New site live! All in Wordpress now.
http://www.chaletlaforet.com/
(for comparison, the French site is still on the old system
http://www.chaletlaforet.com/fr/index.html
)
I think I may cut down on the homepage photos as it's definitely slower than the old one, and I need to redo my 360 degree views and the French version, and make a summer colour scheme..
but so far, it's proving successful: Page views are up and adding content is miles easier. My Google rank is hugely improved after a bit of a slump recently. Lots of small stuff still to do but anything that immediately sticks out at you? I've been looking at it so long now, I'm sure there's obvious stuff I've missed!
New site - your thoughts?
New site - your thoughts?
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
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Rocket Rab
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Hi Martha,
I'm absolutely green, I think it's a fantastic website. Stacks of information, and very easy on the eye.
One small comment: Starting out from your "About Us" page, I couldn't find a link to your reviews section (which you mention specifically).
And, on the homepage, is there any way of making the "Booking, Prices and Availability", written in large letters, into a link? I was slightly confused trying to click on it, and finding it wouldn't work (then found the link immediately above it).
Great work, and all done yourself, too. You're a very talented lady.
I'm absolutely green, I think it's a fantastic website. Stacks of information, and very easy on the eye.
One small comment: Starting out from your "About Us" page, I couldn't find a link to your reviews section (which you mention specifically).
And, on the homepage, is there any way of making the "Booking, Prices and Availability", written in large letters, into a link? I was slightly confused trying to click on it, and finding it wouldn't work (then found the link immediately above it).
Great work, and all done yourself, too. You're a very talented lady.
Thanks RR, that's just what I need - a fresh eye! Must be all those carrots. I'll fix those now. 
edit - fixed, and Booking was going to an old page too, oops...
Thanks for the kind words!! I'm glad you like the look of it so far It's on a template, so not too difficult to do, but it took a loooong time to get it how I wanted
edit - fixed, and Booking was going to an old page too, oops...Thanks for the kind words!! I'm glad you like the look of it so far
It's on a template, so not too difficult to do, but it took a loooong time to get it how I wanted Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
It's stunning Martha! 
100 pages? Wow you've been busy, I've only got about 6 on mine! I haven't read most of the pages and this is just a miniscule thing but on the thumbnail photo of your sauna, which is gorgeous by the way, there isn't an id tag - can't even remember if that's the right name for it but you'll prob know what I mean.
Yep I'm green with envy too! I particularly liked your Booking with Confidence page, might pinch that idea if I may?
100 pages? Wow you've been busy, I've only got about 6 on mine! I haven't read most of the pages and this is just a miniscule thing but on the thumbnail photo of your sauna, which is gorgeous by the way, there isn't an id tag - can't even remember if that's the right name for it but you'll prob know what I mean.Yep I'm green with envy too! I particularly liked your Booking with Confidence page, might pinch that idea if I may?
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
Wow. Probably the best website I've ever seen and in conjunction with your fabulous photos...it is brilliant.
Well done! Like RR, I'm green. You have put such an effort into thinking of everything.
The only tiny thing was I found the text a little too small to read comfortably, but I'm sure it is fine for the younger non longsighted generation.
Well done! Like RR, I'm green. You have put such an effort into thinking of everything.
The only tiny thing was I found the text a little too small to read comfortably, but I'm sure it is fine for the younger non longsighted generation.
Thanks Katie! Yes I really need to go through and check all those - good point! I think that might be tomorrow's task....
Go ahead with the Booking with Confidence page, I got the idea from LMH It was on my old site too and I was surprised to see how many people looked at it.
Thanks LV! *blush!* I've been thinking of adding a tool to make the text larger & smaller, so I'll bump that up the to-do list
Go ahead with the Booking with Confidence page, I got the idea from LMH
It was on my old site too and I was surprised to see how many people looked at it.Thanks LV! *blush!* I've been thinking of adding a tool to make the text larger & smaller, so I'll bump that up the to-do list
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
My first reaction was WOW ! Stunning website and property.
My second reaction was to look further and again WOW! so much going on and so much to click on, where do I start ?
Just on the home page, including the menu, there are 85 possible clicks (give or take some duplication)
I'm wondering if this is actually a good thing ?
"Overwhelming" can be off-putting, and if one doesn't have 20-30 minutes to spare, perhaps one may click away, with the intention of coming back, but in the meantime, find another easier to grasp site.
I didn't want to sound critical, but you did ask, and I am wondering even to myself if that is a valid concern.
My second reaction was to look further and again WOW! so much going on and so much to click on, where do I start ?
Just on the home page, including the menu, there are 85 possible clicks (give or take some duplication)
I'm wondering if this is actually a good thing ?
"Overwhelming" can be off-putting, and if one doesn't have 20-30 minutes to spare, perhaps one may click away, with the intention of coming back, but in the meantime, find another easier to grasp site.
I didn't want to sound critical, but you did ask, and I am wondering even to myself if that is a valid concern.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
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Rocket Rab
- Posts: 2248
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:37 pm
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That thought did occur to me, e-R, but I think Martha's organised the layout exceptionally well, with plenty of stunning photos and not too much text to absorb.
And - although I may not have clicked on every page - I could always see a clear navigation guide down the right hand side of every page. So I could steer over to Booking, Availability and Prices any time. Possibly, Martha, you might want to put that sub-title right at the top of the Main Menu choices, just to make it even easier?
