Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Mike_Boxall on July 23, 2007, 03:48:32 pm
-
17th September 2007
Hi
Finally we have the site online at http://www.spickandspan-directory.co.uk/
We're still in the process of adding data to it so some categories are empty at the moment. We're also finishing off some more functionality (each listing will have a google map attached to it, for example)
To see the difference between a Free listing and a Featured listing please search for 'Window Cleaning Traditional' in TR27. Tou can then select the first 2 or 3 results (including David Morris Window Cleaning) and compare the results.
We've done our best to accomodate all the suggestions that have been made over the past couple of months and I hope everyone will give the site a try for at least a few months and then let us have some feedback in terms of the business generated. You will start to see the site advertised heavily both online and offline over the next few months. We're keen to keep developing and improving the site so if you have any more ideas then please let us know.
In terms of pricing , there are 3 options. You can get a FREE listing with your name, address and telephone number or you can pay either £15 + vat per month or £150+ vat per year for a featured listing like the Dave Morris example above.
As an incentive for forum members to sign up quickly, we are offering a 10% discount on these prices for the next 2 weeks only. To qualify for this discount you must use the referrer code 'cleanitup' on the sign-up screen. Once you submit your information, the 10% discount will be applied on the following screen.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know
Regards
Mike
************************************
Hi
You may remember a while ago we mentioned about developing a cleaning directory to supplement the forum. At the time, it was said that a number of directories were in the process of being created and / or launched and we decided to wait and see what developed. However, none seem to have got off the ground successfully and we have now decided to continue with the development ourselves.
We are now very close to launching this brand new specialist directory. It will allow end users to find and compare cleaning providers in their area and will offer effective low-cost advertising for contractors of all types.
Our aim is for it to become the UK's leading online advertsing tool for small to medium sized cleaning compaines by providing end-users with specialist information not available elsewhere.
We're working with a number of third parties to offer unique facilities such as insurance verification and trade membership details and we have a comprehensive marketing plan that will guarantee a high volume of users.
What we would like before we launch is some general feedback on your experiences of other online directories you may have tried.
- What has worked and what hasn't?
- As an advertiser, what features would you like to see?
- What features do you think your potential customers would like to see?
- How much do you spend on online advertising?
- What proportion of your business do you get from online advertising?
If you have any questions or suggestions please post them here.
Regards
Mike Boxall
-
Mike, I don't doubt you have done your homework and that you have a comprehensive marketing plan in place but these things are historically very difficult to get off the ground and tempt end users away from the likes of Yell.com and Google. I'm also not sure that the end user is educated enough to realise the obvious benefits of a site like this but then perhaps that is all factored in to your plans.
I've have worked for a few of these Co's before becoming a C.C. and my 2p worth would be to keep it very simple for the end user to use. Focus on the marketing, that's where the hurdles will be.
All that said, I will support it, advertise on it and promote it myself as the principle of these types of sites are great it's just getting the message home to enough of the Gen public that's difficult.
Pete
-
Thanks Pete
The pricing will be such that people can try it at very little cost and we'll have a number of affiliates promoting it. Yell, and all the others, are very generic and don't allow the end user to compare specislist services which will be one of the key differences.
As soon as you are able to subscribe I will send you a link.
Regards
Mike
-
I'd say:
1. Keep the pricing low until people can verify that it works.
2. Ask for a backlink to the site from members as a way of boosting the directory's pagerank. If the directory gets more visitors them members will get more business. It's a two way thing.
3. Don't make it a "closed shop" where it's compulsory to be a member of such-n-such association. Not everyone is a member and not everyone can afford it, especially when setting up a business. There are some very professional CCers out there that don't belong to anything. (By all means have a profile where memberships can be listed)
4. Verification of insurance is a must, however..
5. I think it'd be a good idea to have a set of standard "rules" that all directory members will abide by. (Boosts the custy's confidence)
6. Consider getting some van stickers made to sell to members to help pay for the scheme. "Were listed in the professional XYZ directory" sort of thing. (Yellow pages did/does something similar)
7. Perhaps run special offers on the site that all members will honour? "Mention this directory and get 10% off" or whatever, which will encourage custys to recommend the directory to others.
-
In direct answer to your questions:
"What has worked and what hasn't?"
