I'm thinking of doing my own website as I have my own Business called oven clean but not to sure how to go about it? Im on Facebook and twitter but feel a website could help me grow the Business Any help would be nice thanks David
He also forgot to mention that if anyone wants their oven clean in the Dartford / Gravesend area then he's your man, does a very good job, and a true Charlton fan.
One bit of advice before you go setting anything up is to sit down and have a long hard think about what your customers want from the website - better still ask them. Try and get into their frame of mind - if they wanted their oven cleaned, what sort of questions would they want answered? Too many business websites aren't fit for purpose because they focus on things that the business thinks are important, not what the customer thinks is important. Try to make it so that they can find out anything they need within a single click. Make sure that it is really easy to get in contact with you using a variety of different ways. As a final check, if you end up with a page titled "frequently asked questions" you'll know that the site isn't up to scratch because if it's designed well there shouldn't be any need for FAQs.
One bit of advice before you go setting anything up is to sit down and have a long hard think about what your customers want from the website - better still ask them. Try and get into their frame of mind - if they wanted their oven cleaned, what sort of questions would they want answered? Too many business websites aren't fit for purpose because they focus on things that the business thinks are important, not what the customer thinks is important. Try to make it so that they can find out anything they need within a single click. Make sure that it is really easy to get in contact with you using a variety of different ways. As a final check, if you end up with a page titled "frequently asked questions" you'll know that the site isn't up to scratch because if it's designed well there shouldn't be any need for FAQs.
my competition website do not look very good at all(they look cheap in my eyes) on my face book page i put up photos before and after a clean and they don't seem to do that on there website. i would like to link my facebook page and twitter account to my website just so i look more professional that more people can contact me many different ways via phone,email,facebook and twitter blockquote class="Quote" rel="BlackForestReds">Have a look at the competition - see what they do and basically imitate.
1) Be sure you know why you are setting it up. What do you want to achieve with it? Are you setting it up to inform existing customers or to get new customers? If you want to attract new customers there is the issue of how you get your site to appear higher up in search engine listings (i.e. how you get it to appear on page 1 of a Google search).
2) You need to plan it. Before you do anything, you need to have thought about what information you want to put on there, you need to gather pictures that you want to use and any graphics. Does your business have a logo? You need an electronic version of that to put on your website. When friends of mine wanted to set up a website I went round to help them and they had nothing - no idea of what they wanted to put on it, no photos, nothing - there wasn't a lot I could do - I'm not a magician.
Don't go on one competitor - I just did a basic google search for "oven cleaning + Dartford" and around a dozen different sites popped up, most of which look at first glance to me to be ok and seem to fulfill the basic questions that any punter would want answering. If none of those are still quite right spend some time looking at generic websites for plumbers/sparkies/driving instructors/chimney sweeps/whatever and see what you like and dislike and go from there.
In terms of writing - work on the basic IDEA principle: Identify, Define, Explain and Action. Identify - introduce yourself, who you are/what you do/the geographical area you cover etc Define - explain what services you provide Explain - how you do the job/environmentally friendly products etc Action - contact details "for a free no obligation quote..."
Think about the questions that clients ask you when they first make contact. Make sure that they are answered in the text and try not to over-write. Basic bullet points - say a list of the towns/villages/postcodes covered might eliminate a basic "Do you cover Snodland?" type question. Bullet point your products and services as well so the punter can ascertain that you do microwaves etc as well.
Then you need some testimonials and make sure that these are sufficiently different so that they reflect different aspects of the job/the service you provide. Chuck in a few before and after photos and maybe a short video and Bob's your Uncle.
Then you need to master the whole SEO thing but that's a whole different kettle of fish.
I started off with vistaprint but just so hard to customise with wix you can add lots of stuff on too and it's free if you dont mind their ads on your site have a peek at my site www.101trophies.com
Before you consider places like Wix & 1&1 - which are good at creating a professional, albeit somewhat unoriginal website design - the issue is they offer limited Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools. You can have the best looking website in the world but if you're not top on Google when someone searches Oven Cleaning Dartford/Oven Cleaning South East London you're already losing business. Before delving into the big step of building a website first make sure you've covered all my other bases e.g. Facebook & Twitter (as your already mentioned) but also place Yell.com & Google Maps.
