Ok
so we all have websites
but
1/ how do YOU get yours known
2/ do you get much business from it
To answer the second part first, of the last 20 customers, 7 found me by doing an internet search. This is a fairly typical rate at present. So, for me, having a decent website is important.
Firstly, I'll admit that my website,
Andrew Neish, Electrician and Handyman isn't very stylish, but that doesn't seem to matter much (although it's nice to have).
Get the content right. Say what you need to say, without too much waffle. People want to know whether they can trust you to do a good job at a reasonable price. Often, customers will prefer to use someone local, rather than a national firm.
Say who you are. I'm a one man band, aiming to make a decent living by serving the local community, so I make it clear who I am, where I live, and how to get in touch (including a landline number). It's clear that if they have a problem with a job, I'll be around to put it right and they know where to find me, which makes it more likely that I'll do a good job in the first place.
Say what areas you cover. List the towns and villages and the postcodes. If someone's searching for an 'electrician in Liphook' or 'electrical contractor in GU30' then make sure that the relevant words are there, in close proximity on the page. I recently added 'electrical contractor' when I realised that I didn't have those words anywhere.
Say what sort of work you do.
If possible put an indication of your rates. You don't even want enquiries from customers who won't pay the rate you're looking for and it helps if enquirers already know how much you're likely to charge.
Get the spelling, punctuation and sentence structure right. If someone finds your website and it's full of errors, it doesn't look very professional and may be a reflection on your attention to detail. They may choose to look elsewhere.
Get as many relevant links to your site as possible. Get a free listing with the various companies that offer this: 192.com, electrician near me, FreeIndex, My Local Electrician, Netmums, Scoot, Thompson Local, Yell. The most useful one is a listing on Google Places.
Put your website address in your signature on the forums.
I get some work via a local community website. People ask for recommendations for tradesmen and I have several with a link to my website. I keep an eye on the website in case someone wants an electrician. Sometimes I'll offer a bit of advice, which looks better than 'recommending' yourself. If a customer has found me via the community website, I'll ask them to add an entry to the relevant thread, mentioning that I did a good job for them.
I have some thoughts of adding a Facebook page, but it will need regular entries to keep it fresh, so I've not bothered yet.
So, without spending anything on professional SEO, my website is on page one of Google for the search terms relevant to my business.
If you're checking how well your site does on a Google search, click on the 'Hide private results' button (top RH corner) to remove the tendency for it to show results that you've clicked on before (as far as I know).
