critique my site

[acculawnsystems]

I would recommend an instant online quoting feature added to your services page. Check out how this is possible at acculawnsystems.com.
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[ringahding]

What did you say about budget?

You are only looking roughly at $150/year for domain & hosting. Divide that by 12=$12.50/month...c'mon man.

I will give props for attempting, because you clearly are hungry for more jobs...but like Tony & others have stated, check with GOOGLE for more direction of how to structure your site & get it FOUND.

It is very difficult for a FREE website to be found, since most are not recognized by the search engines to be that relevant.

It is also clear that you are in it to win, so why not do it right the first time?

[cutman2000]

http://www.dollarhostnow.com

[tonygreek]

Originally Posted by cutman2000

http://www.dollarhostnow.com

No reviews anywhere and there are 1,000 sites (literally) sitting on their own domain's shared IP address, including adult content. No offense, but in the web project world, we call those kinds of reseller front operations "lowballers".

[tonygreek]

A slight correction... Apparently I timed out on that 1,000 number. There are 2,391 domains on that one IP address.

[MJ Services]

i checked the other week after posting here. i looked in to buying a domain, seemed cheap enough. then i realized i had to pay to use a site to build my site & pay to have it hosted. woulda been way more than 150 a year. I forget the actual numbers, but for my small operation it wasn't going to be worth while.

as far as buying a domain name, who am I buying this from exactly? i can buy a domain name for like 10 bucks a year or something, but wtf? who's selling it? i think for now, i'll just stick to my freebie site and link it everywhere I can. I googled it a few times and it's not the first thing that pops up, but it's not at the bottom either.

Servicevines: I'm already listed on your site and have had ZERO leads from it. I think it's a great idea, but the only people that seem to know about it are the contractors that list their services. You're in the same boat as me sorta. Seems like you need to reach the customers better with your site.

[tonygreek]

Originally Posted by MJ Services

as far as buying a domain name, who am I buying this from exactly? i can buy a domain name for like 10 bucks a year or something, but wtf? who's selling it? i think for now, i'll just stick to my freebie site and link it everywhere I can. I googled it a few times and it's not the first thing that pops up, but it's not at the bottom either.

The simplest explanation is that it's the equivalent of getting a phone number from AT&T, Verizon, Cricket, or your local Ma Bell.

i think for now, i'll just stick to my freebie site and link it everywhere I can. I googled it a few times and it's not the first thing that pops up, but it's not at the bottom either.

I'm not seeing your site come up for any of the standard keywords, but I do see your Google+ listing ranking well in the local section and ServiceVines listing in the regular results.

Servicevines: I'm already listed on your site and have had ZERO leads from it. I think it's a great idea, but the only people that seem to know about it are the contractors that list their services. You're in the same boat as me sorta. Seems like you need to reach the customers better with your site.

ServiceVines is in the process of scaling a nationally targeted business, which is a difficult, tedious, and costly process. From my view, the immediate benefit you will see is the inbound, highly relevant link from their site to yours. This helps immensely with search rank, which is what he has previously pointed out in posts by way of his value proposition re: the free listing. Ironically, I do see your ServiceVines listing and not your web site in the keyword searches I ran. If you get your site working in concert with the inbound links, you'll see your rank improve.

When it comes to implementing your site, like any other marketing, there is some cost or another. With your web site investment, the nice thing is that a well-executed site will cause your ROI to continue rising over time, especially year over year compared to avenues such as newspaper or yellow page ads, etc.

Any other questions, just yell, and definitely take advantage of the archives here.

[PaperCutter]

I'm going off memory from last tax season here, but I believe my domain registration was around $10/yr, my hosting was $60-75/yr, and that's about it. I have a Linux hosting account w/ GoDaddy with Wordpress installed and I purchased a WordPress theme for $60. After that, modifying the theme was like using MS Word and I had a site. There are also a bunch of freely available Wordpress themes you can use as well.

Bottom line, it wasn't expensive and it was worth doing. Every day your site (with your actual, proper domain) is up you're gaining credibility with the search engines. Doing it sooner than later is better.

Obviously the site I have now was professionally done, but for the couple of years before I spent the money what I had worked.

As for content of your site, a couple things jumped out at me:
- it says Bernville on the homepage and Berville (no "n") in the title part of the browser. Which is it?

- Where the heck os Bernville? Put a state on there. I hate not knowing what area a website services. Yes, you have a little map widget. If I'm looking for a service provider I'm probably not using it.

- I think a great tool as a small business is a personalized about page. I also wonder what someone's hiding if no one's name is on it. You're a family business? What family? Who founded it? Do multiple family members work in it? There's a story you can tell that will make a homeowner feel like they already know a bit about you before you show up. It sounds stupid but it actually works. If you don't feel confident writing that, find a friend or family member who is, or list a writing gig on Craigslist.

Bottom line is, I was in the market for lawn care services this summer when I was sick from Lyme disease for two months. Had I run across your site, I would've filed you under "should be a decent low-end provider I can work a good price out of." If that's the niche you want, you'll get calls, but I doubt that's what you're after.

[headz77]

I completely understand how difficult it can be to want to do something right- but to lack the resources. So, here is my question:

If you really can't afford to do a website right, is it batter to focus on a Facebook and Places/+ page, and wait until you have the ability to do the site right?
Posted via Mobile Device

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by headz77

I completely understand how difficult it can be to want to do something right- but to lack the resources. So, here is my question:

If you really can't afford to do a website right, is it batter to focus on a Facebook and Places/+ page, and wait until you have the ability to do the site right?
Posted via Mobile Device

I would go with a simple page from a template rather than do without. It seems everyone offers them these days. I think some banks even offer them to small business clients. Most important thing is good solid description of services, who you are, where you work and how to reach you.


Google and other search engines care little about pictures and flash. They look at the text on the page as much as anything. Stuffing pages with key words and in the headers means less than it did 10 years ago.