
Mostly just a bunch of picky preferences, but I thought I'd give you my 2 cents anyway!
Zach
 
You will get many diff opinions, but that is what you are after. :)
The rainbow bar on the footer speaks volumes and should stay.
The directions which are totally diff from north bound to southbound and make total sense when you are in Seattle and totally essential to finding your place. They are very concise. Don't add extras like from airport or downtown. I-5 is the main drag and goes right through the center of Seattle. It goes from BC border to Mexican border.
The header is the one thing I would change. It is just too big too bold too big a font and would be awesome if there were photos of Seattle in the header as that would really grab me! Or even one landscape shot of the Puget Sound.
 
I would showcase the photos more, make them the focus by placing them more toward the top of the pages with the text below or making some slideshows placed at the top with text below.
I would condense the text where it is repeated, like "all rooms have hardwood floors' -instead of listing hardwood floors as a feature of each room, unless there is one without hardwood floors.
I think condensing the text will streamline your pages and allow more room for photos.
I would make one blanket policies page of all the basic policies and then make note of additional policies for each house, so it doesn't seem so heavy on the policies.
I agree that your reservation buttons need to stand out more, even if you just bevel the button, so it looks dimensional and clickable.
 
Since the others are hitting the appearance side of things, I will focus on the technical.
Overall your site is pretty solid.
There are some minor (but ought to be corrected flaws) like in your navigation,
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & B" ought to be
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & BI'd have them ditch the extremetracker in exchange for google analytics on every page. You will get a lot better information and you won't be sharing it with everyone else.
I'd also have them either replace the image map navigation with actual text navigation or modify the image navigation to have some tactile feedback (change style when rolled over...).
Uniques meta-descriptions on every page would help too (I didn't check them all but the three I checked were the same)
I think the rainbow divider should stay if it is sending the message you want it to. I would go with a header that either eats less room or shows more in terms images. The bamboo is cute but doesn't really convey an info with it, like photos would do.
 
You will get many diff opinions, but that is what you are after. :)
The rainbow bar on the footer speaks volumes and should stay.
The directions which are totally diff from north bound to southbound and make total sense when you are in Seattle and totally essential to finding your place. They are very concise. Don't add extras like from airport or downtown. I-5 is the main drag and goes right through the center of Seattle. It goes from BC border to Mexican border.
The header is the one thing I would change. It is just too big too bold too big a font and would be awesome if there were photos of Seattle in the header as that would really grab me! Or even one landscape shot of the Puget Sound..
Thanks, I agree lots more photos are needed. Especially of Seattle, I just do not want to convey that the view is "right outside my door" I have been waiting for the landscaping to grow up a bit, This past winter killed most of the new landscaping....GRRR
Something I have to work on, So busy with all 3 of these homes, and also now working on some other projects, including a Place to hold small garden Receptions, Weddings, Wine tastings, Art shows and so on....It's in La Conner Washington.
Thanks for your thoughts!!
I am also thinking that the Rainbow Bar should be moved to the top. -:)
 
Since the others are hitting the appearance side of things, I will focus on the technical.
Overall your site is pretty solid.
There are some minor (but ought to be corrected flaws) like in your navigation,
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & B" ought to be
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & BI'd have them ditch the extremetracker in exchange for google analytics on every page. You will get a lot better information and you won't be sharing it with everyone else.
I'd also have them either replace the image map navigation with actual text navigation or modify the image navigation to have some tactile feedback (change style when rolled over...).
Uniques meta-descriptions on every page would help too (I didn't check them all but the three I checked were the same)
I think the rainbow divider should stay if it is sending the message you want it to. I would go with a header that either eats less room or shows more in terms images. The bamboo is cute but doesn't really convey an info with it, like photos would do..
I loved the Bamboo at First, But now 2 years into my Business, I am looking for something different, I Love Samsters Web site, That is a Stunning site and Detailed!!
Do you think people Like more Photos or more Detailed wording?
 
