exchange professional photos for...

[Sunshine]

Yes! But only if when we come to your place, you pay for our tickets and my professional photographer dh takes pics of your inn!
Hee-hee!

.

Yes! But only if when we come to your place, you pay for our tickets and my professional photographer dh takes pics of your inn!
Hee-hee!

Award winning photographer.

.

hey, mine too! seems we have much in common.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

I have two comments. First, if we could all visit each other's inns we could see and understand much of what we talk about on here to assist.
Second, since we can't visit each other's places we are able to view them more as a guest would, so that might be even more beneficial!

 

[EmptyNest]

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing .....

Whitestone Marketing. ok, thanks.
.

I don't think these folks are doing much these days. their site is out of date, we haven't heard from him in a year and to boot...they are very very expensive.

 

[MissInnkeeping]

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing .....

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing ....

This is true, BUT I think it is important that everyone understands that the text is not necessarily for the potential guest. It is VERY important for the search engines that scan your text for keywords. That is why repetition (sometimes annoying repetition) can be important in what you write. So, don't skimp on the text to save room for the pictures. You can have LOTS of pictures, and they ARE VERY important to have (you need to be sure your images are correctly optimized for web viewing in order to avoid the low, pixilated quality) in addition to text. Just my 2 cents...

 

[swirt]

YES to good photos on your site. Yes to good SEO. It should not be an either or arrangement.

And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month.

$50 a month for hosting is very high (about 10x what it could be).
Designing a site yourself as your first site is risky (I don't mean to try and scare you). I don't encourage it, but there are some who have done it. However if you are saying things like I don't know how to keep the photos from getting pixelated and you have great source photos, then you probably shouldn't be doing it yourself. It has the real potential to be the single biggest thing that will draw guests to you. If you are intent on doing it yourself, you should read the B&B website advice section on my website.
You are using a payment system (paypal) and calendar system that are disconnected, meaning that people can pay for a reservation that is not available. This leads to more and more work for you. I know you are just getting started, but I hope it is in your plan to have an actual reservation system in place. The amount you are paying extra in hosting right now would more than cover the cost of an actual reservation system. There are pros and cons to each, but either of them are much better than what you are using now. I think between all of us on this forum all of them on the list are in use, so you could ask specific questions about any of them and get answers from innkeepers that are actually using it.
Regarding your proposal for photography services, there are possibilities there. Good architectural photographers are hard to come by. I've seen lots of "pros" who do great weddings or sunsets, shoot awful room photos.

 

[aquarijen]

OK, I designed the website my self (first ever not knowing anything at all about websites). Don't know if that was a good idea or not... And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month. As far as the size of our pics, everything I read about websites, and search engine optimization stress written information as being more important than the pictures. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that is what they all say.
As far as the pictures on the site, yes, he did take all of them except one or two that I took. They really are good quality pics, but I do not know what to do to them to make them look like the actual photos. The detail in them is really wonderful. I think if we paid a company to do our web site, they are the ones who would really know.
If anyone is really interested, we could send you a link to some of his work.
as far as the ROAD TRIP goes... we couldn't drive, we'd have to fly, unless you live here in MO... I'm thinking more of a quick thing... fly out take pics, stay the night and take more pics if needed and then fly back home (we both have 'paying jobs' and the B&B).
oh, and yes I'm his assistant. We shoot a lot of weddings, and I always help with catching the little details that he may miss..

If you send me your full size pictures, I can fix them and shoot them back to you.
I may also be able to look at your website (a little - no promises - depends on a lot) because I'm building my portfolio.
Right now, I work for a National Laboratory, running a supercomputer.

 

[Samster]

You absolutely need great photos to get prospective guests to read the text on your website.
btw - my dh used to be a professional wedding photographer. Almost all the photos on our website were taken by me. He does not have as good an eye for the room photos, staging, etc.

