Website review request from rookie

JunieBJones (JBJ) · Oct 22, 2008

From an aesthetic perspective I would take your lodge photo that is on the right and make it LARGE and center. I did not know I could click to see more detail and that is a gorgeous photo.
All the rest of the stuff is...as they say, stuff. You have leaves on your header that are just a design. I want to know what it is like THERE. That photo gives me a good glimpse. When I see that photo enlarged I can visualize myself on that porch!
There is no reason your home page cannot be twice as long as it is. Currently is seems to be shorter than the average browser window (?). Correct me if I am wrong.
So having a nice clear pic like you have when you click on that would bring em in. That pic on Inncuisine of the fireplace and leather chairs! FEATURE THOSE! That is what it is all about.
my 2 cents worth. Looking at it from a guest viewpoint.

swirt · Oct 22, 2008

mjsgeorgia said:
Ouch! Well, I have to say I asked for it! I'll admit all this info is a bit overwhelming, but EXTREMELY informative! Thank you SWIRT for being so generous with your time and wisdom...we really appreciate your advice! Hopefully this will help not only us but prevent others from making the same mistakes I have. Now to process all this...
Mary Jo.

Sorry, no ouch intended. Don't feel bad. I estimate that more than 90% of designers don't look for the things I do. The "issues" with your website are pretty common. Don't get overwhelmed....start with planning out the target phrases for each page, then make the changes to each page to tune in to those phrases. Then take my recommendations one at a time. There may be some you can't do based on the tools you are using or your own comfort level. Work on the ones you can. Search Engine Optimization is mainly about getting as many ducks as you can in a row.

swirt · Oct 22, 2008

mjsgeorgia said:
swirt said:

The sitebuilder you are using cobbles the code a bit making quite a few mistakes, and is missing a doctype (a required html element).
The doctype tells the technology what structures are in play to create the page. Search engines are often pretty good at reading poorly constructed pages, but there are some errors that they can't handle so I recommend running an html validator on each of your pages. The problem is, without a doctype the validator can't evaluate your page. The validator is very picky so it is not for the faint of heart. Some of the errors it may show are search engine stoppers, most aren't. The hard part is knowing which is which. Poorly nested tags are often the biggest problem..

Click to expand...

I'll admit I don't understand the above recommendation...is this something I can fix (the missing doctype) or do I just need to find a better webdesign person to fix it for me?
.

I am not sure whether the web-editor you are using is capable of putting in a doctype. There are also a variety of "standards" and it is best to determine what standard your editor is designed to produce. You may need to look in the documentation/help for the editor you are using.
Example: this site is largely built using xhtml so the first line of code for every page begins with
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
other sites are pure html so might begin with
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
Again checking your editor's documentation would be the place to start.

swirt · Oct 22, 2008

YellowSocks said:
swirt said:

One of the bigger factors in showing up well in search engines is incoming links. The more the better... the more on target the source, the better .... the more targetted the wording in the link, the better.
Currently Google (who greatly under reports incoming links) shows you as having two incoming links. One from your listing on a major directory and one from the featured inn page on this site (why more of our members don't take advantage of this I don't know)
Yahoo shows you as having around 92 links with 11 being your own pages and many being from this site. I only see a few related directories. Additional directory listings would give you a bit of a boost. (of course you have to weigh that against how many you can afford. Stick to the major ones. Don't get caught up in the cheapies that I am sure spam you on a regular basis.
Never stop link building..

Click to expand...

swirt said:

Never stop link building.

Click to expand...

Aside from directories, and the featured inns here, what are some examples of ways to build links?
=)
Kk.
.

Local travel sites can be very powerful both in terms of their effect on search engines and the amount of human traffic they can send to your site.
Consider businesses in your area that might be bringing people in who need a place to stay. Loke places that run seminars, have visiting speakers, craftspeople who offer training, wedding planners or wedding photogs in your area who list related vendors... this list can swing wildly based on what is in your area.
Remember too that not all links need to be to the home page. Incoming links to other pages on your website (called "deep links") can sometimes be easier to obtain.
Example: If there are a lot of birdwatching areas in your town. Make a page that is dedicated to bird watching and list them as best you can. Then when you come across local birding people in real life or on the web you can ask them to link to your birding page which they will do because it is a great resource. In this example, the birders, might have no interest in linking to your home page because they have no interest in bringing you guests, but if you provide a good resource that is within their interest, they will link to it in their birding blogs or whatever. It is easiest to start these kind of dedicated pages by starting with a topic you already know well and are happily connected to. Our wine pages bring us a lot of guests and have a fair number of incoming links

swirt · Oct 22, 2008

mjsgeorgia said:
swirt said:

One of the bigger factors in showing up well in search engines is incoming links. The more the better... the more on target the source, the better .... the more targetted the wording in the link, the better.
Currently Google (who greatly under reports incoming links) shows you as having two incoming links. One from your listing on a major directory and one from the featured inn page on this site (why more of our members don't take advantage of this I don't know)
Yahoo shows you as having around 92 links with 11 being your own pages and many being from this site. I only see a few related directories. Additional directory listings would give you a bit of a boost. (of course you have to weigh that against how many you can afford. Stick to the major ones. Don't get caught up in the cheapies that I am sure spam you on a regular basis.
Never stop link building..

Click to expand...

In your mind, what would you consider the major directories? Right now we're on bedandbreakfast.com and bbonline.com
.

Those are the two biggies, but their are others like iloveinns or bnbfinder pillowsandpancakes or lanierbb that can offer some value. That being said, not all directories are major in all areas. You pick them by who shows up well in searches for your area. Here is something I wrote to help you decide which B&B directories to join.
Also look closely for local directories that come up in searches for your area. They have the potential to be pretty powerful if they have good information and are well put together.

agoodman · Oct 22, 2008

Hi from S Georgia, keep meaning to get "up there" but just never seem to make it. Wishing you lots of success - seems you also have resnexxus from looking at your site, and I am happy to see that your rates are almost in line with mine, it's tough in these smaller towns to go over that "magic 100" mark, although my weekend rates do.
Hope you have a wonderful fall season, gotta love all the Atlantans that make the ride up there!

mjsgeorgia · Nov 8, 2008

Just wanted to thank you all for your great suggestions...we've made some changes already and are working on others. Attacking Swirt's list of suggestions has become a priority! Thank you again Swirt for your help...we REALLY appreciate it.