I would showcase the photos more, make them the focus by placing them more toward the top of the pages with the text below or making some slideshows placed at the top with text below.
I would condense the text where it is repeated, like "all rooms have hardwood floors' -instead of listing hardwood floors as a feature of each room, unless there is one without hardwood floors.
I think condensing the text will streamline your pages and allow more room for photos.
I would make one blanket policies page of all the basic policies and then make note of additional policies for each house, so it doesn't seem so heavy on the policies.
I agree that your reservation buttons need to stand out more, even if you just bevel the button, so it looks dimensional and clickable..
Thanks, I agree with that about the Buttons.. I Love my site and my Web Gal did a great Job, Especially working with me on it. But I need to Reinvent it a bit, Just to give a bit of an update! What do you feel about the colors?
 
Hi Josh,
I like your site, but a few things did come to mind as I looked through:
  • The "check availability" buttons on the individual rooms blend into the background. While the reservations button at the top is very prominent, I'd still want these to be more visible.
  • The rainbow bar in the footer doesn't really add anything.
  • The directions are listed from "North-bound on I-5" and "South-bound on I-5". Maybe this makes complete sense if you are local, but I like to see directions from actual things (other cities, airports, etc.)
  • Why no picture for the outside of the Harmony House?
  • You have a link on the homepage to your blog, but no content there once you click. If you are going to update the blog frequently, the link could be more prominent. If you are never going to update it, I'd probably just get rid of the link.
  • The "Copyright 2007" text at the bottom makes me wonder if everything is out of date.
Mostly just a bunch of picky preferences, but I thought I'd give you my 2 cents anyway!
Zach.
Thanks for your thoughts, Maybe Copyright 2007- 2009?
 
I like the Rainbow Bar! Keep it!.
I am thinking of a Bar at the top and maybe another symbol or a Flag, I think its Subtle enough, The market I want to attract understands what it is, Others always comment on how pretty it is. I have gotten tons of comments on the site about How "Lovely" It is, I also want to have it be somewhat more Masculine, I like all kinds of people staying here and need to figure out how to appeal to all kinds of people.
welcome.gif

 
I like the Rainbow Bar! Keep it!.
I am thinking of a Bar at the top and maybe another symbol or a Flag, I think its Subtle enough, The market I want to attract understands what it is, Others always comment on how pretty it is. I have gotten tons of comments on the site about How "Lovely" It is, I also want to have it be somewhat more Masculine, I like all kinds of people staying here and need to figure out how to appeal to all kinds of people.
welcome.gif

.
josh said:
I am thinking of a Bar at the top and maybe another symbol or a Flag, I think its Subtle enough, The market I want to attract understands what it is, Others always comment on how pretty it is. I have gotten tons of comments on the site about How "Lovely" It is, I also want to have it be somewhat more Masculine, I like all kinds of people staying here and need to figure out how to appeal to all kinds of people.
welcome.gif
Photos and less wording. I would consolidate more of the wording and add more pics. If you have a mish mash of pics of Seattle I don't think anyone would think it is the view from any room.
Unless you change the color scheme to incorporate the rainbow, I think the bottom is subtle and expressed what is stands for. Not sure if you are in Purple Roofs.com if you had their icon displayed near the rainbow - it would also be clear.
 
Since the others are hitting the appearance side of things, I will focus on the technical.
Overall your site is pretty solid.
There are some minor (but ought to be corrected flaws) like in your navigation,
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & B" ought to be
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & BI'd have them ditch the extremetracker in exchange for google analytics on every page. You will get a lot better information and you won't be sharing it with everyone else.
I'd also have them either replace the image map navigation with actual text navigation or modify the image navigation to have some tactile feedback (change style when rolled over...).
Uniques meta-descriptions on every page would help too (I didn't check them all but the three I checked were the same)
I think the rainbow divider should stay if it is sending the message you want it to. I would go with a header that either eats less room or shows more in terms images. The bamboo is cute but doesn't really convey an info with it, like photos would do..
I loved the Bamboo at First, But now 2 years into my Business, I am looking for something different, I Love Samsters Web site, That is a Stunning site and Detailed!!
Do you think people Like more Photos or more Detailed wording?
.
Photos, photos, photos with concise yet accurate and meaningful wording.
 
