[andrew stone]

hi guys

i think i need some help to come into this century regarding advertising.
my leaflet drops still work quite well.i still have an ad in the yellowpages and thomson and for me
it still seems to be worth being in- but only just.

i realise i need to get a website and advertise on line but talk of website design,seo,google adwords,pay per click etc etc
sends my head into a spin!

wondering how much of you guys work now comes from the web as opposed to other means of advertising?

how much do you need to spend to get a good site and how much a month running the site and to get a good response to it
?

do customers still phone you for a quote or do the majority just email you?

thanks for any help you can give me .

by the way i am based in essex.

andrew

[Fintan_Coll]

I am in the same situation as yourself Andrew. I have no website .When I began carpet cleaning websites did'nt exist then. I have always been busy and I suppose for that reason never had to rely on one. However I think I will go for one in 2012 but like yourself  have very little idea of what to do.
I suppose just like in our own line of business there are good and bad machines and good and bad cleaners.
I would like to find a good web designer.

[Mike Halliday]

I am in the same situation as yourself Andrew. I have no website .When I began carpet cleaning websites did'nt exist then. I have always been busy and I suppose for that reason never had to rely on one. However I think I will go for one in 2012 but like yourself  have very little idea of what to do.
I suppose just like in our own line of business there are good and bad machines and good and bad cleaners.
I would like to find a good web designer.

but how do you quantify how good a web designer is? most will go on what position & how quickly they get you on the top of google.

but their are only a limited number of places on page 1 and most are taken with companies who have been fighting for the top position for years, to try and compete will take a lot of money spent on SEO or AdWords

but to answer your question either kev loomes or mark from DP design are the ones with the most experience of websites for carpet cleaners

[Fintan_Coll]

Yes, that's what I meant by a good web designer Mike. One that people on the board here have used and found their work to of a high standard.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Don't confuse a good website designer with an SEO expert.

No good having the prettiest site ever built if no-one can find it.

[wynne jones]

Type in 'carpet cleaner yourtown' and see if you get a map come up with all the carpet cleaners on it. If you do then read up on Google Places. Claim your entry and fill it in.

This could be more rewarding than having a website and is FREE to do.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Andrew,  Essex is probably the most highly populated website area for CC's with several people having multiple sites.

Which part of Essex do you cover?

Cheers

Doug

[andrew stone]

hi doug

im based in rainham essex ,about 5 miles from romford.

cheers

andrew

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Andrew

Yes I know Rainham.

Give me a ring next week.

Cheers

Doug

[garry22]

Type in 'carpet cleaner yourtown' and see if you get a map come up with all the carpet cleaners on it. If you do then read up on Google Places. Claim your entry and fill it in.

This could be more rewarding than having a website and is FREE to do.

As Wynne says, this is your fast way into Google.

For "carpet cleaning Rainham", only four companies have even claimed their places page. This means that if you do yours properly, you should go straight onto the first page. That should help whilst you get a site sorted out.

[Bob Robertson]

Andrew

I've got 2 Essex websites both on the fist page of google already if you are interested.

www.carpetcleaningessex.co.uk

www.carpetcleaningessex.com


Bob

[andrew stone]

guys thanks for your comments and help

been researching and think i would be joining a very crowded medium.

as doug says a lot of other companies on the web in essex- i dont really fancy battling to compete with them.

i have a lot of letting agency contacts who provide me with a lot of carpet cleaning work for free.

i think i will stick with this.

thanks a lot

andrew.

[Mike Halliday]

no matter how hard it will be to get a well ranked website you need to do it now as it will only get worse in the future, at some point you will need a website, so you might as well get started now.... the longer you put it off the harder it will get

[Mark Lawrence]

Andrew

Listen to Mike - and I would seriously consider approaching Bob to see how much he wants for the site/s.

Mark

[Robert Watson]

I`d be on the phone to Bob to see what he`s saying.

[wynne jones]

Don't forget there are plenty of other things people search on in your area, it's just the 'C C area' is likely to be the biggest on searches.

[garry22]

been researching and think i would be joining a very crowded medium.

as doug says a lot of other companies on the web in essex- i dont really fancy battling to compete with them.

As always, the only competition is roughly the top ten (plus the Google Places).

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Bob

Do you want to swap one of your Essex sites for my www.glasgowcarpetcleaners.co.uk ?

Cheers

Doug