Author Topic: New Website critics wanted  (Read 2531 times)

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Online Fat Rat

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New Website critics wanted
« on: November 09, 2013, 11:51:36 »
I've just re-done my site at http://www.welshcaravans.com

And its sister site at www.new-quay.co.uk

Constructive criticism welcome  :angry-tappingfoot:   :)
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Offline Piglumps

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2013, 11:58:26 »
Just a small point on welshcaravans - perhaps well-lit interior shots of the caravans rather than externals?

I think the word 'Sea' shouldn't have a capital S....
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Offline 2112

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2013, 12:07:48 »
Nice, easy to navigate websites. Both would benefit from better quality pictures in my humble opinion. Pic's of the caravans in sunshine would be a start as they look a bit dull on the website. Other than that very good  :thumb:
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Online Fat Rat

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2013, 12:25:59 »
Thanks and yes some of the images are poor, I'm just waiting for a decent sunny day  :GRR:   :)))
There are some internal images if you click the 'Details & Availability' buttons.

Hmmm, the capital S.. I generally capitalise the name of something (although I didn't do O Level English)  :shy:
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Offline frez

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2013, 12:47:15 »
new-quay: Watch out for the black text on dark blue background, some people will find that hard to read. The Book Now takes you to another site, that's a bit unexpected, can you not include the booking on the same site, or perhaps iframe it on one of the site's pages?

welshcaravans looks fine on quick perusal.
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Offline 2112

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2013, 16:21:58 »
Quote from: "Fat Rat"
There are some internal images if you click the 'Details & Availability' buttons

That's a nice feature and the internal pictures aren't bad. We just need some sunshine..
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Online Fat Rat

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2013, 16:24:49 »
Well, if you were a potential customer I'd be telling you the sun shines all the time in New Quay   :)
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Offline Ridaz

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2013, 17:01:38 »
Hi - You may want to make a big deal on the home page about the Trip Advisor reviews which appear to be very good http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Revi ... Wales.html

You may also want to consider adding a link in the Entertainment section to external sites showing local entertainment and events? The on site entertainment looks good but I were to come for a week I would want to know what else is available in the area.

Here's a few quick examples of what I have found that may help
Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction ... gland.html)
http://www.visitnewquay.org/events
http://www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/eat.htm

Hope this helps :)

Offline 2112

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2013, 08:26:29 »
That's a good call about trip advisor Ridaz, a lot of people use that to pick accommodation  :thumb:
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Offline Seigi

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2013, 01:39:18 »
On "Welsh Caravans"

on "FAQ" subpage, get rid of the red on white, it looks horrible. Instead change Question to being in bold and Answer to being in normal, black.

Same for "Terms of Business", change numbers to black bold.

"Links" subpage, the "Join our mailing list" looks a bit floaty, like it doesn't quite have a place, on further inspection I notice you have "join our mailing list" on every page, perhaps keep it to just one page such as the contact page/homepage. Having it everywhere seems to come across as a bit of a nuisance, the annoying paperclip, "Office Assistant", springs to mind.


On "New Quay Caravan Holidays"

As someone else has mentioned having black on dark blue isn't too good, especially seeing as your target demographic will no doubt include a lot of older people who may have poor eyesight. There's even dark blue on dark blue on "News & Offers" page.

Again same comments with FAQ/Terms of Business and the mailing list.

The "Book now" link just screams untrustworthiness to me. A page before showing that page saying something along the lines of "Booking is done via a different website, click here to go now". Either that or make the booking page appear more inline, as when clicking on it, it looks like a completely different webpage (Different style on the image, completely white). Clicking on the booking dates also doesn't work and there's a random box to the right. I assume the booking page is just a placeholder for now, considering the above?

As a final note the hit/visitor counter just seems tacky to me. I don't know if other people like it, but I've always thought it's a bit...bleurgh.

I really hope this helps, I don't mean to be overly critical, because otherwise it's a good looking website and seems to be fit for purpose. As someone else has said, with tripadvisor reviews being good, use that to your advantage. I for one know I always check trip advisor before I book anywhere and I'm sure many other people do.

Online Fat Rat

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2013, 09:26:13 »
Thanks for all the comments, it's really useful having an impartial review, I have acted on most of them.

The Trip Advisor link used to be there but I removed it because many of the entries include people talking about £99 deals through Haven etc.

I used to mask the URL of the shopping cart but that caused more problems than it solved and to be honest we have had no objections or problems with people booking online, 99% of them do.

Thanks again  :thumb:
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Offline Descolada

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2013, 12:39:45 »
Mr Rat, have you considered a copyright notice for your site. You can get a freebie here http://www.blogtrafficexchange.com/blog-copyright/

How about a 'local services' or 'things to do' page for helping people who are new to the area, I know the first thing I always do is scope out where the local Tesco, Asda, etc is and plan how I am going occupy my time by visiting local attractions that will appeal to all in my family.

Des

Offline bigpie

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Re: New Website critics wanted
« Reply #12 on: November 11, 2013, 13:04:20 »
Sorry in advance

- The design in not responsive, and so doesn't look like mobile and smaller resolution screens have been thought about. (Guilty of this in the past)

- Agree, hitcounter, very 90's website design.

- Some of the image files are not very crisp.

- The overall design of both sites, while is probably fine for the given content and purpose, looks very 90's, created in publisher styled, which most other small accommodation providers also have.

The latest trend is clean, crisp sites, which must work on phones/tablets/laptops/fridge.

Having said that, I've booked with cottages and B&Bs with similar websites and it doesn't put me off.

Take a look at https://gridsetapp.com/ or http://gumbyframework.com/ for help with the responsive side.

Something like http://www.wrightland.ca/ and http://bembel-with-care.de/ are a more modern design.