do websites generate clients?

[mutley racers]

Just wondering if it is worth getting a website. Hav read some old posts but none that state if you guys pck up work from them. I guess you must if you keep them going? Are

 

[Keefy]

I get quite a bit from mine so yes. Having knowledge of how SEO works helps though.

 

[plumber0808]

IMO I think in this day and age its a must. Since I done it it provides me with a new customer base to work and grow from.

 

[Derek Hardman]

All our work comes from 3 sources, recommendation, Worcester Bosch website, and my website, it is absolutely vital, it is also vital to know that the website is compatible with smartphones, ipads etc, that SEO (search engine optimization) is included in any package, when you purchase a domain name (web address) get the right one, because the more the domain name, website name and company name match up, the better it will show in searches, it can take 3 months to get a website to even show on google too, but dont go paying these SEO companies who 'guarantee page one on google' they only do what you or your web designer can do by yourself.

 

[Scott_D]

would need to advertise more to get the web site name out there though?

 

[stevetheplumber]

i had mine up 6 months and didnt get a call so i cancelled it

 

[Howsie]

Word of mouth and builders are where the majority of our decent work comes from.

 

[kay-jay]

my website works well.
designed and run by my mate, he also does a few other members sites.
i am on first page of google for a whole load of search terms and it brings in the work.

my mate also did steve the plumber's who cancelled. the thing with seo is you need to be patient, if done correctly it will take time. it took my site 4 months. steve is in london which is a much more populous and competetive area and to leapfrog his competitors to get on first page would have taken a bit longer.

so to the op results can be good, if you live in a town you will get the results quicker than if you live in a big city. but you can get them.

my mate charges £55 per month. no contracts, no other fees, stop when you like.
the sites are 100% original not from a template and have 5 pages.

 

[erpkid]

I think it is more of a case that they are so cheap why wouldn't you? We get the odd bit of business from ours but we keep it updated because some of our customers expect you to have one and can be suspicious if you don't I think it is the equivalent of the sign written van with a land line number. Ours has been up for years and linked to and from some others that have been there over 10 years so Google is nice to it without us doing anything. If I was starting out now I would have at least a what we do and a few examples of work done.

 

[Derek Hardman]

would need to advertise more to get the web site name out there though?

Web searches are not dependant on advertising, most people use google when they want to find a 'butcher, baker or candlestick maker' these days, its works like the yellow pages used to, but quicker, talking of which, Yell.com is the new yellow pages, but in the same way, be very careful what you agree to spend with them, the salespeople are very clever at getting you into different categories which you dont need to be in.

 

[Derek Hardman]

i had mine up 6 months and didnt get a call so i cancelled it

You did right to cancel Steve, if it didnt work in that time the 'hosts' were not working hard enough to get results, website designers are in abundance now, but it is fairly easy to do it yourself...providing you have time, it is very time consuming sometimes.

 

[erpkid]

The other thing about a website and therefore domain is your e-mail address. When I see a sign written van with [email protected] or freewebprovider.co.uk or similar I feel they are missing a trick and looking cheap. Your e-mail can say a lot about what you do and should be zero additional cost on your package. If you grab a good domain then the e-mail can work for you too.

 

[vern]

Had a domain for 5 years lol, when I set off it was tough, but word of mouth, friends, family and eventually WB website, saw me through, I always meant to get a site, I booked a date to sit down with the web guy.......then cancelled lol as 2 leads from the WB site came in, I got both, never looked back, cannot cope with the work I have so, never bothered with the site.....I should though just for presence.....

 

[stevetheplumber]

my website works well.
designed and run by my mate, he also does a few other members sites.
i am on first page of google for a whole load of search terms and it brings in the work.

my mate also did steve the plumber's who cancelled. the thing with seo is you need to be patient, if done correctly it will take time. it took my site 4 months. steve is in london which is a much more populous and competetive area and to leapfrog his competitors to get on first page would have taken a bit longer.

so to the op results can be good, if you live in a town you will get the results quicker than if you live in a big city. but you can get them.

my mate charges £55 per month. no contracts, no other fees, stop when you like.
the sites are 100% original not from a template and have 5 pages.

i gave it 6 months and it did nothing

 

[vern]

i gave it 6 months and it did nothing

Bloody hell Steve nothing? Did'nt same guy do Bods? Wonder how his is going?

