Tilers Websites and Web Design

[Dan]

Hi Taffy,

Hope you take this comment in the right way.

Flash sites do not work in terms of SEO as Google cant see your site (you got master piece in vault...see above). So in terms of design its one thing but you will never get any organic SEO traffic to your site. You need to rebuild this in HTML to take advantage of traffic

Google only seeing your site as 5 words site!!!!!!!

RKS KITCHENS BEDROOMS BATHROOMS SULLY PENARTH VALE OF GLAMORGAN.

Hence you dont rank for any terms... such as

"KITCHENS PENARTH"
"BEDROOMS PENARTH"
"BATHROOMS PENARTH"

I was just about to say the same thing. Google can't read Flash or content contained within images. So it's like printing 1000 business cards and giving out 3. You just wont see a return on it. A lot of work goes into good flash sites too so it's a real shame.

Content is king. You need a lot of good content for your users and that'll make sure Google likes you too.

 

[Jeff the tiler]

Done mine through Go daddy and used their templates etc. Get's you going for little initial outlay. Probably took a couple of hours and wel worth it.

 

[Dan]

If your site ranks well for x number of keywords that generate 7000 searches per month and you get 4% of that traffic from Google (because your site in top of the rankings) that’s 280 hits per month to your site (9.3 per day).

I'd bet you a fiver that the average traffic rate for a UK tradesmen's site is more like 90% of traffic from Google. 8% from all other search engines combined. And 2% from social networks and other stuff.

4% seems a bit low, where else is traffic coming from in that example?!?! lol

 

[Dan]

I was thinking of running a group buy sort of offer.

If we get 500 heads wanting a website, we'll do it for £175 a pop instead of £300+ type thing. Think it'd be worth it?
Would have to play with the figures, not sure we'd get 500 right from the start maybe.

 

[peteablard]

You can make a start on one for me Dan, I'm sure the other 499 will be along shortly.......

 

[taffy]

I knew someone would say summit flashish 🙂
I was aware of SEO even when I made it, it was still fairly new back then, but I never made it with expectations of getting work from on-line traffic, just more like a digital notice board where new clients could pre-view my work in the gallery.
People will still have flash plug-in's installed for years to come so no need to change it yet.

 

[AMtek]

Is it better to look at visits, pages or hits per month to see how your site is doing? and how many of the preferred one would be a good number for sites like ours?

 

[itidiot]

Is it better to look at visits, pages or hits per month to see how your site is doing? and how many of the preferred one would be a good number for sites like ours?

Hi Amtek The best thing to do is check in Google Webmaster tools (if you have set this Up .. it's free so you should)

and look at how many impressions you have received (In Google Webmaster tools this actually means how many searches have bought up your site... The use of the term 'impressions' is different between Google Analytics & Google Webmaster Tools) v's how many click throughs you have received. If this ratio is poor it basically means your site is missing out on a massive proportion of search traffic because poor SEO. i.e People could be searching for "Tiler London" 20,000 times a month(Web master Tools Impressions) but you could be getting 1 click of that 20,000 searches.

Higher up the rankings you go the better the ratio you will recieve and that is the key metric if your site is doing well or not. (plus how many conversions/new business it generates :8🙂

So I cant really say you should be reciving X number of clicks, as each term has generates different traffic volumes. e.g. "Tiler john o'groats" might only have 1 search a month and if you get a click your doing pretty well but in comparison to "Tiler London" your doing poor!

Clear as mud!

 

[itidiot]

Dan. Why not sell links from this site as a Group buy inorder to help peoples SEO or even better give them away....

i.e. Create a Page on here for "Tiler London" and allow 10-20 websites be listed. That would really help people get more traffic/business from Google? Could really boost peoples businesses on here.

Perhaps people with the most posts get a page or a keyword for free. One way to repay the community for all thier top content!

 

[AMtek]

Okay I will try this, I did set up a google anylitics and webmaster tools account when I first did my site and had to put a tracking code into the site (does this sound right?) but when I logged in yesterday it said that I hadn't registered a site? strange

 

[jonnyc]

I've just fixed the link for you, but your website is down? Or your web address is spelt wrong?!

thanks dan . i will look at this. website definitely not down

 

[jonnyc]

thanks its ok now .
i really dont know what im doing but my friend alan who has done all the work on this website has a much better idea than me.
we have arrived at the type of visual image i want.
he is not a web designer by profession but was in marketing and has learnt as he went along.
but when i look at site and click on portfolio to see images of work it seems to be very slow and i really want the pictures central and not be able to see anything in background.
I dont mind if we have to go to a specialist web designer for this extra work but dont want to have to start again as alan has done a very good job i think and i want him to take the credit if he wants to do more sites and use this site as an example of what he can do.

