Lay My Hat

Please be gentle, but constructive!

I've put this together in wake of the OD shenanigans, in preparation for marketing myself and looking for alternative channels.

I'm a real newbie at both web design and Holiday Lets (just into my second year), so any help appreciated. Thanks.

www.harboursidepolperro.co.uk

Oh, and I already know that the Rates page is WAAAAYYY too complicated, but these are the rates I set with a third party managing agent who I also advertise with, and on OD, and I can't really change them now.

2018 rates will be much much simpler!!

I'm going to spend more time looking at your site ManxRed1, but my initial comment is that your background photo - great photo though it is - is too intrusive. I found that boats thing overly vivid and distracting. I think you need a less harsh image to get people to focus on the main event, which is the actual content of your site. Maybe I have spent too long at my computer today and my eyes are a bit sensitive And yeah, the rates look like a maths exam

Being an inquisitive sort and looking at your booking with confidence page, I sought out Harbourside on Quality in Tourism's website since you have advertised that it is rated.

The website for the cottage on QIT is holidaycottagescornwall.com. The contact email and address is that of holiday cottages cornwall.
You have a book with confidence tab and say how I can trust you. You say that I can verify that you own the website domain - yes, but you've opted not to show your address as a non-trading individual on whois and your address is not on the website either so that's no help. You say you are happy to supply a mobile number - a mobile number gives no confidence at all as I cannot verify your address from a mobile number and if anything were to go wrong and it's a scam, what have I got? A mobile that won't answer, no address or phone number on the website and a QIT rating that is registered to someone else.
You say I can make a land-registry enquiry but that costs money so who is going to do that for a holiday rental?

And why would I book direct with you rather than the verified site of Holiday Cottages Cornwall that allows me to pay by card which gives far greater protection than any words on your book with confidence page?

(This comment is not intending to insult or be harsh; just playing devil's advocate - the cottage looks great!)

newtimber wrote:Being an inquisitive sort and looking at your booking with confidence page, I sought out Harbourside on Quality in Tourism's website since you have advertised that it is rated.

The website for the cottage on QIT is holidaycottagescornwall.com. The contact email and address is that of holiday cottages cornwall.
You have a book with confidence tab and say how I can trust you. You say that I can verify that you own the website domain - yes, but you've opted not to show your address as a non-trading individual on whois and your address is not on the website either so that's no help. You say you are happy to supply a mobile number - a mobile number gives no confidence at all as I cannot verify your address from a mobile number and if anything were to go wrong and it's a scam, what have I got? A mobile that won't answer, no address or phone number on the website and a QIT rating that is registered to someone else.
You say I can make a land-registry enquiry but that costs money so who is going to do that for a holiday rental?

And why would I book direct with you rather than the verified site of Holiday Cottages Cornwall that allows me to pay by card which gives far greater protection than any words on your book with confidence page?

(This comment is not intending to insult or be harsh; just playing devil's advocate - the cottage looks great!)

All good points.

1. I do have an agent (Holiday Cottages Polperro) who markets the property and he organises the VisitEngland rating, although I pay for it.
2. Hmmmm, when I registered the website domain I didn't tick the anonymous box and was informed my name and address would be visible. I'll look into that.
3. You may be right about the mobile number, I've thought about that too, I'm happy to offer a geographic number, except I'm hardly ever in, but I could arrange a time I guess.
4. I take your point about the Land Registry thing, I'll have a think about that.
5. I take the point about the Holiday Cottages payments, that's probably why he takes a large commission from me! I want to take some bookings myself and I will always offer a deal if I think it will clinch the booking. Again I need to have a think about that.

I take Casscat's point about the background photo. I might try a few variations, it was the most innocuous but thematic one I could find, but I'll maybe try a few others to see if they work better.

Thanks people!

