help with new website opinions needed

elliebe · 16-06-2009 02:46PM #1

So I had a new website designed for self catering business that I set up but I have not had any hits at all on it since it was set up and no enquiries . So I was wondering could any of the boardsie members have a look at it and see where it is going wrong . i would really appreciate this . thanks, the name of it is coastalretreatsireland.com

CiaranC · 16-06-2009 02:48PM

It doesnt exist

elliebe · 16-06-2009 03:14PM

yes it does coastalretreatsireland.com

Sully · 16-06-2009 04:39PM

From working in both the design business and self catering.. this is my take;
1) The design of the site is very basic so I would hope you paid very little for that,
2) Partly meets SEO Standards (missing some key areas such as keywords),
3) The website fails to sell itself. Its just a big blob of text on each page,

Ideally you should have;
1) Went with a much more up market design (costs more though),
2) If you are selling more then one coastal retreat - then sell it. Have the information, pictures, prices, location -- see http://www.discovertramore.ie. Setup to sell Tramore, so each business who are members have their own page effectively selling themselves. It doesnt just talk about Tramore, it actually sells the town and various businesses.
3) Far to much information on "The Look Out" & "Darty Sunrise and Atlantic Sunset" page and not styled well,

Overall; Looks like a quick cheap entry into the eBusiness of selling yourself. The design is standard, not a major issue but your not starting on the right footing design wise. The content on the pages about the different houses/homes/areas really fail to sell itself and this is partly due to the design. You also completely fail, in my opinion, to sell the location. Contact Us is a mix of a reseravtion & enquiry form - should be one not both. In addition, there are flaws in terms of SEO but id assume for the money you paid thats all they were giving.

Just my view based on my experience. Your designers own website is the opposite - very bloated but it has one thing in common; lack of style. Interesting choice.

Liam Byrne · 16-06-2009 08:21PM

The very fact that someone appears to have used an underline tag on one of the pages' content implies they don't know much about the web (mind you, since it's using joomla this may not have been the designers' fault)

Keywords for "the lookout" page are "joomla, joomla"

No semantic markup.

Inline images have no alt/title tags

Content appears to be within a table!

Can't tell what the relationship between "The Lookout" and "Dartry Sunrise & Atlantic Sunset" are

On the home page (apart from the word "specialises" being spelt incorrectly) there's no indication that there is going to be much to look at within the site; while splash pages are generally pointless and counterproductive, a home page can contain inline links to key sections, latest news/updates/offers, list of locations, etc.

elliebe · 16-06-2009 08:39PM

thanks for the opinions , it was not an expensive site probably should have been to get the hits, no advice given actually just asked to submit the text by the designed and he did the rest . Obviously i left it to him as he was the expert ( or not

) not me .

Sully · 16-06-2009 10:28PM

elliebe wrote: »

thanks for the opinions , it was not an expensive site probably should have been to get the hits, no advice given actually just asked to submit the text by the designed and he did the rest . Obviously i left it to him as he was the expert ( or not ) not me .

All I ask for is the content and what their aim is. My job is to create a design that looks the part, that sells the part visually and meets the various standards including the basic SEO. Ill advise if I think the content is poor, but it depends if I know the subject. Content usually is the clients side.

Your own site looks like a very very basic Joomla (the content management system) theme. The site fails to sell itself, both because of the content and the design the content is on. Therefore, while you paid for a cheap job to get yourself onto the market (a market which really if you need to sell yourself, you up scale design wise) you got the bad end of the stick because while you have a presence, its not doing anything.

My opinion? No point asking the designer to start again, they probably don't know any better. You probably don't want to spend money again but when you do - get someone that does whats needed and offers high quality designs. It will be pricey, but it will pay itself in the long run and you wont be paying to get it re-done later.

RoadKillTs · 17-06-2009 01:28PM

thanks for the opinions , it was not an expensive site probably should have been to get the hits, no advice given actually just asked to submit the text by the designed and he did the rest . Obviously i left it to him as he was the expert ( or not ) not me .

What did you expect?
The lads are charging €99 for domain name, web hosting and install of Joomla plus a template.

Did they say they would design it?

Link

Mick Regan · 17-06-2009 05:35PM

Possible option here (assuming no budget):

It might be worth building a blog (Wordpress maybe).
It's free and you're in control of it yourself.
You can adapt the text, add photos, get customer feedback etc...

Plus, if you gen up a bit on keyword usage / backlinks etc, you should get the site showing in search results on different search terms.

Two ways to think about a website:
a. You tell people about it and direct them to it.
b. It gets found organically by people searching the web.

You're after the latter and as it stands, even if you get hits, you're unlikely to get many bookings. As stated earlier - it needs to sell. One way for example would be to get comments from people who have used the apartments before.

Just some food for thought.

Sully · 17-06-2009 06:18PM

Mick Regan wrote: »

Possible option here (assuming no budget):

It might be worth building a blog (Wordpress maybe).
It's free and you're in control of it yourself.
You can adapt the text, add photos, get customer feedback etc...

Plus, if you gen up a bit on keyword usage / backlinks etc, you should get the site showing in search results on different search terms.

Two ways to think about a website:
a. You tell people about it and direct them to it.
b. It gets found organically by people searching the web.

You're after the latter and as it stands, even if you get hits, you're unlikely to get many bookings. As stated earlier - it needs to sell. One way for example would be to get comments from people who have used the apartments before.

Just some food for thought.

Which is effectively the exact same as they done, and failed. The only way your going to get anything decent is by investing and getting a company that will do a proper job. Its a tough market out there and most tourists wont take any notice of a blog style business website that has a poor enough template. Your suggestion, in my opinion, is a step back rather then a step forward.

Mick Regan · 17-06-2009 07:38PM

Well to be fair i did say "assuming no budget".

I agree a website properly designed is the best option, but I get the impression that investing heavily on this one is'nt necessarily on the table.

I would'nt write blogs off either - especially if they're part of a 'website'.
To say they're actually a step backward, especially when compared to the site in question, is itself questionable.

Here's a quick (and not necessarily the best) example of what i'm talking about: vacationhomerentals.com

Not trying to undermine the web-development world here (or get into a contest), just trying to give the OP something to think about.

Sully · 17-06-2009 07:42PM

Mick Regan wrote: »

Well to be fair i did say "assuming no budget".

I agree a website properly designed is the best option, but I get the impression that investing heavily on this one is'nt necessarily on the table.

I would'nt write blogs off either - especially if they're part of a 'website'.
To say they're actually a step backward, especially when compared to the site in question, is itself questionable.

Here's a quick (and not necessarily the best) example of what i'm talking about: http://www.vacationhomerentals.com/

Not trying to undermine the web-development world here (or get into a contest), just trying to give the OP something to think about.

The project is too small to consider a blog really. Thats usually aimed at larger tourist websites. I assumed you were reffering to a blog website rather then adding it to the current one, which is a step back.

They could make a go of the existing website, but ideally a better design is the best option all around. If not, its a fair bit of work to improve it yourself really without messing something up.

lanternman · 23-06-2009 08:21PM

Type the names of your competiors into and add the word link. See you they are linked to and register with the same people (most will be free).

This might help you but it does take a few days to kick in.

This will cost nothing but a little bit of time.

Pixelcraft · 23-06-2009 08:41PM

Agree with some of the above, particularly Liam's post. The saying pay cheap pay twice has some merit you know.

help with new website opinions needed

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