[Mike Halliday]

 I've had a website for 6 weeks within 2 days it was on the first page of the organic listing and I also did PPC

I registered with all the free directories and on some search terms I had 4-5 listing on the first page, so in my area if anyone searched for a carpet. upholstery or leather cleaner, I was there.

I also have 3 listings on google maps.

I HAVEN'T HAD A SINGLE JOB FROM IT!! OR EVEN AN EMAIL ASKING FOR A PRICE!!

Now I know my website is'nt the best in the world, but its not bad. I hear all the time that some carpet cleaners are getting most of their work from the internet and the internet is the future, but I DIDN'T GET ONE ENQUIRY IN 6 WEEKS!!

 can it be that some areas haven't caught up to the internet age.

[Joe H]

I think you right what you say there Mike.

Down south they seem to be more internet savvy.

Up here I thinks its catching on slowly.
I have had more enquiries over the last 12 months but nothing like what say Spencer is doing.

[derek west]

how many impressions are you getting on PPC?
not clicks, impressions.
derek

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Mike

There does seem to be a regional effect but not as big as some believe.

A quick search of your areas shows you have a few listings but mainly towards the bottom of the page, whereas I am all over the internet, with no1 rankings for most areas and I get all my new work from it.

I come in from many angles and have built this with a lot of hard work over several years, whereas you are a newbie in this , it's a bit like delivering 5000 leaflets and saying they don't work

Another way to look at this is that the rise of the internet is inexorable and has spread like many things out of London and other cities, by buying the right sites for your area now, you can put yourself in pole position for the future.

Cheers

Doug

[Mike Osbourne]

Mike

If you look at those that get a lot of work, they have Expanded their catchment area. The exact opposite to your philosophy. Accept that you may get a few that don't respond to leaflets and that's about it.

Did you know how many searches per day on your key phrase? If you knew that you would know even before you started what the maximum number of hits you could get.

The other issue is conversion. If you get 200 hits a day you can get by with poor conversion. If you only get 10 then better make the most of them.

 

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I wasn't going to mention your agrophobia Mike , but Mike O is spot on, there is little point in expanding your internet if you don't want to expand your area.

Cheers

Doug

[clinton]

We def dont get as much work as they do down south from the web.

As joe said we are getting more net savy

Had some work of my site but seems to be price shopers who just e mail so we dont have a chance to get our personallitys across over the phone :

Am getting two new sites so thats going to boost my web presence

[Ian Gourlay]

Doug

How far do you travel for new work?

Are you qouting over phone

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Ian

Last two weeks I have done one job in Islington, 550 so worth going, lots in Chelmsford, Romford, one in Colchester, one in the City(twice) plus all my local areas.

I almost always quote over the phone, you have to do this well to make the internet work, lets face it CC is not that complicated that it requires detailed visual pre inspection.

Cheers

Doug

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I'm reaping the rewards (not Doug style though) 2 years on but I couldn't make a living out of it, email  enquiries are a bind as they don't want you they are just nosey if they call yo uthey are interested Paul Ashworth has taken the form submission off his site so they do ring.

Shaun

[derek west]

i'm averaging 100 impressions a day, that says to me that theres work out there on the net. on PPC the first thing you need to do is get your impressions up, then concentrate on getting the clicks from those impressions, and then the website should do the rest.
if your not getting the impressions you need to look at your keyword phrases and see how you can improve them.
i have over a 1000 keyword phrases but only 5 % of them get used, so the more you have the more chance you have of seeing what works in your area.
derek

[Mike Halliday]

Doug, i've stopped the PPC which showed me at the top most times, on google maps I've usually got 2 listings sometimes 3

on 'leather cleaning beverley' I have 3 out of the top 4 listings and 1 further down

on 'upholstery cleaner beverley' I'm 7th & 8th and have 2 listings on google maps

I have limited myself slightly, on PPC I limited it to 10miles from my home address but this still has a population of over a million.


the internet is not like leaflets, leaflets are searching for people who want our services the internet is exactly the opposite, they want the service and are searching  for us.

I'm not saying it doesn't work but there must be a regional difference.

[Mike Halliday]

During Feb:

impressions 165000
clicks 55
average cpc £1.10
ctr 0.03%

[derek west]

165000 impressions?
that over 5000 people a day looking for carpet cleaning in a 10 mile radius.
something not right there mike.
whats your top key phrase, carpet cleaning barrack obama??
derek

[Mike Halliday]

    Online Campaigns  Online Campaigns       + New online campaign ▼

Start with keywords
Start with placements
Help me choose 
 
   
 Statistics:  Summary Split: all search/content network Split: Google search/search partners/content network Only show: all search Only show: Google search Only show: search partners Only show: content network
 

        Customise columns <Show/hide columns> ------------------------------ Hide Current Status Hide Current Budget Hide Clicks Hide Impr. Hide CTR Hide Avg. CPC Hide Cost ------------------------------ Restore defaults  Done    show:  all  |  all active  |  all but deleted
 
   Campaign Name Current Status Current Budget   Clicks Impr. CTR Avg. CPC Cost
  Campaign #1  Paused  [ £5.00 / day ] 37 105,393 0.04%  £1.02 £37.77
  Commercial no1  Active  £5.00 / day  18 59,578 0.03%  £1.26 £22.66
  decorator Campaign #2  Active  £5.00 / day  0 207 0.00%  - £0.00
  Total - all 3 Campaigns - £10.00 / day  ( 2 active campaigns ) 55 165,178 0.03% £1.10 £60.43

 
 
 

[Mike Halliday]

above was cut & pasted from my Google anylytical page

only the pay per click is within 10miles this number is includes all searches  anywhere

[derek west]

totally believe ya mike but theres something not right there.
i'm presuming youve got contents swithched on which is a total waste of time for us.
and thats local search within 10 miles?

last week i got 720 impressions, thats with 2 campaigns, one keyword and one IP. and thats 15 mile radius, don't know what the density is where you are but its quite rural with small urbans round here, but that really does seem an awful lot of impressions.
still, if its right then you need to adjust your adds to attract your custys to your website, thats a toughie as you only have 2 lines, set a few up and see which converts to clicks the most, then run with it.
derek

[derek west]

   
 

       
 

getting about 4 jobs a week from £20 but thats on my old website, will be converting to the new website in the following weeks and seeing if it makes a difference. along with the SEO from chris boswell for generic then i should do ok, fingers crossed.
derek



 
 
 

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Chris makes a difference but PPC IMO gets you in their faces first although I don't do it you can't help but look when you see them first.

Still the internet gets more price shoppers though compared to anything else I have ever advertised so a well written site is more of a priority I get nothing from Doug's but for the money it's no problem.

Shaun

[clinton]

Shaun

You got it right when you said there to lazy to phone

And you said paul has taken his enquirey tab off,well in ny other post i did also say that am getting work from my google and not ppc,also had many just email quote so they never get a chance to hear what i have to say.

Shaun how do you get on with the email reply for quotes from your web site.
Am too thinikng of not replying only as i have some good repeat clients