Web Content

Cole

Did you write your own or did you have someone right it?

I am really unsure, if I want to write my own or hire someone.

I mean seriously, who can know more about my services then me, the person who installs them. I am just unsure on SEO and content writing.

Any help please?

My new site, will be 20+ pages.

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

Ted W

If you're anythign like me, you're better at knowing your business than writing about it.

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Carpentry and Woodworking - Chicago / North Shore - Ted's Carpentry

"I don't know everything but at least I think I do, and that's what really matters."

A W Smith

I did my own but i really need to update it. The navigation is non traditional and the content brief. I did not use a template. if i had a tool to create graphics, buttons, effects, etc that was quick and easy I would update it today.

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Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

thesidingpro

I would roughly write it myself and have a someone qualified to proof read it and make it more professional.

RobertCDF

what you might need to do is record some of your sales calls. I can't write for crap but if I have a customer in front of me I can yammer for an hour. might help you get some ideas for content.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Cole

These are both fantastic ideas!

Thanks guys!

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

SquirrelNmoose

Get your ideas and some text to someone who knows web marketing. t Owners can get too distracted in the details of their profession.
Web site visitors want the info the are looking for immediately. Too much mumbo jumbo and they will move on. It needs to be interesting, to the point and speckeled with keywords for search.

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Len,
"There is no charge for Awesomeness"
A view through the eyes of SquirreNmoose

porkchop

I would write a rough draft and then have someone professionally review it and rework it to cater it to your audience. Take in to careful consideration your keyword density in your content. Content plays an important role in your sites optimization. A good web copy person in Chicago charges $65+ an hour.

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- Chris
My construction company- Chicago Painting Contractor, Chicago Handyman, Chicago Remodeling. Chicago Internet Marketing by LSB.

steve_gts

I would find a good company to work with, get them to do all the design aspects, then you can add the text, of course, they can then proof read it for you. Having someone who is not from construction proof read it is esential if you are targeting the general public, as what you consider to be standard terminology could be a bit to technical for the average Joe.

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Steve

Construction Software UK | Sage 50 Accounts Shop

ChrWright

Cole,

I built my site for the first time in '04, without knowing much about SEO. I used MS FrontPage because I was used to using MS products and because it had a desktop publishing feel, which I was used to.

Since then, I've added and tweaked and adjusted as I learned more about web design, and SEO. The basics are not hard to find & use, but there's no magic bullet.

One thing I would definitely recommend is to learn as much as you can about keywords and how the search engines see & index your site. Choose the keywords you want to target before you do anything. Even the titles of your pages should be keyword heavy.

(One tip, use hypens for page names and URLs, NOT underscores, and don't use titles with two/more words connected with no spaces.)

All of your content should be sprinkled with keywords, if you want someone to find you on the web.

Use GOOGLE Analytics. You have to insert a short piece of code in the HTML of your site--but it's free and will give you some great info about who's visiting your site, where they're from, how long they looked at your site, what they looked at, etc etc. Some hosting companies offer something similar.

I decided early on that I would have to build my own site and fill it with content. This was a personal choice: I didn't want to pay someone else to do it and then hate what they did. And it's true, no one else can communicate what you do, and the personality of your business better than you.

One of the things you just accept early on, is that it will never be perfect. There's just too much to learn, too many little tweaks, to ever get it completely right from the get go. This was a hard one to swallow for me, a perfectionist.

When I write new content for my site, I keep the following in mind:

1 Keywords
2 Demonstrate my knowledge, ability: Credibility
3 Keep visitors on my site--break everything into short bites easily skimmed.
4 Try to write more "YOU"s, than "I"s. Benefits to the reader, not features of me/my company.

The two most important things I have found are testimonials/references and pictures of my work. Visitors often come looking for ideas, when it comes to remodeling anyway. Show them you can build beautiful things.

Hope some of that helps.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

tinner666

Good thread. I just added Analytics to a few of my sites.

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.