Please sharpen your pencils....

[Fagin2021]

And let me have your thoughts on this new little venture I’m setting up. The target market is holiday rental owners in Mid and South Wales – of which there are hundreds.

The website www.virtualtours.wales is self-explanatory.

Thanks.

 

[MBE2017]

I guess it will come down to how good you are in comparison to your competitors.

There is a requirement, most go for high quality still photographers currently so your own marketing will have to be good.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Threats & opportunities

Threat - the staycation bubble is bursting, plus the First Minister is threatening a tourist tax to ensure that people don't enjoy themselves in Wales.

(He is colluding with Scotland's FM an a full anti-joy agenda)

Opportunity: Savvy property owners will recognise the threats and will be investing in ways to beat the downturn.

As always, there are really 2 questions on their mind:

1) What will be the benefit to them (If you are able to quantify it's always good)
2) Why use you rather than one of the others?

 

[IanSuth]

Threats & opportunities

Threat - the staycation bubble is bursting, plus the First Minister is threatening a tourist tax to ensure that people don't enjoy themselves in Wales.

(He is colluding with Scotland's FM an a full anti-joy agenda)

Opportunity: Savvy property owners will recognise the threats and will be investing in ways to beat the downturn.

As always, there are really 2 questions on their mind:

1) What will be the benefit to them (If you are able to quantify it's always good)
2) Why use you rather than one of the others?

Maybe if it can integrate into other big websites like National trust to show all the close big attractions/walking/cycling routes which might increase the desirability of the location thus increase value to the owner.

You know sort of single click to show NT attractions or closest rated walk or local cycle routes

 

[Fagin2021]

Threats & opportunities

Threat - the staycation bubble is bursting, plus the First Minister is threatening a tourist tax to ensure that people don't enjoy themselves in Wales.

(He is colluding with Scotland's FM an a full anti-joy agenda)

Opportunity: Savvy property owners will recognise the threats and will be investing in ways to beat the downturn.

As always, there are really 2 questions on their mind:

1) What will be the benefit to them (If you are able to quantify it's always good)
2) Why use you rather than one of the others?

Good response thank you Mark. In reply…

Threats. What you say is a threat is actually an opportunity. As ‘staycations’ decline, holiday cottage owners must compete for the available business. In normal times, most owners have little trouble filling their properties in the school holiday/summer season but that may change in the current economic climate.

Competition for bookings is greater in the non-peak season – especially with changes to the business rates qualification criteria. As competition hots up, owners who can best present their properties will increase the chance of grabbing a booking.

Opportunities. Exactly. And the challenge here is that the majority of owners aren’t savvy. In fact, the majority don’t even have their own websites – relying on their booking agents for boilerplate descriptions and photographs that don’t distinguish them from the cottage down the road.

So the challenge will be two-fold. Persuading cottage owners to invest in a virtual tour and, if they don’t have their own website, (or even if they do) persuading the booking companies to incorporate tours into their booking sites. There are several national booking agents (including Airbnb) covering South Wales as well as numerous smaller local ones and I believe that once one or two start including virtual tours on their sites, the rest will follow (except Airbnb). It’s neither hard nor expensive so there’s no reason not to. Many cottage owners register with more than one booking agent.

Evolution. I see the tour as an evolution of what’s here today. It’s becoming increasingly common in the USA, along with drone shots in real-estate photography. Likewise, a few years ago in the UK, estate agents details rarely included accurate floorplans. Now they do as standard

In similar style, I think a virtual tour will become the ‘de facto’ way to present a holiday cottage – and those who don’t have one will miss out. It may take a while to take off, but then will snowball.

Quantifying Benefits. Not really possible but….The average holiday cottage in Wales will charge around £1000 to £2000 per week in peak season. Some a bit less, some a lot more. The cost of a tour is going to be considerably less than one weeks booking.

Competition. There isn’t any! The very few companies doing virtual tours in this area (Swansea and Cardiff) concentrate on bigger projects – commercial property, castles, stately homes and properties for sale – a different kettle of fish.

USP. I don’t know of anyone else around here combining 3D photography, still photography, audio, video production, and drone footage into a virtual tour at an affordable price. Also, as a cottage-owner myself, I have more credibility.

Does that make sense ?

 

[MBE2017]

USP. I don’t know of anyone else around here combining 3D photography, still photography, audio, video production, and drone footage into a virtual tour at an affordable price. Also, as a cottage-owner myself, I have more credibility.

