Website design

[Stu]

Hey All. My wife and I will soon be running a bed and breakfast for the first time. i have been reading this forum for many weeks now and have learnt a lot from all you professionals. Thank you for all your posts. I do have a question, My wife has recently designed our website and I would love to get some feedback on it. Can I directly post the link on here or is that against forum rools. Thanks again for all the help.
Stu

 

[Madeleine]

You can post the link to your website, that's fine. We'll be very honest so if the site needs work please understand we're not being 'mean' we're being helpful!
Good luck with your new adventure!

 

[Stu]

You can post the link to your website, that's fine. We'll be very honest so if the site needs work please understand we're not being 'mean' we're being helpful!
Good luck with your new adventure!.

Hey, thanks for replying, i would love any constructive critisism .
website is
www.La-PerlaBlanca.com
Thanks for your replies

 

[Madeleine]

You can post the link to your website, that's fine. We'll be very honest so if the site needs work please understand we're not being 'mean' we're being helpful!
Good luck with your new adventure!.

Hey, thanks for replying, i would love any constructive critisism .
website is
www.La-PerlaBlanca.com
Thanks for your replies
.

I'm just going thru this quickly so bear with me...
The pool photo... Retake that with the tables in the foreground with some drinks. Right now it's a huge expanse of tile and not inviting.
You have an advertisement at the bottom of the site for some website developer.
Your about us page is confusing but that may be the translation. It seems to be implying that the library will make me want to play a board game or have breakfast.
It also sounds like the heat and air are controlled by the WiFi. again, this may be translation problems.
I did not look at your seo at all, just at the basic site the way the guest will see it.
I would like to see larger room photos.
I love 'lashings' of amenities.

 

[JBloggs]

Welcome Stu!
If you do nothing else, take those big bold beautiful stunning room photos and make them full size somewhere on the site, rooms page or home page, forget the pop up! Make them stand out = THEY WILL SELL!
Change BOOK to Reserve or Reservations (I thought you were selling a book, no, really)
Your home page "header image" has some weird funky blue border at the top and strange dashes on it, Get rid of any and all of that, let the image speak for itself.
Your B&B name SHOULD BE BIG AND VISIBLE UP THERE.
That is called "above the fold" and the most valuable real estate on your website. Use it wisely!
This comment:
" The most
enchanting rural house
and a truly beautiful
vacation. "
Is just weird.
It does nothing to invite me to stay.
Your main image at the bottom is TRIP ADVISOR DRIVEN? YIKES! Get that the heck outa there. Do not let an image on TA be part of your homepage.
That is probably enough for now. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Arks]

Ronda!!! I leave March 30 for 3 weeks vacation in Grazalema!! We have a very good friend in Marbella who is letting us stay in his family vacation home in Grazalema. This is really a small world!
Your place looks wonderful. If we did not have free accommodations in Grazalema, i would have loved to stay with you.
Certainly, photos tell more than text, but I think your homepage should have a little more text. You only have two sentences, and both use the word enchanting, a word we rarely use. I would add a little more text to the homepage, a few descriptions of why someone would want to chose your place over another place.
I might change the first sentence to, "Nestled among vineyards beneath the historic city of Ronda" and for the second sentence perhaps, "Our stately farmhouse can serve as a perfect base for your vacation in Andalucia."
Some of the text on the About Us page might be good to put on the homepage. And on the About Us page, perhaps tell some personal information about you, the innkeeper. Nobody expects to know about the manager of a hotel, but when someone chooses to stay in your house, that is different. They want to know a little about who you are, and how you came to run a bed and breakfast. Make it more personal, less formal. People like people, not things.
When I arrive at the homepage, everything is in English, so I don't understand the purpose of the Translate button that says "Translate to English" when I hover the mouse over it.
Pop-ups like the "Translate to English" message do not work well for people using touch screens.
As others have mentioned, potential guests would prefer more and larger photos of each room on the Rooms page. Rather than listing 3 rooms on a single line, perhaps give each room its own line to allow for more photos.
Also, people what to know the room prices when they are comparing the rooms on the Rooms page.
On the Photos page, you have several photos of the outside, but not many of the inside. People want to see more of the inside.
On the Book page, the background is black and the text "Check in date" and "Nights" is also black. Very hard to read.
But the website is looking good! I hope your business does very well!

 

[Stu]

Your comments are all noted. Thank you sooooo much and keep them comming. Its so nice having professional people see the site before it properly goes 'live' to the public. Thanks again.