With respect to online advertising, very little. But then again it's early days. Have had a limited response from Adwords.
"As an advertiser, what features would you like to see?"
A listing of the services I offer. A link to my website. Perhaps even a link to email me. I'd like to be able to update my listing as-and-when to provide details of special offers etc.
"What features do you think your potential customers would like to see?"
Details of geographic location covered and services offered. Perhaps a coverage map would be a good idea.
"How much do you spend on online advertising?"
As little as I can get away with. Once I see that I'm getting a return from my current investment I will increase my budget!
"What proportion of your business do you get from online advertising?"
1% ish.
-
hi mike
good for you count me in
welldone calmore i agree with you
special offers and geograhic area and services offered is a must i would think
bring it on
i believe that a backlink can be only good news for all concerned
respect
simon
-
There's several really good online directories that are free if you link them to your website and there's loads of other directories around if you take the time to look for them.
So if there's a subscription involved it would have to have some unique features, that some of the others don't have?
Any idea on price?
-
Hi Guys
Thanks very much for your input, it really is appreciated. A lot of what has been mentioned is already included but there's a couple more ideas there to consider.
Keep 'em coming!
Regards
Mike
-
I agree with the insurance verification (treatment works) and also the why we should not necessarily be attached to an org ie. ncca
You could however give a lesson in the step by step methods that a good CC should be doing ie Vac (perhaps even agitation prior to this), Pre-treat, agitation, dwell time, rinse/extract and re-allign (not including specialist requirements of course).
This might be a good marketing tool. How it should be done and checking that your CC does this within their price.
Pete
-
There's several really good online directories that are free if you link them to your website and there's loads of other directories around if you take the time to look for them.
So if there's a subscription involved it would have to have some unique features, that some of the others don't have?
Any idea on price?
Not sure of price yet but it will certainly be competitive. Payment will be made monthly and can be cancelled with just a months notice. What will make it succesful or not will really be down to the number of searches it gets so we'll be working hard to promote it both online and offline.
We're working with 2 key insurance companies in the window cleaning sector and we're hoping to do the same for carpet cleaning too to be able to validate insurance as members enter their details.
I accept the argument that says not all good carpet cleaners belong to a trade association and not all bad ones don't BUT we will be recommending users to give them preference. Whilst there are always exceptions generally the better ones are members.
Bring it on ;)
Mike
-
How many people will this directory be circulated to?
-
Atisham,
It's an online directory so unless the boys are planning on giving away free PC's the answer is no-one.
Pete
-
...there will be lots of offline activity as well as online marketing but we do not plan to launch a printed directory.
People are using directories less and less and, while Yellow Pages pages would like you to believe otherwise, they do not generate the returns they used to. Yellow pages is useful to find the number of a company you already know about but there are now much more effective forms of quantifiable advertising to consider. Our directory will be one of them.
Regards
Mike
-
Can you prove that Yellow Pages is being used less and less? You seem v sure...is this your personal opinion?
When you say that the Yellow Pages does not provide a return on investment, what evidence do you have to support this?
I would compare your offering to Yell.com rather than Yellow Pages, this could be misleading. to others.
-
Can you prove that Yellow Pages is being used less and less? You seem v sure...is this your personal opinion?
When you say that the Yellow Pages does not provide a return on investment, what evidence do you have to support this?
I would compare your offering to Yell.com rather than Yellow Pages, this could be misleading. to others.
Hi
To answer your question, no I'm not speculating, I'm fortunate enough to have access to certain Yellow Pages performance figures but you are quite right in that there is a significant difference between Yell.com and Yellow Pages and there are certainly good arguments for both.
I don't want to get you into trouble here but I would suggest you check your organisations policy with regard to posting on forums like this.
Regards
Mike
-
Mike
If this guy's ASM (area sales manager) and more importantly the Yell (super power) legal team saw his thread they would have kittens. As an ex rep myself I would guess that the CandUp cln section is worth around £3-4m per year in the directory country wide.
Yell's products are not the monopoly they once were and despite the constant brainwashing it's reps are subject to by their employers the people that matter really do know. Would'nt even reply to the posts any more if I were you. Concentrate on getting this new site working and makin me some money.
Pete
-
Hi
We're getting there! Thought you might like to see some screenshots. We plan to launch the live site very soon and have had some really positive feedback so far.