As an SA operator, the fact you own a cottage means nothing to myself. What I am interested in is the quality of the images.

This is just my opinion, I’m sure there will be some people interested. Do not under estimate still photograph, when operators list on the likes of booking.com, Airbnb plus the other hundred odd sites, you have a huge hurdle to overcome trying to do it another way. On these listings operators have their “hero” shot, the one you use as you main picture, the bedroom, hot tub etc.

Most people booking look at the still picture and decide in under two seconds if they like the look of the property for rent, then they scroll on. I’m quicker than that, I probably look at two per second, and only look further if something has caught my attention. That’s where truly top quality images become worth their weight in gold.

Best of luck anyway, you might be ahead of the curve, in three years maybe lots of sites will have this as standard.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Good response thank you Mark. In reply…

Threats. What you say is a threat is actually an opportunity. As ‘staycations’ decline, holiday cottage owners must compete for the available business. In normal times, most owners have little trouble filling their properties in the school holiday/summer season but that may change in the current economic climate.

Competition for bookings is greater in the non-peak season – especially with changes to the business rates qualification criteria. As competition hots up, owners who can best present their properties will increase the chance of grabbing a booking.

Opportunities. Exactly. And the challenge here is that the majority of owners aren’t savvy. In fact, the majority don’t even have their own websites – relying on their booking agents for boilerplate descriptions and photographs that don’t distinguish them from the cottage down the road.

So the challenge will be two-fold. Persuading cottage owners to invest in a virtual tour and, if they don’t have their own website, (or even if they do) persuading the booking companies to incorporate tours into their booking sites. There are several national booking agents (including Airbnb) covering South Wales as well as numerous smaller local ones and I believe that once one or two start including virtual tours on their sites, the rest will follow (except Airbnb). It’s neither hard nor expensive so there’s no reason not to. Many cottage owners register with more than one booking agent.

Evolution. I see the tour as an evolution of what’s here today. It’s becoming increasingly common in the USA, along with drone shots in real-estate photography. Likewise, a few years ago in the UK, estate agents details rarely included accurate floorplans. Now they do as standard

In similar style, I think a virtual tour will become the ‘de facto’ way to present a holiday cottage – and those who don’t have one will miss out. It may take a while to take off, but then will snowball.

Quantifying Benefits. Not really possible but….The average holiday cottage in Wales will charge around £1000 to £2000 per week in peak season. Some a bit less, some a lot more. The cost of a tour is going to be considerably less than one weeks booking.

Competition. There isn’t any! The very few companies doing virtual tours in this area (Swansea and Cardiff) concentrate on bigger projects – commercial property, castles, stately homes and properties for sale – a different kettle of fish.

USP. I don’t know of anyone else around here combining 3D photography, still photography, audio, video production, and drone footage into a virtual tour at an affordable price. Also, as a cottage-owner myself, I have more credibility.

Does that make sense ?

I've no doubt you've thought through this - but in reality, like every business, you do have competition.

You have competition from other photographers offering them 'compelling images' in whatever sense. and more widely from everyone - and there will be lots - offering 'benefits of marketing packages'

It's that woolly line between being positive and being realistic!

 

[DoolallyTap]

Website is nice but perhaps to many words, people only stay for a couple of seconds before moving on.
You justify to yourself all the comments made by Mark Jones so you have well sold the idea to yourself.
No one will find your website unless you advertise it, perhaps you need need a Google Merchant Account, and Google Ad account and a huge daily spend to get it visible.
Just by searching 'Wales Holiday Home Advertising' Google came back with
About 65,500
Searching 'Wales holiday home virtual tour', About 64,900,000 results (0.98 seconds)

How much research did you do before spending money on the website?

 

[Fagin2021]

Website is nice but perhaps to many words, people only stay for a couple of seconds before moving on.
You justify to yourself all the comments made by Mark Jones so you have well sold the idea to yourself.
No one will find your website unless you advertise it, perhaps you need need a Google Merchant Account, and Google Ad account and a huge daily spend to get it visible.
Just by searching 'Wales Holiday Home Advertising' Google came back with
About 65,500
Searching 'Wales holiday home virtual tour', About 64,900,000 results (0.98 seconds)

How much research did you do before spending money on the website?

