SabreWeb

Just wondering what people thought of a Bed & Breakfast site I did for a friend a while back? Check it out at Waterville Guest Accommodation

-Ciaran

__________________
Sabre Web Design
http://www.sabrewebdesign.com/

pinkfluffybunny

Sabre,

I have to ask , why a person who makes web sites would set themselves up for public humiliation like this.
The only logical reason I can come up with is you want some work, because you put your business link in here.

But I’ll be fair:

Page load time at 56K: 2 minutes and 9 seconds – cough – cough

Use of alt text – very poor (and with errors) example: alt=Bookings
Should look like this alt="reservations - Bed and Breakfast guest accommodation is located in the heart of Clontarf"
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/web-design-reviews/30515-bed-and-breakfast-site.html

Anchor text - none

anchors - image swap code has errors that may prevent proper SEO and some are not closed.

Animated gif - 1/2 a meg - sabre what were you thinking -

You put your client' email address in there without encrypting it - bet they are enjoying the spam.

But here some constructive crit:

Use a script or flash next time for the slideshow
check your tags next time
optimize your pics

If you can't afford an encrytion program use this : http://www.jracademy.com/~jtucek/email/download.php

I'm bored now - post another

Tjobbe

that URL is huge, ouch..
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515

and goddammit, you have a lot of errors on your page, this WILL prevent i from displaying correctly in different browsers, heres the results of the code errors: http://www.htmlhelp.com/cgi-bin/vali...F&warnings=yes

im doing quick reply so you'll have to copy and paste it im afraid!

if you dont understand the errors, post here and I'm sure we can help.

I saw a nice simple site today, this was similar to yours, but think ill show you nayway its at http://www.herrieffsfarm.freeserve.co.uk (just down the road from me, lol)

but its a nice clean, simple, functional site. except it uses frames which is not nice.

good luck with the site, fix the errors, search engines like sites thta work so fix them!!!

Tjobbe

__________________
Web Site Design | Web Designers Blog

SabreWeb

I only make web sites in my free time and do not in anyway rely on it as a source of income. Its a hobby, and I dont think Web Design Talk is the best place to go looking for business (in my league anyway) if I did need it... And I wasn't setting myself up for humiliation, I was looking for helpfull advice and critisism. As they say, learn from your mistakes.

I understand what your saying about the page load time though. This is 99% due to the animation, which I'm definately thinking of getting rid of. All the other images are optimised to as small as I could get them.

Why is the alt text so bad? I added the keywords of the site to the main images of the page, but left the menu alt text to what the button was for.

I've encripted the e-mail, should of done it a long time ago though!

I'll sort out the image swap code asap...

Tjobbe: To be honest I don't understand why its giving most of those errors, e.g. its complaining that the </head> tag was never opened when it was....
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515
EDIT: This is getting sorted, I just left out allot of "s around color codes in most cases....

-Ciaran

__________________
Sabre Web Design
http://www.sabrewebdesign.com/

pinkfluffybunny

Hi Again,

I looked a while for a board I could come in and help some noobs, and small business people with advice. So if I seem harsh on what I think are advertisers, so be it.

If you want advice, there are a lot of knowledgeable people here (although I tend to razz some of them...stir up some sh*t, just to make it not boring).

So, If you want help, or suggestions this is the right place. If you're looking for praise, you’ll probably get it based on how you present yourself. If you said hey I’m a hobbyist trying to do some sites for extra money. Then I’m sure you would have gotten a better response.
Even if you do it for a living and say, look I’m stuck with this look, there’s no way to change the clients mine, can anyone help. The feedback would probably be different. But what happens on most boards is it’s taken over by morons pushing their templates at some poor slob who is stuck in his job, hoping he can find a way out by selling on the internet. (Profitable corporations developing an online marketing plan aren’t browsing this board)

Here’s my quick lesson for you

The server – without starting yet another Windows / UNIX debate

Unix – is a name for a group of server software based on the old bell labs server. It comes in 50 or so flavors, in most cases cheaper hosting, there are a lot of free applications for it. It really doesn’t concern you what it can do, your concern is, what has the host got it set up to do?

Windows – Windows servers also come in flavors, the newest is xp, longhorn won’t be out for a while. – There are many free applications, and again what does the host offer.

(Both are capable of running FrontPage Server Extensions so your client can go online and play after you’re done.) Will you be able to answer the call, “How come I get a pop up saying Share Point not installed?”

Let’s look at the host for your client’s site – http://www.34SP.com

Assuming your client didn’t purchase the 1.25 a month account. (The suck you in package)

The Server is capable of supporting "most" of your client’s needs (there are some things that they don’t offer) – It’s hard to tell how much you’d have to pay to get everything they offer for a commercial site because everything is “extra”.