 

[Derek Hardman]

i gave it 6 months and it did nothing

I probably would have tried a little bit longer, but told the hosts to get the website rankings up or you were pulling the plug, at £55 per month it is expensive long term, but most hosts want around £600 up front and about £30 per month to host, its good money to have people paying £30 a month, and they can have a tendency to be lay about it because its guaranteed money, a weekly check from you and a phone call if you are not ranking high should be enough to keep them active.

 

[Keefy]

I give friends and relatives an example of a job they might need doing then get them to search for a plumber using their own keywords and service they're after. If they find me then great but if they don't I adjust my SEO and try the same and similar search they did a few days or weeks later and usually find my site straight away.

Sometimes you have to imagine you're a plumbing novice and google what you think Joe Public would key in. Not everyone just types in 'Plumber' '[your]City'.

 

[Derek Hardman]

I give friends and relatives an example of a job they might need doing then get them to search for a plumber using their own keywords and service they're after. If they find me then great but if they don't I adjust my SEO and try the same and similar search they did a few days or weeks later and usually find my site straight away.

Sometimes you have to imagine you're a plumbing novice and google what you think Joe Public would key in. Not everyone just types in 'Plumber' '[your]City'.

You are right, I have tested search terms for Worcester Bosch, it amazing how many variations in spelling you get, i.e. 'Worchester, Worster, Boch, Worceter' all kind of things, same with 'Vailant and Valliant', they all work with the right search term.

 

[jase158]

I am using a guy who was recommended on here, ACRC services, Web Design Wigan (No Set up Fee No contract), doing my SEO, very reasonable rates. and you must get Google maps, Google plus and testimonials, this will put you on page 1 of Google maps, 90 % of work comes from this. yell is good, but you need to be middle weight package, not heavy weight, I got heavy weight and ended up on page 4. yellow pages is dieing but can still get work from it, Thompson is suppose to be good but not sure on this. (never tried it) but website and links from Worcester, Kamco, Honeywell etc is what brings the money in

 

[kay-jay]

Bloody hell Steve nothing? Did'nt same guy do Bods? Wonder how his is going?

As i said earlier. Steve lives in London.
The busyer an area is the more competition there is to leapfrog over which takes longer.

Myself,bod , plumbersmate, and a few others all use the same guy. We have stuck with it and now all have the results.

Big cities require a couple of extra months is all.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Word of mouth and builders are where the majority of our decent work comes from.

Same same most my work is contracted main build or slam bam h/a
i also get alot of work from other plumbs i have worked with in the past
i have tried advertising and all i found was that i attracted idiot customers

 

[mutley racers]

Thanks guys. From the posts on this thread it looks like I will be looking at getting a website. I am just outside london so will probably have to give it a yr or so

 

[iiplumbing]

Hi Mutley

I only set up my website in November last year and I think I'm on page one for searches "plumber derby, plumber chellaston" etc.

Thing is that when I go to analyse those searches there are only about 200 searches per month and 30 odd pages of plumbers on those searches!

I only get a few hits per day and have a trickle of calls coming through on the searches that are made.

Most of my work comes from leaflets (local), letting agents, local trusted trader scheme (set up by trading standards), repeat customers and a company I fit integrated appliances for.

However the website, in MHO, is an invaluable aid to those other sources as I simply direct ppl to my web page to see what I'm all about, thereafter any call that come through have already made themselves happy with what I have to offer.

If they call me and have not seen my web page General plumbers in Chellaston, Derby. The best plumber in town! then I can simply ask them to take a look.

from a marketing perspective, your website says something about you and how you want to do business, my biggest failing is the time I don't have to keep it up to date etc as I'm too busy!!!!!!

My business started really growing just about the same time I got the website, but I did not get enquiries via the web site (yeah go figure!)

I did my own SEO and my rankings really started to get good when I started to give advice on sites like this and upon which I could back link my web page. I do two, this is one of the two!

