Travel Website Review

Heya guys,

Would appreciate a review of my website based on apartments, hotels and chalets in ski resorts. It's still a work in progress but there has been quite a bit of progress, would love to hear what you think.

Rather cheeky to use keywords in your link scribbz, but the site looks nice - I feel cold just looking at it! Information is detailed and well set out, and the google ads arn't too instrusive.

You could do with a logo of some sort rather than the 'FindSkiResort' in the top left, but other than that, you've got a really nice site there.

Good luck with it,

Rob

I shouldn't worry about keywords on here, they are all rel=nofollow'd on here anyway

Yeah, the logo is still something I'm experimenting with as part of the overall work in progress - it's possibly the hardest part of the entire process to be honest but never mind, I will get there.

Thank you for the feedback.

I really like the site (even if you did use tables for the layout ).

I'm not too keen on the writing you have on the four pics on the home page, I know it's meant to look like icy writing, but to me it looks a bit amateurish against the rest of the site which looks very professional.

I don't think you should say on your home page 'This website is a work in progress...' because in a way a website is never finished and could always be seen as a work in progress, and you actually have plenty enough content on there to consider yourself a complete (but always evolving!) website.

Good site

I'm trying to get rid of the tables at the moment but it's a long process. I got a bit lazy and decided it was 'easier' to fall back to tables while I was adding so much content.

The writing is a common problem I've had. If it change it to look more professional then people say the whole site just looks like a parked page and if I have different kinds of writing then people say it doesn't look professional. It's an impossible situation

Not impossible, just challenging

I like the site. Something about it just looks good.

The only real problem I see is the Google ads. They're really big and distracting from the content.

Also the table as well. They're bad. Plus you have a couple of validation errors but hardly any which is good to see!

Naw, i dont like it.

It looks like it wants to sell me viagra or its here for an unsuspecting person to come across and apply for a free credit card...

It looks to templatey, i would change the colours, and banner, menu, font etc. Im not a fan sorry

Might add, its a good idea, but it needs work for me, if i was browsing the net, i wouldn't use, as it looks parked.

Also, consider getting someone to design it, and build it, eg ad some google maps API stuff.

ps. check out www.ski.com.au

Also, add some Aussie, NZ, American, swiss, Austrian, Canadian, etc resorts

I remember the last version of this and this is so much better. I'm really liking this design. There are a few things that need tweaking but overall you've a really nice site. I like the big images in the middle but agree that the font needs to be changed to something more readable and more professional. I also think that you should give each box a hover effect, even if its just a thick border. This will help that element stand out a little bit an lift the page. The only element that I really have a problem with it that image in the header. It just isn't crisp enough. See if you can get something really bright and clear, a similar image but with more contrast. So bright white snow with a vividly dressed skier. I know that's kind of what you have now but it seem s somehow washed out or flat.

I'd move the ads to below the 4 images but that's something for you to decide. It would certainly look more professional if they were moved down a bit but, like I say, this is down to you. Bear in mind that as a general rule adsense doesn't bring in a fortune anyway.

Overall great site mate, its really come on since last time and I'm looking forward to seeing this grow.

Pete.

This is the kind of stuff I usually hear to be honest. The whole parked page thing. Now to be honest I've never actually seen or been to a website that sells me Viagara or unsuspecting credit cards so I'm not sure what the similarity is there because no one ever says anything beyond "parked page lol it sucks".

I do have to wonder which parked page sites have so much content - I am definitely sure that it is only the heading image that gives it this look if anything. Looking at the site for more than 2 seconds would enable anyone to see that it is not. And if parked pages are so successful that you come across them all the time, then is this a bad thing? heh (not that I ever come across any to be honest).

I won't be considering getting someone to design or build it. I'm not after a quick set-up costing probably six figure sums like ski.com.au will have invested in the time they have been running their site (since 1997). Comparing my hobby project with an established commercial enterprise is a little unfair

And besides ski.com.au is hardly a good example of outstanding web design principles. It is strange that someone mentions a site that has 67 times more validation errors, does not gracefully fall back to anything usable when style sheets are turned off, and it uses flash for functionality (hissssss).

Hehe I'll get right on that! I can only assume you have no idea how much work such a website involves with content creation. I am one person, not a huge multinational company

Anyway, thank you for your opinion but please understand that it's also my opinion that your opinion is unfair

Yeah, i may have been a little harsh, but what i meant with ski is that the moment you visit, you know its purpose, and wow, lots of errors lol..

Also, your content is great, its a really good website content wise, and im sure that its not easy to setup.

I think you need a few more colours, to get rid of the parked look.

PS. How are you making it? using a CMS?

How about a photo like this for the header? That would allow you to incorporate a little color here and there. I got this one at www.istockphoto.com They had many different ones that might work for you as well and they are inexpensive.

Your site is very nice and it is leaps and bounds from where it was.

This type of photo just screams excitement and the "rush of skiing". The colors in his clothes would just give you the freedom to add just a hint of color here and there. Perhaps pick up some of the clothing color in the Headers such as Welcome, Resort Listing.

My guess is that you are pretty much done... it looks very good. If you could just give the site a tad more color it would be fabulous. It's so well organized.

One other thing I might suggest is: in the header have FindSkiResort and a subtitle
Online Resource for Skiing in Europe. Something like that

Good job!!

Attached Images

Untitled - skier.jpg (40.2 KB, 18 views)

That's the sort of image I was thinking about.

