[Nathanael Jones]

A lot of ppl expect instant results from a website, and can be disappointed because as with all good things, it takes time. My father in law has a website with ZERO search engine optimisation,.. and my website is fairly well optimised. Up until recently, his site beat mine in a few relevant Google searches, simply because its 2 years older.
Brand new websites take a while to be ranked properly by Google, and getting your reciprocal links setup is a task that often continues for months,.. but website do become more effective with age.
That's not to say that constant updated & improvements are a bad idea,.. but there are many, many factors that affect how effective a website is.

[ftp]

Here you go Nat, have a look at this one www.framestopanes.com and tell me what's wrong with it and why you think it's not picking up work.
It was built very cheaply by an ex- workmate who got made redundant and had nothing else to do. The domain name is up for renewal and at the moment I'm not too bothered with renewing it. I am not very website savvy but idealy I would like a counter or some method of knowing who's looking at it and some control myself. How can I acsess my own website?

[Nathanael Jones]

Here you go Nat, have a look at this one www.framestopanes.com and tell me what's wrong with it and why you think it's not picking up work.
It was built very cheaply by an ex- workmate who got made redundant and had nothing else to do. The domain name is up for renewal and at the moment I'm not too bothered with renewing it. I am not very website savvy but idealy I would like a counter or some method of knowing who's looking at it and some control myself. How can I acsess my own website?

I reckon that some small changes could get your website ranking a lot higher in Google. While it has a couple of meta tags, they're missing some obvious keywords (services and geographic locations).
Your page titles are all the same, and don't mention your location or any services other than window cleaning.
Your main page text is a bit sparse. Google loves content,.. the more text you have the better (Within reason) and if your text contains your keywords too, this will help you get higher in the rankings.
You have a list of services, but not a list of area's covered. Most ppl searching the net for a window cleaner will type "Window cleaner" and then the name of their town or area. Without these geographic references on your website, you're competing with window cleaners websites nationwide, so you've no hope of getting on the first page!
I'd also say that 4 pages isn't enough. I'd add a links page (Good links will boost your google ranking too) and a privacy policy page (Google looks for a privacy policy), perhaps also a page for instant online quotations (Have a look at my website, I love this feature!), and a page for paypal payments too.

I see the site has been verified for Googles webmaster tools,.. do you have access to the info there, as it would be very handy?

You could also add code from www.statcounter.com (its free) to check who is looking at your site and what pages they view.


That's just the tech side of it,.. once you've got traffic through you website, you need to work on turning that traffic into sales,.. but that's a whole other story!

[ftp]

Thanks Nat, most of it unfortunately goes over my head but I understand some. 
Obviously pays to have someone who knows what he's on about. If you get bored and need something to do give ne a shout. 

[andyatkinson]

i dont know a lot about all the technical side of it, but surely theres a huge difference between having a website and having a well optimised website??
my site doesnt really rank on google or anything, however it looks good i think to have on my leaflets and i use it as a tool for customers to book online and cut down on phone time, custie rings and says do you do such and such an area and i say " are you in front of the computer now?" and just give them the address and ask them to book online and there happy.plus im not writing on scraps of paper.
ian could make you the worlds best website but imo it doesnt mean it has to feature on google or anything thats different, to me thats like saying ive had 10,000 leaflets printed (still sat in house) but no-ones called yet, the designer might of done best job in the world but delivery is different isnt it?
i await technical criticism

[macmac]

i dont know a lot about all the technical side of it, but surely theres a huge difference between having a website and having a well optimised website??
my site doesnt really rank on google or anything, however it looks good i think to have on my leaflets and i use it as a tool for customers to book online and cut down on phone time, custie rings and says do you do such and such an area and i say " are you in front of the computer now?" and just give them the address and ask them to book online and there happy.plus im not writing on scraps of paper.
ian could make you the worlds best website but imo it doesnt mean it has to feature on google or anything thats different, to me thats like saying ive had 10,000 leaflets printed (still sat in house) but no-ones called yet, the designer might of done best job in the world but delivery is different isnt it?
i await technical criticism

I would happily carry on the telephone conversation & wouldn't dream of being so rude!

If I was your enquiry (for window cleaning for god's sake) & you said that to me, I would immediately look elsewhere!

Just being honest.

[andyatkinson]

that was a shorter version and im much more polite, i ask are they in front of computer at mo, and they aremostly coz i find theyre at work and then explain the quickest way for them to get a quote is to fill in theyre details on the site and ill have all of theyre details as soon as i return home and can call and give them a quote within 48 hours and if theyd like i can email the quote to them save trying to catch them at home, ive never had a complaint and everyone has done this so i cant be coming across as rude, i can see how it might of sounded though as i couldnt be bothered typing all this!

[seandyer2003]

i dont know a lot about all the technical side of it, but surely theres a huge difference between having a website and having a well optimised website??
my site doesnt really rank on google or anything, however it looks good i think to have on my leaflets and i use it as a tool for customers to book online and cut down on phone time, custie rings and says do you do such and such an area and i say " are you in front of the computer now?" and just give them the address and ask them to book online and there happy.plus im not writing on scraps of paper.
ian could make you the worlds best website but imo it doesnt mean it has to feature on google or anything thats different, to me thats like saying ive had 10,000 leaflets printed (still sat in house) but no-ones called yet, the designer might of done best job in the world but delivery is different isnt it?
i await technical criticism

Websites are a bit pointless if they are not optimized for getting high results, how many websites do you reckon are in your area offering window cleaning

how long do people who have a life and things to be getting on with spend looking for a window cleaner ?? - NOT LONG

If your not no.1 or at least page 1, its a bit useless!!  IMO its the best form of advertising , and is really cheap for the return you get, for £100 a month MAX you can 99% guarantee being no.1 , if you wanted the work you would pick up lots and lots more work than you pay out on website, one one off clean could pay that a month plus the repeat work - If your someone who spends on yell etc, use your money on a website for 6-12 months and if you get it optimized etc i guarantee you will have more enquiries, and possibly more than you need

[macmac]

that was a shorter version and im much more polite, i ask are they in front of computer at mo, and they aremostly coz i find theyre at work and then explain the quickest way for them to get a quote is to fill in theyre details on the site and ill have all of theyre details as soon as i return home and can call and give them a quote within 48 hours and if theyd like i can email the quote to them save trying to catch them at home, ive never had a complaint and everyone has done this so i cant be coming across as rude, i can see how it might of sounded though as i couldnt be bothered typing all this!

I might give you a second chance then.