My "new" website is almost ready to go live

[Innkeep]

I have to laugh at myself. I'm the queen of procrastination, and now in year 9 of being an innkeeper (year 11 of being an Innmate) I am slowing down in most aspects of my life. Although last year was my busiest, it was accomplished without me trying (less marketing expenditures, for instance). This year there's a brand new hotel downtown, and I'm taking one of those "Bucket List" trips in the spring, so I don't expect to do as well, but I do acknowledge that I need to continue to conduct this business in a professional way so as to not be a bad example for the B&B industry.
So, I'm finally getting my new website whipped into shape. The professional photographs are from 3 years ago, the website design from a year ago, and I finally got the content to where I like it. Unlike many of you, I don't try to build my own. I use a local small business web design firm, then I usually make changes every few years. This approach is not recommended, especially if you have lots of competition, but it works for me.
I do plan to work on some "Alt Text" descriptions for the photographs (is that the right term?). I will take critiques in a limited fashion, like grammar and spelling. I'm not sure if I will be able to edit this web address off after a day or two, but I'll post it for now. (copy & paste)
dev.mcdowellbedandbreakfast.com

 

[Momma Smurf]

I like it a lot!! Short and sweet, lovely!

 

[Morticia]

OK. So I love the background leaves. But not behind the slideshow at the top. It doesn't 'go' together. Maybe you can make the background at the top of the page solid? Keep the leaves when you get to the text part. The slideshow photos are a little dark, maybe lighten them up a bit.
Otherwise, looks good. I didn't read, I just took in the overall feeling.
If the car charging is free, say so. 'Complimentary electric car charging included with stay.'

 

[gillumhouse]

VERY nice Innkeep.

 

[dumitru]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!

 

[Lee2014]

Beautiful!!!!!

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Beautiful! Soooo homey and inviting! I want to come stay!!

 

[EmptyNest]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!.

dumitru beat me to it. I agree with him

 

[user 26]

I have nothing to add to the above suggestions ... I like how your site moves right along. And what a sweet place.

 

[Innkeep]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!.

4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.

Dumitru, thanks for your generous critique. I have a list of fixes for my web designer, and the bottom of the page contact info I added myself, so he promises to make it right.
I read a little about .php, but don't understand why it would be better not to have that ending on the URL. I noticed that all the pages on my current (old) site end in .php. There are only two B&B's in town, and my town is not a destination per se, so the website shows up on search engines OK.
I'm challenging the webmaster to work with me on content to get more hits on a statewide search. I know that boils down to key words, but I've seen too many websites that gratuitously sprinkle all sorts of key words in the text to where I have trouble figuring out what they really want to say (not yours or EN's). So does .php make it more difficult for the search engines to find me?

 

[dumitru]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!.

4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.

Dumitru, thanks for your generous critique. I have a list of fixes for my web designer, and the bottom of the page contact info I added myself, so he promises to make it right.
I read a little about .php, but don't understand why it would be better not to have that ending on the URL. I noticed that all the pages on my current (old) site end in .php. There are only two B&B's in town, and my town is not a destination per se, so the website shows up on search engines OK.
I'm challenging the webmaster to work with me on content to get more hits on a statewide search. I know that boils down to key words, but I've seen too many websites that gratuitously sprinkle all sorts of key words in the text to where I have trouble figuring out what they really want to say (not yours or EN's). So does .php make it more difficult for the search engines to find me?
.

No, generally that's not a SEO factor.
It is simply good practice to hide the file extensions of your pages, as that doesn't add anything to the party table. Having .php at the end of URLs has zero benefits, but instead has some small disadvantages:
1. People need extra time to write your URLs;
2. The URLs don't look as clean as they could. website.com/rooms/ will always look better than website.com/rooms.php
3. If you ever decide to move to a CMS like WordPress, there will be no rooms.php, but there will be a /rooms/ page. So your current internal links will lose their "juice" when you move. Google will see that your old rooms.php disappeared from the website, but instead will see the new page. The old one however might have some authority, which you will lose (if you don't 301 redirect it properly).
4. Bad people will know you use .php, as well as your folder structure. This is a very minor security issue.
Of course this is no big deal, but if it's easy to do then you should go for it.

 

[2cat_lady]

Love it. So inviting. I hope I can provide that 'Muncie' welcome for you!

 

[Morticia]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!.

4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.