I've found a few too. The first two are from Jupiter Images. And one of them is rights managed so will set you back a few pennies but even the RF one will cost at least $100. Luckily the last 3 are from istockphoto and are just over a dollar an image on average though it depends how many credits you buy. Anyway these are some of my faves.

Pete.

Attached Images

	ski1.jpg (39.8 KB, 23 views)
	ski2.jpg (22.5 KB, 23 views)
	ski3.jpg (56.2 KB, 15 views)

And the final 2. (It only lets you upload 3 attachments.)


Pete.

Attached Images

	ski4.jpg (47.5 KB, 12 views)
	ski5.jpg (39.6 KB, 19 views)

I have to disagree here. I think the ski.com.au is a perfect example of your competition looking better than you. The design is the key here, that what keep your visitors coming back and passing the work out.

Yes the validation error are abominable and the table-layout is well ... you know ... don't get me started but the reason why your getting all these "parked page" comments is because that's EXACTLY what it looks like.

Iron out the design THEN clean the code up.

Get inspired by that one ... and make yours better

The competition also has a hell of a lot more money than me available. With that argument I could, if it's so easy to achieve such things, develop tripadvisor.com in the next 4 weeks and become a millionaire in a month but we know that it isn't so easy as that.

As I've said maybe three times now I don't know what these parked pages are and if they are those things that look like search engine directories or something then it's nothing like that. Again the parked page comment, which seems to be used as an insult word, with nothing concrete (or, indeed, constructive) to explain why or how it looks like that (or why it is bad?) with some kind of example. This kind of destructive criticism is easy, I could go ahead and post a bunch of my own on other sites in this forum asking for critiques.

I can be inspired all I want and I have received inspiration from a number of sources but again, I will reiterate that I am not using Flash (and thus ski.com.au - I don't even like that site much personally - does not provide me with much inspiration beyond this since it uses Flash) nor do I have a team or money beyond a few euros/dollars/pounds to invest in it. Indeed, the deals listings on that website are hideous in my opinion.

Note: I should probably say that I am not being argumentative for argument's sake. I am just trying to understand what you mean when you or others say "it sucks, it's a parked page" and why that is a bad thing or what it is that is so terrible. I value a lot your opinions and comments as otherwise I wouldn't think about these things but if I have no idea what you mean it gets frustrating after the same comment happens over and over :/

Ok well the reason people are saying it looks like a parked page/site is because of the amount of text and the generic layout of the page. It looks similar in many respects to a landing page, link page or parked site. People are entitled to their opinion and it is best not to post here if you only want positive comments. I don't necessarily share that opinion but that is beside the point, this is a critique forum.

ski.com.au isn't built with flash at all. It does have flash on there but that is not vital to it's use. Someone without flash installed could easily navigate and get excellent use form this site. I agree that this site probably did have a professional team behind it and some money but that is not the point. This site is more application than design and the majority of the budget will have gone on the backend as it is quite a large site. Design is something that does not necessarily cost a lot of money, it just requires a lot of effort and a bit of creative thinking. If you introduced more colour to your design and cut down on the amount of text on the first page then that would improve things a lot.

People pointing out your competition is not destructive at all. You want people to visit your site so you have to compete in some way. You need to have a fresh, vibrant look to attract people. You're site looks faded because of the shades of colour you have used. Brighten things up and you'll be amazed at the way it will jump out of you.

Don't take offence to what people say, even if you don't like the way it has been said, it is still someones opinion. Take their comments and use them to improve what you have. People around here tend o very knowledgable, you would be foolish to ignore them.

I persoanlly like your design but agree it needs an injection of life. Colour will lift this but also look at the amount of text on that front page, cut that down, or put it on a secondary page or in hidden menus etc.

Pete.

As I said in my added note above I do value the opinions, it's just that I don't really understand what they mean and when such opinions which are the same are constantly reiterated it gets frustrating. I guess I should go find out what these parked pages actually look like if I am to understand but how do I know where to find them? :\

The ski.com.au purposes is a little different to what I am aiming for to be honest as the main bulk of the site is a marketplace listing, with seems to be just a huge string of classified advertisements which I don't really like too much.

I take on board all of the comments made naturally: those that I understand and will work on re-jigging some things a bit. I don't intend to ignore people at all, and will work on better understanding what is under discussing here.

Some of the changes are definitely non-trivial and will take a while to find the time to do. One has to balance aesthetics with content production (which is the thing that actually matters at the end of the day, indeed).

alright ... took me a while to try and find a domain people "would" want

http://ilovehtml.com/
http://csstutor.com/

Parked page. Boring, plain, simple. Tho I must admit that GoDaddy's parked pages are very colorful

Like pa007, ski.com.au is just an example. You don't need to hire a team to design a site like that. Just some practice and determination.

Add some color to your site. Get a logo instead of the texted "FreeSkiResort"

I never said it was a "bad" site ... just a tad boring. You need to spice it up.

Would you settle for a lesser site?

Glad to see you are taking the crit ... good or bad

I think the one thing everyone here has mentioned is that we would like some color added. If you did that ALONE, you would see a big difference in the attitude towards your site.

Don't get discouraged, you site shows lots of effort and a lot of creativity. It's way better than many of my own ... which I would not care to show you .

You have very little to do in my opinion to spruce it up. It's like a christmas tree all decorated. Just turn on the lights and it will go WOW!