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web sites. Are they worthwhile?

Crystalalan

Well-known member
Messages
760
Location
Christchurch, Dorset
What with covid 19, I have a bit more time on my hands. Was thinking about getting myself a website. Have been on checkatrade for 2 years. Its been fairly pricey but in my opinion has been worth it for setting my self up. Have decided not to renew my membership. Do you reckon I would be better going through a professional? or giving it a shot myself? Your opinions will be welcome

 
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We have a web site ,done  by Nathaniel at avenhue I would thoroughly recommend him he’s very good , reasonably priced and always quick to carry out any alterations needed , I find the web site brings in a lot of work and it’s a good source of advertising we are well established and dint use any other form of advertising. 

 
Cheers pjj. Thats really helpful. Excuse me for sounding thick but is there a monthly fee involved with having a website? I know very little on this matter. I have done plenty of leafleting in the past with very little effect and like I said checkatrade was actually really good but pricey.

 
Cheers pjj. Thats really helpful. Excuse me for sounding thick but is there a monthly fee involved with having a website? I know very little on this matter. I have done plenty of leafleting in the past with very little effect and like I said checkatrade was actually really good but pricey.
Lol Ime a technophobe Ime afrade I just pay for seo  services which isn’t much around £10 a year and the original web site costs , I don’t need anymore work but it brings in a lot of enquire I now turn down around 90% of all enquires as we are so busy , only intrested in taking on big commercial or big manor type houses now and that’s what my web site is geared up to attract the only problem I have is people see pictures of the big hotels etc that we do and think if they can do 8 storey hotels they can do my 3 storey town house , Ime no expert in web sites but think they are a very good way attract new customers but it takes a while to get good google rankings unless you spend a lot of money but again take advice from a professional on this . 

 
Website not really, google my business page definitely! Most people don’t look at websites anymore, it’s all all on that google my business list. 

 
Website will depend on your location. It's always a great addition to any business looking to grow, for many reasons inc image 

If you work in a populated area then 100% a website will help you grow. Have checka myself google biz page fb etc but still my website brings in the most work.

Especially for extra jobs like gutters and pressure washing 

 
Yep thought about that to. Maybe that would make a good first step. Is it expensive?
Google My Business is free. @RWCleaning is a little wrong though, you need a website to back up your page. Once you're listed on Google if someone local searches you will come up in the top 3 results. You need to give them a site to click to in order to check you out. Around 70% will call from the top 3 local ones but 30% will click to a site. You may also lose a bit of the trust factor if you have no website where the other 2 do.

Websites are inexpensive in comparison to Checkatrade. You can build one yourself on Wix or Squarespace that will look professional enough. If you've a little extra time on your hands at the moment it's worth a go for sure.

The best way of getting new customers online is still, and always will be, asking customers to recommend you. Picked up 3 this week from several customers recommending me on a local FB page. I live 6 miles from the village in question but still got more recommendations than the local windy because I've asked all my customers to recommend me.

 
@RWCleaning is a little wrong though
Oi this isn’t clean it up! 

Na you have a point. I guess some business need a website more than other business, and some people care more about it than other people. For example, before the lockdown me & a couple of friends were looking for a new fry up cafe to try, I was scrolling through the google business listing, which has ratings & photos. I picked one without looking at the website I was happy. I’m guessing a lot of people would do the same as me, but some people like to go into more depth. 
But as a side note to the original thread, I do also have a website. But I have higher priority on my google business page seo, rather than my website seo but everyone’s different ?

 
Cheers lads. Reckon I will probably do both. Was really busy up until this week but I do carpet cleaning and quite a bit of internal window cleaning which I have had to knock on the head. Plus a few of my custys have cancelled due to this virus hence the quiet spell. Probably will get a professional to do the website as I am not very creative and I`m also ? on computers ha ha!

 
Websites definitely have their benefits for any business and in this day and age is probably something you want to look into. Will it rank right away? No. Will it in time dipends. 

Many see SEO as a website only thing or a one shot deal. SEO is an ongoing marketing stratagey if you like. It depends on many factores like what competition to you have. Do you already have a site or domain name? What reputation does that have etc. Sites are good though as these days if someone wants a services whats the first thing they do? Goolge it! 

 
A result from one of my Google business pages. Now take from this what you wish but for me it means 

1) rather than just call many wanted more info first so thats why most visited the website 

2) this is where a list of all ny services are clearly laid out and so probably upsold some extra stuff too

3) it helps me work out who they are when they visit my site, google analytics linked to site so I can track pages visted main interests demographics etc

Screenshot_20200415-152515_Gmail.jpg

 
If you have time, basic knowledge and plenty of patience you can knock a pretty slick one up.. I used this tutorial video and found it quite good fun once I got into it. Good Luck Nick 




 
A result from one of my Google business pages. Now take from this what you wish but for me it means 

1) rather than just call many wanted more info first so thats why most visited the website 

2) this is where a list of all ny services are clearly laid out and so probably upsold some extra stuff too

3) it helps me work out who they are when they visit my site, google analytics linked to site so I can track pages visted main interests demographics etc

View attachment 20042
Yes I get similar from them sent to me the actual number that contact me always seams considerably higher than the figures that google suggests, no idear why ??? Doesn’t bother me as we dont need any more work , but it’s Intresting to see what people are looking for  

 
Yes I get similar from them sent to me the actual number that contact me always seams considerably higher than the figures that google suggests, no idear why ??? Doesn’t bother me as we dont need any more work , but it’s Intresting to see what people are looking for  
Will be because this is only the figures that clicked from that actual Google page not including those that found you on yell/checka/fb page/number direct from website/ number given to them by neighbour etc 

Also if you have more than one Google page like myself, then you would have to add them all up to even understand how many came from google biz pages in total 

 
Over 70% of my work comes  thro my website .  Hosting costs about 100 quid for 5 years . 

If you dont know about html , css and some php - don't bother just pay somebody to do it for you ,  and more importantly pay for SEO otherwise is pointless having a website at all.

new website can't appear on the 1st page in google overnight- it takes 2 to 4 months and if it takes longer then you hired the wrong guy / company 

 
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I have had a site for around 8 years now and it brings in business, all new custys have to sign up to GoCardless so the payments page on my site does the job nicely, I come out top on Google and also Facebook searches as I have had my fb page for almost 5 years, 

You need to pay to have a domain name/web addy which is usually £10 a year I pay hosting fees to https://www.tsohost.com of £4.58 a month @Gav builds websites pretty sure he has an offer on at the moment of £130 for a basic site I have seen his site builds and they are worth more than that and even £300 for a custom website https://thrivewp.com/wordpress-website-design/

 
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