I'm sorry @DoolallyTap but I find your comments both rude and irrelevant. Try reading and understanding the post - then learn a bit about Google search results and maybe even look at them before assigning me objectives and ambitions I haven't set or want, then criticising them.

No holiday cottage owner is going to search for 'holiday home virtual tour providers' or similar words, so a 'search' campaign - like Shopping (which is not for services anyway) or Ads, is a complete nonsense. There are many other ways for people to find (or be pushed to) a website in a niche, local market.

Of course there are already a smattering of holiday rentals with virtual tours - but if you check your 64,900,000 results you'll find very few - a tiny minority. It's encouraging that there are some.

To answer the snarky implication in your final sentence - I didn't spend any money on the website. I did it myself, in my spare time. ok.

 

[Fagin2021]

I've no doubt you've thought through this - but in reality, like every business, you do have competition.

You have competition from other photographers offering them 'compelling images' in whatever sense. and more widely from everyone - and there will be lots - offering 'benefits of marketing packages'

It's that woolly line between being positive and being realistic!

Yes - I agree. This is one of those things where you have to sell the concept before you can sell the service.

The interesting point that both you and @MBE2017 raise is competition from quality images - ie. the professional stills photographer. Many cottage owners haven't bothered with quality photos - they've done them themselves or let the booking agent do so. So you get inappropriate lighting, narrow field of view, intense window blooms and - I could go on.

Now, no-one would dispute that quality photos are a plus but here's the thing. It's not like a show-house or a kitchen display - this is for a holiday rental where people stay a week or two. Do you need the very best quality images - or are you ok with images that are 'good enough' as part of a larger package (the virtual tour) ?

As you rightly say, if you're going to invest a bit of money on promoting your property, where do you spend it most effectively ? I'm taking a punt on tours as the way forward but if I'm wrong it won't have cost me anything to find out (except pride of course).

 

[fisicx]

I’m looking on my phone (as do many) and I’m already confused. I thought this was going to be a set of virtual tours around various properties.

I skim read all your blurb because what I want to see is the tour. A picture of some bloke with his eagle appears when I tap the image but I have no idea what to do next as my speaker is on mute.

When I finally worked out what to do I saw distorted images of various rooms but no captions so I had to guess again what I was looking at.

Personally I’d prefer to see a set of high quality images as I’m going to be looking at a number of properties. I’d only possibly look at a virtual tour once I’d got a shortlist.

The other issue with the site is it look a bit homemade. Needs to be a bit more professional. Unless of course you want the diy look.

 

[MBE2017]

Just out of interest, since photography is a hobby of mine, what camera and software did you use? I’ve never done anything like 360 degree shots, the nearest thing I’ve done is landscape panoramics.

I wish you well, not trying to put you down, in your area I could imagine drone footage being extremely popular.

 

[GraemeL]

I’m looking on my phone (as do many) and I’m already confused. I thought this was going to be a set of virtual tours around various properties.

I am looking on a desktop but my anticipation of what I was to expect was the same as @fisicx . Like a mini rightmove focusing only on welsh cottages. So I had to read quite a but to get at what it really was, which I only did because you are seeking feedback.

I would suggest it needs an opening page that says something like "Do you want to increase occupancy of your Welsh Country Cottage?"

 

[Fagin2021]

I’m looking on my phone (as do many) and I’m already confused. I thought this was going to be a set of virtual tours around various properties.

I skim read all your blurb because what I want to see is the tour. A picture of some bloke with his eagle appears when I tap the image but I have no idea what to do next as my speaker is on mute.

When I finally worked out what to do I saw distorted images of various rooms but no captions so I had to guess again what I was looking at.

Personally I’d prefer to see a set of high quality images as I’m going to be looking at a number of properties. I’d only possibly look at a virtual tour once I’d got a shortlist.

The other issue with the site is it look a bit homemade. Needs to be a bit more professional. Unless of course you want the diy look.

Hey - give me a break. This was my first stab at it on my own property, so there's some rough edges!

I can't do a 'set' cos I haven't yet got a set. They'll come. The bloke with the eagle (hawk) is me and if you tap on 'me' you get a birds-eye video of the cottage. I've put quite a few things in this tour just as a demonstrator to see what's possible. Alternatively, you can skip the video and go straight inside (blue arrows). There's a few other videos/information points that aren't accessible on a mobile.

