Pls review www.outdoorattractions.com

outdoorattractions · #1 (**permalink**) 03-25-2008, 10:24 PM

My team and I have created this site for the promotion of outdoor attractions. It is nearly through the testing phase. Would love some unbiased opinions about what we have developed. Feedback on design, seo, marketability or anything else is welcome.

outdoorattractions · #2 (**permalink**) 03-25-2008, 10:27 PM

fabulous

amxfan · #3 (**permalink**) 03-26-2008, 05:08 AM

Nice idea but not sure how it will fly. But thats also depends very much on how you market the site.....

* Search engines read from left to right top to bottom. With that said why have ads by Google before your content?
I would move this to another location.

* Your title 'OutdoorAttractions.com. The premier vacation and travel directory for the outdoor enthusiast: Home Page"
People do not search you domain name nor do they search Home Page.... I would redo this and try and put my main keyword in the title close to the beginning.

*All of your page titles are the same.... this should be changed

* Your description is also to long and your pushing your domain name not what your site is about. Your description should be around 160 characters but no more than 200 characters and try to use 5 or so key words close to the beginning.

* Your keywords seem long as well and also appear stuffed

* Add title attributes to your nav links. This may not help on the SEO factor but it does add accessibility.

* Add alt tags to your images.

* Do not link to 'outdoorattractions.com/default.aspx' but link to 'outdoorattractions.com'

* Your sitemap should contain a link to every page you want indexed.

* Add a robots.txt and put your your sitemap in it . this can be done by adding 'Sitemap: http://www.example.com/sitemap.htm'

* If you can, Try and use SEO friendly URL's

* Your site seems to be real slow loading pages. Most people only give 30sec before they give up

* I never cared for any page that is left or right align. I would make it centered but thats just my opinion.

* If you do not have one, make a sitemap.xml and submit it to Google and Yahoo. Read this for more info.

* When your site is done 100%. If you can write a press release and submit it to here. Great way to get a lot of links.

* Your text maybe a bit small for some visitors.

* Add a breadcrumb trail so your visitors know at all time where they are on your page. This also help with inter linking.

Hope this info helps: Good luck

bj · #4 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:18 PM

Site looks okay in IE, but I think instead of a map for an opener, a more detailed site search on that page would be better. For instance, a bunch of radio buttons or checkboxes to make multiple choices like camping, b&b, canoeing, bike rental, horseriding, etc. And a box for a zip code locator and a dropdown for mile radius. But that's just my two cents. I drilled down through PA and Northampton County and all I found were B&B listings. Two clicks to give me something I wasn't interested in is not good.

Your code is a mess. The site doesn't look the same in other browsers as it does in IE6.

Re the idea, it's already been done to death. Sites like this are better handled on the local level and more in depth, instead of focussing on "outdoor attractions". It's hard to give anything a local flavor when you're working on the Macro level.

outdoorattractions · #5 (**permalink**) 04-11-2008, 11:08 PM

bj,
Thanks for the feedback and the time taken to really look at the site. We will take a look at putting the advanced search on the home page. Being able to execute advanced searches is one of the real powers of the site.

As you can imagine getting the site loaded with content is a real challenge. I am not sure when you drilled down whether or not after two clicks you didn't find enough options or you found something different from what you were expecting.

We have had a few different coders so there may be an issue here.

Again, appreciate the time

outdoorattractions · #6 (**permalink**) 04-11-2008, 11:13 PM

amxfan,

Excellent feedback.

Very tactical tips. I will take a look at completely implementing them.

Marketing the site will be a challenge. The site is very broad in scope. We are trying to determine if we should try and focus more locally to start with.

Chris

mtheory · #7 (**permalink**) 04-12-2008, 10:04 AM

IMHO The directory approach is antiquated and has been done too many times before. At the very least you should have photographs for the attractions if you want to engage your visitors.

KingArthur · #8 (**permalink**) 04-16-2008, 09:49 AM

You could do a lot more with the "design" part, it looks too plain, somewhat boring for your field.

outdoorattractions · #9 (**permalink**) 04-29-2008, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtheory

IMHO The directory approach is antiquated and has been done too many times before. At the very least you should have photographs for the attractions if you want to engage your visitors.

Thanks for your 2 cents. Working on the photographs and adding more content.

outdoorattractions · #10 (**permalink**) 04-29-2008, 10:21 PM

KingArthur,

We have been focusing on the data up to this point. Thanks for the feedback. We should maybe shift priorities.