Biz-stay.com Homepage Refresh

Biz-stay Extended Stay Lodging Directory

http://www.biz-stay.com assists travelers in locating extended stay lodging worldwide. We cover extended-stay hotels, corporate housing, serviced apartments, apartment hotels, interim housing, furnished flat rentals, etc. We are not a travel agency - our directory makes it easy to contact advertised lodging options directly or to visit their websites.

The homepage serves 3 purposes:
1) Communicates our service/quality to travelers, and facilitates navigation to the location-specific directory pages
2) Communicates our service/quality to potential advertisers, and facilitates navigation to the advertising info pages
3) Communicates our service to search engines by providing sufficient keyword-rich text (HTML)

Same as these sites:
http://www.residenceinn.com
http://www.oakwood.com
http://www.execustay.com
http://www.candlewoodsuites.com
http://www.bridgestreet.com
http://www.suburbanhotels.com
http://www.frasershospitality.com

Note: about 40% of audience are NOT business travelers

Extended-stay serves a wide range of budgets, from ultra low-cost to luxury.

Professional look

900 - 950 pixels fixed width, centered

Navigation menu on left side. (This will be carried through on the sub pages.) Omit the "Banner Advertising" option.

More white space than current design

The map is essential to tell users that our directory is global, and to assist with navigation. Copy the current regional borders exactly, and supply image map coordinates. For example Bangladesh is in "Southwest Asia", not "East Asia".
Note: It's OK to use the current map, perhaps with different colors, background, etc.

Use current logo (resized is OK)

Provide space for one 125x300 banner (currently in lower left)

Extended-stay serves a wide range of budgets, from ultra low-cost to luxury. It is important to appeal to all these groups, perhaps by visually highlighting the upper end quality, while also mentioning the affordability (in HTML).