Just about to purchase a Yell website package .

[DKW]

So i am wanting a website for a new very small business are the Yell Packages any good ?

 

[Ryan Scollon]

Run a mile - they are not that good. They can make decent looking websites, but as a long-term business strategy, they are just a waste of money. No decent SEO optimisation, all sorts of technical issues and I'm sure they have some sort of rule that once you stop paying, they get to keep the website.

 

[Ian J]

Google "yell website package" and read all about the many tales of woe.

If you have any website expertise at all purchasing a domain name and hosting package and installing Wordpress is the most cost effective way to go

 

[DKW]

I already own the domain name and have a hosting package (123reg) and have built a basic website but its the SEO i am struggling with.

 

[Ryan Scollon]

I would recommend you either read up on some basic SEO elements or hire an SEO consultant. Some basic optimisation should probably take an hour and then you may need some authority building which is more of a long term thing.

 

[DKW]

I am sure this question is almost impossible to answer but . What should i expect to pay for such services ?

 

[Ryan Scollon]

£50 - £100 an hour for the basic optimisation. As for the authority building, its hard to say but usually about £300 a month which is about a days work (1 link per month). If you are a local business, it might be worth looking for some local seo as that can be very effective

 

[DKW]

Ok so this is where it all becomes very cloudy for me i have seen the comments regarding Yell being expensive and not cost effective. But a friend of mine has a small business website made by yell using the same package i was considering and he is on the first page of google for all of the relevant keywords. The cost i have been Quoted is £300 + vat for the website and an ongoing cost of £65+ vat per month.

 

[DKW]

And sorry for all of the mundane questions which i am sure you all hear everyday.

 

[Ryan Scollon]

You are right - I have heard success stories too but 90% of the gossip is all negative. It's hard to say as I don't know your full situation, your friend might be lucky in that they are in a low-competitive market. The price is on the cheap side - but I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[fisicx]

I already own the domain name and have a hosting package (123reg) and have built a basic website but its the SEO i am struggling with.

Yell won't make it any better. Nor will any other DIY site builder.

There is no such thing as a basic website. A website works or it doesn't - the complexity is irrelevant. If you are struggling then you need to change the platform. Wordpress is a good free platform. There are many others. If you need help there are plenty who can do so. And for a lot less than £65/month. If you just want local ranking this is easy to do.

 

[Ian J]

a friend of mine has a small business website made by yell using the same package i was considering and he is on the first page of google for all of the relevant keywords.

That depends on what industry he is in and what keywords he ranks well for as the more competitive the keywords the harder it is to rank.

The cost of £300 that you have been quoted is quite reasonable but there again it will be a template website but in normal circumstances there should be no more additional costs apart from an annual hosting fee yet you are paying a further £780 pa

If you have all of the necessary copy it would still be better for you to build yourself a Wordpress site or get someone else to do and maintain it yourself which in the main will be just adding blog posts periodically to freshen things up

 

[Paul Norman]

You will not find anyone, within the web marketing industry, who will say that is a good idea.

Say no to Yell. Go to one of the highly competent web people on here - even us! - and you will save a LOT of money. The last customer we nicked from Yell saved around £500 per year, and had they come to us at the start would have saved about £2000.

 

[DKW]

Ok so my business is CCTV , Alarms and Access Control and i want to show up on google for the Yorkshire region. As i said i already have a website that i built using the 123reg tools and also have the 123reg SEO package which advises you what to do to get further up the rankings but i am loosing faith in the tool itself.
All the advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Ian J]

If you become a full member here you can then ask for a website review but having already looked at your website I can save you some money by telling you that it's pretty dreadful.

Google CCTV Leeds and then have a close look at the sites that rank near the top to see what a successful site should look like.

My buddy fisicx has some excellent advice on what not to do, on his website here which is well worth a read

 

[DKW]

Yeah I know my website isn't up to standard but it was a starting point for me when I set the business up.

 

[fisicx]

So now it's time to upgrade. Treat the website as an investment not a cost. Put some money in and it will probably pay for itself in a few weeks.

When you started business did you buy decent tools or did you get the cheapest junk you could find on eBay? The website is a tool just like a cordless screwdriver

 

[DKW]

So who wants to give me some quotes then ?