Fair point about the sound. There's a note saying turn your sound on/up, but I'm sure there's a better way of handling it.

It's a bit of a compromise putting captions/information hotspots on a mobile. Before you know it, the screen is cluttered up and you can't actually see the rooms. If you look at it on desktop it's more informative. However, I'm beginning to work out how to compromise.

Hopefully, you could navigate your way around without too much trouble.

The partially distorted images are what you get with the 360 degree photos essential for making a tour. That's why you have normal still photos as well. And yes, a tour is only part of an overall presentation package.

The site looks homemade because it is homemade. Any suggestions would be welcome although there's something to be said for the DIY look.

 

[DoolallyTap]

I really cannot find anything rude or irrelevant about my response. What was offensive about the last question? (rhetorical, does not need an answer). You have already sold your idea to yourself, you do not want any comments and definitely don't want any criticism so carry on and let us all know in 12 months if it truly works and makes money for you.
You need to be much less precious if you want to be on this forum.

 

[Fagin2021]

I am looking on a desktop but my anticipation of what I was to expect was the same as @fisicx . Like a mini rightmove focusing only on welsh cottages. So I had to read quite a but to get at what it really was, which I only did because you are seeking feedback.

I would suggest it needs an opening page that says something like "Do you want to increase occupancy of your Welsh Country Cottage?"

Thanks @GraemeL but I'm not sure why you expected that. The logo at the top of every page says 'Get more bookings and earn more money'. The home page has a big box saying 'Attract More Visitors To Your Property'. Isn't that walking like a duck and quacking like a duck?

I suspect the problem here is that you were expecting a Rightmove type site and didn't get it. But why were you expecting it ?

 

[Fagin2021]

I really cannot find anything rude or irrelevant about my response. What was offensive about the last question? (rhetorical, does not need an answer). You have already sold your idea to yourself, you do not want any comments and definitely don't want any criticism so carry on and let us all know in 12 months if it truly works and makes money for you.
You need to be much less precious if you want to be on this forum.

I don't think I need you to tell me whether I should be on this forum. And I welcome comments and criticism - but not from you, so why don't you butt out.

 

[GraemeL]

Thanks @GraemeL but I'm not sure why you expected that. The logo at the top of every page says 'Get more bookings and earn more money'. The home page has a big box saying 'Attract More Visitors To Your Property'. Isn't that walking like a duck and quacking like a duck?

I suspect the problem here is that you were expecting a Rightmove type site and didn't get it. But why were you expecting it ?

The headline on the homepage is :-

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales

so I am expecting to see ----------- virtual tours of holiday cottages in wales!

 

[DoolallyTap]

Hey - give me a break. This was my first stab at it on my own property, so there's some rough edges!

I can't do a 'set' cos I haven't yet got a set. They'll come. The bloke with the eagle (hawk) is me and if you tap on 'me' you get a birds-eye video of the cottage. I've put quite a few things in this tour just as a demonstrator to see what's possible. Alternatively, you can skip the video and go straight inside (blue arrows). There's a few other videos/information points that aren't accessible on a mobile.

Fair point about the sound. There's a note saying turn your sound on/up, but I'm sure there's a better way of handling it.

It's a bit of a compromise putting captions/information hotspots on a mobile. Before you know it, the screen is cluttered up and you can't actually see the rooms. If you look at it on desktop it's more informative. However, I'm beginning to work out how to compromise.

Hopefully, you could navigate your way around without too much trouble.

The partially distorted images are what you get with the 360 degree photos essential for making a tour. That's why you have normal still photos as well. And yes, a tour is only part of an overall presentation package.

The site looks homemade because it is homemade. Any suggestions would be welcome although there's something to be said for the DIY look.

So even when others make comments, you don't like it, so it's not just me..

 

[Fagin2021]

Just out of interest, since photography is a hobby of mine, what camera and software did you use? I’ve never done anything like 360 degree shots, the nearest thing I’ve done is landscape panoramics.

I wish you well, not trying to put you down, in your area I could imagine drone footage being extremely popular.

Didn't think you were trying to put me down. I appreciate your time to comment.

The 360 degree camera is an Insta 360 RS with a one inch sensor. Not the GoPro type version. Unlike a panoramic shot you don't have to do any stitching and is has a built in HDR function. You have to be a bit careful with 360 in a room because of course, it capture everything - including yourself, itself and your shadow or reflection if not done right.

