[wpclean]

What are the golden rules when having a website designed ?

Good seo is one I know, but what other pointers would you recommend to get the best response ?

Thank you 

[Wc Solutions]

like most things - simple is best

[ascjim]

simple is best

Total agree from a web designer

[S.A.J]

Agree also with simple

Had a customer phone up the other day for a quote blah blah blah, i asked her where she got our number from ans she said my website.

Asked her her thoughts on it and she said very professional looking and very simple too use, only problem was she was reluctant to phone us as she thought we were as massive company and 1, would not be interested in a little domestic job and 2, we would be really expensive.

So just keep it simple with some good pics  

www.sajwindowcleaners.co.uk

Stuart

P.S i did the website myself 

[Mark Farrimond]

Make sure your phone number is easy to find.  Dont hide it away on your contact us page, stick it on all pages, at the top if you can.  As you are offering a personal service, a photo of you may help to make you more approachable.

[SteX13]

lol exactly what I was going to say.

Contact details at the top as most people don't really read all the text and view every page so its makes it more convenient for them.

Good SEO is the key or the rest would be irrelevant, right?

Don't have it too simple, the design needs to be professional. Many people would not phone a company if they weren't happy with their image and its all about making a good first impression.

Have good pictures, not bad quality ones and keep it tidy.

Have it colour co-ordinated and make sure you spell check everything and have capital letters, commas and full stops. Paragraphs for sure as people don't like reading big blocks of text.

Need anymore advice just ask.

SteX 

[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

do you have to pay someone to seo, or can you do it yourself?

any tips for diy?

[Ambient Services]

Do it yourself. Type in a search engine what you think your customers would be typing to find you. Look at the results and see what those sites are doing (meta tag, etc)

[amayze]

Nice website S.A.J, just a shame that your H&S page, suggests that home-owners are responsible for any one falling off a ladder on their property.

I can only guess, that all your customers don't have roofs, tv aerials, sky or alarm systems !

[AuRavelling79]

Spel proply. Propr grandma. Tel troof.

[idealrob]

I dont think it suggest home owners are responsible, but it is true buisness building owners are, for full control & managing the WAHR also.

idealrob

[richard jagger]

What the ff is WAHS  Rob.

[richard jagger]

The biggest mistake I SEE SO OFTEN IS A WEB  WANTING DOMESTIC WORK AND ON THE HOME PAGE IS THIS PIC OF A BIG GLASS 10 STORY BUILDING AND PICS OF VERY FANCY COUNTRY HOMES AS IF ALL THEY SERVICE THIS TYPE OF BUILDINGS.
trY TO THINK OF YOUR TARGET MARKET IS. IF YOU IMPRESSED ALL OUR MATES ON HERE I AM SURE YOUR CUSTIES WILL NOT BE IMPRESSED.

[idealrob]

WAHR is the Work at height Regulation, it law since 2005 I think, all people have to abide by it, probably 1% do. Its a law to save shattered lives

idealrob

[Tom Kelly]

Do it yourself. Type in a search engine what you think your customers would be typing to find you. Look at the results and see what those sites are doing (meta tag, etc)

Expanding on this slight, what you can do is get Google Analytics set up on your website (easily) allowing you to track what people are searching for to get to your site. This means you can optimise for these specific key phrases.

[wpclean]

Do it yourself. Type in a search engine what you think your customers would be typing to find you. Look at the results and see what those sites are doing (meta tag, etc)

Expanding on this slight, what you can do is get Google Analytics set up on your website (easily) allowing you to track what people are searching for to get to your site. This means you can optimise for these specific key phrases.

I have tried this but found it to be quite complicated    How did you did it ?

[gordonswindows]

Good websites talk about what the client will get and not just all about you

Although not always easy to avoid, the word "we" should not be used. People know what window cleaning is what they actually want is to know what they will get service wise from you

This is an old example but it may help.

A man went to the diy store because he thought he wanted a drill when in actual fact what he really wanted was a hole. The drill was the tool to achieve what he wanted, so write your website about what the client will get ie clean windows and not all about you "the drill"

Gordon

[Nathanael Jones]

Brilliant point Gordon.

The words "You" and "Your" should feature heavily in your text as you explain what the customer will receive & how your service will improve their lives.

Also, a photo of yourself on the homepage and a personal guarantee that the customer will be satisfied 100% will increase the number of calls you get from the website.