I like the Rainbow Bar! Keep it!.
I am thinking of a Bar at the top and maybe another symbol or a Flag, I think its Subtle enough, The market I want to attract understands what it is, Others always comment on how pretty it is. I have gotten tons of comments on the site about How "Lovely" It is, I also want to have it be somewhat more Masculine, I like all kinds of people staying here and need to figure out how to appeal to all kinds of people.
welcome.gif

.
josh said:
I am thinking of a Bar at the top and maybe another symbol or a Flag, I think its Subtle enough, The market I want to attract understands what it is, Others always comment on how pretty it is. I have gotten tons of comments on the site about How "Lovely" It is, I also want to have it be somewhat more Masculine, I like all kinds of people staying here and need to figure out how to appeal to all kinds of people.
welcome.gif
Photos and less wording. I would consolidate more of the wording and add more pics. If you have a mish mash of pics of Seattle I don't think anyone would think it is the view from any room.
Unless you change the color scheme to incorporate the rainbow, I think the bottom is subtle and expressed what is stands for. Not sure if you are in Purple Roofs.com if you had their icon displayed near the rainbow - it would also be clear.
.
I have to admit, I feel really dumb about the rainbow bar right now. For whatever reason I didn't really think about it the first time I looked at your site. So I am in complete agreement with everyone else that it should stay
regular_smile.gif

 
Since the others are hitting the appearance side of things, I will focus on the technical.
Overall your site is pretty solid.
There are some minor (but ought to be corrected flaws) like in your navigation,
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & B" ought to be
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & BI'd have them ditch the extremetracker in exchange for google analytics on every page. You will get a lot better information and you won't be sharing it with everyone else.
I'd also have them either replace the image map navigation with actual text navigation or modify the image navigation to have some tactile feedback (change style when rolled over...).
Uniques meta-descriptions on every page would help too (I didn't check them all but the three I checked were the same)
I think the rainbow divider should stay if it is sending the message you want it to. I would go with a header that either eats less room or shows more in terms images. The bamboo is cute but doesn't really convey an info with it, like photos would do..
I loved the Bamboo at First, But now 2 years into my Business, I am looking for something different, I Love Samsters Web site, That is a Stunning site and Detailed!!
Do you think people Like more Photos or more Detailed wording?
.
josh said:
I loved the Bamboo at First, But now 2 years into my Business, I am looking for something different, I Love Samsters Web site, That is a Stunning site and Detailed!!
Do you think people Like more Photos or more Detailed wording?
People don't read...more photos, definitely!
 
