Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Susan Dean (1stclean) on November 27, 2008, 06:35:34 pm
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so lets cut though this key borad poop please and tell me is it worth getting a site done ??? what kind of figgers do you get from your site ???
and do i realy need one ??? as much info as poss please as its quict new to me this inter net stuff
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What i get from my sites is ALL MY NEW WORK as i do not advertise elsewhere ;D
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mmmm so it works for you chris but why do you have a few sites
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It's different in Chris's part of the world southern softies tend to lose the feeling in their arms and hands and have to press buttons on a key board rother than open books. But seriously I can remember emailing Chris about websites 5 years ago asking about it, back then he was getting 2 a month :o I thought little of it then but now it is a definate, pay once for a site and SEO and then host your site for litterally pennies a week for ever.
Shaun
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I think Chris is quite pro active with his site and is reaping the rewards by blogging and article writing on Squitter and suchlike. ;D
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im in the south and top of google but dont get many jobs from it . keep putting out the flyers that works for me :)
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Hi Guys
Susan, like Chris I get all my new work from the internet, today for example 4 jobs and about 4 other enquiries.
I have lots of sites, most targetting different areas, key words, services etc.
Cheers
Doug
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Hello Susan,
I'm just setting up a web site through BT, it's £5 a month. I must say that I am having difficulties with their "Simple" drag and drop build your own web site! I am starting to get the hang of it though!
I know it isn't the cheapest but when I've finally cracked it.... in about 3 years from now.... it'll surely be worth it! You can go back and change things, add pictures and all that sort of thing any time you like too!
Good luck with it all Susan...
Colin
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Added sites target specific search criteria ........... no harm in having 3 sites come up on first page of a search ;)
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Susan - as Shaun said it really is an inexpensive and effective form of marketing.
One off fee to build and SEO it and a small annual hosting fee.
Apart from a full page A5 advert in a local magazine, like Chris and Doug all my new work comes via my site from one source or another.
Look upon it as a long term investment.
Steve
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You must have a web site People don't bother looking the phone books anymore. The 1st place they look is on the web. You need to get on the 1st page of google a good web designer who knows the tricks off the trade. Its the best form of advertising.
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Susan
You want to re-read Chris's post.
He gets all his new customers from his websites because he doesn't advertise anywhere else. Does that mean it's the best way to go?
In the same way, I get all my new customers from referrals because I don't advertise at all.
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I think the above poster is going deeper into the subliminal where he is asking for referals or at least hinting to his customers that he wants referal only but it does take powers of persuasion and probably not for anyone employing technicians.
Shaun
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I think any company in the sevice industry needs a web site if only as a shop window to show what services they have on offer. if it brings in more business then that's a bonus
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if I went into the chit-chat section of this forum and asked 'why do people think of pomegranate juice?'
more than likely I would get 1 or 2 people who would tell me that its the greatest, most underestimated drink in the world.
from this response I could believe that it is...... 'the greatest, most underestimated drink in the world'. but what about all the people who don't rate pomegranate juice so don't give a response?
do you see the similarity with the internet?
ask how good is the internet ? and usually you get Spencer, Chris & Doug saying they get all their work from it and it's brilliant, and for them it is but they are only a small percent of this forum.
what you have got to remember is all the other people who do it and find it not as effective. these people often won't comment so we get a distorted view of the internet.
this is true of most topics on his forum, if anyone ask about leaflets I will tell them they are brilliant and bring all my new customers but this doesn't mean it will be the same for you, everyone and every area is different
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Dave's right, I think it depends on what information you put on it to what you get out of it, a straight forward I clean carpets here is my number may bring in calls but not leads, where as an information site may not bring in the same amount of calls but ready buyers for YOUR kind of service like Chris with his Eco site which probably gets rid of some price shoppers.
Keep it to quick sentences but not bullets, long paragraphs bore me so I'm sure they will bore customers but you have to get the message across professionally.
Shaun
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Those who only use the web. What happens when it goes down? ???
And it will at some point. ;)
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I think a mix of advertising is a good insurance policy, isn't t time to go all American and say that the best advertising is to do teh very best job ;D
Shaun
Mike what happens when the telephone lines go down?
