While planning a roadtrip and a stopover in Twizel, I had a difficult time finding a room due to the peak season (Feb 2018). I finally found one through a booking website and also saw another option which was Rosedale Cottages. The business did have a website and I wondered why it didn’t come up when I searched through many pages. I checked up the website and could see several reasons why. I got in touch with the owner, Debbie, and arranged a meeting with her on my roadtrip stopover.
At our meeting, Debbie said that she used to get bookings through the website but that had stopped. She attributed that to the website being not mobile-friendly and had looked into getting it upgraded so that it can be found by search engines again. Debbie met with several web developer companies and attended meetings to learn about websites. However, nothing eventuated due to those companies not following through on their proposals. And there I was, all ready with two drafts on what Rosedale’s website could look like, all new, responsive and modern. We chatted for two hours, discussing the possibilities and answering Debbie’s questions.
Finally, here’s the new website. Debbie plans to set-up a booking system externally, instead of one that’s installed on the website. The website has updated photos and information, a new About Us page, complete with a Privacy Policy page and SSL (Security Socket Layer) as well as a favicon. Testimonials are on the bottom of the pages instead of on a page of its own. The colours are red and grey as found on the company signboard and interior scheme.
I also pinned Rosedale’s location on Google Map and set-up its Google My Business page. Photos were uploaded to it.
Yes, it comes a time when an old website needs to be upgraded to modern requirements. Otherwise, it will not perform and will serve little purpose.
Here’s a screenshot of the old website:
Information on this old website was old as Debbie could not update it herself.