Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: [GQC] Tim on August 20, 2009, 08:00:49 am
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I'm seriously thinking about making a website, but the thought crossed my mind if it's really necessary.
It's just me who's running the business and I've got no intention to expand my business in that regard, ie. taking staff on.
I could do with another £500 a month, but that's where I will be happy enough with what I earn.
At the other hand, it does look very professional, but what to do with it if I already have reached my sweet spot? Shall I keep the website and only take on bigger customers, optimizing my round?
What do you guys think?
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go for it - end of the day your marketing your business no matter how many employees you take on or dont...
Also if your business isnt growing its going backwards mate so if you do get to £500 extra work still try and build it up
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go for it - end of the day your marketing your business no matter how many employees you take on or dont...
Also if your business isnt growing its going backwards mate so if you do get to £500 extra work still try and build it up
Good point, that makes perfect sense, thanks. :)
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Dont bother web sites are purely for winning business
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What is your sweet spot?
What type of work does a web site get you? I would surmise that it is just as useful to make you look substantial to bigger customers as it is for anything else.
So if you as a one man band (as I am) want a certain profile of customer then think who would be reassured by being able to visit your website.
If I can groom my round to a high monthly turnover off of one man (and his dog) that'd be pretty sweet. Then what? Things have a habit of growing by themselves!
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funny, i am in the exact same position. A one man band who could do witha LOT more business. Im in the process of creating a website, i wouldnt have bothered but for the fact that i have several generous computer whizz friends. (check out milltowncleaning.com lol!!!)
also i just bought my first van, im already finding that its speeding me up, but i have also toyed with the idea of getting it signwritten. Like the website, do you guys find that this will increase business or enquiries?
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A website done properly can be the most cost effective form of advertising available,.. you can get them for free, so its really only your time. I don't see that you can go wrong!
My website brings in a couple of calls a week,.. some are outside my area, some are just fishing for prices,... but there is a steady trickle of new & quality work. Other methods bring in the work faster, but the website is always working in the background.
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funny, i am in the exact same position. A one man band who could do witha LOT more business. Im in the process of creating a website, i wouldnt have bothered but for the fact that i have several generous computer whizz friends. (check out milltowncleaning.com lol!!!)
also i just bought my first van, im already finding that its speeding me up, but i have also toyed with the idea of getting it signwritten. Like the website, do you guys find that this will increase business or enquiries?
defo. get your van sign written, its a one off payment for an advertising board that only appears in the areas you want it in. my van cost about £120 ( tax deductible) and it has brought over 20 customers in 7 months. it might not seem alot but its over £2000 a year in new income.
also a lot of people don't look in the phone book now, they just google (other search engines are available ;D ) if you have a web site set up properly that will generate business. it doesnt have to be all singing like some (Nathanael Jones ::) ), but it won't hurt
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i am still mostly a one man band these days, except when i get really busy.
my website www.gacontracts.co.uk was done by Nat.......it was as cheap as chips.....i get a lot of new work from it....by far the best thing i ever did.
i still have a couple of my own which i built for free on yola......one i can show you for an example is my supply shop ......it was done for no outlay whatsoever except the domain name.....(wfpshop) i cant give you the link on here i am afraid as its against cleanitup rules :'(
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Its ok having a website, but a website needs to be found or it is pointless having a website in the first place.
Most people looking for things on search engines rarely go past the first page of results, most offen only contacting the first 2 or 3 at the top of the first page.
To get to the top of the first page costs money and time.
IMO your time, money and effort would be better used to go out canvassing to get to the point you want to be, unless you are after the big contracts.
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i disagree....i am always at the top or near the top in google rankings......and i have never paid a penny to so called SEO firms.
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It all depends on what competition there is for a specific search term, if you searching for 'window cleaner lands end' i guess there would be not much competition but if you just searched for 'window cleaner' their would be 1000s of competition and thats where you need seo.
It all depends on the search term you want your website at the top of the results and then research your competition.
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i think having a website it's a waiting game.i have one for about a couple of months now,well second one as first one don't use that much now.i had a few quote requests and did 2 jobs worth 80 pounds(one off)not much but still it;'s a start and only cost me £10 for the domain name as has been built by my brother in law.i also registred on all sort of free sites including yell.com which brought me work of £130 and i'm very close to secure a contract of 5k a year just by having a free advert on yell.com my advice is to register on all website that are free and have nothing to lose.
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If i had a website a would also charge local businesses for advertising onthe site i would just need to show them i had a customer base big enough for x amount of hits a month. There are also marketing businesses that give you money for x amount of hits for advertising
You just have to sit there inyour spare time clicking the sites....
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I'm seriously thinking about making a website, but the thought crossed my mind if it's really necessary.
It's just me who's running the business and I've got no intention to expand my business in that regard, ie. taking staff on.
I could do with another £500 a month, but that's where I will be happy enough with what I earn.
At the other hand, it does look very professional, but what to do with it if I already have reached my sweet spot? Shall I keep the website and only take on bigger customers, optimizing my round?