The next step up (really, the only step up) is to go to a 3D camera like Matterport. People often get confused between 360 and 3D when it comes to property photos. IMHO Matterport is great (the gold standard) for property sales but over-expensive (£3-4K) and unnecessary for holiday rentals.

For stills I'm using an old Canon DSLR. 15 megapixels is sufficient for indoor work that's going online.

The software for the tour is 3DVista. There's lots of choice of software - I've tried a few and this is one I like.

Other software is Corel (Paint Shop pro and Video Studio) and Topaz.

Phew - that's probably more than you wanted to know.

 

[Fagin2021]

The headline on the homepage is :-

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales

so I am expecting to see ----------- virtual tours of holiday cottages in wales!

Point taken - needs more thought.

 

[Fagin2021]

So even when others make comments, you don't like it, so it's not just me..

What part of 'butt out' did you not understand ?

 

[Fagin2021]

The headline on the homepage is :-

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales

so I am expecting to see ----------- virtual tours of holiday cottages in wales!

Do you think something along the lines of 'We create virtual tours of holiday cottages in Wales' would be more appropriate ? (Not those exact words).

 

[MBE2017]

Do you think something along the lines of 'We create virtual tours of holiday cottages in Wales' would be more appropriate ? (Not those exact words).

Make it about them, “ increase your bookings and maximise your revenue with a 360 tour/ virtual tour “

 

[Fagin2021]

Make it about them, “ increase your bookings and maximise your revenue with a 360 tour/ virtual tour “

Spot on. That's almost exactly what the sub-heading says .. 'Get more bookings and earn more money."

Also, having listened to @GraemeL and @fisicx , I've changed the main title from 'Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales' to 'Virtual Tours for Holiday Cottages in Wales'. Not necessarily the finished item but it changes the meaning and makes the thing clearer.

 

[fisicx]

Nobody wants a virtual tour. What they want are more bookings or to make a booking.

This means getting rid of all the guff and making the tour the feature. Show people how this will get them more bookings. Use your own property as an example.

Your marketing will already tell people what they get for their money. All you need to do is convince them to pick up the phone.

 

[Fagin2021]

Nobody wants a virtual tour. What they want are more bookings or to make a booking.

This means getting rid of all the guff and making the tour the feature. Show people how this will get them more bookings. Use your own property as an example.

Your marketing will already tell people what they get for their money. All you need to do is convince them to pick up the phone.

Getting away from virtual tours for a moment, you raise the general question of how a website might sell a product or service. Imagine you were selling laser eye surgery. Your target market would not be people who wanted laser eye surgery – it would be people who wanted better vision. So…

• You need to answer the question “how do I get better vision?” and give reasons why laser surgery is a good choice compared to spectacles or contact lenses.
• As a potential customer you’d want to know the process – how does it work ? Do I need to prepare ? Do I need time off work ? How long do I need to recover ? Is it an in & out session ? And so on.
• You would of course, want to know the cost – and what you would get for your money. What happens if it doesn’t work etc.
• Finally, who will be doing your surgery. Are they qualified ? Are they experienced ? How often have they done it before ?

It basically comes down to 4 Ps

• Proposal
• Process
• Pricing
• People

Returning to virtual tours – that’s the way I’ve attempted to construct my 4 page site...

• Proposal (home page - how to get more bookings)
• Process (how it works)
• Pricing (what it costs)
• People (about)

You may not think I’ve done it particularly well, but that’s the principle.

Anyway, the subject has now been beaten to death so thank you all for your input.

 

[fisicx]

How are you planning to market the service? This will determine the site content and structure.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Getting away from virtual tours for a moment, you raise the general question of how a website might sell a product or service. Imagine you were selling laser eye surgery. Your target market would not be people who wanted laser eye surgery – it would be people who wanted better vision. So…

• You need to answer the question “how do I get better vision?” and give reasons why laser surgery is a good choice compared to spectacles or contact lenses.
• As a potential customer you’d want to know the process – how does it work ? Do I need to prepare ? Do I need time off work ? How long do I need to recover ? Is it an in & out session ? And so on.
• You would of course, want to know the cost – and what you would get for your money. What happens if it doesn’t work etc.
• Finally, who will be doing your surgery. Are they qualified ? Are they experienced ? How often have they done it before ?

