Website!

[utilityreg]

Morning,

I am after some general advice/costs for setting up a website.

I don't want anything flash, just something that is near the top of google and I can get a few leads from.

I am an electricity/gas broker so want to try and create some business through a website as well as cold calling

Cheers in advance!

Phil

 

[alphanumeric]

Do you have a budget?

What are our search keywords?

most of the seo people on here should be able to put together a basic site for you.

 

[utilityreg]

I should have said, I am absolutely clueless on stuff like this!

Obviously stuff like cheap business gas/electricity etc. pubs are a good source of business for me so could be included

I don't have a set budget but don't want to be paying stupid amounts as I doubt it will generate massive amounts of business

 

[mediadog]

I don't want anything flash, just something that is near the top of google and I can get a few leads from.

Getting 'near the top of google' isn't exactly straightforward I'm afraid. I get this request from a lot of clients who seem to think there must be a button you press that magically makes a site get on the first page of results.

Once you have a website (ideally programmed using the latest web standards to ensure Search Engines can index it easily) you'll need to get your website link on to as many websites as you can. Search engines base their results (in part) on popularity, so if your site has a lot of other sites linking to it, it sees it at popular, thus moving you up the results.

Another good way to get up the rankings is to update your site regularly - this is why a blog or newsfeed is good.

Of course, SEO experts can help, but choose someone who guarantee's results otherwise you might end up throwing money away.

The market you're entering is probably full of larger companies, so try and find a niche if you can. You mention pubs - perhaps get some beermats printed up? See if a few local pubs would like some free beermats! You could even get some beermats printed with the pubs name on one side and your details on the other... but this could get costly, just depends on how cheaply you can get the beermats printed!

 

[fisicx]

A single page website, optimised for a very specific niche could rank well in a couple of months. But if you want a more general set of keywords then you could be waitng years to see results. You can of course use online advetising an this can bring in good quality converting traffic from day 1.

Basically you have asked how long the piece of string.

Get a business plan together for the website, get the content written, do some some market testing and have a website built that meets your customer's needs and fits your marketing strategy.

Cost could be anything from £100 to £10,000 depending on what you expect the site to achieve. And you will still have to pay for marketing as well.

 

[zoezoe]

Morning,

I am after some general advice/costs for setting up a website.

I don't want anything flash, just something that is near the top of google and I can get a few leads from.

I am an electricity/gas broker so want to try and create some business through a website as well as cold calling

Cheers in advance!

Phil

A not so flash website could cost you just a few hundred quid. Getting to the top of google - is quite a different thing. What keywords do you want to be on google for? I would suggest a combination of your key services and the area's you serve?

We can do a start up website with 5 page, custom design, update facility etc for £250+ vat. The update facility will let you do all your SEO (google) yourself... PM if you are interested.

 

[who_me]

There are many solutions out there, simple portfolio websites should not be expensive. best thing is to look around find a price you like and call up thise companies to see if it is everything you want.

It could be argued that it is really hard for web development companies to clearly convey a product when there are so many different levels of consumer knowledge and so many differences between products.

When it comes to buying websites i don't envy the consumer.

 

[website]

double post

 

[zolacat999]

I have sent you a PM

 

[Nick63]

I advise you to find a webdesign company outside UK and this is going to be more cost effective.
If you just want to get site as a lead generator then you rather need SEO, so you should focus on searching for SEo (Search Engine Optimisation) experts.

Good luck!

 

[who_me]

I advise you to find a web design company outside UK and this is going to be more cost effective.

forgive me, and i mean this with the utmost of respect... but that is really bad advice... no wait actually that is probably the worse advice i have ever seen on this website.

Have you got personal experience of dealing with web developers from abroad? because either you clearly haven't or you are one...!?!

 

[zolacat999]

I must agree, im not be derogative to other countries but lots of their laws are alot more relaxed allowing scammers to easily integrate themselves.

 

[Esk247]

pick UK based..come on..we need your work and you're generally more protected by picking a UK based web designer hosting with a UK based company (which is better for SEO).

also..if they are relatively local to you, you can just pop round for a quick chat with them! go through some outline drawings of what you want the website to look like and achieve.

you'll find that when you sit down with a designer, the website actually requires a lot of work..do you want a contact form? or just an email address? do you want an @yourdomain.co.uk address..or do you want this forwarded to your current address etc etc..small questions, don't cost much in the big scheme of things..but important nontheless

no doubt you've had about 2 million offers already today from some on here.

 

[ken_uk]

Morning,

I am after some general advice/costs for setting up a website.

I don't want anything flash, just something that is near the top of google and I can get a few leads from.

I am an electricity/gas broker so want to try and create some business through a website as well as cold calling

Cheers in advance!

Phil

Argh, google is full of spam already, please dont add more, its bad enough having to almost punch people to remove them and stop them cold calling without websites popping up.

If we want to change suppliers we will darn well do so.

 

[Nick63]

Who_me! Actually not me, but one of my friends have a really positive experinece, and he is extreamly satisfied with that company.
aybe he is the only one, but he made a great deal!

 

[who_me]

Then who am I to argue, but I feel that your friend may be the exception to the rule.

I don't think you should use UK web developers simply because they are from the UK. The main reason for using UK companies is that as zolocat inferred, there is a lot more accountability and codes of conduct.

Equally the communication and process of dealing with international web development itself can be a nightmare.

As for affordability I also disagree, the choice of website developers and designers here in the UK is staggering you can always find great value for money.

 

[Danny Bluestone]

Visit www.Cyber-Duck.co.uk we are an award winning digital agency that will take care of all you requirements and all within a reasonable budget (would work around you budget)!

We have a dedicated Online Marketing department with the majority of our clients found on the first page of google (if not first!) for their chosen keywords. We have expanded our online marketing greatly within the past year and have just invested heavily in analytics software of which we try and go above and beyond the simple use of google analytics free software to make sure our clients are ahead of their competitors!!

 

[Esk247]

cyberduck..your website is amazingly comical..keep up the good work

 

[retroedgewebdesign]

Give me a shout if you still need someone.

 

[silklink]

Well, back to the OPs question...

You could look over to the Google business pages (link from their home page) and you will see some choice of advertising with Google that, for example, enables your website to appear at the top or to the side of the Google page dependant upon the search and keywords used in that search. Search for Gas and I'm sure there will be some results in the area I am talking about. However, these ads cost, typically a pay per click or similar, although you can set daily limits of expenditure. On the positive side, the ads can appear in other websites that choose to advertise with Google and get rewarded by a percentage of the pay-for-click price. So you get a very wide exposure rather than just being on the Google search page. You can contact Google who are very helpful, but again, be mindful of the costs that can run away easily.

Then you need to create your website. If all you are doing is advertising, this is a failry cheap setup - from free to £400 ish. If you want a more dynamic site, then this will cost more.

Hope this helps

 

[who_me]

Who_me! Actually not me, but one of my friends have a really positive experinece, and he is extreamly satisfied with that company.
aybe he is the only one, but he made a great deal!

Would this be the same eastern European web designer friend that you're referring work to in this thread?

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=108479

Naughty...there should be a law against it... oh... wait there is!