What do you guys think?
i too am a one man band,with a half decent round. lately i ve been thinking my business is a bit stagnant.
so with this in mind i have commissioned a web site and ordered another 2000 leaflets.
i think i have just about a full 4 weekly round but it could do with been at a higher average price per house.
and iam desperate to get into the commercial side of things so have done an introductory letter also.....see how it goes.
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Depends what sort of website you want, you can get a Mr.Site (http://www.mrsite.com/) website and domain name for £35 so why not is the question.
I have my handyman/building maintenance website that cost £0 with microsoft office live.
Here's the site built for £0, not like a professional built one, but does ok - Dillon Projects (http://www.dillonprojects.co.uk) I host the domain with 1&1 for a minimal cost so that I can redirect a proper .co.uk name instead of the long and useless microsoft one.
Microsoft live link (http://www.officelive.com/en-GB/)
Also, moonfruit (http://www.moonfruit.com/) now do free website and domain, but you have moonfruit in the address, for eg.......www.joebloggs.moonfruit.com
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websites wont hone your domestic round. in fact i find it a pain getting calls from people in random areas, but it will every so often , and farily regular if you do it right, drop you a nice big commercial lead, or a decent domestic job, i find its great for finding gutter and conservatory cleans i have about 1 a week, and probably about one commercial every 1- 2 months, its converting them is the problem but still it gives you a chance, and for no footwork other than setting up a site, or paying someone to do it
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websites work,
google window cleaners in stoke on trent
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=window+cleaners+in+stoke+on+trent&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=o&oq=
works for me on the domestic side and looks professional on the commercial side.
Dean
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It all depends on what competition there is for a specific search term, if you searching for 'window cleaner lands end' i guess there would be not much competition but if you just searched for 'window cleaner' their would be 1000s of competition and thats where you need seo.
It all depends on the search term you want your website at the top of the results and then research your competition.
Very good point,... there are very few window cleaners websites that are optimised properly for just this reason. The competition for keywords is very high, so using geographical keywords (Names of towns, villages, area's,.. even postcodes you work in) is essential. Having these keywords in your Meta tags AND page text is essential,.. they're a lot less effective if they're in one place and not the other.
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Is it worth it? yes I think so, but don't spend much on it.
I use mine for promotions and even giving new customers an online pdf of their quote (accessible via secret link)
I pay £12 or so per year and get professional email addresses linked. If I then have a promotion they can email a specific account so that I know if the promotion is working.
I also use my website to weed out price shoppers.
I also use it to post up video quotes for potential customers.
The key is to make it look as good as you can for free and get the most out of it, that will vary depending on how we run our one-man business.
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I like your website Stuart,.. very well put together! :)
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Mine cost £200 , u cannot lose. 2 x £10 pm custys will pay for it.
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I think theyre well worth it.
Mine costs less than £5.00 a month, I havent got any professional SEO company working on it, its all my work, from creating to uploading.
Its up there in the top half of the page on all relevant search terms.
Def worth it if you want to try to consolidate your round or improve the quality of work.
Ive been running my site for about a year now and would imagine of the top of my head that Ive got 3-4K of work from it.
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What is your sweet spot?
What type of work does a web site get you? I would surmise that it is just as useful to make you look substantial to bigger customers as it is for anything else.
So if you as a one man band (as I am) want a certain profile of customer then think who would be reassured by being able to visit your website.
If I can groom my round to a high monthly turnover off of one man (and his dog) that'd be pretty sweet. Then what? Things have a habit of growing by themselves!
I think your post sumises succinctly the advantages of a website, and I am creating one too for exactly the reasons you mention.
And it should be a dot com too! IMHO
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Id go for .co.uk
For very good SEO reasons
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Id go for .co.uk
For very good SEO reasons
I totally disagree, dot com gives an impression of status, IMO.
SEO?
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Id go for .co.uk
For very good SEO reasons
I totally disagree, dot com gives an impression of status, IMO.
SEO?
.com will be very hard to get on the first page when someone searching for a local service is specifying a location.
I have 2 sites, one .co.uk the other .com. Guess which one doesnt appear on the first page when someone searches in the UK and specifies a location.
If you dont know what SEO is I suggest you do some research.
Heres a start to help you along
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=seo&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB278GB278
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Thank you very much for all your answers people, I will try and get something up in the near future, and get my van signwritten. :)
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I would have thought you would have a really poor site if your search includes window cleaning and your home town and you ARE NOT on page one.
I have done that without any help.
Try "window cleaner Bakewell" or "window cleaner Darley Dale" or even "window Cleaner Derbyshire" or add Baslow, Sheldon, Youlgreave, Hathersage.
Page one without SEO training.
PS Page 1 with Free Window Cleaning as well
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Id go for .co.uk
For very good SEO reasons
I totally disagree, dot com gives an impression of status, IMO.
SEO?
.com will be very hard to get on the first page when someone searching for a local service is specifying a location.
I have 2 sites, one .co.uk the other .com. Guess which one doesnt appear on the first page when someone searches in the UK and specifies a location.
If you dont know what SEO is I suggest you do some research.