I would showcase the photos more, make them the focus by placing them more toward the top of the pages with the text below or making some slideshows placed at the top with text below.
I would condense the text where it is repeated, like "all rooms have hardwood floors' -instead of listing hardwood floors as a feature of each room, unless there is one without hardwood floors.
I think condensing the text will streamline your pages and allow more room for photos.
I would make one blanket policies page of all the basic policies and then make note of additional policies for each house, so it doesn't seem so heavy on the policies.
I agree that your reservation buttons need to stand out more, even if you just bevel the button, so it looks dimensional and clickable..
Thanks, I agree with that about the Buttons.. I Love my site and my Web Gal did a great Job, Especially working with me on it. But I need to Reinvent it a bit, Just to give a bit of an update! What do you feel about the colors?
.
I like the colors alot (my bedroom in my old house was that color scheme)...
I would put the reservation button on the left side of all the pages, maybe under the banner, that's where my eye is drawn when I go to the index page (you read left to right), having the button on the upper right makes it get lost. The next place my eye is drawn (on the index page) is down to the house photo, so another good spot for it might be under the prosperity house photo...
I would have a small slideshow with pics of the 3 houses, on the index page, where the prosperity house photo is...Just rotate 3 pics of the 3 houses, that way people can see each house right off the bat...Or if you don't have the slideshow ability right now, you could make a montage of photos of the three houses, to make a photo banner all the way across the page under the title banner. In that case, I would make each photo clickable to each houses' page.
Then, when you go to the pages for the individual houses, I would do the same thing with photos of that house and the rooms. Putting the reservation button under the slide show or on the left near the top. It shortens the page and puts movement/energy to the page...
Having one button in one very obvious place will help focus the customer to click it! And it's more streamlined....MHO...
I would make the green link bar at the bottom have a little bigger text size and bold, it's very small compared to the rest of the text and it's important.
I think you've done a really good job keeping it simple, in essence you've created one web site that could really be 3 different B&B websites, what with 3 houses and so many details for each house!
IMVHO!!
tounge_smile.gif

 
I know you didn't ask for this, but I'd have a real problem with that no shoe rule!
I know the floors are new and pretty but face it, eventually they're going to get worn no matter what!
 
Since the others are hitting the appearance side of things, I will focus on the technical.
Overall your site is pretty solid.
There are some minor (but ought to be corrected flaws) like in your navigation,
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & B" ought to be
alt="Prosperity House B & B" title="Prosperity House B & BI'd have them ditch the extremetracker in exchange for google analytics on every page. You will get a lot better information and you won't be sharing it with everyone else.
I'd also have them either replace the image map navigation with actual text navigation or modify the image navigation to have some tactile feedback (change style when rolled over...).
Uniques meta-descriptions on every page would help too (I didn't check them all but the three I checked were the same)
I think the rainbow divider should stay if it is sending the message you want it to. I would go with a header that either eats less room or shows more in terms images. The bamboo is cute but doesn't really convey an info with it, like photos would do..
I loved the Bamboo at First, But now 2 years into my Business, I am looking for something different, I Love Samsters Web site, That is a Stunning site and Detailed!!
Do you think people Like more Photos or more Detailed wording?
.
Thanks, Josh!
I think you need some new headers also. Now that you have a lot of photos, you could even do something like Bree's where you show all the houses and a garden or something on your home page. I'd like to see a photo of something in your area that's nearby. Do you have that on your Attractions page? I didn't look that closely.
On the other pages I'd like to see the photos first and the text next. Grab them with those room shots!
I'd like to see a picture of the food you serve on the B&B side.
tounge_smile.gif

As a prospective guest, I love to have lots of pictures. Just some initial thoughts...
Wow, it has been 2 years, hasn't it?? Time flies.... :)
 
I know you didn't ask for this, but I'd have a real problem with that no shoe rule!
I know the floors are new and pretty but face it, eventually they're going to get worn no matter what!.
Hey it's all good!! I have 3 smaller homes, Not larger B&Bs like most of the innKeepers here -:)
I do not have carpeting , except area rugs on the main floors, In fact most of my rooms in the Houses are main floors. My niche market is Mostly Asian ( common to not wear shoes) and also I cater towards the clientale that is Earth Friendly and Enviromental.
Almost all my cleaning products are Natural, No chemicals, and all my floors are swept and cleaned 2-3 times a week.
Keeping shoes off keeps the Houses really clean, keeps my area rugs clean and keeps all the crap that "we" walk in outside every day off my floors. I allow Socks, slippers or house sandals that are clean in the house only. After 4 years of doing this business, I have had 2 persons have an issue with it.
My thoughts are if you do not like it, sorry!! Thats my rule, Simply stay elsewhere!
I attract a clientale that most Guest Houses and B&Bs Here do not cater to, so Its all Good!
Thanks, Though for your Feedback...-:)
regular_smile.gif

 
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