The elements that users will be able to compare companies by will initially include:
Distance, date established, number of employees, services offered, payment types taken, free quote availability, moneyback guarantee, reference availability, insurance details, trade memberships, minimum call-out charge, days per week service
Categories will initially include:
Carpet Cleaning, Carpet Protection, Upholstery Cleaning, Upholstery Protection, Curtain Cleaning, Hardfloor Cleaning, Hardfloor Restoration, Window Cleaning Traditional, Window Cleaning Pure Water
Window Cleaning Abseil, Leather Cleaning, Leather Restoration, Office Cleaning, Domestic Cleaning, Car Valeting, Oven Cleaning, Drain Cleaning, Fire Restoration, Flood Restoration, Trauma Cleaning, Computer Cleaning, Builders Cleaning.
It will cost £15 per month or £150 per year to advertise in up to 6 categories and we have a significant amount of end-user advertising planned and, indeed, already booked. There will be an option to add your business for free but you will not be able to list the details above. It'll be easy for people to use and I'm sure you'll find it to be the most effective way to pick up targeted new business!
Trade association memberships will be validated on sign up. The initial options we hope to list will include the NCCA, APWC, FWC and BICSc but if you have other suggestions please let me know.
Please keep your feedback coming. It really is appreciated!
Many thanks
Mike
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/screenshot1sml.jpg) (http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/screenshot2sml.jpg) (http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/screenshot3sml.jpg)
-
Mike, can you shed any light on the end user advertising or will it hit us like a "Toys R us" campaign at Xmas.
For date established can y ou be flexible as My current firm is 8 weeks old, hardly instilling masses of faith in a Custy.
Pete
-
Mike, can you shed any light on the end user advertising or will it hit us like a "Toys R us" campaign at Xmas.
For date established can y ou be flexible as My current firm is 8 weeks old, hardly instilling masses of faith in a Custy.
Pete
Hi Pete
We'll be doing leaflet drops and inserts in a variety of locations and publications and there are a number of other things in the pipeline.
As far as the date established goes, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure there are people who who would look at it and take the view that someone who has just started is likely to be keener to do business. Not all fields are mandatory and you can pick and choose what information you want to display. There will be the facility to add a brief description anyway so I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Certain customers will want to use a large, well established company whereas others will want a more personal service from a smaller one.
Regards
Mike
-
Hi Mike, freeindex to name one does all that and more for free and as far as being a member of any of the pro organisations goes, Joe public really doesn't care or more to the point has never heard of any of them.
If you were to launch it with free membership for the first year and show members that it was going to get them work or at least enquires then you would have a better chance of success.
Arthur
-
Arthur,
For £15 a month I think it's worth a try anyway. I really don't think it can be bank rolled for this long without any incoming. Would love tem to do it but it's just not realistic
Pete
-
Arthur,
For £15 a month I think it's worth a try anyway. I really don't think it can be bank rolled for this long without any incoming. Would love tem to do it but it's just not realistic
Pete
Hi Pete,
I'm not trying to be negative, only realistic. What would you say in a years time and after paying £150 and you hadn't received one enquiry?
My suggestion about 12 months free membership, would be a drop in the ocean if the directory worked as everyone would be on here singing it's praises. It would then be tried and tested with everyone wanting to sign up
Arthur
-
If you look at other marketers you'll find they don't reall give things away for free, take Alltec they have now started selling their Fast track Discovery days for £35 as to attract people who are wanting to get involved.
Perhaps a 1 off payment for the first 6 months which I am aware that the first few months may be a bit barron for a figure of £35 and those who want to and get work carry on but at the new price.
Everyone has a single start date so everyone pays the same and after 6 months and the price goes up (which it will) then everyone pays the same for that new date.
Shaun
-
guys
with anything related to the Internet you MUST use professionals. people with track records that can be checked out. or your just burning money.
you would not start a franchise without proving it first in two areas. this give confidence, and if then it does not work you must have gone from the path that proved the system in the first place.
respectfully
Ian Harper
-
I think there should be a substantially discounted (Even free) rate for those that sign up quickly. This will encourage more CCers to join the directory.
More cleaners will mean that more people return to the site. More people returning will mean more business and thus more sign ups.