 

[itidiot]

Okay I will try this, I did set up a google anylitics and webmaster tools account when I first did my site and had to put a tracking code into the site (does this sound right?) but when I logged in yesterday it said that I hadn't registered a site? strange

Hi Amtek

You have installed the Google Anylitcs code on your site as I can see the code. Your account number is UA-25072861-1 you just need to remember what your account you used.

if you have problems get in contact with Google https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery?hl=en-GB&service=analytics

Link attached!

 

[itidiot]

thanks its ok now .
i really dont know what im doing but my friend alan who has done all the work on this website has a much better idea than me.
we have arrived at the type of visual image i want.
he is not a web designer by profession but was in marketing and has learnt as he went along.
but when i look at site and click on portfolio to see images of work it seems to be very slow and i really want the pictures central and not be able to see anything in background.
I dont mind if we have to go to a specialist web designer for this extra work but dont want to have to start again as alan has done a very good job i think and i want him to take the credit if he wants to do more sites and use this site as an example of what he can do.

Hi Alan,

Your site/theme looks really good so dont get changing the design at all, just needs a little snagging. He's done you a nice site!

You need to get your designer to save your images optimised for web. Essentialluly the file sizes are too large.. your asking your visitors to download really large images which is unnecessary. In photoshop you can "save as web" and reduce the quality and size down. This will sort alot of your slowness out. 8 seconds to load a page will make most people click off before it's loaded.

Should only take him 2-3 hours to resave the images. It's a really simple job just boring (if they all need sorting that is). For example on your home page you have this image (double click and see how massive it is.. the shells the whole width of my screen) Broken Link Removed You could even do it!! Just need to download photoshop demo and a bit of instruction.

You have also got a link in the code thats causing issues. (wont really give you much in terms of speed when fixed but it should be fixed nevertheless)

The link is
link rel="stylesheet" href="[DLMURL]http://johnclarkenaturalstonework.co.uk/wp-content/themes/smallbiz/css/smallbiz-options.css.php[/DLMURL]" type="text/css" media="screen"

It's got two file extensions on the end of the link.css & .php so just delete the .php off the end and all will be sorted.

I would also get him to remove a plugin called "Stats for wordpress" as you have lots of plugins installed and you can just embed Google Anylitics and Google Webmaster Tools which are both free. Which renders this additional plugin useless.

Apart from that it looks good

 

[Dan]

^ Doesn't really render the plugin useless as many do actually block Analytics from their web browsers etc when blocking advertisements from Google. Incognito browsing will also be monitored by your Wordpress stats, but not by Analytics.

 

[Dan]

Dan. Why not sell links from this site as a Group buy inorder to help peoples SEO or even better give them away....

i.e. Create a Page on here for "Tiler London" and allow 10-20 websites be listed. That would really help people get more traffic/business from Google? Could really boost peoples businesses on here.

Perhaps people with the most posts get a page or a keyword for free. One way to repay the community for all thier top content!

I'd rather not sell or give away text-links. Tilers can naturally get links on this website.

We also have half a dozen related websites, directories, and others, where they can include a listing, and the lads here know that already.

 

[jonnyc]

Hi Alan,

Your site/theme looks really good so dont get changing the design at all, just needs a little snagging. He's done you a nice site!

You need to get your designer to save your images optimised for web. Essentialluly the file sizes are too large.. your asking your visitors to download really large images which is unnecessary. In photoshop you can "save as web" and reduce the quality and size down. This will sort alot of your slowness out. 8 seconds to load a page will make most people click off before it's loaded.

Should only take him 2-3 hours to resave the images. It's a really simple job just boring (if they all need sorting that is). For example on your home page you have this image (double click and see how massive it is.. the shells the whole width of my screen) Broken Link Removed You could even do it!! Just need to download photoshop demo and a bit of instruction.

You have also got a link in the code thats causing issues. (wont really give you much in terms of speed when fixed but it should be fixed nevertheless)

The link is
link rel="stylesheet" href="[DLMURL]http://johnclarkenaturalstonework.co.uk/wp-content/themes/smallbiz/css/smallbiz-options.css.php[/DLMURL]" type="text/css" media="screen"

It's got two file extensions on the end of the link.css & .php so just delete the .php off the end and all will be sorted.

