This Site Cost Us 80 Bucks

Safety Guy

My employer has an official site, however the soon to be former, webmaster is refusing to hand over the admins for updates and changes. Therefore, we are in the process of a major overhaul on that website... that's another story....

It has been my job to market this business without a budget... it's been difficult, but I've made things happen.

I have talked the owners into spending a little moola on the website below. It only cost $80.00 for the year. What do you think for the money? Any additions?

www.10houroshatrainingmissouri.com

joshua1

ten whores sh@t rain? Is this about that incident in the phillipines last week?

cbscreative

Is there some special reason your employer expects something for next to nothing? To market without a budget is asking you to perform a miracle. You'll burn yourself out when they expect something and pressure you about why it isn't working.

If they want to market online, they need a budget. Otherwise, save the money and focus on the marketing that's currently paying the bills. If this web site is suppose to generate income, start looking for a new job before they decide to pull the plug.

I know that sounds harsh, but success in business means investing in getting business. The mentality of your employer sends up major red flags that indicate you will be out of a job before long, and stressed out in the meantime.

__________________
Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

Safety Guy

I appreciate the concern...
All is well and I have seen results from my efforts.
I'm a career band director and I appreciate the opportunity to suppelment my income this way.
They do expect to see results and luckily I have honed my skills to see them.
I was just glad to talk the owners into the purchase of this subsite which I know will be found on Major search engines...
thanks again...

tinner666

Is the mottled black and white area in the middle 'print' of some sort? Many contracts have larger font sizes on the bottom, or back. And the same for what might be smaller print on the left.

I like the keywords/title 'Home Page'. Probably a much searched term.

Sorry, but that won't cut it.

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

joshua1

I still wanna know where the women passing rain come in.

calpub

You can do it.

Just write 10 articles on something that has not been written before that others in the business will think their visitors would like and convince them to link to your site. This may take 2-3 months to write.

tinner666

I apologize for my snide post. You'll need to change the title, add readable text, keywords, etc. I offer website tonight too, but will be the first to say that adding Analytics and WebMaster tools is nearly impossible.
So, just do the next best thing and add plenty of text and pics!

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

Safety Guy

Is the OSHA News section enough text?

With WebSite Tonight, after I make an update, is "publish updates" what I want to do or do I "publish all" each time?

Pics are searchable?

I try to update it 3-4 times a week... too much?

Tinner - I can take a little snideness now and then... appreciate the thought though.

J. Sullivan

The $80 bucks could of been better spent getting a pro Wordpress template, and tinkering from there.

Obviously your on page SEO needs work,

off page SEO needs work, header needs to be changed,

call to action needs to be prominent on the home page,

Contact Us needs an easy to use form,

News Page needs dividing headings,

all text needs to be divided into sub sections so that it is more scanable,

fonts need to be changed to be more readable,

Nav buttons need to be changed so it is readable,

Godaddy banner should be eliminated.

That's all I can see right off the bat

Sucks when people don't want to spend money. Websites are just like anything else, you get what you pay for. Good luck though, let me know if you need any more input.

__________________
I'm a web dude, and I do web stuff.

calpub

Generally you should have more text than html code. But if you look around (like I did in the field of safety training) you will find there is at least one gold-plated blueprint to generate a high ranking site. If I told you you wouldn't believe me so you'll have to find out for your self.

Safety Guy

What??????????? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....
I look around for that Gold Plate.... Thank you all for the lesson.

• What's the diff between on page and off page SEO?

• I am able to get that godaddy emblem off the site?

cbscreative

I'll give you the condensed version of the answer because to really answer it, you need books and lots of research.

On page: Good coding practices like using heading tags (h1, etc,), making sure you have keywords in your content without stuffing or being articial, using good alt text on your images, etc. Top priority should be given to page titles. They must be unique on each page and describe the content of the page in 80 characters or less. Don't worry about meta tags except for the description tag. This tag should be a short sentence that summarizes the content of the page, just the facts, no "selling." Be sure you use good anchor text on your links (describe your links, don't just say "click here"). Name your pages and files using descriptive keywords.

There's much more, but that should give you an idea that attention to detail is important.

Off page: Primarily inbound links to your site. Make sure you are listed on relevant directories (yellow pages, trade associations, local directories, etc.). Don't get too zealous with directories. The value is minimal, but it's important to be sure you are listed on the main ones that search engines pay attention to. Any links you get from other sites also help. If you have good content, your links will grow over time. Be careful with link exchanges. For the most part, avoid them. I would recommend serious research before making mistakes because some errors can get you blacklisted by search engines.

Participating in online communities related to your business will gain you exposure too. This forum is an example.

__________________
Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

Safety Guy

cbscreative....
thank you. I've got some work to do.
What if I have been blacklisted? How would I know? What can I do?

calpub

Why don't you create an online test that quizzes on different aspects of safety. You are selling training not tests so you are not giving away your product.

Ask test takes for their email address to send them periodic information. They are in the market for this type of service after all. They are probably companies looking to stay out of trouble with new laws etc.

Make the tests thorough and ask important sites to link to you. You can find these sites by looking at sites that are linking to the top sites now.

As long as your site is clean it does not matter if it is fancy or even attractive. Get rid of the GoDaddy logo. Joomla must have some quiz software.

cbscreative

I've never had to deal with being blacklisted, but from everything I've read, it's a very difficult thing to undo. For the most part, be careful with who you link to. You generally don't have to worry about your inbound links, but if you link to someone Google doesn't like, they could hold you guilty by association. Qualify all advice before you follow it and you should never have a problem.

If you're doing all this yourself, my next point may not apply, but for the benefit of other readers I will cover this too. Be careful who you hire to do any SEO. Many of the so called SEO experts play with fire and risk getting their clients burned. I serve as an admin on a small business forum and the crap we have to deal with from people using ill conceived SEO strategies is ridiculous. When you trace back some of the forum spam we get, it goes back to "SEO companies" who are "link building" for their clients.

Most forum spam gets deleted quickly, but for those forums that aren't as well managed, search engines are getting increasingly smarter about spotting patterns. Forum links carry very little weight with search engines anyway, so it's wasted effort for the most part.

Before I make this post too long, one of the best ways to qualify anyone you hire is to make sure they've been in business for several years (I suggest 5+). The scammers tend to be short lived, and so are their tactics. Sometimes they actually generate impressive results, only to be smited later by Google and sent into purgatory.

__________________
Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

Roofs R Us

It very "wordy"!! I think you can can make it more customer friendly.

Pro Builder

Safety Guy, PM me...its been a while. Better yet, email me. You know my gmail.

I have boatloads of helpful advice for you. Let's chat.

__________________
New York Marketing
San Luis Obispo Advertising
I love to barter. If you offer a product or service and would like to increase your sales, contact me and let's make a deal.

lawndart

Congrats! It looks like you spent $80