-
Hi Mike, freeindex to name one does all that and more for free and as far as being a member of any of the pro organisations goes, Joe public really doesn't care or more to the point has never heard of any of them
No Freeindex doesn't do all this. To be honest, it is not one that we considered as being competitive. I've just looked for a cleaner in Worcester but Worcester's not even listed. If you search in Birmigham you can't tell what sort of cleaing each company does unless you read the description. You can't compare results and the site is full of Google Ads.
Yes Freeindex is free but you get what you pay for!
There may well be a discount for early advertisers and will keep you informed
Regards
Mike
-
It currently costs me between £5 and £10 to aquire each customer. Based on this, I'd be looking to regularly get at least 4 enquiries resulting in at least two jobs per month from something costing £15 per month.
Will the directory achieve this? How many visitors are you expecting per month? How many advertisers?
-
Arthur,
For £15 a month I think it's worth a try anyway. I really don't think it can be bank rolled for this long without any incoming. Would love tem to do it but it's just not realistic
Pete
Hi Pete,
I'm not trying to be negative, only realistic. What would you say in a years time and after paying £150 and you hadn't received one enquiry?
My suggestion about 12 months free membership, would be a drop in the ocean if the directory worked as everyone would be on here singing it's praises. It would then be tried and tested with everyone wanting to sign up
Arthur
Art`s comments make the most sense to me, with so many directories out there now you not only need to get people to advertise with you but you have to get high in the search engines! Free for a year will get you the support you need from your "catchment" then if you back it up with the high rankings your probably onto a winner. imo!
-
You're absolutely right. Whether it's good value or not depends on how much business is generated from it and that depends on how many people use it. Being the first UK supplier of commercial cleaning equipment to sell securely online in 1998, and having won a number of high profile ecommerce awards over the years, I think you'll find our record speaks for itself.
We attract up to 30,000 unique visitors a month to the Express site and, as you can see for yourself from the stats here, we regularly get over 700 people a day using Cleanitup. I like to think we know a thing or two about getting web traffic.
Wait for the site to go live (about a week) and then make a judgement. If you then want to try it free for a few months you can and if you want to pay for a featured listing for a few months you can do that too.
Regards
Mike
-
Just waiting to see the finished product - no doubt a few sleepless nights for you between now and then.
-
Hi
For those who I've not yet emailed directly, I'm pleased to be able to let you know that the new 'Spick and Span' directory will be launched next Monday the 17th September.
Can I suggest that anyone considering any form of new advertising should wait until they've seen this new site before committing to it. I'm sure you'll be impressed with its functionality and the unique potential to generate new business for you.
There will be a discount for all forum members that sign up within the first 2 weeks.
Please feel free to post any questions you have.
Thanks Mike
-
Any chance of a link?
-
from the other forum but just takes you to i-clean at the mo
www.spickandspan-directory.co.uk
-
Hi
Finally we have the site online at http://www.spickandspan-directory.co.uk/
We're still in the process of adding data to it so some categories are empty at the moment. We're also finishing off some more functionality (each listing will have a google map attached to it, for example)
To see the difference between a Free listing and a Featured listing please search for 'Window Cleaning Traditional' in TR27. Tou can then select the first 2 or 3 results (including David Morris Window Cleaning) and compare the results.
We've done our best to accomodate all the suggestions that have been made over the past couple of months and I hope everyone will give the site a try for at least a few months and then let us have some feedback in terms of the business generated. You will start to see the site advertised heavily both online and offline over the next few months. We're keen to keep developing and improving the site so if you have any more ideas then please let us know.
In terms of pricing , there are 3 options. You can get a FREE listing with your name, address and telephone number or you can pay either £15 + vat per month or £150+ vat per year for a featured listing like the Dave Morris example above.
As an incentive for forum members to sign up quickly, we are offering a 10% discount on these prices for the next 2 weeks only. To qualify for this discount you must use the referrer code 'cleanitup' on the sign-up screen. Once you submit your information, the 10% discount will be applied on the following screen.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know
Regards
Mike
-
Not having a go but I've just done a search for carpet cleaning ne34 6ef and it listed companies from Sunderland there are companies closer to me than that.Upholstery cleaning ne34 6ef 2 companies in Newcastle then lists companies from the rest of the country.
Needs a bit work if I was paying £15 a month+vat.Plus where is it going to be on the search engines sponsored listing or rely on meta tags to get up the search engines?
-
Not having a go but I've just done a search for carpet cleaning ne34 6ef and it listed companies from Sunderland there are companies closer to me than that.Upholstery cleaning ne34 6ef 2 companies in Newcastle then lists companies from the rest of the country.
Needs a bit work if I was paying £15 a month+vat.Plus where is it going to be on the search engines sponsored listing or rely on meta tags to get up the search engines?
Hi Steve
There may well be companies closer to you than the Sunderland ones (which are calculated at 3.05 miles away from NE34 rather rather than, say, listings at NE29 which are calculated to be 3.24 miles away - is that right?) but they are not listed in the directory yet.
If I'm wrong please let me know.
We'll be doing both paid listings and search engine optimisation. The site is database driven but has been developed in such a way that a static site is created with separate keyword based URL's for search engines. eg (http://www.spickandspan-directory.co.uk/details/7925-david-morris-window-cleaning/window-cleaning-traditional/cornwall/)
Regards
Mike
-
Mike don't understand what your getting at? As a customer doing a search for carpet cleaning in ne30 clean is in the area so customer likely to contact them first.But if I were a customer searching South shields ne33 I would be less likely to contact a cleaner in Newcastle.
I can only assume your database is still being updated.It certainly looks the part and I will be keeping an eye on it before committing myself
-
Steve
The database seems to be working perfectly ok for other areas. All the results are located by distance order rather than postcode order so just because you search for someone in NE34 it doesn't necessarily mean that the closest listing will be an NE postcode.
Thanks for pointing it out though, I'll find out if we can have special functionality for our Geordie customers ;)
Regards
Mike
-
Steve
The database seems to be working perfectly ok for other areas. All the results are located by distance order rather than postcode order so just because you search for someone in NE34 it doesn't necessarily mean that the closest listing will be an NE postcode.
Thanks for pointing it out though, I'll find out if we can have special functionality for our Geordie customers ;)
Regards
Mike
Mackems not geordies ;)
-
It's good although there are a few problems if you try and view it in 800x600 resolution.
-
It's good although there are a few problems if you try and view it in 800x600 resolution.
Yes, a couple of people have emailed me about that. Unfortunately, web designers tend to assume more people use larger screen sizes than I think is actually the case. We'll be scaling the template down a bit so it looks better on smalleer screens.
Thanks for taking the trouble to comment
(by the way, you're added now!)
Regards
Mike
-
Like the simplicity.
Dont like the fact full postal address is shown.
Town/city and sub district I am ok with but street name and house number not necessary.
Most of the businesses advertised dont have the need of, nor want callers. Showing full adresses just "advertises" to the bad boys - Ah! a business run from home - lots of gear for us to pinch to feed our drug habit (or whatever), maybe even get a van to drive away with.
Any chance of a rethink??
-
Like the simplicity.
Dont like the fact full postal address is shown.
Town/city and sub district I am ok with but street name and house number not necessary.
Most of the businesses advertised dont have the need of, nor want callers. Showing full adresses just "advertises" to the bad boys - Ah! a business run from home - lots of gear for us to pinch to feed our drug habit (or whatever), maybe even get a van to drive away with.
Any chance of a rethink??
Hi Joe
You're the 3rd person to mention this. Personally speaking, I would be suspicious of a company that didn't show their full address but, as far as the directory is concerned, so long as there is a town and postcode listed then you don't need to put all the details in (what you will have to do is make sure there is a space in the first address field)
Regards
Mike
-
17th September 2007
Hi
Finally we have the site online at http://www.spickandspan-directory.co.uk/
We're still in the process of adding data to it so some categories are empty at the moment. We're also finishing off some more functionality (each listing will have a google map attached to it, for example)
To see the difference between a Free listing and a Featured listing please search for 'Window Cleaning Traditional' in TR27. Tou can then select the first 2 or 3 results (including David Morris Window Cleaning) and compare the results.
We've done our best to accomodate all the suggestions that have been made over the past couple of months and I hope everyone will give the site a try for at least a few months and then let us have some feedback in terms of the business generated. You will start to see the site advertised heavily both online and offline over the next few months. We're keen to keep developing and improving the site so if you have any more ideas then please let us know.