Dumitru, thanks for your generous critique. I have a list of fixes for my web designer, and the bottom of the page contact info I added myself, so he promises to make it right.
I read a little about .php, but don't understand why it would be better not to have that ending on the URL. I noticed that all the pages on my current (old) site end in .php. There are only two B&B's in town, and my town is not a destination per se, so the website shows up on search engines OK.
I'm challenging the webmaster to work with me on content to get more hits on a statewide search. I know that boils down to key words, but I've seen too many websites that gratuitously sprinkle all sorts of key words in the text to where I have trouble figuring out what they really want to say (not yours or EN's). So does .php make it more difficult for the search engines to find me?
.

No, generally that's not a SEO factor.
It is simply good practice to hide the file extensions of your pages, as that doesn't add anything to the party table. Having .php at the end of URLs has zero benefits, but instead has some small disadvantages:
1. People need extra time to write your URLs;
2. The URLs don't look as clean as they could. website.com/rooms/ will always look better than website.com/rooms.php
3. If you ever decide to move to a CMS like WordPress, there will be no rooms.php, but there will be a /rooms/ page. So your current internal links will lose their "juice" when you move. Google will see that your old rooms.php disappeared from the website, but instead will see the new page. The old one however might have some authority, which you will lose (if you don't 301 redirect it properly).
4. Bad people will know you use .php, as well as your folder structure. This is a very minor security issue.
Of course this is no big deal, but if it's easy to do then you should go for it.
.

As a user I think showing the file extensions is sloppy. Old pages with index.html as an example.

 

[Arks]

I love the look of it!
It's been a while since I've seen embedded fonts instead of the fonts available via Google Fonts, but it works out nicely.
Loads quickly, light homepage, nice!
But allow me a couple of suggestions:
1. The "Welcome to ..." headline on the homepage, make it a little bigger, don't be shy. It doesn't even have a special size, it is the same as the rest of the content. Setting the font-size for it to 26-30px makes it stand out.
2. None of the links (header, content, footer) have any :hover and :focus effects. It is recommended to change the color of a link (or at least underline it) on :hover and :focus, otherwise visitors are not sure if they are clicking right.
3. On inner pages the menu in the footer is overlapping the leaves decoration, look into that.
4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.
But overall I really like it, nicely balanced color style, good job!.

4. If you still work with that design firm, ask them if it is possible to have the links on the page without the .php at the end. If it is a custom website engine then it should be possible. If you simply have a bunch of static .php files then it will be a little more problematic. But it would be nice to get rid of .php in the URLs.

Dumitru, thanks for your generous critique. I have a list of fixes for my web designer, and the bottom of the page contact info I added myself, so he promises to make it right.
I read a little about .php, but don't understand why it would be better not to have that ending on the URL. I noticed that all the pages on my current (old) site end in .php. There are only two B&B's in town, and my town is not a destination per se, so the website shows up on search engines OK.
I'm challenging the webmaster to work with me on content to get more hits on a statewide search. I know that boils down to key words, but I've seen too many websites that gratuitously sprinkle all sorts of key words in the text to where I have trouble figuring out what they really want to say (not yours or EN's). So does .php make it more difficult for the search engines to find me?
.

No, generally that's not a SEO factor.
It is simply good practice to hide the file extensions of your pages, as that doesn't add anything to the party table. Having .php at the end of URLs has zero benefits, but instead has some small disadvantages:
1. People need extra time to write your URLs;
2. The URLs don't look as clean as they could. website.com/rooms/ will always look better than website.com/rooms.php
3. If you ever decide to move to a CMS like WordPress, there will be no rooms.php, but there will be a /rooms/ page. So your current internal links will lose their "juice" when you move. Google will see that your old rooms.php disappeared from the website, but instead will see the new page. The old one however might have some authority, which you will lose (if you don't 301 redirect it properly).
4. Bad people will know you use .php, as well as your folder structure. This is a very minor security issue.
Of course this is no big deal, but if it's easy to do then you should go for it.
.

As a user I think showing the file extensions is sloppy. Old pages with index.html as an example.
.

As a user I think showing the file extensions is sloppy. Old pages with index.html as an example.

JB hounded me without mercy until I fixed it, but for a long time my own room page addresses looked like "www.mywebsite.com/1009.php"

 

[Samster]

Very nice! Shows your place off and portrays it as it really is - hospitable and charming!
Best of luck with the new site...