Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: ftp on May 07, 2009, 08:50:42 pm
-
Do you think websites are just a fashion thing or do they generate loads of work.
I have one but it's fairly basic and as far as I know has never brought any work in whatsoever. I typed in window cleaner in my area and to be honest no websites connected directly to a window cleaner appear on the first page of google. Makes me wonder if it's all a waste of time.
-
Do you think websites are just a fashion thing or do they generate loads of work.
I have one but it's fairly basic and as far as I know has never brought any work in whatsoever. I typed in window cleaner in my area and to be honest no websites connected directly to a window cleaner appear on the first page of google. Makes me wonder if it's all a waste of time.
do you really need to ask this question?, websites work if done correctly, same as anything ;)
-
Well ok if you spend half your life on a laptop fiddling with it so to speak. I'm not interested in that i'd rather have one built and forget about it but if it can't beat Yell.com, touch local, smile, etc etc then I don't see much point. ???
If I tap in 'window cleaner wiltshire' one pops up at the top only (and it's not the one you built is it Ian?)
-
To put it another way. I know of a window cleaner in this large county who had his site built by you (fine looking site too) so why is it not top of the pile when I type in that county?
Do they need constant updating/fiddling with etc to keep them top of the pile - or what?
-
Search engine optimisation does require constant updating in area's where there is competition over keywords,..
-
Thanks Nat, so you could pay a small fortune for a site that works well for a month only to slip down the listings without constant updating?
-
It really depends on the competition. My own website is rarely updated, but because the other cleaners in my area have rubbish websites or none at all, I'm still ranked quite high in Google.
In an area where there are lots of cleaners with pro websites, the newest website often wins simply because the guy building it copies the competitions search engine optimisation and improves on it.
-
yet all come come below
Local business results for window cleaner near Wiltshire ( by google )
-
Well ok if you spend half your life on a laptop fiddling with it so to speak. I'm not interested in that i'd rather have one built and forget about it but if it can't beat Yell.com, touch local, smile, etc etc then I don't see much point. ???
If I tap in 'window cleaner wiltshire' one pops up at the top only (and it's not the one you built is it Ian?)
that is not the one I did as that is not a town, Divizes and/or Swindon
Type window cleaner devizes
-
county may be too wide a search for a lot of people, we optimise on towns and villages but try to optimise county as well, doesn't seem to work so well - try doing the same with towns in your area and see what results you get? (bigger towns usually have more results)
-
Do you think websites are just a fashion thing or do they generate loads of work.
I have one but it's fairly basic and as far as I know has never brought any work in whatsoever. I typed in window cleaner in my area and to be honest no websites connected directly to a window cleaner appear on the first page of google. Makes me wonder if it's all a waste of time.
I would say it depends on your target audience & ambitions for your business.
If you are hunting commercial contracts then I think having a website would be beneficial. Also, if you have many strings to your bow i.e. you offer numerous services like gutter vac, pressure washing, soffits/facias etc then it may benefit you there.
For a run of the mill window cleaner who's round is mainly domestic then, to be honest I would think you're right in the "fashion" statement.
In your circumstances you could canvass for 30 mins & blow your website's acheivments out of the weeds. Infact, if indeed you are right that the site has generated ZERO accounts then you wouldn't even need to canvass as word of mouth will beat it too!! ;D
So, I think it's down to a few factors. Trust your own instinct, it has got you this far from nothing at all. :-*
-
Type in ...Window Cleaner in Loddon ;)
I have got over £500 per year work from my website, so I would say it's worth it.
Bob
-
So that's six houses on a regular clean around £10 each ??? That's dreadful.
-
Do you think websites are just a fashion thing or do they generate loads of work.
I have one but it's fairly basic and as far as I know has never brought any work in whatsoever. I typed in window cleaner in my area and to be honest no websites connected directly to a window cleaner appear on the first page of google. Makes me wonder if it's all a waste of time.
I would say it depends on your target audience & ambitions for your business.
If you are hunting commercial contracts then I think having a website would be beneficial. Also, if you have many strings to your bow i.e. you offer numerous services like gutter vac, pressure washing, soffits/facias etc then it may benefit you there.
For a run of the mill window cleaner who's round is mainly domestic then, to be honest I would think you're right in the "fashion" statement.
In your circumstances you could canvass for 30 mins & blow your website's acheivments out of the weeds. Infact, if indeed you are right that the site has generated ZERO accounts then you wouldn't even need to canvass as word of mouth will beat it too!! ;D
So, I think it's down to a few factors. Trust your own instinct, it has got you this far from nothing at all. :-*
Wise words there Tony and I think I would agree with you. The thing is if you don't control your own site how can you tell who's tapping in to it or how many are viewing it? Most websites i've seen are much the same even producing the same pictures and the same rain guarantees. I don't think any of my customers give two hoots wether I have a site or not.
I just have this sneaking suspicion that most are following the herd and keeping up with the Jones's and feel left out without one. Who knows.
-
Dreadfull :o
Website cost peanuts and I got over £500 work from it ::)
, sitting on my arse
And they aint £10 houses either :-*
I think maybe you have the dreadfull one bud, if you haver never got any work from it :P
Bob
-
IMO marketing for our business is not black or white. There are many factors which could determine your personal sucsess.
My best marketing tool to date was getting to know the owners & staff of a well known & used shop/post office/coffee room, which is quite rural compared to most & is a very busy community hub. I clean all their own windows & the shop's. Originally, they sacked the previous w/c because he was a bit arrogant & he didn't detail. Anyone who enquires about a w/c'er is always given my number along with a good recomendation. I have to say I have had some superb accounts from this- a hotel (one of my best accounts to date), many local accounts & some very large country estates one of which I quote for next week & is bigger than any of the hotels I clean. It's like a mini buckingham palace! I get good work on a regular basis from this source for nothing more than being pleasant, having a laugh with them & doing a good job. 8)
At this moment in time I don't require a website, I've work coming out of my ears BUT it's always an option for the future if or when things may change. ;)
-
The thing is if you don't control your own site how can you tell who's tapping in to it or how many are viewing it?
use www.tracemyip.org. Its a website tracker.
Put the little icon on your site, for free. It shows you how people found your website, what keywords they used, where they come from, how many pages they looked at and how long they stayed on your site.
With this information you can optimise your site much better.
If you have a look at my site, its the thing in the top left corner.
-
Just had a look thanks. :)
-
Dreadfull :o
Website cost peanuts and I got over £500 work from it ::)
, sitting on my arse
And they aint £10 houses either :-*
I think maybe you have the dreadfull one bud, if you haver never got any work from it :P
Bob
I don't mean your website is dreadful. I mean the amount of work from it is pretty poor - if they are more than £10 jobs then thats less than half a dozen regular cleans which is pretty minimal. Yes I know my site is poor as I don't think i've gained any work from it which is the point of my original post.
To get a better site I would need to pay someone to build it and optimise it etc. For the sake of four or five jobs then I'm not bothered with having one. See?
Now i can put free listings with all the top business sites who always sit on the top of the pile and not bother with my own site.
-
ftp
Thanks for clearing that one up.
When I said £500 of work, I didn't mean Yearly.....I meant monthly. :)
Bob
-
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.
-
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?
-
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! :)
-
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. ;D
-
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 :D
-
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 :D
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.
-
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! ;D
-
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 :D
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 :)
-
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! ;D
I might give you a second chance then. ;D ;D