Guest Raymate Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 how many of you out there have a web site? is it worth having one? who did you use? can you recomend them or anyone else? i have one through yell.com but it is very limited and would like to expand any help would be gratefully recieved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 I have a web site, and I treat it like an electronic business card really. you can see my efforts at http://www.cobb-lees.com you can also help support the forum by letting ME make you a basic page & host it for you. You can find out more from the home page click the web hosting link Its fairly easy to start your own site though and many connections offer free hosting and there is plenty of programs out there for making sites. Despite our blatant advertising rule this is! but its all to support the costs of THIS site, so I don't feel guilty! Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 many of our members have sites (wholesalers included) as members join and add their web site address' I add a link again on the home page under Members sites (Here) So have a look at a few to see what's out there! Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercoulson Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 hi ray mate how's it going? we find that although there is little business through the website it is great as a shop window as lee suggests. in your case you may have to spend a few quid (take that tablet now) but it should work for you just get a reliable person to make and maintain it unless you plan to do this yourself, may seem difficult but quite easy when you get the hang of it. remember KISS (NO not that) Keep It Short & Simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Raymate Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 hi peter im good mate, you? your right ive got to get a better web site yell.com is ok but very basic and if you type locksmiths on a search engine we do not figure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Having recently put many hours and resources into updating our website, I can honestly say, to benefit in the most beneficial way, you need to assess what you expect to gain from it. Whilst you can create a presence on the web very cheaply, this option may not suit everyone. If it is to be used as a shop window, as Peter says, you may well decide that little resource and therefore money needs to be spent. If indeed you wish to trade online, then that is a different matter altogether. How many times has a customer walked into your shops and said 'I didn't even know you were here' And you've been there for years. I always found that this comment usually came from someone who sat in front of a PC most of their working day ! I'm sure a few of them look on the net as they don't always have time to go wandering around at lunchtime. thats where your websit can work for you We have certainly benefitted from our website update. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Raymate Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Being a mobile locksmith as well as a shoe repairers we need to be reachable to all sorts of people residential and commercial so a web site is probably the best way forward for us because as keith says a lot of people spend all day looking at pc screens so it is something we need to get right to attract people to our business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iain Cheall Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 We are in the process of doing a website, a friend started it with the basics and I am completing it in my spare time. www.ace-engravers.co.uk not sure as to how much use it will be but once i have added the products to it and a shopping cart then i might find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobblers Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 nice site iain. where did you source your pet tags from? they're quite nice some of 'em! cheers, rick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 I find a website is a must. I get plenty of orders worldwide, But don't bother unless you are prepared to spend a fair bit of your time updating and linkbuilding etc. otherwise it may be a waste of time. It also depends weather you are looking for a shop window or a full blown on-line-shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Also, It doesn't matter how flashy your site looks, you could still be wasting your time if the site isn't search "engine friendly" because the only people who will find it are the people you tell. The main objective is to reach customers you wouldn't normally have. To build a quality site that will reach those customers all over the world would cost you a fair bit, £4,000-£10.000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Having recently put many hours and resources into updating our website, I can honestly say, to benefit in the most beneficial way, you need to assess what you expect to gain from it. Whilst you can create a presence on the web very cheaply, this option may not suit everyone. If it is to be used as a shop window, as Peter says, you may well decide that little resource and therefore money needs to be spent. If indeed you wish to trade online, then that is a different matter altogether. How many times has a customer walked into your shops and said 'I didn't even know you were here' And you've been there for years. I always found that this comment usually came from someone who sat in front of a PC most of their working day ! I'm sure a few of them look on the net as they don't always have time to go wandering around at lunchtime. thats where your websit can work for you We have certainly benefitted from our website update. Keith Hi, Just a small point about standard engineerings web site: It is very user friendly and smart site, It only has a pr rating of 2 in google which isn't great. But the point I'm making is , everyone in the trade Knows standard engineering. So to find them in a search engine would not be difficult, They don't really need to try to hard. But if say: www.billie-engraving-services.co.uk (just made that up, hope there isn't one by this domain) who was based in scotland. He would have virtually no chance of anyone finding him outside his community without keyword optimisation. And that is were you can spend some silly money/there are many people out there who claim to do optimisation and charge the earth with no guarantees, but most of them are just spam merchants. Be very carefull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolcobbler Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 lee what do you charge as its something im looking to do for the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted July 1, 2006 Report Share Posted July 1, 2006 Bristol Cobbler, You can find out about it at http://www.shoerepairer.info/hosting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 If I can just mention the following. The fact we only have a pr rating of 2 from Google, it is not a reflection on the content or apperance of our site. It is merely a Google score for our accesability through Google. In addition, whilst the trade in general do know our Company, I believe it is important to inform as much as is possible of the Companies prducts, plans and activities. We have plans afoot that will increase our 'rating' although this is not the sole purpose of the exercise. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 Hi Keith, I hope you don't think I was rubbishing your website. Not at all. I was trying to point out the fact that your customers know who you are (standard engineering) so to find you they would naturally type in "standard Engineering" and you would be there or there abouts. For someone to do a new site based on engraving, they would need to be able to hold good search engine positions for the key words that people would type in to find such a site. And to do that takes a lot of hard work and someone who knows what they are doing. My website has a PR6 rating in google but we still struggle for good positions. Link building and good optimisation is the key. Kind regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Mind you Uk900, whats good for one is not always good for another. if did a search for "shoe repairs" in both yahoo & google today in Yahoo my own site www.cobb-lees.com was at No.1 yes No1. yet in google it was no where to be seen. both systems have had the same site to grawl, yet yield completely different results. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Hi lee, I'd already looked at that, Nice one. My site hasn't got anything to do with shoe repairs, or I'd be No 1 I'm more into Engraving,gifts,signs,and the like. Because I'm an on line shop I didn't want to give the impression I was just an high St shoe repairer. But a specialist Engraver. The competition is a lot fiercer in this field than it is for shoe repairs. Google is a crap search engine really as far as results go. You only have to go a few pages past page 1 and the results are not relavent to the search. I have loads of page one positions for phrases relavant to my site. Just for the record You are No 1 for the phrase "shoe repairs" but only 9 people a day type in that phrase. there isn't any competition for that phrase. "shoe repair" no S, there is 105 people searching for that phrase, so the competition is much fiercer. and you do not figure for that phrase. this is what I meant about optimisation. you need to do your homework before optimising for words that few people type in. Its a waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Indeed, optimisation is the key as you rightly say. Horses for courses though. In addition, I think it's very hard to get good position on a budget! Mind you, if most members read this thread they should find a few pointers and with a little help from a few bods should be able to obtain better websites. Lets hope so anyway Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Yeah, It would be almost imposible to get good positions on a budget. But it is good to let people know these things before they start spending money on websites. You must ask yourself what you expect from it. and plan from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 I concur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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