Website?

joesmith

I definitely wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. It's worth spending the extra dollars to hire a pro, since all they do all day is build websites and market them.

user38755

Are you certain you are not talking about cbscreatives website? They look very similar to me. Neither one holds my attention. Why not show us yours? I have searched for J. Sullivan website with no luck at all.

Jose Matias

I used yahoo website builder. The program was real user friendly and to update and keep it up is even easier. You can have your customers request estimates, fill out surveys, performance videos, pictures etc... If you would like take a look at it. jcmcustomcontractors.com. It is affordable $108 a year which they bill every three months. I hope this is helpful.

cbscreative

Hmmm, a personal attack. Must either be looking at the wrong site or just hostile for whatever reason. If you have specific observations and input, I'll gladly listen. None of the points mentioned apply. Of course, maybe you're not in my target market. If that's the case, then I was successful by sending you away.

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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.

user38755

Not a personal attack at all. Sorry if that's the way you took it. I just looked at the site that J.Sullivan was speaking of and then looked at the sites above including cbscreative. To my eyes they appeared very similar with the differnt fonts, underlining ect. And perhaps I am not your target market, IDK. I am a contrator looking at having a website again. I also am not nor have I ever been any kind of expert on websites. I do know that I don't like sites that show stock photos instead of work actually completed by the co. advertising and I see this alot. Not something I would care to do, seems like false advertising to me. Also I do not frequent many other sites to optimize anything and when I do seek out other sites I seldom post, even here I seldom do. Hell I don't even post anything on my Facebook page but maybe once a month and that's stretching it. All accounting is done by hand on paper as is estimating. I know very little about how to make a computer run or what to do with it. Though I have been told WindowsME is out dated IDK enough to know what's wrong with it either.

user38755

The biggest co. in our area and the competition. None to impressive IMO.
http://www.hoskinssiding.com/

J. Sullivan

J. Sullivan is my name (well, my REAL name is Justin) lol not my company name, so that's why you wouldn't find it anywhere on the net.

But to steer you in the right direction, you can find my site at www.sullivanwebdev.com, or the link is in my profile. I've been green lighted to stick one in my signature, so you'll be able to find it there shortly as well.

Hope this has cleared up the air some, it's getting hot in here huh haha

Edit -

PS that Hoskin guys site is garbage. Also, Yahoo site builder (as well as just about any "site builder") are complete crap IMO.

They will get code up on the interwebs sure, but they can't build in the marketing, usuability, or SEO that a web dude can. I could stick bricks together to build a chimney, but I'm pretty sure it'd be ****e. Same rules apply.

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

user38755

Thanks J.Sullivan, now I'm even more interested. Your site looks better than most, keeps my interest and makes me want to know more. This is exactly what I am looking for. I agree about the hoskins site, don't think it's driving much business but they stay busy all year long while we struggle just to get work most winters and even this summer.

J. Sullivan

What do you mean better than most?!?! You mean better than every single website ever made don't you?!?!?! hahaha Of course I'm joking, but thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you like it.

In reference to "that other guy" getting a boat load of work, here's my answer:

I'll probably get some static over this, but a website is not the cure all be all of answers to marketing woes. While I firmly believe (and base all my business on) that a well built website will help you make more money, there are a million other factors as well. Sometimes the answer is you would do better with a print, direct mail, or cold calling campaign. Sometimes it's better to hit the customer database and drum up some referrals.

It's all about how you use your site, and how well it's implemented.

One of the biggest reasons websites are so key is that everyone is using the net to find what they want now, and you don't want to be the last guy on the pile when it comes to the web. You also don't want to be the smelly kid last picked for dodgeball.

A killer web presence lends instant credibility to your business as a professional.

I can tell you 100% without a doubt though, that guy isn't making any new customers with that junk website. How could he be?

So as not to further derail this conversation, PM if you have any questions related to web design.

And if you are looking for some work to be done, just send me a check and I'll get you something decent within the next couple weeks. Any number north of $3000 would be just fine, you see I've got my eye on a brand new 2010 F150 FX4 and that would just about seal the deal for me

Hahahaha I'm joking I'm joking...



but seriously I want that truck

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cbscreative

No offense taken, I'm too thick skinned for that. I'm just not convinced that we are really talking about my site. The only fonts are Arial for most headings and Verdana for body text (though I do have a condensed block style on h1 headings). The only thing underlined are links. And I don't use any stock photography. I go very light on graphics (except portfolio pages) to keep the pages clean and draw attention to the content.

