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Website Critique   URGENT - Need Help Fast!  
 
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Have A Look Www.bookcyprus.com - Honest ReviewsPremium Member
Posted By: andreas on 8/20/2006 5:03 AM (CST) 500 Points
Hi everyone, we are faced with dilemma of redesigning our travel website to reflect our
USP- we live here… let us show you our island.
Please review and critic the site www.bookcyprus.com
and give me your idea of what to change or not

we will be adding new features like
google earth
RSS feed
Live chats

Thanks
Andreas

Posted by: john_hicks Accepted Answer
8/20/2006 6:34 AM (CST)
Andreas

This is a bright and lively website but I have two thoughts speaking as someone who might use your services.

Firstly, the landing page was overpowering with too much information. I would have preferred to have seen some welcoming photographs with an index of pages to follow up my particular interests.

Secondly, I signed up for the newsletter (and competition). I like the competition offer (although it should read "accommodation" not "accomodations").

But, I would recommend that you think about using an auto responder so that people who sign up get an immediate response. We have an expression here in the UK which says "strike while the iron is hot". When people sign up they have an interest in what you have to offer - send them a reply straight away with a call to action - maybe a 5% discount if they book within 7 days or something like that.

Google Earth would be good but I am not sure RSS feeds or live chats will work well. The live chats are particularly difficult to sustain in terms of having people populating it.

On a complete tangent - Cypriot Andy Kyriacou of the 1980's pop legends MODERN ROMANCE (with top ten hits like Everybody Salsa and Best Years of Our Lives which were featured in the movie SHREK) (www.modern-romance.com) are having a come-back tour in 2007. Might be worth talking to him about some sort of sponsorship of the UK tour. I can speak to him for you if that were of interest.

I wish you well. Please e-mail me if you think I can be of further help.

John
 
Posted by: DotBeyond.com Accepted Answer
8/20/2006 7:53 AM (CST)
Your website does not contain any explicit headings.

Your web design doesn't contain any header elements (i.e.

,

, etc...). Search engines use header elements to determine the context and purpose of your web page. Headers provide semantic structure and meaning to web pages, and search engines, like Google, give preferential treatment to web design that use headers properly.

Many of your webpages share the same title.
Google and other search engines will not be able to easily determine the content within your different pages, and will mark you down accordingly.

No "alt" tags for images.

No surprises, like all paid vacation .. if i missed it , please provide me with direct link ;)
good luck
 
Posted by: KSA Accepted Answer
8/20/2006 7:43 PM (CST)
Andreas,

I think the site is set up well for someone who is already familar with Cyrus, and who just needs a reservation.

Given your USP - we live here… let us show you our island - I'd suggest that you add more information about Cyprus and the travel opportunities it provides.

It looks like there are beaches, mountains, catamaran excursions, and a lot of different things to see and do. The home page could have some reservation information, but also an introduction to Cyprus for those who aren't familiar with it.

I'd add information by type of travel to let people find the things they are interested in. On the excursion page, for example. If you aren't familiar with Cyprus, you don't know what the categories of travel might include, and you have no idea which city you want to start from.

If you want to show people your island, then you could easily add educational pages to explain what there is to see, and tie that to the hotels, excursions, etc.

Hope this helps.

Kathleen
 
Posted by: sergiu_yy Accepted Answer
8/21/2006 1:23 AM (CST)
Hi there,

1. Too much information on the first page. And I must say information is not classified properly - try to classify it in several rubrics.

2. The quality of the photos is NOT GOOD! Try to see the rixos.com hotels page.

3. What about some information about Cyprus? Your tag-line is We live here... Let us show you our island - I didn't find anything about your island, except the information abut the hotels. maybe you should try to attract tourists by describing the historical places and nature views - not by low prices for hotels.

4. I think the colors used for designing the web-site are good - relaxing.

Good luck!
Sergiu
 
Posted by: adammjw Accepted Answer
8/21/2006 6:08 AM (CST)
Andreas,

Very good points by Kathleen and Dmitri.
2 cents I would add is giving users some extra options so that they can customise their search by e.g.:
- for lovers
- for families with kids
- for divers
- for golfers
etc.

Of course that means then when picking a customized option the user lands on a list of recommended establishments.
Other options you could consider are on the promotional side like: lottery, gift cards, etc.

Regards

Adam
 
Posted by: MANSING Accepted Answer
8/21/2006 7:53 AM (CST)
Hi Andrea,

That’s good thing you are adding google earth, RSS and chat room. Is that possible you can add few things like Transport direction from airport and hotel, Attraction places, Hot spots for shopping, Passport or travel updates, travel news link, feed back form.

• Can you do some thing about the colour : make it dark;
• Too much information on front page, Looks confused
• You should add recommendation link for your website

We can learn lot from our opponents. Check this website: www.expedia.co.uk There is so much to learn from this website.

I hope this will help!

Regards,

M Bhor
 
Posted by: Frank Hurtte Accepted Answer
8/21/2006 9:35 AM (CST)
I liked your sight... but you need to show prices in US dollars for those of us in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
 
Posted by: lara Accepted Answer
8/21/2006 4:55 PM (CST)
Hi Andreas,

I would be happy to provide you with some of my insights on your website.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I agree with the comments that the pages are quite busy and could stand to be better organized.