 

[Stu]

Ronda!!! I leave March 30 for 3 weeks vacation in Grazalema!! We have a very good friend in Marbella who is letting us stay in his family vacation home in Grazalema. This is really a small world!
Your place looks wonderful. If we did not have free accommodations in Grazalema, i would have loved to stay with you.
Certainly, photos tell more than text, but I think your homepage should have a little more text. You only have two sentences, and both use the word enchanting, a word we rarely use. I would add a little more text to the homepage, a few descriptions of why someone would want to chose your place over another place.
I might change the first sentence to, "Nestled among vineyards beneath the historic city of Ronda" and for the second sentence perhaps, "Our stately farmhouse can serve as a perfect base for your vacation in Andalucia."
Some of the text on the About Us page might be good to put on the homepage. And on the About Us page, perhaps tell some personal information about you, the innkeeper. Nobody expects to know about the manager of a hotel, but when someone chooses to stay in your house, that is different. They want to know a little about who you are, and how you came to run a bed and breakfast. Make it more personal, less formal. People like people, not things.
When I arrive at the homepage, everything is in English, so I don't understand the purpose of the Translate button that says "Translate to English" when I hover the mouse over it.
Pop-ups like the "Translate to English" message do not work well for people using touch screens.
As others have mentioned, potential guests would prefer more and larger photos of each room on the Rooms page. Rather than listing 3 rooms on a single line, perhaps give each room its own line to allow for more photos.
Also, people what to know the room prices when they are comparing the rooms on the Rooms page.
On the Photos page, you have several photos of the outside, but not many of the inside. People want to see more of the inside.
On the Book page, the background is black and the text "Check in date" and "Nights" is also black. Very hard to read.
But the website is looking good! I hope your business does very well!.

Arks, If you get chance or have a spare few hours/ day you must call in and say hello. It would be great to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to look at our site and comment on it. It is very much appreciated.

 

[JBloggs]

Your comments are all noted. Thank you sooooo much and keep them comming. Its so nice having professional people see the site before it properly goes 'live' to the public. Thanks again..

Your comments are all noted. Thank you sooooo much and keep them comming. Its so nice having professional people see the site before it properly goes 'live' to the public. Thanks again.

By the way, please tell your wife she has a good start on the website, but there is lot more to it, and getting free advice here is worth ten times what some web designer marketer would make you pay for! You have guts offering it up, and that speaks volumes! All the best, may your table overflow with laughing happy guests!

 

[EmptyNest]

You can post the link to your website, that's fine. We'll be very honest so if the site needs work please understand we're not being 'mean' we're being helpful!
Good luck with your new adventure!.

Hey, thanks for replying, i would love any constructive critisism .
website is
www.La-PerlaBlanca.com
Thanks for your replies
.

Greetings!
When I read "la perla blanca...I thought I would see a very light and airy website to match the name. :-( The color for me is a downer. I envision bright and light. I definitely would go with a brighter and lighter color scheme. Here is a site that might inspire some colors. Weebly free sites are really not a good way to go even though you do have your own domain.
You really need more text on your home page. Something to inspire people to want to stay with you. And for SEO as well.
I also agree with the TRANSLATE comment someone else made.
PICTURES PICTURES AND MORE PICTURES!!! But make sure they are good one and don't make them small. Let them jump out at you to attract people to your lovely location and inn. It is ok to have a ROOMS page, but each of the room names / photos should LINK to a separate page for each room. There you should play up the amenities of each room and feature photos of that room. People want to be able to vision what the room really looks like. Not just one photo. You could do a slideshow and have each small photo open to a large full size view in a lightbox.
Dining: "glittering array of fresh contents," What is glittering about breakfast. Not really an adjective I would use to describe breakfast. PHotos should reflect what people might be getting in their basket and alternately, breakfasts that can be purchased. Are those photos reflective of what is being served. If you are going to open it up in a slideshow, it shouldn't be the same photo you are seeing on the page. It should be large size individual photos of foods served.
Photos Page. Again, small photos should open up into a large size photo slide show. These are just small images used elsewhere. Put captions on things so people know what this shows.
Directions: Can you give some basic text about getting to your location? I see no way of getting directions from this google map.
Reservation page needs to have a bit more explanation. Don't put the bookin g s. com coming. Just put it there when it is done.
I guess that is it for me.
You look like you have a really lovely place. PLAY IT UP and SELL it.

 

[JBloggs]

A remarkable improvement already Stu and Samantha!

 

[JBloggs]

a super king sized? That is actually a king sized, two twins. Otherwise it would be a queen sized bed. A king sized bed USED two twin sized bed box springs.

 

[Stu]

Again thanks for all you comments. Changes have been made today but I know we have got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect. Emptynest, who do you recommend for hosting the webite?
Any more comments
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/
i am learning sooooo much from this Forum. Thanks everyone.

 

[Stu]

Again thanks for all you comments. Changes have been made today but I know we have got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect. Emptynest, who do you recommend for hosting the webite?
Any more comments
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/
i am learning sooooo much from this Forum. Thanks everyone..