I'm not saying that your dh is not an excellent photographer, but taking the type of photos needed for a B&B may not be his niche.
Unless you're getting some kind of great SEO & marketing, you are definitely paying too much for web hosting. There are a lot of better deals out there. You might want to look at 1and1 and GoDaddy to start.
Best of luck! We've only been open about 4 months & I'm still learning

 

[swirt]

You absolutely need great photos to get prospective guests to read the text on your website.
btw - my dh used to be a professional wedding photographer. Almost all the photos on our website were taken by me. He does not have as good an eye for the room photos, staging, etc.

I'm not saying that your dh is not an excellent photographer, but taking the type of photos needed for a B&B may not be his niche.
Unless you're getting some kind of great SEO & marketing, you are definitely paying too much for web hosting. There are a lot of better deals out there. You might want to look at 1and1 and GoDaddy to start.
Best of luck! We've only been open about 4 months & I'm still learning

.

Having worked alot with both, I would recommend 1and1 over GoDaddy (similar prices).

 

[Samster]

You absolutely need great photos to get prospective guests to read the text on your website.
btw - my dh used to be a professional wedding photographer. Almost all the photos on our website were taken by me. He does not have as good an eye for the room photos, staging, etc.

I'm not saying that your dh is not an excellent photographer, but taking the type of photos needed for a B&B may not be his niche.
Unless you're getting some kind of great SEO & marketing, you are definitely paying too much for web hosting. There are a lot of better deals out there. You might want to look at 1and1 and GoDaddy to start.
Best of luck! We've only been open about 4 months & I'm still learning

.

Having worked alot with both, I would recommend 1and1 over GoDaddy (similar prices).
.

I have 1and1 myself

It was highly recommended by PC Magazine. I know others here use GoDaddy, so was trying to be fair

 

[Sunshine]

OK, I designed the website my self (first ever not knowing anything at all about websites). Don't know if that was a good idea or not... And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month. As far as the size of our pics, everything I read about websites, and search engine optimization stress written information as being more important than the pictures. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that is what they all say.
As far as the pictures on the site, yes, he did take all of them except one or two that I took. They really are good quality pics, but I do not know what to do to them to make them look like the actual photos. The detail in them is really wonderful. I think if we paid a company to do our web site, they are the ones who would really know.
If anyone is really interested, we could send you a link to some of his work.
as far as the ROAD TRIP goes... we couldn't drive, we'd have to fly, unless you live here in MO... I'm thinking more of a quick thing... fly out take pics, stay the night and take more pics if needed and then fly back home (we both have 'paying jobs' and the B&B).
oh, and yes I'm his assistant. We shoot a lot of weddings, and I always help with catching the little details that he may miss..

If you send me your full size pictures, I can fix them and shoot them back to you.
I may also be able to look at your website (a little - no promises - depends on a lot) because I'm building my portfolio.
Right now, I work for a National Laboratory, running a supercomputer.
.

my regular pics look great! its just when i put them in the web site they look full of pixels. are you talking about 'preparing them' for the web site?

 

[aquarijen]

OK, I designed the website my self (first ever not knowing anything at all about websites). Don't know if that was a good idea or not... And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month. As far as the size of our pics, everything I read about websites, and search engine optimization stress written information as being more important than the pictures. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that is what they all say.
As far as the pictures on the site, yes, he did take all of them except one or two that I took. They really are good quality pics, but I do not know what to do to them to make them look like the actual photos. The detail in them is really wonderful. I think if we paid a company to do our web site, they are the ones who would really know.
If anyone is really interested, we could send you a link to some of his work.
as far as the ROAD TRIP goes... we couldn't drive, we'd have to fly, unless you live here in MO... I'm thinking more of a quick thing... fly out take pics, stay the night and take more pics if needed and then fly back home (we both have 'paying jobs' and the B&B).
oh, and yes I'm his assistant. We shoot a lot of weddings, and I always help with catching the little details that he may miss..

If you send me your full size pictures, I can fix them and shoot them back to you.
I may also be able to look at your website (a little - no promises - depends on a lot) because I'm building my portfolio.
Right now, I work for a National Laboratory, running a supercomputer.
.

my regular pics look great! its just when i put them in the web site they look full of pixels. are you talking about 'preparing them' for the web site?
.

Yup!

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing .....

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing ....