In terms of pricing , there are 3 options. You can get a FREE listing with your name, address and telephone number or you can pay either £15 + vat per month or £150+ vat per year for a featured listing like the Dave Morris example above.
As an incentive for forum members to sign up quickly, we are offering a 10% discount on these prices for the next 2 weeks only. To qualify for this discount you must use the referrer code 'cleanitup' on the sign-up screen. Once you submit your information, the 10% discount will be applied on the following screen.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know
Regards
Mike
************************************
Hi
You may remember a while ago we mentioned about developing a cleaning directory to supplement the forum. At the time, it was said that a number of directories were in the process of being created and / or launched and we decided to wait and see what developed. However, none seem to have got off the ground successfully and we have now decided to continue with the development ourselves.
We are now very close to launching this brand new specialist directory. It will allow end users to find and compare cleaning providers in their area and will offer effective low-cost advertising for contractors of all types.
Our aim is for it to become the UK's leading online advertsing tool for small to medium sized cleaning compaines by providing end-users with specialist information not available elsewhere.
We're working with a number of third parties to offer unique facilities such as insurance verification and trade membership details and we have a comprehensive marketing plan that will guarantee a high volume of users.
What we would like before we launch is some general feedback on your experiences of other online directories you may have tried.
- What has worked and what hasn't?
- As an advertiser, what features would you like to see?
- What features do you think your potential customers would like to see?
- How much do you spend on online advertising?
- What proportion of your business do you get from online advertising?
If you have any questions or suggestions please post them here.
Regards
Mike Boxall
Mike,
the directory does'nt appear to have any status on google (i have searched). What exactly is driving usage?
Pete
-
Mike,
the directory does'nt appear to have any status on google (i have searched). What exactly is driving usage?
Pete
Pete, the site only went live yesterday so Google won't have indexed it yet. It'll start appearing within the sponsored results from today.
Will keep you informed of it's rankings.
Regards
Mike
-
Mike - re my earlier posting about not wanting full address shown.
How do I change my current entry to delete parts of the address.
Also - as I see it - theres not much too differentiate between a paying and free advert.
OK - the paid ones are always at the top (I presume - or are they?) but apart from an extra line or so and a pale blue "more details"l ink theres not much to catch a prospects eye.
For £180 +VAT should there not be more to make it stand out from the free ones....colour - something, anything.... after all the- paid ones are providing the others with a free ride.
-
It's good although there are a few problems if you try and view it in 800x600 resolution.
Yes, a couple of people have emailed me about that. Unfortunately, web designers tend to assume more people use larger screen sizes than I think is actually the case. We'll be scaling the template down a bit so it looks better on smalleer screens.
Thanks for taking the trouble to comment
Some people, especially the older generations, tend to have older PCs.
(by the way, you're added now!)
Thanks! I'll add a back link next time I'm updating my site.
-
Mike - re my earlier posting about not wanting full address shown.
How do I change my current entry to delete parts of the address.
Also - as I see it - theres not much too differentiate between a paying and free advert.
OK - the paid ones are always at the top (I presume - or are they?) but apart from an extra line or so and a pale blue "more details"l ink theres not much to catch a prospects eye.
For £180 +VAT should there not be more to make it stand out from the free ones....colour - something, anything.... after all the- paid ones are providing the others with a free ride.
Hi Joe
You'll see a bigger difference between the free listings and the featured listings when you compare the results. As an example if you search for window cleaning in TR27 and then compare the top 3 listings you'll see the difference. The featured listings will begin to stand out more when we add more features over the next few days.
Regards
Mike
-
It's good although there are a few problems if you try and view it in 800x600 resolution.
Yes, a couple of people have emailed me about that. Unfortunately, web designers tend to assume more people use larger screen sizes than I think is actually the case. We'll be scaling the template down a bit so it looks better on smalleer screens.
Thanks for taking the trouble to comment
Some people, especially the older generations, tend to have older PCs.
(by the way, you're added now!)
Thanks! I'll add a back link next time I'm updating my site.
The site's been designed for 1028 x 768 but we are now looking on how to better optimise it for 800 x 600. We'll keep you updated.