Like J, I am very careful posting any links lest they seem self promotional. Without mods saying it's OK, I'd rather not do that.

If it really is my site you're commenting about, I'm always interested in your reaction to it. I didn't get to where I'm at by being right all the time, but by being willing to put my feelings aside, and honest feedback is much more valuable than flattery.

__________________
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.

tinner666

I like Sullivan's site. Better than those skinny middle of the page only sites. I never look to those side bars anyway, so they're wasted realestate that could have been put to use.

I didn't look for CBS's or any other site in this thread, so it may be taken with a grain of salt.

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

MattCoops

The thing that's wrong with web designers is they forget that the majority of people are more visual. They are apt to read more into something, IF they like what they see. A header and footer surrounding a column of text may be great for search engines, but not users.
If web designers started designing for users instead of search engines, the conversion rates of people contacting/buying from the client's website would significantly increase.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
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cbscreative

I had to read this a few times to be sure I wasn't seeing what I thought I was seeing. Are you having a bad day, Matt, or have you just had bad experiences with web designers? Perhaps you really meant everyone that calls themselves a web designer since anyone with $400 can buy Dreamweaver and set up shop as a web designer (usually cheap too).

Otherwise, that's quite an accusation against an entire industry.

As for your first statement, you're right that people are more visual, but on the web, they respond to content, so your statement is not supported by the research. It also depends on the visitor, so you are partly right even though I believe you are mostly wrong.

Let's look at where you are right. A "referral" type visitor landing on a contractor site will likely be very interested in pictures. They may very well go immediately to your gallery or portfolio.

A search engine visitor, along with the majority of first time visitors, are different. They are quickly scanning words and their eyes are darting around the page for several seconds looking for clues that you have what they are looking for. In almost 80% of all cases, they are ignoring graphics (and no, I did NOT make that number up).

I am NOT saying the appearance of the page and use of visual elements are not important. I am saying that real web designers study some very dry data on design, usability, and conversion, they pay attention to "eye tracking studies" that examine how people interact with web pages, and yes, they most definitely build web pages for users and not just search engines.

__________________
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.

kcremodeler

I will chime in here. I totally agree that hiring a pro to build you site, or at least assist, is as relevant as hiring a pro to remodel your kitchen!

One of the biggest challenges of being in the web design/web marketing business is that so many people have hired someone to do site for them - the site looks good and works well. What is missing is the MARKETING piece of the puzzle!

You can't go into the web arena thinking "If I build it they will come" mentality - it simply will not work that way. There are many onsite and offsite items that need to be implemented properly to create success. In my mind, this is where folks should really be spending the money!

I believe you can get a reasonably priced "framework" of a site done and then add the content yourself with some advice from a pro about keywords, density, etc.

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Burke Jones
Architect & Local Market Domination Web Marketing Guru
Kansas City Remodeling - My blog about remodeling in Kansas City.
Local Market Online Domination - SEO & Local Listing Service

MagicPoolSvcs

I took a class on web design and SEO and built my site within 2 months.
We get about 85% of our business from our site


http://www.magicpoolservices.com

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HomeSealed

Footbridge media has kept us near the top of the search engines.... Can't beat the price, I have no complaints. I know there are a lot of others on this forum that use them as well

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Magnettica

Yours is a very shall we say "friendly" looking website. That's a great idea to learn how to do it yourself because if you want anything done right you have to do it yourself is something I feel strongly about. However, web design and SEO is something I have let the pros take care of for me.

It's a $700 up front and $99 per month gamble that I hope pays off. How do I know if it will? I don't even know if that was too much or too little but it was what i could afford at the time. There are no guarantees and if one company doesn't work for me I'll move on to the next one.

Wish me luck!

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MattCoops

All my guys took the OSHA 10 hour and a few got their 30 hour training.
But they still get hurt on jobsites.
I took a class on bookeeping and I still have an accountant.

__________________
Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

lopreste

What I did was go to godaddy
and get the economy linux hosting go to the cpanel and install joomla. It takes
a good week to wrap your head around but very easy once you figure it out.
Also very google and yahoo friendly for seo. Anyway thats how I built mine.

lopreste

you did a great job on your site for only a 2 month class. I wish we had something like that here in the Ohio Valley Congrats