Lay My Hat

Any reviews of our new website would be very much appreciated.

www.swallowdale-brundall.co.uk

Thanks.

ianwxxx wrote:Any reviews of our new website would be very much appreciated.

www.swallowdale-brundall.co.uk

Thanks.

It's quite slow to load and doesn't navigate easily on my mobile. I would put the bullet points at the top of the home page; people have short attention spans and you need to engage them.

I would merge the prices/availability/book now tabs to one. They basically all serve the same function.

Jonathan

I have only looked at it on my laptop but I like it.

Has everything it needs to have.

Jonathan wrote:

ianwxxx wrote:Any reviews of our new website would be very much appreciated.

www.swallowdale-brundall.co.uk

Thanks.

It's quite slow to load and doesn't navigate easily on my mobile. I would put the bullet points at the top of the home page; people have short attention spans and you need to engage them.

I would merge the prices/availability/book now tabs to one. They basically all serve the same function.

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan,

I agree the site is still slow and I have managed to half the load time but am struggling to speed it up any more.

I put the availability page on our website because customers kept contacting me asking about availability, although as you say the Book Now Page gives exactly the same information. After putting the availability page on the menu this stopped the problem. I suppose I could leave the menu as it is and direct the availability menu to the book now page.

Sid T wrote:I have only looked at it on my laptop but I like it.

Has everything it needs to have.

Thanks Sid T

The second picture on the home page, of a couple looking as if they had walked out of an advert for chair covers or an over 50s life plan somewhat put me off, I wondered where I was!
The couple are so clearly an overlay, and don't help me to decide to book. Sorry.
Otherwise the site told me everything I needed to know
If your availability list is correct I take my hat off to you, that's a lot of early bookings!

I like the site but you are asking for improvements so I'm not saying what I like but things that could be better so here we go!

You have some errors - missing query files etc that may be slowing things down. You can see the problems if you view the site in Google Chrome (developer tools). I don't personally like the home page picture of the decking and the railings. There is an arrow pointing right with four dots on the front page on the RH photo that does nothing. I don't know whether there are more photos you can use, but I cannot get a feeling of location. What is in front of the sun loungers and will my children going to be safe there - (you do provide a high chair so I'm assuming you're welcoming small children). If not then young kids would be behind the railings but is there space for the table/chairs/sun loungers there? Would it not be better to take a picture from the balcony showing the decking and table and chairs and the water beyond? There is no accessibility statement that I can see that would answer these questions and such as how suitable it is for those with mobility problems.

There are no photos of the front of the house. I appreciate the water view is the thing, but not having a single photo of the other side makes me fear the worst. Is it a busy main road? Is the parking safe? Is it very run down?

The main photo on the gallery page shows water and a lovely property that doesn't appear to be the property that we'd be staying in.

As I say, I like the site and you appear to be booked solid next year so are obviously providing an amazing holiday.

The photos in your gallery and elsewhere do not have a caption under each individual photograph. It is helpful to identify a photo with a caption.
As Newtimber has stated considering that your property is located next to a large body of water, what safety provisions are in place for people especially children?
Like Circe I find the photo of the couple smiling 'off putting', who are they? There is no explanation why they are there.
You may wish to amend your Privacy Policy to include the requirements of the General Data Regulation 2018 because currently your Privacy Policy does appear somewhat limited.
Overall though I lke your website.

Circé wrote:The second picture on the home page, of a couple looking as if they had walked out of an advert for chair covers or an over 50s life plan somewhat put me off, I wondered where I was!
The couple are so clearly an overlay, and don't help me to decide to book. Sorry.
Otherwise the site told me everything I needed to know
If your availability list is correct I take my hat off to you, that's a lot of early bookings!

Thanks for reviewing my site Circe

You don't like my 'old couple overlay' ?
I thought it looked like a happy friendly older family enjoying the beautiful Norfolk Broads!!!!!

Maybe others who review my site could vote whether to leave or remove the happy couple to help me decide...

Thanks.

newtimber wrote:I like the site but you are asking for improvements so I'm not saying what I like but things that could be better so here we go!

You have some errors - missing query files etc that may be slowing things down. You can see the problems if you view the site in Google Chrome (developer tools). I don't personally like the home page picture of the decking and the railings. There is an arrow pointing right with four dots on the front page on the RH photo that does nothing. I don't know whether there are more photos you can use, but I cannot get a feeling of location. What is in front of the sun loungers and will my children going to be safe there - (you do provide a high chair so I'm assuming you're welcoming small children). If not then young kids would be behind the railings but is there space for the table/chairs/sun loungers there? Would it not be better to take a picture from the balcony showing the decking and table and chairs and the water beyond? There is no accessibility statement that I can see that would answer these questions and such as how suitable it is for those with mobility problems.

There are no photos of the front of the house. I appreciate the water view is the thing, but not having a single photo of the other side makes me fear the worst. Is it a busy main road? Is the parking safe? Is it very run down?

The main photo on the gallery page shows water and a lovely property that doesn't appear to be the property that we'd be staying in.

As I say, I like the site and you appear to be booked solid next year so are obviously providing an amazing holiday.

Hi newtimber

Thank you for your comments.

I have found the errors you mentioned but don't understand them. I will have to look into them a bit further.

I have added some more pics on the slider so the arrows now work. In front of the sun loungers is the river, I should probably take a pic from the balcony showing this.

The upper decking is gated for the safety of small children and dogs but obviously being next to the river could be very dangerous. There are table and chairs on the upper decking that are shown in the slider pic.

I will add something to the site to advise on accessibility for the elderly and disabled as I can see that could be a problem.

I will also put a picture of the front of the property showing the road and parking.

The main picture on the gallery page is something the web developer put on as none of my pictures were suitable in size. I need to take a panoramic pic to use for this but will probably have to wait until next summer now.

Thanks again.

Drax wrote:The photos in your gallery and elsewhere do not have a caption under each individual photograph. It is helpful to identify a photo with a caption.
As Newtimber has stated considering that your property is located next to a large body of water, what safety provisions are in place for people especially children?
Like Circe I find the photo of the couple smiling 'off putting', who are they? There is no explanation why they are there.
You may wish to amend your Privacy Policy to include the requirements of the General Data Regulation 2018 because currently your Privacy Policy does appear somewhat limited.
Overall though I lke your website.

Thanks for commenting Drax

All the pics do have a caption under them when you click on them but do not have a caption on the thumbnail. Do you think the thumbnail should have a caption as well?

Another vote to remove the happy couple.......

I will have a look at and amend the privacy policy.

Thanks you.

Hi ianwxxx,
Regarding the photos, if it was me I would also put a caption on the thumbnails

ianwxxx wrote:
I will have a look at and amend the privacy policy.

Thanks you.

Yes you now have to get positive consent to store google analytic cookies which your site uses.
When searching for anything now, it takes 10 times as long as every site I look at insists I accept their privacy policy and I really don't have the time to read them all so end up clicking accept just to get things done.

I thought that the couple in the photo look out of place, and would vote for removing them.

The beds in the twin room look narrow in the photo, as though they might be 2ft 6 width rather than full size 3ft singles. I couldn’t see any text description that clarified this and it might be worth adding.

Rachel

Pixiepower wrote:I thought that the couple in the photo look out of place, and would vote for removing them.

The beds in the twin room look narrow in the photo, as though they might be 2ft 6 width rather than full size 3ft singles. I couldn’t see any text description that clarified this and it might be worth adding.

Rachel

Thanks you for your comments.
Yes beds are 2ft 6 in twin bedroom. Good idea to add this to the website.

Thanks.