When you do set up your site it's really important to get it out there. Make sure you put the URL on your companies headed paper, your email signature, invoices, receipts or even the side of your car. A website without traffic is just costing you money.
The second question is how innovative do you want the website to be. Effectively people are becoming lazier and lazier, they want convenience, do you want to set up a system that allows people to view available slots & make bookings online? This has it's downsides, it's not a particularly personal way of doing things which is important in a services industry, but it offers an edge over competitors, although places like Wix & 1&1 won't support this. Think how you will differentiate your site from others in the industry, it's no use keeping up with competitors, you need to surpass them.
Thanks for that i have still not made my mind up yet but there are some good points that you have mad. Im all so on yell.com as well as facebook and twitter
Before you consider places like Wix & 1&1 - which are good at creating a professional, albeit somewhat unoriginal website design - the issue is they offer limited Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools. You can have the best looking website in the world but if you're not top on Google when someone searches Oven Cleaning Dartford/Oven Cleaning South East London you're already losing business. Before delving into the big step of building a website first make sure you've covered all my other bases e.g. Facebook & Twitter (as your already mentioned) but also place Yell.com & Google Maps.
When you do set up your site it's really important to get it out there. Make sure you put the URL on your companies headed paper, your email signature, invoices, receipts or even the side of your car. A website without traffic is just costing you money.
The second question is how innovative do you want the website to be. Effectively people are becoming lazier and lazier, they want convenience, do you want to set up a system that allows people to view available slots & make bookings online? This has it's downsides, it's not a particularly personal way of doing things which is important in a services industry, but it offers an edge over competitors, although places like Wix & 1&1 won't support this. Think how you will differentiate your site from others in the industry, it's no use keeping up with competitors, you need to surpass them.
Comments
1) Be sure you know why you are setting it up. What do you want to achieve with it? Are you setting it up to inform existing customers or to get new customers? If you want to attract new customers there is the issue of how you get your site to appear higher up in search engine listings (i.e. how you get it to appear on page 1 of a Google search).
2) You need to plan it. Before you do anything, you need to have thought about what information you want to put on there, you need to gather pictures that you want to use and any graphics. Does your business have a logo? You need an electronic version of that to put on your website. When friends of mine wanted to set up a website I went round to help them and they had nothing - no idea of what they wanted to put on it, no photos, nothing - there wasn't a lot I could do - I'm not a magician.
Hope this helps.
In terms of writing - work on the basic IDEA principle: Identify, Define, Explain and Action.
Identify - introduce yourself, who you are/what you do/the geographical area you cover etc
Define - explain what services you provide
Explain - how you do the job/environmentally friendly products etc
Action - contact details "for a free no obligation quote..."
Think about the questions that clients ask you when they first make contact. Make sure that they are answered in the text and try not to over-write. Basic bullet points - say a list of the towns/villages/postcodes covered might eliminate a basic "Do you cover Snodland?" type question. Bullet point your products and services as well so the punter can ascertain that you do microwaves etc as well.
Then you need some testimonials and make sure that these are sufficiently different so that they reflect different aspects of the job/the service you provide. Chuck in a few before and after photos and maybe a short video and Bob's your Uncle.
Then you need to master the whole SEO thing but that's a whole different kettle of fish.
tony@boombydesign.com
www.boombydesign.com
Very easy to use, quite cheap to run ($9 or so a month) and look quite good
have a peek at my site www.101trophies.com
When you do set up your site it's really important to get it out there. Make sure you put the URL on your companies headed paper, your email signature, invoices, receipts or even the side of your car. A website without traffic is just costing you money.
The second question is how innovative do you want the website to be. Effectively people are becoming lazier and lazier, they want convenience, do you want to set up a system that allows people to view available slots & make bookings online? This has it's downsides, it's not a particularly personal way of doing things which is important in a services industry, but it offers an edge over competitors, although places like Wix & 1&1 won't support this. Think how you will differentiate your site from others in the industry, it's no use keeping up with competitors, you need to surpass them.
Message me if you want to talk more.