Apparently once you have got your Meta tags sorted and as importantly, the description of your services in the box that google picks up to describe your page, then your ranking starts to get better.

I went from page 25/30 to page two in two/three weeks, once I had everything in place and started to post advice and in a further two weeks I was on page one for "plumber Derby, plumbers derby, plumbers in derby, plumber chellaston"

Try it see where I am right now, then give me a call if you need any little jobs doing......pmsl

Russ

 

[kirkgas]

My limited knowledge of web design comes from my son, who runs a very successful web design company, two of them own it and have a staff of anywhere between 20-50 depending what's happening, they mostly only do top end stuff now, but when starting out they did every job they were offered, his biggest gripe with the smaller ones was the client not actually knowing what they wanted, might sound strange but it happened too many times to be not true.
He knows nothing of your business so has only your input to work with, he would listen and set up a site which wouldn't get the results expected (unrealistically) by some, however with development and experience they built the sites to get what the customer wanted, like everything else it also depends on what the customer expects to get for £xyz, like plumbing customers they sometimes want to much for what the want to pay, but they have plugged away and now do large contracts which seems to be doing well for them, he has started sites that are consistently rank on page 1 of google, anywhere else isn't really worth it,
Can you do it yourself? Like plumbing of course you can as it depends on your skill set, but you have to measure your actual input in time against what a decent company will charge you to do a better job, each to their own

 

[stewalex]

The point what everyone is missing here, is you don't need a web designer, you need an understanding of what your potential clients are looking for at first hand. Hiring a web designer will 9not in all cases0 ut in most, get you just that. someone who can design you a great looking sight that may win design awards, but falls flat on its face when it comes to actually getting your phone to ring... which is ultimately what you want.

Many make the mistake of trying to get on the first page of Google for generic terms such as "plumber in (name of town). While that may look good on the surface, you might want to consider the mindset of someone typing such a phrase into Google.

My experience has proven that such generic keywords are coming from people who are in research mode. In other words, just looking around, not really in a ready to spend money frame of mind.

on the other hand think about the frame of mind of someone who goes to Google and types in "247 emergency plumber in (local area). Note, the local area part. trying to get a website ranked for a big city like London, Leeds, Manchester etc and for generic keywords as mentioned above is much too hard and ultimately, too expensive.

By drilling down and targeting the longer keywords, you:

1. eliminate most of the competition
2. target a much hotter prospective client as their search term is much closer to making a purchase, or in other words, calling you.
3. is without doubt, cheaper

i could go on but I want to keep this short.

One thing i must mention is the importance of not just having a web presence, but also a mobile optimised presence. In other words, what's the point in doing all the hard work and spending loads of cash on getting your site on Google, when your site can not be viewed correctly on mobile devices?

Getting your business set up for potential clients on mobile phones is a necessity. if you have not done it, or are not open to it you are simply turning clients away, and of course additional income.

to prove my point, ask your current webmaster to provide you with the stats for your website. You will no doubt see that people have been visiting your main site on mobile devices,and leaving very quickly.

Why?

because it loads too slowly, it doesn't load at all if you have flash and they are on iPhones, they have to mess around expanding the text to read your website.

Now imagine, your potential client, burst pipe or whatever pressing situation they find themselves in. do you think they are going to wait around for your main site that has been designed to load on a 17"screen to load up on their 4" screen? The answer is clear.

Here's the litmus test...

Type in your own website into your mobile phone and see what you're putting your clients through if you're set up for mobile.

On a final note... web design

you don't need a website. you need a lead capture website that is designed with two purposes in mind... Getting your phone to ring, and collecting names and email addresses that you can follow up with and build your reputation with clients. that way when they do need a plumber, you will be top of mind.

The last time I offered tips like this on this forum, my post got deleted and several people said not very nice things about me being a !!***!! marketer.

Hopefully you can glean something from my post. if you want any questions answering, just shout.

Thanks

Stewart Alexander

 

[iiplumbing]

Btw

i used the webs template and learnt how to do the layout

it only cost $90 (i think) and includes lots of help and supports 5 emails, two domain names and hosting.

Everything else I learnt from the web and other SEO companies although by asking them what they did I learnt how they did it! (For free)