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Again a good debate, When I was opperating in Wolverhampton Leaflets didn't work for me there but down south here in Berks Brilliant each time I have gone out and posted a hand full the phone has rung with good leads.
On the jobs I have managed to do so far I have asked each person do they use the internet to source suppliers and the answer has always been yes!
When I asked them why they didn't sourse a carpet cleaner via the net the answer came back " I prefer to use local trades man and you are the nearest".
I then asked if my website was up and running would you have called me, again the answer was yes because your local. As Shaun say's its like the cleaning pie you need a little bit of every marketing arm to move forward. You could say backing every horse in the race that way you win, not a lot but you do win.
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Shaun, I would attached a megaphone to the van and read out my leaflets.
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Nice one Mike I like a forward thinker ( No flies on this man)
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When i say NEW i do mean, unknown to me or my customers because referrals would not count as internet sourced jobs!!
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;D
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Same as Chris, most of our new work comes from t'internet.
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Hi Guys
It is important to get a good balance and this topic has.
The Internet is not the only viable form of marketing, leaflets and YP still have their place but I believe it is an ever closing window of opportunity which far sighted people will enter and others will repent at will.
Cheers
Doug
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so it works for people down the south what about up in the north say from nottingham up wards ???? its seems that you can get top end prices easyer down south then here in the north and thats being very genral so please lets keep this about the inter net
i have been looking at a lot of peoples sites and i think they do look very good but as im no good with sites and spelling i would have to get a company to do the lot
what im trying to do is see if the cost is worth all the hassle and i havnt a clue what the cost will be yet
this is why im look for a insiders view befoure i start phoneing round looking for quotes
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Susan ........ most template sites have SpellCheck and you can get a good site going for not a lot of money ;D
I searched Google other day for "eco carpet cleaning" and my £50 diy ecocarpetclean site was a space above strakercleaning on first page ........... that was just me tinkering with SEO and i must have pressed the right button, not pressed hard enough as it changes position from day to day ???.
Had call yesterday from that site and booked £420 job, even though they had other quote that was 'considerably cheaper' ;)Other company had basic 1 page web site with contact details only, he liked the insight mine gave him and i never demeaned other company at all........ just said that as long as he could be sure they were trained and insured, then he should be okay. Maybe mention of my high security clearance and green credentials did help a bit ..........he is in Putney which is in Borough of Wandsworth ::) Just saying that web presence gives people a taste of what service they can get from you and i have got many jobs because people did not want to phone and enquire, in case they were talked into something!!!
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Susan
Have a look at my site :)
Am in stockport cheshire and i think on here there it seems to be the guys down south doing well from the web,am sure it does seem to be spreading to the north as i do get some work from my site :)
I have found that i am geting much more work from the web than i did from y pages.
The web now is my only advertising source as most of my work is from recomondations and a few leaflets and a link to yell.com from my site:)
It did not cost a lot to do my site.
Cheers clinton
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Hi Susan
We've had our website for about 3 months now and starting to get enquiries through it. I was like you I do know a bit I can design a basic flyer but creating your own website is tricking if you don't really know what your doing. I wanted a nice looking website and not to look like I've done it myself. I think ours cost £300 + we will pay £100 once a year after we;ve had it a year for updates and any changes I want to make. I think having a website is a good thing as you can put the address on your flyers, invoices etc and I think it does help if people can refer to a website to see what you do.
Barbara
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Quick add on to these comments ............ being up North should not really make a difference as i find that website with good quality message and design will attract good quality customers with similar homes ............ bargain hunters tend to go for basic or 'less expensive' looking sites ............. some products like Stella are marketed as "reassuringly expensive" :o
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Barbara
Your right on that about you can put your site on your leaflets and cards and looks more professional :)
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Many ingredients create a site that works, ease of use, content, qualifications, trade memberships, comments from customers, site appearance and more.
A cheap looking site usually generates cheap customers. It is glaringly obvious when a site is thrown together, usually no flash, submit forms etc. I think its well worth the time and money to get 'proper'
representation on the internet.
Regards
S