When you recommend a server for your client look to his future needs, make sure you can do what you need to do. (example: will the client want streaming video so his guests can wave at the folks back home while using up those cell minutes - like here - http://www.glresorts.com/asr/LiveCam/CamView1.html) (they can be an excellent selling point and a way to drive traffic to the site.) This hotel's webmaster has got to be color blind!
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515
Make a list of what they need now, and think what they may need in the future. The client may shake his head no now, but you never can tell you might actually do something that helps them expand…lol

Maybe they will need an online registration system later (you know after they start getting business after the great job you did)– they’re cheap, or free – but does your server support the one you like and if he does, can the server handle it? (You don’t want him running a engine that dies 1/2 way through the form)

Data base integration – but we use (Quickbooks, Access, SQL, Visual FoxPro, Fox Pro, etc.) we don’t want it right now but we’re building another place 50 miles away and would like to do it centralized! If you put them on a host that can’t handle it – you got to move them again.

Do they support email accounts for all their staff, what's the limit on file transfer (does it also offer a browser interface for your clients, so they can check their mail when they're on vacation from all the money you made them).

Does the server offer a statistics program, so you can see what's going on, a free cart?

Are they hosting sites that got the server banded from a lot of major ISPs. (spammers, x-rated, etc)

The difference in price for a business to use a server that offers everything that Microsoft can do and everything a UNIX type server can do is a lot less per month than they spend on postage. So go full service. Your options are open also.

Tell them not to be cheap, you're going to make their ROI worthwhile.

Ok, now you know what your server can do.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel for a small business when you’re starting out.

Recommend software – Part of your job is to develop the site, which often means for the small developer buying pre-made stuff. If they need a shopping cart, and they’re going to maintain it, find one that offers support (a free one often means you are support).

If a small business wants a feature that’s not pre-made tell them what a developer gets an hour and you’ll offer to hire one for the project. They’ll soon decide that that feature isn’t as important as they though.

Fine yourself some free resources if you can’t afford to buy it.

Asp, dot net, java, php, cgi, etc – Apps, components, and scripts are available free all over the net (for slideshows, menus, member driven sites, whatever)

Find out about SEO (search engine optimization) where do you start - http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html / all of them will tell you do’s and don’t’s)

Submit your sites by hand to the search engines – they all tell you how.

And guess what, you still have access to the IP. (you can test and learn by making yourself a folder and playing with new stuff there, feeling bad breaking in - why fix something of theirs while you're there)

Now for the important stuff

Demographics – what the hell is going on out there – if you don’t know – you’re just putting up pictures – if you can’t afford to subscribe to a pay service –
Type – "Demographics and Trends" in a search engine and read (study).

That way when you go to the owner of “Waterville Guest Accommodation”, you know what to ask and can tell him you have a "plan":
What is the average age of your guests.
What age range do you want to target?
What is their financial bracket?
What are local attractions?
What the hell does Clontarf and the surrounding area have to offer
Aren’t there castles and sh*t around there that people search for
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515
How far from tourist spots
Give information on those attractions so when I’m here in the US and I type in “national gallery of Dublin”, your highly imformative and helpful bed and breakfast has a page dedicated to supplying me the information that those asses at "Clontarf castle hotel" doesn’t. And hey if I have any questions you delightfully friendy staff will be glad to answer my questions.
And do that for every attraction,
Transportation schedules and availability
Tips on travel, the language, the beer,
Whatever their targeted group is looking for.
(and if your client says - but we don't want all that - ok, but at least you gave them good advice)
Then you can come in here and tell us about your moron client!

You supply information bundled in one site that no one else does and the search engines will make sure it’s available. That $50.00 a page site became marketable and cost more, but it will be worth every damn Yankee Dollar.

adam_uk

sorry but this
is a stupid comment
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515

the idea of this forum (not the whole board) is for people to learn from there mistakes, not have someone send abuse at them

i think the design of the site, is nice, simple

maybe adjust the size of the moving gif image in the top right for 56kers to download it easier (flash maybe?)

other than that the site was very quick loading, (im on a 1.5mbps connection)

pinkfluffybunny

We we're talking about looks, adam_uK,

But then you just called an animated gif thats a 1/2 a meg a flash?

We were talking about lamers who posted there business links in hopes of :

A: getting traffic to a site - You know lamers that put up a free php portal - stick in a few pay per click ads like these that you have on your portals <a href='http://www.mix-listings.net/ads/adclick.php?n=aae0b7cc' target='_blank'>
and then cruise the boards hoping to make a nickle.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515

or

B: in hopes of getting business.

They could give a damn about helping people!

Adam_UK, my boy what do you think of them?

adam_uk

re read the text

i didnt say it was a flash movie i said use flash, it would make it smaller

and why do you keep quoting this comment about add clicks?

Spirited

Whilst I agree with search engine optimisation is important to design, the use of the alt text like that on navigation links is irresponsible and entirely inappropriate.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515

Alt text is highly reccomended by the W3C to provide accessibility to text only or speech only browsers. I feel it is an abuse of this to spam the alt text (in particular of navigation images) - how would you feel if you were a blind person and instead of being told where a link was going you were spammed with keywords? I would be confused at best, but frustrated and annoyed probably.

Whilst text only and speech only browsers may account for a small percentage of users, there is little work to be done to make an average website accessible to all users and I think any blind or partially sighted person would appreciate the effort.

I would advise removing the image links all together as its a superflous way of working given that all you need is text links with a colour change when the mouse rolls over it - this effect can be achieved using css easily.

Other ideas -

Make an effort to get clear, well composed photograhs of the B&B, because these are what would really sell the place to customers. Whilst download time has to be quick, this can be done without compromising on the quality of the images too much. e.g. The one with the view from the front of the house (labelled coast) try getting a picture that doesn't have the road in the foreground Some of the others are at angles (this can be sorted digitally if no more pictures can be taken) and aren't generally showing the accomedation at its best.

The colour combination is a little odd, though if these are the b&b's offline colours you had better stick with them, but perhaps use them slightly differently.

Others have addressed the download time.

Good Luck

pinkfluffybunny

Hi Spirited,

Good suggestions. But your view of search engine optimization is very simplistic.

Alt text is used not only to comply with the ADA, but are used to ensure your keyword to body text ratio, are optimized for certain search engines, Google just being one.

If you are wondering if I manually calculate the keyword phrase to body word count...well no I have software for that.

But beleive me if you have four or five keyword phrases assigned per page, and 100 pages it's pretty damn hard to get up to what is recommended with without alt text and archor links. I often find myself working 3 or more hours on the ratio on one page. Alt tags are a good way of doing that without having to fill your body with repetative text. (and what's more inportant it works) More important you put the right information in the alt text.

Example: If he has a link going to a page showing off the rooms and decribing them at the bed and breakfast - alt="Photos and ammenities of spacious, clear, rooms - bed and breakfast Clontarf, Ireland"

Obviously our keyword phrase here is "bed and breakfast Clontarf, Ireland"
If his archor link looks like this, <A HREF="Amenities bed and breakfast Clontarf", it would "appear" extreme to visitors, although search engines would eat it up. - so he would probably want to use smaller font or css for his archor links in cells, with a background that looks like a button.

<p align="center"><font size="1"><a href="1.htm">Photo's/Amenities<br>
Bed and breakfast Clontarf</a></font></p>

Even with the buttons, he could still do ok in SEO, (he's not image mapping which could cause penities), his use of that particular roll-over is causing his archors (not archor text) not to be closed properly. If they aren't close the spyder doesn't know where they are.
Example from his page - "href="/index.php">"

Rather than use just text links, you should use "anchor Links", somethings called google bombing by people who do it for a living.
But google and several other search engines "prefer you do".

Clear and reasonable guidelines are:

1. Do what's best for the user.
2. Make it easily understood by the user.
3. Don't try to hide your intentions.
4. Be honest about the anchor text. What it says is what you should get.

I highly recommend you subscribe to "webpronews", and other newsletters to receive up-to-date search engine news, tips and become aware of the latest search engine algorithm.

Remember your site can look great, and you can have the best photos in the world, but if no one sees them it's just putting up pics. That's what 99% of webmasters do.

Spirited

I've been playing around with an online keyword density analyser since I first heard you mention the ratio. I don't know if it is as detailed as yours, but the results are fairly interesting.

What do you mean by archor links, opposed to text links? for example - which would you call - <a href="index.html" alt="Site Name Homepage">Site Name Homepage</a> because I call that a text link.

What sort of Keyword ratio do you aim for on pages? For my personal site I recon I could get any ratio quite high because it is based on text, and I would target a single keyword/phrase on each page, since it will be article based it just means tailoring each page for it's content.

However on sites I do for others are usually small in pages and so more than one subject is on one page. So should I advise I split the pages up? for example for a hosting company, the about section is currently going to have information about the servers, their ethical policy and their customer service. For SEO is this significantly better on seperate pages? I was originally worried about making the navigation too deep for visitors. (I don't intend on charging by the page, so that shouldn't be an issue)
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=30515

I agree with the guidelines you put up there. Like I said before, I do think that SEO is very important but I don't think it is the only thing - the hosting company I'm currently designing for (okay - I was just made a partner in the buisness ) had a website before that wasn't SEO but even when customers did get to their site, they were unlikely to part with their cash because it looked unproffessional - something I intend to remedy as well as SEO. I think both are important.

One question about SEO - that link you were posting everywhere? The example search terms for "forex" mainly included "forex" - I'm not sure if this is a recognised and well used abbreviation, but if I was looking for a similar site, I would probably type in "foreign exchange" - so isn't it important to target the right keywords (as in the ones people will search for?) or am I just odd not to abbreviate it?

I'll check out the news letter you mentioned. Thanks.