Website for local service business

[Tigris]

Hi there,

when I started my business 6 months ago I created a free google site (just so I had extra online precense over social media). I have been made aware the SEO isn't great on these free platform sites.

Would it benefit me to create the site using a website builder such as squarespace for example instead of the free google site?

Thanks in advance

 

[fisicx]

Probably not squarespace (because it's not free) but you could build a wordpress site for nothing - all you need is a bit cheap hosting. With a bit of help from members here you could easily rank locally within days. And have the opportinity to add all sorts of bells ans whistles (again for free).

 

[Alan]

I have been made aware the SEO isn't great on these free platform sites.

Would it benefit me

Well that depends, is SEO an important part of your marketing strategy? I would guess not as your first site was a passing thought.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

Use Wordpress

 

[Tigris]

Signed upto wordpress and i'm already pulling my hair out, lol.

I used it many years ago for a simple photo gallery site for a hobby which seemed simple to use.

Found a nice theme but couldn't get rid of the word "sydney" from the header after looking for hours. Tried another theme and now it's duplicated pages and makes no sense at all. Looked it up and it appears to cost around £400 minimum for a 5 page wordpress site.

After spending almost 8 hours on it I wish I had gone with squarespace now :/

 

[fisicx]

Why £400?

Which theme did you install?

Try just using the standard theme and focus on getting the content and navigation sorted. Then experiment with different themes.

 

[Tigris]

Why £400?

Which theme did you install?

Try just using the standard theme and focus on getting the content and navigation sorted. Then experiment with different themes.

Might be getting somewhere now.

I've got the Sydney theme but can't get rid of the yellow word Sydney in the header.

 

[fisicx]

I've got the Sydney theme but can't get rid of the yellow word Sydney in the header.

I’ll get it installed and let you know how to fix it.

 

[fisicx]

I don't see a yellow Sydney in my header.

From your dashboard go to Settings > General and change the Site Title.

 

[Tigris]

I don't see a yellow Sydney in my header.

From your dashboard go to Settings > General and change the Site Title.

Thank you but i've done that and it's still there.

It was in the footer as well which I removed but then it's removed the sitemap etc from the footer as well, nightmare, lol

EDIT: I got there by adding a logo, lol. I did want the clean look originally as my logo is more of a square shape and didn't fit well there

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Probably not squarespace (because it's not free) but you could build a wordpress site for nothing - all you need is a bit cheap hosting. With a bit of help from members here you could easily rank locally within days. And have the opportinity to add all sorts of bells ans whistles (again for free).

I build sites on WordPress and would only recommend it if you’re going to pay an agency or freelancer to build the site for you. Managing it yourself when you have no prior experience or expertise is a receipt for disaster security wise. When your site goes down then you realise the real cost of it all.

Squarespace for all its faults may have a higher sticker price but it cuts out a lot of the crap that requires managing and has a lower learning curve. = cheaper long term if you value your time and focus elsewhere

It’s SaaS so obviously more limited however but it’ll get him off the ground until he can pay someone to build a WordPress (or other CMS) site for him.

 

[antropy]

When I started my business 6 months ago I created a free google site (just so I had extra online precense over social media). I have been made aware the SEO isn't great on these free platform sites.

Why not tell us what business it is? Some lend themselves to having a good website, some don't.

Paul.

 

[Tigris]

Why not tell us what business it is? Some lend themselves to having a good website, some don't.

Paul.

A computer repair business providing IT support for domestic and small businesses

 

[antropy]

A computer repair business providing IT support for domestic and small businesses

Sounds like a website would be handy for the business customers.

A facebook page would probably be more effective for the domestic.

Paul.

 

[Tigris]

Sounds like a website would be handy for the business customers.

A facebook page would probably be more effective for the domestic.

Paul.

I do stay active on social media

I am looking at offline marketing methods as well as some of my customers/potential customers aren't on Facebook (hard to believe these days,lol)

 

[antropy]

It's going to be pretty hard for a business to find you on Google and find your website as there's going to be a lot of competition, but once you make contact with them, they will want to see a website that shows you're legit.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

A computer repair business providing IT support for domestic and small businesses

If this is a local site, a simple WP site can easily rank for a whole range of keywords.

People use your specialist skills to get a computer repaired rather than try and do it themselves. Why don't you use a specialist to get a site built instead of trying to do it yourself? It won't cost anythere near £400. A good developer could get the site up and running in a couple of hours. All you then need to do is add the content.

 

[antropy]

If this is a local site, a simple WP site can easily rank for a whole range of keywords.

People use your specialist skills to get a computer repaired rather than try and do it themselves. Why don't you use a specialist to get a site built instead of trying to do it yourself? It won't cost anythere near £400. A good developer could get the site up and running in a couple of hours. All you then need to do is add the content.

A good website that ranks near the top on Google for well under £400?

Sign us up! ?

