Where are you?

[JBloggs]

This is the little nagging reminder from an innmate who cares:
If I can't tell where you are on the home page, above the fold then fogettaboutit.
Do you have any idea how many people are going no further because you hide your location from them? I am willing to go out of my way if I see a neat place online, but you are keeping it a secret. Yes, a location page is good, yes a directions page is good with the location on a map. Don't make me work.
For SEO alone (for search engines like Google to find you) you should say "Workman lodge Iowa" on the page somewhere.
Where the heck are you? Do you think only people who know you find you? Fix this today. If you think it is not you, then double check.

 

[gaelstorm]

Ilwaco, Wa

 

[dumitru]

I read somewhere that Google rewards (ranking-wise) websites that have a full address, email and phone number in the header or footer of a website. So just having your complete contact address (not just an email) on every page is important, both for usability and for rankings.

 

[JBloggs]

I read somewhere that Google rewards (ranking-wise) websites that have a full address, email and phone number in the header or footer of a website. So just having your complete contact address (not just an email) on every page is important, both for usability and for rankings..

I read somewhere that Google rewards (ranking-wise) websites that have a full address, email and phone number in the header or footer of a website. So just having your complete contact address (not just an email) on every page is important, both for usability and for rankings.

amen.

 

[Morticia]

Yes ma'am! Front and center in header and in the first paragraph as well. Name of town and state, and where in state (regionally) that town might be.
Also in footer.
Thanks for keeping us on our toes. We no longer really 'see' our websites.

 

[Silverspoon]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

 

[JBloggs]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).

 

[Anon Inn]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty

 

[Anon Inn]

Ilwaco, Wa.

We are practically neighbors!

 

[Lee2014]

We aren't the guilty party…. Our town is in our website address and our address is smeared around everywhere but we still get people trying to book our place for an event across the pond!!!

 

[EmptyNest]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

So does BBAV

 

[EmptyNest]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

duplicate

 

[JBloggs]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty

Tell me how you did it, did you put in a specific place then search for lodgings or do you have a trick? I need a trick, and how!

 

[Lee2014]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty

Tell me how you did it, did you put in a specific place then search for lodgings or do you have a trick? I need a trick, and how!
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty

Tell me how you did it, did you put in a specific place then search for lodgings or do you have a trick? I need a trick, and how!

Go to Google. Type in "B&Bs in Wherever, Their State" and a bunch of directories, B&Bs websites, etc will comes up. Then start clicking around for the best one. Where are you going?

 

[Anon Inn]

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well..

Yes siree! We are thinking of taking a trip to Quebec City this fall so I have been surfing around for places to stay. It is so frustrating to have to search around the website of B+Bs for their locations. Nah, if it's not obvious I just move on, figuring that there are a lot of other details they have overlooked as well.

Agreed. I am dying here. I am ready to blow up my computer, that is how bad it is trying to find a simple B&B to spend the night. I want to opt for a B&B but they are making it very very hard to choose them.
You know the best way to improve our own websites is to plan a trip. I am finding airbNb is the best overall for showing what is avail on a map, so I can go quickly to the next. Trip Advisor is second in line, and I have even resorted to B&B directories like bbonline - who btw allows south carolina to list their entire B&B association as one listing (if you don't believe me click here).
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty
.

On our road trip I searched via google maps for the lodgings
After finding them there then I checked their websites
but point taken
I suspect we are guilty

Tell me how you did it, did you put in a specific place then search for lodgings or do you have a trick? I need a trick, and how!
.

I used the ipad. just searched for google maps, which knew where we were. The map opened up with our location tagged on it. I typed B and B, or inn or similar into the search box at top left on page.
1) a list turned up of lodgings
2) a bed symbol appeared on the map. Usually I just hovered over the symbol to find out more info.
I also used my iphone to create a hotspot for the ipad to connect to.
Usually I researched possibilities in the evening at our lodging. Most places had wifi so I used that. For those that didn't, or if on the road in an area with cell reception, I fired up the hotspot on the iphone.

 

[JBloggs]

And thinkdaily nails it again today:
Educate or Communicate?
Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple.
Educating your prospects is important, but not at the expense of communicating.
Are you getting your message through?
(Back to the B&B website thing - are you communicating to your prospective guests? Is your message getting through? Or are you frustrating them and sending them away - you will never know the bookings you DON'T get)

 

[Morticia]

And thinkdaily nails it again today:
Educate or Communicate?
Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple.
Educating your prospects is important, but not at the expense of communicating.
Are you getting your message through?
(Back to the B&B website thing - are you communicating to your prospective guests? Is your message getting through? Or are you frustrating them and sending them away - you will never know the bookings you DON'T get).

I think guests are overwhelmed. Given the think daily post and the questions guests ask we are educating, not communicating. And I don't think we're even educating!

• What are your rates?
• Where are you located?
• Do you serve breakfast?
• There are 5 of us, we only need one room, which room is bigger the green room or the blue room? (Which means they've been deep into the site, know the rooms, may even have seen the max number of guests per room.)

My guess is that simplify, simplify, simplify is the way to go. I'm not ready to go this far, but how about all the text in 'text spelling'?

 

[TheBeachHouse]

And thinkdaily nails it again today:
Educate or Communicate?
Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple.
Educating your prospects is important, but not at the expense of communicating.
Are you getting your message through?
(Back to the B&B website thing - are you communicating to your prospective guests? Is your message getting through? Or are you frustrating them and sending them away - you will never know the bookings you DON'T get).

I think guests are overwhelmed. Given the think daily post and the questions guests ask we are educating, not communicating. And I don't think we're even educating!

• What are your rates?
• Where are you located?
• Do you serve breakfast?
• There are 5 of us, we only need one room, which room is bigger the green room or the blue room? (Which means they've been deep into the site, know the rooms, may even have seen the max number of guests per room.)

My guess is that simplify, simplify, simplify is the way to go. I'm not ready to go this far, but how about all the text in 'text spelling'?
.

We have had people comment that our web site was easy to read. It is as uncomplicated as we could make it.
Another inn in town just has a front page. With a phone number. No on line reservations. If it were me, I would just go to another site that has on line reservations, but they are always full, so they know their market.

 

[happyjacks]

And don't forget, if your target market includes international visitors you need to spell out the state/province and not just use the two-letter code. For instance, if I see "Mytown, MA" I've got three states on my short list for where that might be. The "A" states are hit and miss for me, too.

 

[Arks]

And don't forget, if your target market includes international visitors you need to spell out the state/province and not just use the two-letter code. For instance, if I see "Mytown, MA" I've got three states on my short list for where that might be. The "A" states are hit and miss for me, too..

And don't forget, if your target market includes international visitors you need to spell out the state/province and not just use the two-letter code. For instance, if I see "Mytown, MA" I've got three states on my short list for where that might be. The "A" states are hit and miss for me, too.

Even the Americans don't know the 2-letter abbreviations the post office uses. When I call to order something on the phone and they look me up based on zip code, they always say, "Oh, you're from Arizona." No, try again.

I never use the 2-letter abbreviation. When I was a child, we were abbreviated Ark, and I'm sticking with it for life!