Telemarking?
What more could a punter possibly want? There's everything on a plate on this website...*
I 'spose the icing on the cake might be a (good) French translation, but maybe that's not Martha's target market.
*although I've decided I'd like to know where I can go husky sledding, and where the nearest altiport is located
And - although I may not have clicked on every page - I could always see a clear navigation guide down the right hand side of every page. So I could steer over to Booking, Availability and Prices any time. Possibly, Martha, you might want to put that sub-title right at the top of the Main Menu choices, just to make it even easier?
Telemarking?
What more could a punter possibly want? There's everything on a plate on this website...*I 'spose the icing on the cake might be a (good) French translation, but maybe that's not Martha's target market.
*although I've decided I'd like to know where I can go husky sledding, and where the nearest altiport is located
I would repeat all of the above praise - just one thing - I clicked on your bedroom photos, and they did something weird, two images one partly below the screen, then the next one very long with the actual image below the screen. I'm using safari on mac OS 10.6, so possibly just that combo, but not something I've ever experienced before.
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Giddy Goat
- Posts: 9054
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:38 am
- Location: UK
- Contact:
The finish results are stunning.
I have dug a little deeper and found you have quite a number of errors with coding. Which is quite strange given you have purchased a template for this layout.
Theses results are only for the first page on the new layout.
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/vali ... ret.com%2F
http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1 ... ret.com%2F
Some of these are quite serious so you should check every page.
There area few Alt text files missing.
My little spy say that Goolge has only indexed 240 pages! How many have you got?
The same little spy say that your website has got a lot of little goodies that other sites I have review do not have, so well done.
I have dug a little deeper and found you have quite a number of errors with coding. Which is quite strange given you have purchased a template for this layout.
Theses results are only for the first page on the new layout.
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/vali ... ret.com%2F
http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1 ... ret.com%2F
Some of these are quite serious so you should check every page.
There area few Alt text files missing.
My little spy say that Goolge has only indexed 240 pages! How many have you got?
The same little spy say that your website has got a lot of little goodies that other sites I have review do not have, so well done.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Thanks so much It's really good to hear that you think it looks good and that it's mostly working ok.
e-richard, I did wonder about that myself...but the reason I have all the info is that it's all stuff I get asked about, and it's super useful to just send people a link instead of writing it all out again and again. It's food for thought though, and thanks for bringing it up
I think RR's point about moving the main menu to the top of the side nav might well be a good one. I used to have it there, but it looked odd at first. Now the sections are all filled, I think it might be better.
Or I might make a graphic panel to put in there, with a big link to chalet info and booking, so that's always clear, wherever you are - maybe a good idea when people are landing direct onto an inner page from Google.
Altiports! We do have some, I might add them to the Flying section
Husky sledding page is on the way
I totally agree about the translation - I have most of the main site pages done, and making the new French version is high up on the list. I don't get that many French (more French Canadians in fact!) but I think it looks a bit odd not to have one. The old French site is still getting some traffic from Google.
wallypott - Thanks for letting me know. I haven't been able to replicate that - was it a one-off, or did it happen more than once? Could you paste the link here?
GG & Paolo Thanks! I am so glad you like it!
casasantoestevo That's a good idea, I'll check it in a validator and see what I can do. Though the old one was very simple and even than never validated 100%. Thanks, it's a good plan
Alt text and image titles this weekend! Joy...
I think Google is probably still indexing the old site (I left it up, with 301 automatic redirects to the new site), which wasn't much smaller, and the French site too, hence the massive number.
The other thing I'm going to need to look at is the automatic linking system which is causing some eccentric links, and clearly needs some fine-tuning.
Thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to look through, it's so helpful.
It's really good to hear that you think it looks good and that it's mostly working ok.e-richard, I did wonder about that myself...but the reason I have all the info is that it's all stuff I get asked about, and it's super useful to just send people a link instead of writing it all out again and again. It's food for thought though, and thanks for bringing it up
I think RR's point about moving the main menu to the top of the side nav might well be a good one. I used to have it there, but it looked odd at first. Now the sections are all filled, I think it might be better.
Or I might make a graphic panel to put in there, with a big link to chalet info and booking, so that's always clear, wherever you are - maybe a good idea when people are landing direct onto an inner page from Google.
Altiports! We do have some, I might add them to the Flying section
Husky sledding page is on the way
I totally agree about the translation - I have most of the main site pages done, and making the new French version is high up on the list. I don't get that many French (more French Canadians in fact!) but I think it looks a bit odd not to have one. The old French site is still getting some traffic from Google.
wallypott - Thanks for letting me know. I haven't been able to replicate that - was it a one-off, or did it happen more than once? Could you paste the link here?
GG & Paolo Thanks!
I am so glad you like it!casasantoestevo That's a good idea, I'll check it in a validator and see what I can do. Though the old one was very simple and even than never validated 100%. Thanks, it's a good plan
Alt text and image titles this weekend! Joy...
I think Google is probably still indexing the old site (I left it up, with 301 automatic redirects to the new site), which wasn't much smaller, and the French site too, hence the massive number.
The other thing I'm going to need to look at is the automatic linking system which is causing some eccentric links, and clearly needs some fine-tuning.
Thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to look through, it's so helpful.
Last edited by Martha on Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix