The Big Server Rebuild Completed

If you were web surfing in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning or first thing before breakfast, you might have noticed that the site was offline for a few hours while we rebuilt our server. This is part of our ongoing maintenance and development programme to improve the site's speed. The faster the site works, the more search engines like Google will like it. If you weren’t aware, this was happening. Hopefully, it was because the larger part of the downtime was during the early hours of last Wednesday morning when traffic figures were at their lowest. Although the site was back online by late morning, we have automatically added two days to your renewal date to ensure you’re not out of pocket.

We are also revising the subscription renewal process to simplify it. As I write, Jason, our Web Developer, is playing in PayPal’s Sandbox, a virtual world where you can create and test new ideas to see if they’ll improve upon existing procedures. We'll have more news on this in due course.

 

You’ll get more bookings if you are easier to contact.

We work hard to drive potential bookers to your website, but it’s over to you once there. We hope your site will make it easy for them to do what they want, i.e. make a booking. However, it’s surprising how many barriers we unconsciously place in the way...

It’s funny how we like to tidy things up on sites, putting information on pages where it is found at the right time. Sadly, our determination to do this can occasionally undermine the purpose of your holiday property site, which we assume to be the securing of bookings.

Take contact details, for example. The point at which someone decides they need your contact details is probably the point at which they are interested in submitting an enquiry. Of course, most sites will have a Contact page in the menu - and may even carry contact details on the Home Page. But what if the viewer isn’t on the Home Page? Why make them search for the Contact button (zzz), then click to open another page (zzzz), then wait for it to download (zzzzzzz) and then scroll down to find the information they require?

Instead, why not ensure your key details (e-mail link and phone numbers) are on every page in the same place, such as one of the margins or in the main banner heading? This sends out a positive signal, creating a perception amongst viewers that booking this cottage will be a pleasant, easy process.

It’s also a good idea to add a first name to the details, as it gives people a little more confidence in picking up the phone if they know who to ask. Do this, and you should find that you’ll get more enquiries.

For those of you with an online booking facility, then you should promote this too. The generic phrase for these insertions is a ‘Call to action’ button. Insert a ‘call to action’ button on every site page, e.g., Book Now in the exact location. This is because the moment people see or read something that makes them think, “Ooh, I love this place”, is exactly the moment you need to provide a fast track to help them act upon their decision. This may appear like too much of a hard sell for some holiday cottage owners - but what you’re doing is making life easier for a viewer who, at that moment in time, is interested in becoming your guest.

If you want further information, web design, or help setting up an online booking facility, feel free to contact us at info@mfhc.co.uk. We’ll be happy to help.

 

Bathroom Photography Tips

One of the principles that embrace our work, mainly when designing holiday cottage websites for owners, is that all photos must be of the highest quality. It can take us all day to shoot a cottage. Over the years, we’ve picked up some valuable tips to make a photo of a room appeal to those viewing it. Given that we encourage all subscribers to upload good-quality images, here are a few tips to improve pictures of bathrooms.

1. Turn the lights on! Guests want to feel a bathroom is sparklingly fresh, so there’s nothing more off-putting than a murky picture. Bathrooms tend to be the darkest room in the house – so make them as light and bright as possible. If the sun is shining, all the better. Open windows and, above all, turn on every light, and light every candle you can.

2. Polish the shower glass. Remove all smears, especially the marks you tend to get around the rim at the bottom of doors or where the glass fits into the tray. Everything should be gleaming and sparklingly clean.

3. Put the lid down on the loo. There shouldn’t be anything in the bathroom that implies someone else has just used it. Blokes don’t always get this – but women do, and given that 75% of those who make a booking are women, it’s important.

4. New loo rolls. On that last point, ensure a brand-new loo roll is in place. Seeing a half-used loo roll on a holder is a definite negative. Hotels have worked this out to the point of folding the top sheet into a V-shape. It may seem naff, but if it appears in the picture, it has a definite psychological impact on the viewer.

So, there you have it —a few simple things you can do to help make photos of your bathroom work for you rather than against you when displaying them on your listing in My Favourite Holiday Cottages. Does anyone want a photoshoot?

 

Can we feature you on Facebook?

For those yet to join the party, our Facebook page for My Favourite Holiday Cottages is geared towards featuring news about locations, properties, events and festivals near MFHC cottages.

We tend not to use the site to ‘sell’ things like last-minute availability offers unless for a region, but we do like to include details that make a property just that little bit unique or an example of good practice. For example, Best View Barn recently got a topical listing because its rental price includes a snow plough. Also, if we want to discuss a particular theme, we try to find a cottage that nicely illustrates it, hence the recent article on wellie boot racks.

Anyway, if you have something we can write about, especially if it includes a photo (or even just the photo—we love to use good images), then SEND IT TO US!

We’ll give you a great plug with a link back to your listing on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. Just e-mail your news item to Rick: info@mfhc.co.uk.

 

That’s All For Now!

Our next newsletter will be heading for your inbox towards the end of April, when hopefully, we will all be knee-deep in primroses and bluebells, and the sea will acquire its summer colour of blue. Fingers crossed!