Another thing I've just thought of. The main cause of people losing their money to scammers is compromised email accounts ie someone else is receiving all your enquiries and answering them on your behalf. If the guest has no contact details on your website, then they have no means of verifying anything and no means of talking to you (the scammers give their own mobile phone number as a contact in their emails) - and if a guest does realise that they are talking to a scammer, they have no means of telling you so you can fix it!

newtimber wrote:Another thing I've just thought of. The main cause of people losing their money to scammers is compromised email accounts ie someone else is receiving all your enquiries and answering them on your behalf. If the guest has no contact details on your website, then they have no means of verifying anything and no means of talking to you (the scammers give their own mobile phone number as a contact in their emails) - and if a guest does realise that they are talking to a scammer, they have no means of telling you so you can fix it!

A good point. I've taken an email account from the domain provider (1&1) using the domain name, which is password protected. However, is this secure enough? What measures should be taken to protect this from being hijacked?

Sorry to sound dumb, but this might also be of help to others.

ManxRed1, you have a PM.

ManxRed1 wrote:A good point. I've taken an email account from the domain provider (1&1) using the domain name, which is password protected. However, is this secure enough? What measures should be taken to protect this from being hijacked?

Sorry to sound dumb, but this might also be of help to others.

Avoid logging in via a web browser every time you need to access Email. I imagine that most accounts are hijacked by phishing and logging via a browser each time is the best way to get caught out. If you use software to login, then you define your login details once only and it should avoid ever being tricked into giving them away.

BTW I had a quick look at the site using IE at work and half the text is covered by photos on the home page.

Thanks Kev,

I'll look into that IE thing, it seems to work OK on Chrome and Firefox.

I have set the email up on my phone using IMAP settings, and don't access it via a browser, thanks for the info though.

ManxRed1 wrote:I'll look into that IE thing, it seems to work OK on Chrome and Firefox..

Yup, IE is every web developer's nightmare. Its been awkward since Version 11 and that website still does not work in Version 11. I fear this is an issue that PMP may need to help with.

But the good news is that it does work in Edge (The new Microsoft browser in Windows 10)

Non-techie comments:
What do you mean by 'free dedicated parking space'? Just for one car?
How big is a small dog?
4 adults? 4 small adults maybe, the dining area looks tiny and bunk beds for grown-ups????
Can 4 people sit on the terrace?
Your photos could do with re-arranging so that the living room pics are next to each other.

Yes, it's just for one car, maybe I should provide that detail.

A small dog? Good question, I'm just trying to discourage owners of Rottweillers/Great Danes, but maybe a list of breeds might be too much?

The bunk beds are adult sized, yes! The dining space is a bit of a squeeze but its a very small cosy cottage. I've not had any complaints!

Four people can sit on the terrace, there is a table and four chairs.

I'll look at rearranging the photos, a good suggestion.

I've changed the template now, the background pic did look a bit cluttered. It looks slightly more... I dunno... elegant now.

I too do not like the photo in the background. The web page takes a bit of time to load and I see a plain green page before the photo. Maybe a plain- very light blue will suffice?
The header title should not be in black as it is not very prominent. I would like to have seen some more photos of the interior and a fuller description of what equipment is included. (esp. the kitchen)
I do hate that cookie consent. It ruins everything if not clicked away. It breaks the EU cookie law, just like most of us do.

Your rules about emailing customers with offers is going against UK regulations.
https://www.gov.uk/marketing-advertisin ... -marketing


I like the way you describe yourself, I can see where you are "coming from" but maybe you are going OTT about the scammers. 3 times the word scam comes up in that page, well one is scammers, but hopefully you get my drift?

The email in the grey box on the enquiries page is not looking good. It is too long for the box. Could you not use one for the business only or is this it? If so have it linked too.


Not being so technical on this but maybe some pages like in this example http://www.harboursidepolperro.co.uk//Confidence, with the // in it are may not be SEO searchable?

Hope that helps.

I've got rid of the photo now, in favour of some nice background colour.

You other points are all excellent so I'll look at those in due course.

Many thanks. You people are so helpful!