website for buisness

[irishroey]

I am just curious as i know alot of members use there festools as a hobby but my question is for those who are trying to make money from their trade,

Those that are self employed do you have a up to date website and how valuable to you think it is for generating work?

thanks

stephen

 

[BUTTER]

After many recommendations, I went ahead and used Squarespace as a host/template.  Organizing and designing was easy, and everything looks consistently good across platforms (mac, pc, android, iOs)  It is a monthly fee, but well worth it in terms of efficiency.

Though I do get some jobs through my website (and those are from colleague's links to me,) the website serves as an important way for potential clients to learn more about me and my work, giving me a great start in selling my services.

 

[Scott B.]

I have two for my contracting business, on two different platforms and styles. I use them as marketing tools. Most contractors want to use them as sales tools (who wouldn't?). It depends on the size of the market you are in. I know guys in huge markets like Philadelphia and Toronto who get most of their leads from their sites, but these are sites that have been ranking well for many years. In smaller markets, I don't think they are as reliable as sales tools. By sales tool, I mean a generator of leads. People google search your service in your town and you pop up, they contact you as a result, many times you shoot them an estimate or a price in return. For some types of businesses, this type of sales works well.

Its a passive method. Unfortunately, my reality has been that face to face marketing and sales, and word of mouth/referral/reputation tends to be more the way of the service based trades. And that is why I have focused my web presence on marketing instead of sales.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[irishroey]

the answer depends on what you do, who and why you want to reach out to them, your region, other competitors and more.
Please tell more about this and the thread can go that direction.
Also please tell if you have a logo and truck / or business signage.

cheers guys

a few answers, i don't have any signage or logo, no sign writing on my van and have been working off word of mouth and referrals for the last 8 years never advertised and never felt the need to till now, i feel the web is having a lot more to do with the way people are choosing who they hire and i am thinking of putting some investment into some a website,signwriting,advertisement and pushing on hopefully   

 

[Scott B.]

the answer depends on what you do, who and why you want to reach out to them, your region, other competitors and more.
Please tell more about this and the thread can go that direction.
Also please tell if you have a logo and truck / or business signage.

cheers guys

a few answers, i don't have any signage or logo, no sign writing on my van and have been working off word of mouth and referrals for the last 8 years never advertised and never felt the need to till now, i feel the web is having a lot more to do with the way people are choosing who they hire and i am thinking of putting some investment into some a website,signwriting,advertisement and pushing on hopefully   

Web presence would be a very good idea.

 

[CoStruct]

First post on these forums....

I've wondered how important a website is too.  I have a basic one that I haven't update in over a year.  It the two years I have had it, it hasn't generated any leads but has served as a tool to point people to so they can find out a little bit about what we've done.  Most of our work comes from word of mouth or referrals though in a small market.  I think there are more important places to spend the marketing budget but others might have a different opinion on that.

 

[tiralie]

First post on these forums....

I've wondered how important a website is too.  I have a basic one that I haven't update in over a year.  It the two years I have had it, it hasn't generated any leads but has served as a tool to point people to so they can find out a little bit about what we've done.  Most of our work comes from word of mouth or referrals though in a small market.  I think there are more important places to spend the marketing budget but others might have a different opinion on that.

A website, even a web listing (essentially a domain with my contact information and services) is important. I have had a listing  for some time (I am building out a large site now) and I linked it to Google maps. I have gotten good quality leads, that I have converted to paying customers from the kinds of customers I am targeting within my area that I would not have gotten otherwise.
A domain with a listing helps your Google ranking (older, relevant sites get better ranking) for when you finally get a web site completed.
Pay per click advertising on Google or Yahoo will also get you leads and you really don't have to spend a bundle to start understanding what works and doesn't in terms of attracting customers.
Along with the main search engines, third party sites like Houzz, pinterest and any of the many home improvement sites will also help with your visibility in a very crowded and busy market.
Tim

 

[kmdwoodwork]

I have had my site for 3 years and have been ranking first page and some first place for certain keywords for about the last year or so. I doubled my sales last year based solely on the leads created by my site, so yes i feel it is worth it. I live and work in a fairly large metro area so that may make a difference.

I feel the best part of using a website for your marketing is the ability to target certain areas and types of work so you can get the jobs that you want to do and hopefully increase profits.

Also get the vehicle lettering,shirts,pens and stuff. I have not gotten much work from them but it never hurts to have them.

 

[Timtool]

Having a website is great when you are active in a niche market like i am, if you do regular woodworking then it will be hard to stand out and compete with websites that pay to get ranked on top.
It could deliver nothing at all, or on the other hand it could be a complete game changer for you. The only way to find out is to try.
A website is like a representative that works for you 24 hrs a day trying to get you work while you don't have to do a thing.