This is true, BUT I think it is important that everyone understands that the text is not necessarily for the potential guest. It is VERY important for the search engines that scan your text for keywords. That is why repetition (sometimes annoying repetition) can be important in what you write. So, don't skimp on the text to save room for the pictures. You can have LOTS of pictures, and they ARE VERY important to have (you need to be sure your images are correctly optimized for web viewing in order to avoid the low, pixilated quality) in addition to text. Just my 2 cents...
.

WHAT are you reading that tells you written info is more important than pictures?
you need both, but high quality, appealing pictures pull guests in.
half the time, or maybe more, they don't read what our website says.
your husband would surely agree that a picture is worth a thousand words.
look at the websites done by whitestone marketing ....

This is true, BUT I think it is important that everyone understands that the text is not necessarily for the potential guest. It is VERY important for the search engines that scan your text for keywords. That is why repetition (sometimes annoying repetition) can be important in what you write. So, don't skimp on the text to save room for the pictures. You can have LOTS of pictures, and they ARE VERY important to have (you need to be sure your images are correctly optimized for web viewing in order to avoid the low, pixilated quality) in addition to text. Just my 2 cents...

Yes text is important. But you cannot sacrifice photos and have mostly text. CONTENT overall is important. SO to spread the love around, so to speak across many pages is even better. To have key words in there often is important.
The inn in question has a few very small photos and was under the impression that they did not need many photos. That is what we are trying to clarify. I agree with you.

 

[Sunshine]

YES to good photos on your site. Yes to good SEO. It should not be an either or arrangement.

And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month.

$50 a month for hosting is very high (about 10x what it could be).
Designing a site yourself as your first site is risky (I don't mean to try and scare you). I don't encourage it, but there are some who have done it. However if you are saying things like I don't know how to keep the photos from getting pixelated and you have great source photos, then you probably shouldn't be doing it yourself. It has the real potential to be the single biggest thing that will draw guests to you. If you are intent on doing it yourself, you should read the B&B website advice section on my website.
You are using a payment system (paypal) and calendar system that are disconnected, meaning that people can pay for a reservation that is not available. This leads to more and more work for you. I know you are just getting started, but I hope it is in your plan to have an actual reservation system in place. The amount you are paying extra in hosting right now would more than cover the cost of an actual reservation system. There are pros and cons to each, but either of them are much better than what you are using now. I think between all of us on this forum all of them on the list are in use, so you could ask specific questions about any of them and get answers from innkeepers that are actually using it.
Regarding your proposal for photography services, there are possibilities there. Good architectural photographers are hard to come by. I've seen lots of "pros" who do great weddings or sunsets, shoot awful room photos..

Thank you for your advice. we will seriously consider everyones advice here; and we have been thinking of implementing a reservation system.
regarding your comment: "
Regarding your proposal for photography services, there are possibilities there. Good architectural photographers are hard to come by. I've seen lots of "pros" who do great weddings or sunsets, shoot awful room photos.
__________________
I agree with you: My husband has said that many, many times. He does fantastic architectural photos! And actually to be honest; he didn't even know I put that web site together until i finished it and "surprised him" with it... I really thought I was doing a good thing..
ok, I'll... WE'll work on the entire thing....
Thanks.

 

[Sunshine]

WOW, I didn't know this was going to lead to all this discussion on website design, but i am so glad it did...
I hope all those newbies (like me), and the wanna bee's take note of all this...

 

[MTLLodge]

You absolutely need great photos to get prospective guests to read the text on your website.
btw - my dh used to be a professional wedding photographer. Almost all the photos on our website were taken by me. He does not have as good an eye for the room photos, staging, etc.

I'm not saying that your dh is not an excellent photographer, but taking the type of photos needed for a B&B may not be his niche.
Unless you're getting some kind of great SEO & marketing, you are definitely paying too much for web hosting. There are a lot of better deals out there. You might want to look at 1and1 and GoDaddy to start.
Best of luck! We've only been open about 4 months & I'm still learning

.

Having worked alot with both, I would recommend 1and1 over GoDaddy (similar prices).
.

