Has anyone tried to put together their website before their inn was complete?

[CafeMae]

I know of one from this forum who is doing this now and has placeholder images, architectural drawings etc. Construction images, as they progress are always fun. You can work on your logo and put that on the website, and information about the inn to come, the innkeepers, what you will be offering.
Do you live in the same vicinity NOW as the inn being built Cafemae? If so get your sights of interest pages, maps, amenities, and more on the site. That is what I would do. And most importantly imo, put a nice header saying "We look forward to serving you here at the CafemaeB&B!" or whatever the name will be..

I know of one from this forum who is doing this now and has placeholder images, architectural drawings etc. Construction images, as they progress are always fun. You can work on your logo and put that on the website, and information about the inn to come, the innkeepers, what you will be offering.
Do you live in the same vicinity NOW as the inn being built Cafemae? If so get your sights of interest pages, maps, amenities, and more on the site. That is what I would do. And most importantly imo, put a nice header saying "We look forward to serving you here at the CafemaeB&B!" or whatever the name will be.

Hah! I just finally, after I don't know how many revisions, developed the perfect logo - er, at least for this month. You don't know how proud I am of this 100 pixel image. It's taken the most time of any web considerations so far.
I have most of the basic content written, hoping to get this up over the next two weekends, but got stuck on this room thing.
Your "coming soon" message is beautiful.
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I know of one from this forum who is doing this now and has placeholder images, architectural drawings etc. Construction images, as they progress are always fun. You can work on your logo and put that on the website, and information about the inn to come, the innkeepers, what you will be offering.
Do you live in the same vicinity NOW as the inn being built Cafemae? If so get your sights of interest pages, maps, amenities, and more on the site. That is what I would do. And most importantly imo, put a nice header saying "We look forward to serving you here at the CafemaeB&B!" or whatever the name will be.

Hah! I just finally, after I don't know how many revisions, developed the perfect logo - er, at least for this month. You don't know how proud I am of this 100 pixel image. .

From my DH this morning. "Sorry, hon, hate the logo." Arg...
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If you want to get a few options for a logo done by graphic designers, the cheapest place to go is a site like Fiverr where you pay $5 to work with a designer (possibly a student trying to build a portfolio, a professional doing work for fun, etc). You can get 3-5 sketches of a logo done in short time, choose one, and develop it further.
For more professional designs, try 99designs. People will bid on your job with designs and then you get to choose one to work with. I have heard very few complaints about the finished work from there.
.

For more professional designs, try 99designs. People will bid on your job with designs and then you get to choose one to work with. I have heard very few complaints about the finished work from there.

I got mine through 99designs and was very pleased with the whole process.
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For more professional designs, try 99designs. People will bid on your job with designs and then you get to choose one to work with. I have heard very few complaints about the finished work from there.

I got mine through 99designs and was very pleased with the whole process.

Thanks guys. Arkansas, saw your earlier thread on logos, it's good to know who you went with.

 

[Arks]

Absolutely get a website up to get the clock ticking on your website history.
Collect email addresses from anyone interested in knowing more, once you are open.
Start writing about your points of interest in your area.
Don't obsess too much about the rooms pages right now. They are rarely of SEO importance. As a couple people mentioned, don't say that your website is under construction, but mentioning that your rooms are under construction is fine.
I'd even go so far as to recommend either other places to stay while yours is under construction or another resource for them to find places to stay in your area. (specific places to stay is preferable to linking to a regional directory)

As long as you regulary mention your town and your inn in the blog posts, a blog will move you up the search engine ladder a lot more than the main website, which is rarely updated and thus of lower SEO priority.

For any given short -tail search like [town-xyz bed and breakfast] the top ten listings are very rarely a blog and are not there because they are the freshest. Don't get me wrong, a blog can help things in a lot of ways, but to say that due to its freshness that it will rocket past the main website is off base..

For any given short -tail search like [town-xyz bed and breakfast] the top ten listings are very rarely a blog and are not there because they are the freshest. Don't get me wrong, a blog can help things in a lot of ways, but to say that due to its freshness that it will rocket past the main website is off base.

I can only speak from person experience (which is pretty much nil). There are no B&Bs currently in my town. Before I started blogging, if you searched for a B&B in my town, Google brought up B&Bs 35 to 45 miles from us. Since I started the blog, the top 5 results for B&B in my town are quotes from my blog. And NONE of the results is my actual website telling about the places I'm going to open here in a few months. It's only interested in the recent blog posts.
So I don't know. Maybe what I'm seeing is different from what someone from a distant location might get with the same search terms.
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When I search [your town state b&b] I get one reference to your blog in the top 10. When I do [your town state bed and breakfast] I get no reference to your blog or your site. The results you are seeing might be tailored to you and not indicative of what the rest of the world is seeing.
I mean no insult, but really, the reason your blog is outpacing your main site for the terms of B&B or Bed and Breakfast is simply that your main site really isn't targetting those terms, while your blog is. The results you are seeing is not the result of a blog being super fresh and powerful, but your main site being either poorly tuned, or just targetting completely differernt terms.
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...your main site really isn't targetting those terms, while your blog is. The results you are seeing is not the result of a blog being super fresh and powerful, but your main site being either poorly tuned, or just targetting completely differernt terms.

Yes, it's hard to have a B&B site when you don't yet have a B&B. Going back to the original post, yes, establishing a website before you open is of benefit, but it's hard to take full advantage until it's all "for real".

 

[Samster]

Almost all of the innkeepers that I know who had start-up B&Bs put up a website well in advance of opening their property. They updated their progress and marketed from the get-go.

 

[user 26]

i also love the idea of a blog button ... 'see our progress' ... linked right there on the website.
lots of people love that and even will email with suggestions, so funny!
as in ... '' the coffee colored walls in the breakfast room are nice, but i think you should go with seafoam. i used this in my dining room and can send you a paint swatch. ''