PS there is even a photo of us both on there too! Yikes

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Wow, I'll be in Malaga at the end of April! Will be there for 3 nights near the town center though. From your google map I couldn't quite tell how far away you are from town.
I agree totally with the other comments. Definitely choose a different color palate for the site. You place looks beautiful and a black background is very depressing. It also makes the text difficult to read. You've heard it all above...bigger photos, more text on home page, etc. Also on the home page (and others), play up the fact that you're located in a peaceful location yet close to town. Tell them all the positives of being away from the center, since your target market will be people who want a quieter stay, but can easily do everything they want within minutes.
On your dining page, include the local restaurants (if any) and/or links to the nearest ones and ones you recommend. One of the reasons people hesitate to book at a rural b&b is lack of services nearby. If you have them, include them.
I don't know how many pages you get on your free site, but as someone mentioned earlier, each room should have their own page. Also, you should create a separate page each for weddings, and a separate page for events/celebrations. I know you're new owners, so you may not have enough photos yet that show weddings and events, but if you do, use them!
In your breakfast description, you offer breakfast in the courtyard for an additional charge. Take pictures of what that would look like. Europeans LOVE to eat outside and I'm sure you could take advantage of that. If the weather is nice, I would always choose to dine al fresco whenever possible.
Does weeb ly offer a slide show? I see that in the Pro version it says that it offers professional multi media features. If you can get a large picture at the top that rotates (slide show), it's a great way to wow the prospective guest with beautiful images.
You've got a good start. It's a difficult task and an ongoing one!
You said this site has not gone live yet. Do you have a site that you're using right now? If so, can we see it? I'd love to compare the old one.
Congratulations for having thick skin....criticism is difficult to take, but keep in mind we're all here to help.

 

[Stu]

Wow, I'll be in Malaga at the end of April! Will be there for 3 nights near the town center though. From your google map I couldn't quite tell how far away you are from town.
I agree totally with the other comments. Definitely choose a different color palate for the site. You place looks beautiful and a black background is very depressing. It also makes the text difficult to read. You've heard it all above...bigger photos, more text on home page, etc. Also on the home page (and others), play up the fact that you're located in a peaceful location yet close to town. Tell them all the positives of being away from the center, since your target market will be people who want a quieter stay, but can easily do everything they want within minutes.
On your dining page, include the local restaurants (if any) and/or links to the nearest ones and ones you recommend. One of the reasons people hesitate to book at a rural b&b is lack of services nearby. If you have them, include them.
I don't know how many pages you get on your free site, but as someone mentioned earlier, each room should have their own page. Also, you should create a separate page each for weddings, and a separate page for events/celebrations. I know you're new owners, so you may not have enough photos yet that show weddings and events, but if you do, use them!
In your breakfast description, you offer breakfast in the courtyard for an additional charge. Take pictures of what that would look like. Europeans LOVE to eat outside and I'm sure you could take advantage of that. If the weather is nice, I would always choose to dine al fresco whenever possible.
Does weeb ly offer a slide show? I see that in the Pro version it says that it offers professional multi media features. If you can get a large picture at the top that rotates (slide show), it's a great way to wow the prospective guest with beautiful images.
You've got a good start. It's a difficult task and an ongoing one!
You said this site has not gone live yet. Do you have a site that you're using right now? If so, can we see it? I'd love to compare the old one.
Congratulations for having thick skin....criticism is difficult to take, but keep in mind we're all here to help..

Thanks Breakfast Diva, it sure is non stop at the minute. I can't believe how long it takes to sign up to a few websites for advertising purposes and create a professional looking website. Hope all is going well with you.
We are about a 1 hour drive from Malaga but it is a beautiful easy drive to get here. If you get the chance I will give you a tour of the vineyard. Enjoy Malaga.

 

[JBloggs]

Again thanks for all you comments. Changes have been made today but I know we have got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect. Emptynest, who do you recommend for hosting the webite?
Any more comments
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/
i am learning sooooo much from this Forum. Thanks everyone..

PS there is even a photo of us both on there too! Yikes
.

PS there is even a photo of us both on there too! Yikes

I saw it, keep on blogging, get photos on the blog, as you change things, of the area, etc.

 

[Stu]

Again thanks for all you comments. Changes have been made today but I know we have got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect. Emptynest, who do you recommend for hosting the webite?
Any more comments
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/
i am learning sooooo much from this Forum. Thanks everyone..

PS there is even a photo of us both on there too! Yikes
.

PS there is even a photo of us both on there too! Yikes

I saw it, keep on blogging, get photos on the blog, as you change things, of the area, etc.
.

Thanks Joey, a little encouragement goes a long way.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

" Our aim is to allow our guests to truly relax.
Rural Spain will melt your heart, with its stunning scenery, and the delicious, local flavours will tease your senses: our job is to set you at ease... we want to make you smile."
Perfect! This is what the whole website should portray to the guest. Every page.
By the way, the photo of you and your wife portrays this attitude! It's lovely.

 

[EmptyNest]

Again thanks for all you comments. Changes have been made today but I know we have got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect. Emptynest, who do you recommend for hosting the webite?
Any more comments
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/
i am learning sooooo much from this Forum. Thanks everyone..

I agree this slogan " Rural Spain will melt your heart, with its stunning scenery, and the delicious, local flavours will tease your senses: our job is to set you at ease... we want to make you smile."
should be your tag line on the home page
I am afraid I don't know much about web hosting in Europe. But I have a programmer friend in Amsterdam who might have a suggestion. I will let you know. He is one of the author's of this theme.