It basically comes down to 4 Ps

• Proposal
• Process
• Pricing
• People

Returning to virtual tours – that’s the way I’ve attempted to construct my 4 page site...

• Proposal (home page - how to get more bookings)
• Process (how it works)
• Pricing (what it costs)
• People (about)

You may not think I’ve done it particularly well, but that’s the principle.

Anyway, the subject has now been beaten to death so thank you all for your input.

It's unlikely that your prospects are making a considered or deeply researched purchase - more likely they are either looking at 'ways to market' or possibly just whingeing about falling bookings.

However you approach, your message needs to punch them in the face

What is it?
Why do I need it (now)
How do I get it

The rest is fodder for them to graze on afterwards

 

[Casually made]

The copy on the site is poor , there's too much waffle and i don't know why you want to get political with mentioning welsh government that isn't a selling point it's just a point of contention that has little to nothing to do with what you are offering.

I clicked on pricing and immediately picked up you won't travel more than 50 miles and even that is comically an "optional extra"

Given you are based in Newcastle Emlyn which is the arse end of south west wales
a 50 mile radius would do well to get you to Swansea let alone some of the more remote areas your going to want to target or even Cardiff

I can't make heads nor tails of the pricing structure , all i know is its going to cost me north of 400 quid for something that has virtually no proven benefit

Do customers really even care about them ?

Personally If i'm picking a holiday let as long as the basic amenities and location is good , the price is right i don't really care about the rest i will only be there for a short period

-----------------------------------------

This could work as maybe a little side hustle for some higher end property but to me it just seems an unnecessary cost

 

[Fagin2021]

How are you planning to market the service? This will determine the site content and structure.

Based on the feedback, I've made some changes to the site - especially the homepage where I've eliminated large chunks of text when viewed on a mobile. Thanks for your observations.

 

[Fagin2021]

On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any.

 

[fisicx]

Based on the feedback, I've made some changes to the site - especially the homepage where I've eliminated large chunks of text when viewed on a mobile. Thanks for your observations.

That’s good but what is your marketing plan. For example, if you plan to advertise on a support site for holiday cottage owners then they will already know you are offering virtual tours. This then means you don’t need to sell the concept, all you need to do is show how well it works.

Still way too much irrelevant content on the homepage. You could get rid of almost everything.

And change to a sans serif font.

 

[GraemeL]

"On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any."

Don't be daft. You are getting some great feedback. You asked "let me have your thoughts" which is what you are getting. You have been long enough on UKBF to know that there will be some content that is not written in a helpful or constructive way.

So hoping that you read a bit more..........

There is lack of clarity on features versus benefits. It's really easy to think that your customers understand the benefits to them of your features. Some might, most won't. I think that @fisicx is saying much the same. Your example about Laser Eye is right, until you get onto the 4 P's, where you, in my opinion, are going in the wrong direction.

Incidentally, in France these virtual tours are commonplace amongst most immos.

Regarding your header, which is most important to me the way I browse

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales​

Is still barking up the wrong tree. It's solely a feature. Why are you fixed on this heading and not the benefit of what you can do as you have suggested? (To use your example, if you were able to provide laser eye surgery the equivalent feature led title might be "Laser Eye Surgery in Wales". Not so good.)

My background is in marketing for large businesses. Several years ago when I retired I set up a business based on a website and I too had to change my approach entirely from what I thought was right to be much more customer benefit focussed.

By the way, I agree with a previous poster. Having a drone picture of a holiday cottage, or a house for sale, would be an attractive idea.

 

[Bob Morgan]

"On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any."

Don't be daft. You are getting some great feedback. You asked "let me have your thoughts" which is what you are getting. You have been long enough on UKBF to know that there will be some content that is not written in a helpful or constructive way.

So hoping that you read a bit more..........

There is lack of clarity on features versus benefits. It's really easy to think that your customers understand the benefits to them of your features. Some might, most won't. I think that @fisicx is saying much the same. Your example about Laser Eye is right, until you get onto the 4 P's, where you, in my opinion, are going in the wrong direction.

Incidentally, in France these virtual tours are commonplace amongst most immos.

Regarding your header, which is most important to me the way I browse

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales​

Is still barking up the wrong tree. It's solely a feature. Why are you fixed on this heading and not the benefit of what you can do as you have suggested? (To use your example, if you were able to provide laser eye surgery the equivalent feature led title might be "Laser Eye Surgery in Wales". Not so good.)