Heres a start to help you along
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=seo&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB278GB278
.com is american
.co.uk is british
so for locality reasons your better of going .co.uk for SEO reasons, and ensure your website hosts, host your website on a uk ip address.
If your a national, multi national or international company then you go .com
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I would have thought you would have a really poor site if your search includes window cleaning and your home town and you ARE NOT on page one.
I have done that without any help.
Try "window cleaner Bakewell" or "window cleaner Darley Dale" or even "window Cleaner Derbyshire" or add Baslow, Sheldon, Youlgreave, Hathersage.
Page one without SEO training.
PS Page 1 with Free Window Cleaning as well
Not necessarily, you have to remember that there are only so many slots on every google page. The way to get to number one isnt to have the best site, its have a site better than the competition, which doesnt necessarily mean its a good site; just better than the others.
As for 'window cleaner derby' in google, you're nowhere when I do that, youve either got a really poor site ;) or theres a very good reason ;) (Here's a clue....its all about location mate ;) )
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I have one and it is a good reference point for people so they know what we do.
Also if you have a website you can claim back all your broadband and computing costs... ;)
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I have one and it is a good reference point for people so they know what we do.
Also if you have a website you can claim back all your broadband and computing costs... ;)
Exactly! ;)
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Id go for .co.uk
.com will be very hard to get on the first page when someone searching for a local service is specifying a location.
I have 2 sites, one .co.uk the other .com. Guess which one doesnt appear on the first page when someone searches in the UK and specifies a location.
If you dont know what SEO is I suggest you do some research.
Thanks, am very aware how optimization works, just not familiar with the acronym.
I still say the dot com gives status, and I have a friend that is very skilled in SEO, and he says there is a way.
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I would have thought you would have a really poor site if your search includes window cleaning and your home town and you ARE NOT on page one.
I have done that without any help.
Try "window cleaner Bakewell" or "window cleaner Darley Dale" or even "window Cleaner Derbyshire" or add Baslow, Sheldon, Youlgreave, Hathersage.
Page one without SEO training.
PS Page 1 with Free Window Cleaning as well
Not necessarily, you have to remember that there are only so many slots on every google page. The way to get to number one isnt to have the best site, its have a site better than the competition, which doesnt necessarily mean its a good site; just better than the others.
As for 'window cleaner Derby' in google, you're nowhere when I do that, youve either got a really poor site ;) or theres a very good reason ;) (Here's a clue....its all about location mate ;) )
If you notice I didn't say Derby, I gave a list of villages and Derbyshire. Try again with the suggestions I made. Derby is no where near my area. It's all about location mate ::)
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Derby ~ Derbyshire...Google isnt stupid.
It knows where you are when you search and it knows that Derby is Derbyshire. The difference in the wording of a location makes very little difference so far as Google is concerned.
BTW You're nowhere with Derbyshire either, which you did say. Still never mind. Like I said, its about location.
Or maybe its because of what you said it would be because of in an earlier post ;)
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I hate to argue but You will find me on this page.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0h&oq=window+cleaning+der&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBS_enGB264GB264&q=window+cleaning+derbyshire
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Im really glad you posted that.
You see it allows me to illustrate something to you. As Ive been saying, its all about LOCATION!!
Not the location where you conduct your business. Essentially thats got nothing to do with what appears on the front page.
To be successful with google you need to think outside the box. You need to think as if you are a punter.
What Im saying is that what appears on the front page when a location is specified, in this case Derbyshire, is something that is RELEVANT IN LOCATION TO THE PERSON WHO HAS CARRIED OUT THE SEARCH!
MY point is I AM NOWHERE NEAR DERBY, thus this is what I see............its not the same as what you see.
(http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2009Q3/DERBY.jpg)
You arent on that.
Which has been my point all along, think outside the box mate, then your halfway there with Google.
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Fair enough but I DONT WANT people from Hants phoning me up for window cleaning. I want them to be from the area I clean in and if someone from Bakewell or North Derbyshire Google's then they will as you say get to see me on page one.
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I have one and it is a good reference point for people so they know what we do.
Also if you have a website you can claim back all your broadband and computing costs... ;)
Even if you only use your broadband or computer less then 5% for business? (like most of us would do once the site is up and running)
I like the idea, but is that really okay to do?
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.com is american
.co.uk is british
so for locality reasons your better of going .co.uk for SEO reasons, and ensure your website hosts, host your website on a uk ip address.
If your a national, multi national or international company then you go .com
That one is a double edged sword. For Google rankings .co.uk is better,.. BUT,.. someone typing a web address from memory will nearly always type .com first,...
Best to have both URL's if possible.
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I have one and it is a good reference point for people so they know what we do.
Also if you have a website you can claim back all your broadband and computing costs... ;)
Even if you only use your broadband or computer less then 5% for business? (like most of us would do once the site is up and running)
I like the idea, but is that really okay to do?
Anyone?
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I have gotten more work from my website than any other form of advertising other than customer referrals. I do my own SEO and I am always on the first page of Google when someone googles window cleaning in my target cities.
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sesamie street you have left me more confused ,are you just trying to tell us you are smart or does this have some truth to it.