Regards
Mike
-
No sign on google yet Mike
Pete
-
No sign on google yet Mike
Pete
Hi Pete
Google can take days, even weeks, to crawl a site for the first time so it doesn't surprise me that it hasn't been indexed yet. It is already appearing as a sponsored listing and this is attracting users. There are a number of new features and modifications being added to the site at the moment and we've had nearly 200 new advertisers added over the past 48 hours (there are now nearly 6000 listed in total). We wouldn't expect everything to happen instantly which is why we're offering the 10% discount for those that sign up in the first 2 weeks.
Will keep you informed as there are obviously lots of forum members listed.
Regards
Mike
-
OK, but if you are paying your way on google it should be immediate.
Pete
-
Might be an idea to make it free until it's fully optimised
Arthur
-
How's it doing on google I cannot find it?
-
How's it doing on google I cannot find it?
How's it doing anywhere for that matter. Perhaps you can share where the detail on where it is being marketed.
-
Hi Guys
The site is starting to get indexed in the natural listings by Google and we're also doing lots of pay per click advertising focusing on geographical areas where we already have paid listings.
Google visibility will increase over time as the site gets more use and more links. There's also something called the Google Sandbox which stops new sites getting fully indexed immediately. You also have to understand that the site has been developed with the end-user in mind not Google and the 10% discount we're offering (simply type in cleanitup as the referrer code) is there to reflect this.
I can tell you the system had over 2000 search queries in the first week and, ironically, I've seen it listed in lots of 'competitors' directories which themselves are full of Google ads. It is being used and it is generating business!
There's lots more going on I'd rather keep under my hat for now as I've already heard of other other 'new' directories people are planning to launch (but I guess immitation is the sincerest form of flattery!)
It's interesting that there are people who spend thousands on Yellow Pages and other advertising but can't yet make their mind up about trying the directory for a couple of months for the £15+ vat (less the current 10% discount)
Will keep you all updated
Thanks
Mike
-
Mike
Have put my card details in and it asked for a valid from date or issue number. My issue number is a single digit so I doubt I got that wrong but red message appears saying there is a problem. Can we do over phone?
Pete
-
Mike
Have put my card details in and it asked for a valid from date or issue number. My issue number is a single digit so I doubt I got that wrong but red message appears saying there is a problem. Can we do over phone?
Pete
Hi Pete
Yes, sure.
We're currently updating the system and it will be offline for a couple of hours but will call you later.
Regards
Mike
-
Mike
Have put my card details in and it asked for a valid from date or issue number. My issue number is a single digit so I doubt I got that wrong but red message appears saying there is a problem. Can we do over phone?
Pete
Hi Pete
Your listing is online now - will call you tomorrow for details. It seems a few people had a problem last night but we were making changes to the database structure. Other payments seem to be coming through fine now.
Please let me know how it does for you.
Regards
Mike
-
how mnay have linked? i have today
from webpronews.com
What is The Google Sandbox Effect?
Submitted by Jakob Jelling on Thu, 08/26/2004 - 14:07.
Comment Comment | Email Email | Print Print
In the age of fair competition you may find it hard to believe that a search engine may hinder the appearance of a new website.
This is what is currently believed to be happening on more web servers today. Some programmers have viewed Google as uncomfortable to rank newer websites until they have proven their viability to exist for more than a period of "x" months. Thus the term "Sandbox Effect" applies to the idea that all new websites have their ratings placed in a holding tank until such time is deemed appropriate before a ranking can commence.
However the website is not hindered as much as the links that are reciprocated from other users. Newer links that are created are put on a "probationary" status until again they pickup in rank from other matured sites or placed directly by an ad campaign. The idea behind the hindrance is to prevent a fast ranking to occur on a new website. The usual holding period seems to be between 90 and 120 days before a site would start obtaining rank from reciprocal or back linking.
Some advice has been given to have companies you are going to reciprocate back add your link first to the website. This may help grandfather your site in, thus reducing the waiting time associated with "new" websites. People have noticed a 0 page rank when first signing up and receiving a bolstering 7 page ranking after 4 months. Why the delay? The fact is, that if people realized how easy it would be to get a high ranking, would that take away the credibility of the engine. It depends on whom you ask, but it does seem to be happening frequently to newer subscribers. Do not discontinue back linking, your rank will eventually appear.
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websi
-
Ian,
Boy I've got a steep learning curve, not much of what you said makes any sense.
Got to get to grips with this stuff soon. Seems like it's worth the effort though?