My background is in marketing for large businesses. Several years ago when I retired I set up a business based on a website and I too had to change my approach entirely from what I thought was right to be much more customer benefit focussed.

By the way, I agree with a previous poster. Having a drone picture of a holiday cottage, or a house for sale, would be an attractive idea.

Of course not forgetting "Llawdriniaeth laser ar y llygaid yng Nghymru!"

 

[DoolallyTap]

On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any.

You are so sold on your idea that any slight criticism of it, you see as rude or discourteous. Just imagine a holiday maker making a complaint at you property. You need to toughen up and stop being a snowflake.

 

[fisicx]

Please refrain from personal criticism and focus on the purpose of the thread: a review of the website

 

[MBE2017]

Have re read the website, and these are my suggestions, on the basis you want people to pick up the phone and book you to do a tour.

On your landing page I would remove the initial fellow cottages section.
I would work on the Attract more guests section, but lose the sorry but soon that won’t be enough line. People don’t like to be told, they like to be sold.
I would substitute “standard” for the word boilerplate.

As an SA operator I would want to know if this is able to be incorporated easily into the various OTAs.
Why virtual tours? I would rethink the whole section, you aim is to get bookings, not pose questions. Do you have any stats showing an uplift in bookings that you can attribute to your tour on your site? Even better are there any recognised studies to quote?
Have you any testimonials?

Now the hard part, your tour. I would remove the image of yourself with half your legs missing and the huge bird, it looks like a bad cut and paste, the same with the drone in one image. If the tour is about the property have no distractions, just the property.

How it works page. No offence but people are not that interested how you do this, they are interested in the final product and higher bookings. Run through how to book a tour, ownership of the tour etc, length of time etc.

What you do, you can’t put lipstick on a pig…..seriously? Do you want any bookings?
I would state you will email them a list of things to do to try and help show their property off to its best advantage and to get the maximum out of their virtual tour.
The weather, personally I would offer a rebook facility if it looks like the weather would have a detrimental effect on the outcome, awkward for yourself but a huge box tick for any clients.

What it costs… put on a single plan, ie your basic package, a single fee which covers… then list briefly. Just add further requirements can be catered for by arrangement. Remember, you want a booking, a phone call, try not to confuse people.
Payment, I would suggest 50% on booking, 50% on completion.

Basically, I think you need to work on your website copy a bit more.

 

[Casually made]

On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any.

Unfortunatley Business is cut throat

you have received invaluable feedback even if you don't want hear it

 

[Fagin2021]

"On a general note, I've been absolutely appalled by the rudeness and lack of courtesy shown by many respondents. Criticism, suggestions and discussion are one thing. Crude insults and snarky remarks based on personal likes and dislikes are another.

I won't be asking for any more advice from this forum, nor will I be giving any."

Don't be daft. You are getting some great feedback. You asked "let me have your thoughts" which is what you are getting. You have been long enough on UKBF to know that there will be some content that is not written in a helpful or constructive way.

So hoping that you read a bit more..........

There is lack of clarity on features versus benefits. It's really easy to think that your customers understand the benefits to them of your features. Some might, most won't. I think that @fisicx is saying much the same. Your example about Laser Eye is right, until you get onto the 4 P's, where you, in my opinion, are going in the wrong direction.

Incidentally, in France these virtual tours are commonplace amongst most immos.

Regarding your header, which is most important to me the way I browse

Virtual Tours of Holiday Cottages in Wales​

Is still barking up the wrong tree. It's solely a feature. Why are you fixed on this heading and not the benefit of what you can do as you have suggested? (To use your example, if you were able to provide laser eye surgery the equivalent feature led title might be "Laser Eye Surgery in Wales". Not so good.)

My background is in marketing for large businesses. Several years ago when I retired I set up a business based on a website and I too had to change my approach entirely from what I thought was right to be much more customer benefit focussed.

By the way, I agree with a previous poster. Having a drone picture of a holiday cottage, or a house for sale, would be an attractive idea.

Thank you for that. Regarding the heading - you're quite right and based on your and @fisicx comments I've already changed it. If you look again you might need to delete your browser cookies and refresh the page but it now reads..." Virtual Tours for Holiday Cottage Owners in Wales" with the sub-heading "Get more bookings and earn more money". Better, if not perfect.

Good humour and pleasant demeanour have now been restored.