However, my main comment is based on the strategic design / communication of the site. You've said that your USP is that you live on the island. What does this suggest to me? That you have insider knowledge on the best places to stay, you get preferred local rates, that you can put together a package for me that's going to give me the best experience while I'm there, that you'll give me tips on the best places to go...

Despite this, the site comes off a bit cold and detached. Yes, you have beautiful pictures, yes you have a good mix of prestigious and lower-cost properties, but I don't walk away feeling as if I'm getting insider knowledge.

I'd highly recommend that you hold a brainstorming session at your business to think up ways in which you can deliver upon your USP (your website should be only one of the possible touchpoints). Some examples could include:
- calendar of local events / nightlife / restaurants / concerts / theatre...
- your own ratings & reviews of properties (done on a reg basis) / get feedback from your visitors on their experience (get them to rate & review)
- a personal greeting when visitors get to the island / or a way in which they can get in touch with you while on the island for the latest & greatest info while there
- preferred rates / packages with local businesses
- have a tips page (i.e how much to tip, the best "unknown" spots to visit, local language to get around)
- send a newsletter to your mailing list (i.e. past visitors) / keep them thinking "cyprus"

I hope I've given some good food for thought. Best of luck!
 
Posted by: NatashaChernyavskaya Accepted Answer
8/22/2006 12:03 PM (CST)
Dear Andreas,

What I do like about your site – that it has clear, light colors, even though the palette is a little boring – blues, blues. Anyway, to me it looks like a template. I really don’t know. It may be. I don’t like templates. Someone created it and you are trying to adjust. And because you are not sure what would be the best form of utilizing it, you just break the balance. It looks well done, but feels like the broken balance a little bit: columns of different size, space between blocks, empty lines, interruption in the borders… The worst thing out of everything is that you stretched the pictures and now the images have lost their proportions. And you not only did that, but also converted this nightmare to Flash, which is highly unprofessional. Colors in Flash movies are not balanced too, I may say, that Flash is done by an amateur in Design. Now, when I navigate through your site, I notice that the tables are not coded properly; they change their position as they load. This is bad job too. The tables and cells size have to be determined.

I also don’t like that the info about hotels opens in a window without main navigation. This is a sign of an ill-conceived navigation and site structure logic. And what’s with the pages Resorts, News, About us, Contact us/Agents, FAQ, and Travel gallery? Why are there empty cells in the left column? Why are the images in the Travel gallery all have different size?

Then, your keywords choice could be much better. And the worst thing on your site for SE is bad; almost none copy in the first page. The site is not really organized well enough to generate sales. As it was mentioned before, looks like it’s for those who already have decided to go there and just is looking for a place to book a hotel. Doesn’t look like your site will be found fast though. You could do a lot with the project, express all your love toy your island. You are missing the chance so far.

Good Luck!

Natalia
 
Posted by: Dramagenics* Accepted Answer
8/22/2006 1:29 PM (CST)
There was a lot of thought put into building this site. The information is all relevant and necessary. I was able to make my way through it o.k. However: I think that it is way too busy on the first page.

On the front page you should have:
1. A picture of your island.
2. Artistically list the items as links that are currently on your tabs and right side menu.
3. The form for booking the hotel (step one).
And nothing else.

When the click on a link or fill out the form, then they should go to the appropriate information, tabs would be o.k. at that point, but they should always be able to go "home" and clear away the clutter.
 
Posted by: jpoyer Accepted Answer
8/22/2006 1:36 PM (CST)
First of all, as always, great feedback from so many above. I agree with many points above. Below is a pretty cursory view of your site, as I did not go through the reservation process, so I'm speaking more on the use and look of the info available.

1. I love the colors. I think the blue is perfect for going to the island. It reminds me of an empty beach on a warm summer's day. Airy, free, without noise, calm, chatter of birds, sound of the surf ... you get the picture. Well, hey, you live the picture.

2. I agree in many respects to the comments above concerning the information about the island. I think you have touched on the items in your "Resorts" and "Travel Gallery" areas, but I do believe it would benefit your purpose to make these items part of the main navigation scheme up there with "Hotels, Car Hire, Transfer" etc. Maybe a "Discover Our World" tab would be in order.

3. Also, consider expanding these items, so your descriptive text in the resorts section (after you click on the city name) have links to the photos, or specific area descriptions. This is the part of your site I believe you need to build up.

4. Be sure to add US dollars as an option as well.

5. Add HSPACE around your photos in your resorts section and releases. This should be a pretty quick fix in your content management program, or the programming for your site, and would make a difference in how these sections feel.

6. Be sure to check your content pages for inconsistencies ... like in the weddings page, there is a bunch of extra space between paragraphs and at the top of the page. These things diminish the credibility of the information you are presenting.

7. Your Advertisements are blank in Netscape/Firefox. There is nothing there. Make sure to test your site in other browsers to make sure the reservation aspect of it works there. There is nothing more frustrating than to go through the whole process and then submit my order only to find it doesn't submit. Ok, I'm sure there are many things that are more frustrating than that, but that is darn frustrating just the same.

Overall, I really like the feel of your site. Because of your site, I have added Cyprus to my "destinations I would like to travel to someday" list.

Best Wishes,

Jennifer
XPRT Creative
 


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