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

A good website that ranks near the top on Google for well under £400?

I did say local website. It really is easy to do if you follow a few very basic rules. Doesn't necessarily apply to national service providers (like yourself) but it's quite possible to rank globally for very little cash.

 

[AlexRobinson]

Hi there,

when I started my business 6 months ago I created a free google site (just so I had extra online precense over social media). I have been made aware the SEO isn't great on these free platform sites.

Would it benefit me to create the site using a website builder such as squarespace for example instead of the free google site?

Thanks in advance

Hey Tigris,

The answer to your question depends on how serious you are about your website. So in some instances, a free Google website is absolutely fine. But if you're looking to start an online business, you're much better off looking at custom builders such as Wix, Squarespace etc.

These websites are perfect if you're just starting out and running some social media, but if you're looking to grow, the next level up from this is a website built on a platform such as WordPress, through a tool such as Elementor, which visually is quite similar, but a little techier than Wix.

If you want to go all-in, however, I can't recommend highly enough getting a fully custom website built for you. It'll perform far better for you, both in terms of sales and visibility on Google. This is going to be the most expensive option, and you'll want to ensure someone you trust is doing it.

 

[fisicx]

...the next level up from this is a website built on a platform such as WordPress, through a tool such as Elementor, which visually is quite similar, but a little techier than Wix.

Nooooo!

Don't ever, ever, ever use Elementor. It slows everything down and creates the most appalling code. Avoid page builders wherever possible. All they do is add cruft.

 

[Tigris]

Nooooo!

Don't ever, ever, ever use Elementor. It slows everything down and creates the most appalling code. Avoid page builders wherever possible. All they do is add cruft.

Spent 8 hours yesterday using elementor, lol.

Honestly feel like going back to the Google free site for what I want or squarespace

 

[fisicx]

Keep is simple. Just plain content to your pages maybe with an image or two to highlight things.

Don't use a page builder. Don't use animation, facy backgrounds or whatever. Visitors to your site already know what they want so you just need to tell them how to get it.

Look at the tradesman theme in my signature. About as simple as it gets - the focus is on the content not the presentation.

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Nooooo!

Don't ever, ever, ever use Elementor. It slows everything down and creates the most appalling code. Avoid page builders wherever possible. All they do is add cruft.

As sad as it may be to you (a developer) many people couldn’t care less about the quality of code and that includes business owners. It just needs to load in a half reasonable length of time.

Users will also care about how it looks. If it’s a boring page and a wall of text they’ll bounce.

 

[fisicx]

Users will also care about how it looks. If it’s a boring page and a wall of text they’ll bounce.

Wordpress 5.9 now has a huge range of blocks with all sorts of features to remove the boring. No need to use a page builder.

A wall of text is properly structured can convert really well. A bit of formatting and a couple of images and that’s just about how every news article, blog post and similar does things.

Poor quality code includes umpteen scripts and style sheets plus a bunch of external resources. Out the box without doing any content creation a page builder will affect Google’s performance score.

 

[Tigris]

Keep is simple. Just plain content to your pages maybe with an image or two to highlight things.

Don't use a page builder. Don't use animation, facy backgrounds or whatever. Visitors to your site already know what they want so you just need to tell them how to get it.

Look at the tradesman theme in my signature. About as simple as it gets - the focus is on the content not the presentation.

Will have a look at that theme, thank you.

I feel this Sydney theme maybe a little complicated for what I want. The google free site seemed ok it's just you couldn't install the facebook pixel, facebook messenger and was extremely limited.

 

[fisicx]

Sydney is complicated and full of unnecessary baggage. What they really want is for you to get the pro version.

 

[Tigris]

Sydney is complicated and full of unnecessary baggage. What they really want is for you to get the pro version.

I pressume there's a way to completely reset wordpress?

I've installed the tradesman theme but it still shows certain parts of the old theme added on

 

[fisicx]

Can you give me a call. Probably easier to talk through what’s gone awry.

 

[Tigris]

Can you give me a call. Probably easier to talk through what’s gone awry.

I've reset the whole site and started a fresh

 

[CoderraLtd]

I've reset the whole site and started a fresh

There are a few plugins that will let you reset the WordPress database. If you use one just make sure you look at all the media folders and remove sample files from there too - otherwise if you reset a few times you'll end up with quite a bit of media in folders doing nothing ( bloating your website size ) and not registering in the media library.

 

[fisicx]

Having a bunch of unlinked files in the media library won’t affect the website size. It will add to the server space but that’s not usually an issue. Consider that Wordpress already adds a whole load of media files that might never be used.

 

[JamaC]

I would strongly advise you pay someone to create the site for you. I say this time and time again to business owners, know your strengths and accept your weaknesses.

Trying to build websites when you know nothing is very time consuming and if you value time, like many of us here, you will pay that one off payment to get the site up and running.

For what you are creating, it wouldn't cost a whole lot as it is a basic website.