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Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Nigel Yardley on November 28, 2006, 9:26 pm How many of you are currently online?... and what response do you get from customers?... Did you design the site yourself, or get someone in? We have allready registered our domain name, but got no further... We dont usually advertise, we've usually got pleanty of work on, but I think I may be missing a chance of picking up a few new customers. If anyone knows or has a well layed out website, that they dont mind me useing for inspiration please post or send me a link. thanks Nigel
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Derek Warwick on November 28, 2006, 10:39 pm, in reply to "Websites.... advice wanted"
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by John Wallis on November 28, 2006, 10:53 pm, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted" However you still have those overalls and trainers on ;-) Best wishes
Link: Derek's overalls
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Peter Warman on November 29, 2006, 8:09 am, in reply to "Websites.... advice wanted" Just to add to Derek and Johns comments If you go to the Independent Garage forum and start from the bottom and work your way up, they all have web links to members websites, this should inspire you Other tips: Make sure you have all the details on your home page ie: Garage name (obvious), location address, post code, telephone numbers and all the services you offer. Have a page with a clear printable map on how to find you (essential) The Google and MSN spider bots will crawl and index all Meta descriptions and words on the home page (plus your other pages) Try not to put your e-mail address on the home page, use an enquiry form, this will stop the spammers sending you shed loads of rubbish Don't worry about submitting to loads of search engines (paying) as Google and MSN are the only one that count. Best way to get your site indexed is to have a few friends or other garages put your link on their site (exchange links), this is the quickest way to get it picked up by search engines Keep the site basic and simple (not to many graphics) if its takes to long to load or to heavy on Flash, customers will pass you by, they want their car fixed not a lesson in web design I am located in Redhill Surrey, and most of my new customers find me through the site. Having a web presence is a MUST HTH Peter
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Derek Warwick on November 29, 2006, 8:17 am, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted"
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Sean Connelly on November 29, 2006, 8:59 am, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted" I agree with Peter, having a website is a must. I find it difficult to deal with any company now that does not have a website. I knocked up my own website at first but have recently used a company in India to come up with a new design/template. All I need to do now is update the actual content as its a bit out of date. The company I used were very fast and relatively cheap and always provided proofs of what it would look like before they wanted any money. I would recommend them to anyone. In fact a local company use them to do all their work, they just act as a middle man and make a healthy profit! As Peter says don't put your email address on the website, use a correctly configured form for that. We probably get at least one enquiry from the website a week. The other thing to bear in mind is more and more people use the web but they still use yell.com and ThomsonLocal so pay for an extended/highlighted entry and/or weblink on these sites. I looked at all the members websites to help me decide what works and what doesn't. Website designs are quite fashionable, i.e. what looks good to day may look dated next year. Let me know if I can be of any more help. Regards Sean
Link: Macclesfield MOT & Service Centre
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Dave Hill on November 29, 2006, 9:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted" I sorted my own site (It probably shows). It’s a personal thing & I wouldn’t like to put it in the hands of anyone else. Good advise from the others about Meta tags & email addresses. I get so much junk mail it’s untrue. (Anyone need any Viagra? ) I created my own graphics with Paint shop pro & the web site is done in Dreamweaver. It has easy tutorials that set you on the way & the rest is limited only by your imagination & creativity. If you need any software mate just email me. Simplicity is the key as I found with my first site. I had an intro page & flashy graphics that just were so tedious. Personally I like lots of pictures so that there is plenty to look at. Links to useful sites (for your customers) are a good way of getting them onboard. I have a link to the VOSA MOT history page that customers find useful. I cant say that I get loads of work from it but many folks tell me that they have visited & one in particular lost my phone number & got it from the site whilst in Trinidad. Oh. I have just put the Christmas decorations up so it doesnt always look so flash Cheers Dave Hill www.londonroadgarage.com
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted.... update
Posted by Nigel Yardley on December 6, 2006, 9:30 pm, in reply to "Websites.... advice wanted"
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by lee claydon on January 3, 2007, 11:15 am, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted"
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Dave Hill on January 4, 2007, 9:15 pm, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted" Like I said in my post, the software I used for the website creation is Macromedia Dreamweaver. The graphics are created with Paintshop Pro. Dreamweaver comes with a good tutorial that gives you the basic knowledge about website creation, the rest is down to your own imagination & attention to detail. Good luck Cheers Dave Hill
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Re: Websites.... advice wanted
Posted by Shaun Dale on January 14, 2007, 9:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Websites.... advice wanted" Shaun
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Office Live Basics
Posted by Peter Warman on January 17, 2007, 9:11 pm, in reply to "Websites.... advice wanted" Office Live Basics will let you register a .co.uk domain and host your website with no monthly fee Peter
Link: Office Live Home
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