the art of camping

This time of year I usually start a search for a nice campsite or cabin to rent for a long weekend. We like to go to different places every year so it is a new search each time. There is nothing more frustrating than to try to find a good cabin on line. Ninety percent of the websites are a disaster. They are usually unorganized, ugly and make it difficult to find or contact the business. Often the photos don't really show what the cabin or site is like and a lot of the photos are of things not related to or specific to what the campsite has to offer.

I did a quick search and easily found some ugly sites. I have not been to any of these places so I'm not saying they are good or bad - I just don't think their websites are as good as they could or should be. I cut out their names and  contact info to be fair.

Countryside Cottage.
I would expect a beautiful, open, relaxing feeling in a countryside cottage. Unfortunately, their website makes me feel cramped and confused. Their chaotic design is not making me want to stay there and their color combination is dull and boring.

The campground is a little nicer but they could have done better. They have some great shots of the place but don't use them to their fullest potential. What I thought was a search box under their name is just a white bar. The text is in a lighter shade green box than the rest of the site and there is too much information in lines that are too long. At least the green is brighter than the last site!

The Park Marina - I'm already in the site why do I have to click to enter? I do like that all of the basic information is on the home page. Why would I email them when I have to call to make a reservation? They have a great shot of their Marina but why is it so small?

Treasure Isle. Ok they decided to go with piratey themes but its more clipart piratey than anything. What pirate would use that blue outlined font on a treasure map? None that I know of. The sand colored background is putting me to sleep.

You might be thinking that these sites are made by the camp owners. Thats what I thought to but I found the company that has claimed to have made hundreds of sites for campsites including treasure isle's! Their site isn't much better. At first it looks cool but is not great either. Their buttons are dated, the sample images run into eachother and the blue text on black is hard to read. If I had a web design business I would want my contact onformation on the first page! I wouldn't want people to have to click to another page and scroll to the bottom to find it!