Hi everyone, Just wondering if anyone has found some really useful tips that they think would really help in finding new clients for web hosting, web design and SEO services. Please share your thoughts and advice here. Thanks.
You should of course look for local business first with trying to get local press to feature you as well as posting on any classifieds on the internet such as craigslist for your area etc. Next spread your name via business cards and a fliers hand delivered to businesses all over your area. I think once you do this you will be ready to promote your business on the internet with Freelance websites and your own website which you can promote via SEO etc. If you are doing SEO for businesses then you should already know some basics on promoting via the internet. But from experience a lot of designers making the real money lock down their regional market as well as a niche market on the internet.
Hi, yes for the impliweb website. And no i am not affiliate with iEntry Inc... never heard of them. I tried to google their website but their website was offline...? Yeah thanks for the advice. From personal experience in the past when my website was on the first page of Google for "UK Web Hosting", "UK Web Hosting Company", etc i didn't get many new customers. This is why now (with the launch of the new website) i am going to focus more on offline advertising... as you suggested contacting local businesses with fliers and business cards... also any ideas on how to get the local press to feature my website? Thanks.
Pay for seo consultant and rank your web hosting related keywords to the first page of google serp. that works better than you can imagine. Affiliated programs friend links and cooperaton with web design companies.
I thought as much. Since this site is your 'storefront' in essence, you need to come off as being professional, sincere and honest with your visitors. Landing on your homepage, you lost me right then and there on the professionalism part. It is obvious that you hacked a canned template by looking at the box titled "Why choose us?". The font size and color just does not blend in with the rest of the page. Plus the first sentence really caught my attention ("impliweb have been building prorfessional websites for over 5 years."). The reason I asked you about iEntry is because you claim to have done SEO and provide hosting for WiiPlus.net. From your http://www.impliweb.com/seo/seo-portfolio.php page: From your http://www.impliweb.com/webdesign/testimonials.php page: The #7 result out 97 million for Nintendo Wii is amazing. But just one thing, that website is hosted on iEntry servers and it is owned by iEntry ... how is that you do not know who they are? And who is Matt Pye? For the record, iEntry is huge. They own such properties as WebProWorld and Jayde B2B Directory. So now your honesty comes into question. And I have a sneaky feeling that you do not know who Richard Ord is, but I am pretty sure he will like to know you when he sees that claim.
Hi there, Matt Pye is a friend and client of mine. He was the co-owner of wiiplus.net - while wiiplus.net was run by him we got wiiplus.net to the top of the search engines for virtually all keywords related to the nintendo wii. Then wiiplus.net was recently sold (search sitepoint.com and you will find the sales listing as proof) and we do not do SEO for the new owner. As it says on the SEO portfolio page "As proof we have listed some of the keywords we have already got to the top of Google now and in the past.". We did SEO work for wiiplus.net in the past (before it was owned by the new owner) and thats why its on our portfolio page. I can't believe you would accuse the design of being a canned template just by looking at a box called "why choose us?". The design is unique and has been created from scratch.
I've picked up several clients right here on DP for SEO. A lot of people come here and ask for help on picking the right one, or they complain about how they got screwed by an 'expert' in the past, and if you approach them right you can turn them into a client. Aside from that, it's mostly word of mouth for me. In the past my blog actually ranked on the first page of google for 'search engine optimization' (man that was sweet, even if I was only in the #8 position), but that was years ago before I completely redid the site. If you rank for that or just 'seo' you have people just coming to your site ready to throw cash at you, no questions asked lol. Stupid people
Thanks for all the advice. I think since im quite familiar with online advertising methods already... could some people give me some advice on offline advertising methods? What offline advertising ideas you have found that work best?
The local market is definitely a route you should go for design/hosting/seo. The reduction in competition can allow for you to charge more realistic rates for your services. Other avenues of advertising: Affiliate program press releases interviews articles (can pass these to your local paper's business section) holding a conference: Some type of getting your site online, increasing your revenue through your website, etc. You can hold this for free at some local venue and invite local businesses to attend. It will allow for qualified leads and it will portray you as an expert in your field (if you pull it off correctly of course) local charity/event sponsorship newspaper ads Join the chamber of commerce local business magazines Direct mail: Get lists of new businesses in your area through your local city hall or newspaper and send out materials for services to get their business running Network network network And of course read everything you can here and at other online forums about business/marketing.
My apologies on that then. I would play that fact up to the hilt then. While it is not the crown jewel in the iEntry network, just having them interested in a site you created and buy it from you is worth noting. Taylor mentioned a lot of great avenues for offline advertising. Another one, and I do not know if you have this in the UK, is advertising on the backs of cash register receipts. We see them all the time in grocery stores over here in large supermarket chains.