I have 1and1 myself

It was highly recommended by PC Magazine. I know others here use GoDaddy, so was trying to be fair

.

Does 1and1 or GoDaddy have a template to use to make a web site?

 

[swirt]

You absolutely need great photos to get prospective guests to read the text on your website.
btw - my dh used to be a professional wedding photographer. Almost all the photos on our website were taken by me. He does not have as good an eye for the room photos, staging, etc.

I'm not saying that your dh is not an excellent photographer, but taking the type of photos needed for a B&B may not be his niche.
Unless you're getting some kind of great SEO & marketing, you are definitely paying too much for web hosting. There are a lot of better deals out there. You might want to look at 1and1 and GoDaddy to start.
Best of luck! We've only been open about 4 months & I'm still learning

.

Having worked alot with both, I would recommend 1and1 over GoDaddy (similar prices).
.

I have 1and1 myself

It was highly recommended by PC Magazine. I know others here use GoDaddy, so was trying to be fair

.

Does 1and1 or GoDaddy have a template to use to make a web site?
.

Yes, they both do, but they are pretty limited in terms of what you can do with them. A few here have used them, I'll let them weigh in on the usefullness. I don't recommend them.

 

[EmptyNest]

Forget the templates...they force you into things you don't want or that don't look right for you. You have to find a web designer and work with them to do your site. There is no easy way out...even though I am sure some here are using templates...they just really don't allow you the freedom you need in my personal opinion.

 

[user 26]

we designed our own website ... eventually using dreamweaver.
you should really invest in webervations ... under $100 and it allows your guests to book a room online, looks clean, is reliable, and i was able to figure out how to integrate the program into our website ... plus, they DO call you within a day or so if you're struggling with something.

 

[YellowSocks]

I use 1&1, and use one of their templates. To me it's a temporary website until the permanent one gets done. The template doesn't allow me to put in my own code (that costs extra) or lay out the page differently (which I'd like). OTOH, I was up and running in a very short time with a decent little website. The new website is creeping closer to the top of the to do list...
Prepping pictures for the website... I always go read Swirt's website when I'm ready to post something so that I do it right.
People have booked without many pictures, but my website is tons better with them, and I think I'm getting more calls (hard to say).
=)
Kk.

 

[gillumhouse]

OK, I designed the website my self (first ever not knowing anything at all about websites). Don't know if that was a good idea or not... And I am using a company that gives you templates to use and they basically host us. I don't really understand it all, and like I said.. I have never ever done anything like this before. The down fall of using this company is that all our pictures look pixely and I don't know how to change that. I guess you get what you pay for as we only pay $50/month. As far as the size of our pics, everything I read about websites, and search engine optimization stress written information as being more important than the pictures. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that is what they all say.
As far as the pictures on the site, yes, he did take all of them except one or two that I took. They really are good quality pics, but I do not know what to do to them to make them look like the actual photos. The detail in them is really wonderful. I think if we paid a company to do our web site, they are the ones who would really know.
If anyone is really interested, we could send you a link to some of his work.
as far as the ROAD TRIP goes... we couldn't drive, we'd have to fly, unless you live here in MO... I'm thinking more of a quick thing... fly out take pics, stay the night and take more pics if needed and then fly back home (we both have 'paying jobs' and the B&B).
oh, and yes I'm his assistant. We shoot a lot of weddings, and I always help with catching the little details that he may miss..

If you send me your full size pictures, I can fix them and shoot them back to you.
I may also be able to look at your website (a little - no promises - depends on a lot) because I'm building my portfolio.
Right now, I work for a National Laboratory, running a supercomputer.
.

my regular pics look great! its just when i put them in the web site they look full of pixels. are you talking about 'preparing them' for the web site?
.

This is about your hosting fee. $50 per is WAY too much. I use a local company and pay $25 per month WITH unlimited Internet access and about 10 e-mail addresses. Why do I need so many e-mail addresses? Because I market to difference niches and use a different addy for each. I can also use an addy as a tracking method for an ad. GoDaddy would be cheaper for the hosting, but then I would still have to pay for Internet access. I figure I come out ahead or dead even so am happy with it.