I would also get him to remove a plugin called "Stats for wordpress" as you have lots of plugins installed and you can just embed Google Anylitics and Google Webmaster Tools which are both free. Which renders this additional plugin useless.

Apart from that it looks good

Thanks so much for your reply.
i cannot express how pleased i am that someone has taken time like you have ,to have a look at what i have tried to create.I think you understand what I am after. I am also open to any new suggestions that would make site better.
This has been quite a journey but I have complete belief that a visual website to showcase work is the way forward.
i have won two jobs this month as a result of submitting my quote and suggesting client look at new website.
i also have to admit that I have drawn my ideas from garden designers who work in the high end of their market.
They have a completely diffrent take than most tiling websites .
i

 

[jonnyc]

I will talk with Alan about your comments which are very much appreciated

 

[Protilers]

for a while now I have been wanting to move to a website that is a little more tablet/smartphone/pc/google.......friendly.......

I think I am on the right track......what do you lot think?

CLICK TO VIEW MY NEW SITE

it is not complete by a long shot but have a mess around.......

 

[beanz]

for a while now I have been wanting to move to a website that is a little more tablet/smartphone/pc/google.......friendly.......

I think I am on the right track......what do you lot think?

CLICK TO VIEW MY NEW SITE

it is not complete by a long shot but have a mess around.......

Looks good! Can i get some info on how you went about putting this together Lee? I really do need to get my rear in gear, and join the 21st century!! 🙂

 

[Protilers]

Looks good! Can i get some info on how you went about putting this together Lee? I really do need to get my rear in gear, and join the 21st century!! 🙂

I have been building it in HTML...notepad++ and dreamweaver...........plus I like computers, so I understand a few programming languages (sort of!)......my best advice is contact Dave Howe.......he has a lovely website....
and he had it built for him.....as opposed to my bash it together effort...............he may be able to point you in the right direction.........

all the best

Lee

 

[rainsco]

i like the before-after photos a lot!

 

[Ceramico tiling]

Best and cheapest option really if you're going down the template route is use Wordpress and set it up as a website, and then use one of the hundreds of thousands of templates that you can get for that. You'd end up with something akin to Dave's site.

WooThemes.com is one I subscribe to.



And they rank really well. And have loads of third party customisation options all for free. So you can choose out of dozens of gallerys for pictures etc, dozens of feedback form options etc etc

Ive been trying to suss out Wordpress.(partly since reading this post so thanks Dan)
But I am really struggling to wrap my pip around it.Trying to customize the templates seems limited and frustrating.Does one require prior web-development experience to use it in your opinion?

 

[taffy]

I'm not so sure about all these CMS solutions, they are an easy security risk... anyone remember 'matt's free scripts' many moons back.
static HTML is the best 🙂

 

[goz]

Gents please let me know what you think, need more photos on there but it's nearly there. Tried to keep it simple but stylish

- - - Updated - - -

www.cjgceramics.co.uk

 

[Gazzer]

Gents please let me know what you think, need more photos on there but it's nearly there. Tried to keep it simple but stylish

- - - Updated - - -

Christopher J Gosden Ceramics - Tiling Services for Chichester and Surrounding Areas

its getting there.

 

[Paul Smith]

Great looking website.

 

[cdstiling]

Hi , Please let me know what you think of my website any positives or negatives ?
here is my website CDS Tiling Harrogate And Leeds For All Your Tiling Work

 

[Del W]

Hi , Please let me know what you think of my website any positives or negatives ?
here is my website CDS Tiling Harrogate And Leeds For All Your Tiling Work

Looks good. I think your drop down needs to be a few seconds longer & theres a spelling mistake on your contact page... (should be "and" not an.)

 

[cdstiling]

Thank you for telling me that ,I've had a couple of people mention spelling mistakes...should of tried harder in English lessons!

 

[jonnyc]

my web site has been up and running for few months now. I have only had two calls but both found me because of key words that have been inserted seen or unseen.
one could lead to a 20k contract so i am encouraged.
I actually made the web site so i could point clients to it when quoting for new work so they could see what i do.
This has definitely got me a number of jobs which i might not have won if prospective clients could not see my previous work.
So i think the visual shots of work definitely help which is why i have so many images .
I can also see that by naming particular stones this will bring me in leads in time.
signed on for google analytics and it is an amazing site giving so much info about who and what people are looking at on my site.
I am yet to get my first job from someone who has found me on internet but I am optimistic.