Replies

1. 
   frammer52 | Nov 12, 2008 07:27pm | #1

   COOL!>G<

2. 
   sawdust58 | Nov 24, 2008 05:18am | #2

   I have been listed on Angies List for about a year have gotten a fair amount of work. Guy in Miami found me and hired me to work here in his "summer home" in Ct. New families and transfers have given me work and long term relationships because they knew no one and relied on the references on Angies

1. 
   jimblodgett | Nov 24, 2008 06:52am | #3

   Angie Harmon? 

2. 
   JulianTracy | Nov 24, 2008 08:08am | #4

   Care to give an overview of how the Angie's list thing works (from a contractor's perpective)?I've heard of it of course, but haven't figured out where they're coming from - a source for H.O.'s to find good contractor's/etc. or a source to offer positive AND negative feedback about them.Also - is their revenue stream both from HO's looking and from contractor's advertising?In that sense - is it like service magic - they take your money and you get on a list and get cold leads?Thanks,Julian

1. 
   Huck | Nov 24, 2008 08:13am | #5

   I seem to recall I didn't like Angie's list because of their feedback system.  People can leave feedback, and there is no moderator to contact if the feedback is false, unfair, or libelous.

   My wife sells on ebay and amazon, and I have witnessed some horrendous abuse of feedback by unethical or ignorant people.  Some have even used negative feedback or threats of negative feedback to try to extort freebies from her as a seller.View Image â€œGood work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com

3. 
   ToolFreakBlue | Nov 24, 2008 08:17am | #6

   Yeah, please expand on how the Angie's List works.My marketing department (AKA the Wife) has been wanting me to ask my clients to please take a moment and give a review on Angies lISt for us. (She hears the adds on NPR)I looked and it appears to me that the reviewers, my clients, would have to join Angies List to leave a referral. How does it work?TFB (Bill)

1. 
   sawdust58 | Nov 30, 2008 04:56am | #15

   sorry for the delayed response - been out of townI don't know the particulars of the customer side of angies list - I do think you have to join to use it and on the contractor side they are always bugging you to take a full add for $$$$$$.I ALWAYS respond to e mails or call from users. that is the first thing they will bad mouth about on the response page. I get some whako requests(boading up squirrel holes) and some from great distances which I don't understand.I have gotten some nice work usually from new comers the area or parents who are out of the area and want to help their kids in a new home. Since being listed (1yr) I have generated about 20k of work I never sought or prospected forI definitely think it is anothaer useful tool to gain work

1. 
   ToolFreakBlue | Nov 30, 2008 08:27am | #16

   Thanks.TFB (Bill)

3. 
   Huck | Nov 24, 2008 08:19am | #7

   congrats!  I see your website has really fleshed out lately!  Nice work.

   View Image â€œGood work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles Greene
   CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
1. 
   seeyou | Nov 24, 2008 12:16pm | #8

   congrats!  I see your website has really fleshed out lately!  Nice work.

   Thanks. That's a new site designed by FatRoman. He did a great job, huh?

   I'm also getting some smaller stuff from free listings on Traditional Builder and some other similar listings.http://www.quittintime.com/      View Image        

4. 
   theslateman | Nov 24, 2008 01:37pm | #9

   Congratulations Grant ! Nice looking site Steve has built for you.

   First biggie of many more I'd wager !   Walter

1. 
   seeyou | Nov 24, 2008 02:06pm | #10

   First biggie of many more I'd wager !

   Thanks Walter. I just signed a contract to do a copper roof on the other main house on the farm that we featured a reroof on BT a couple of years ago. It's a converted barn. The roof is not as complex, but the inside is really cool. I did an addition roof on it about 15 years ago for the previous owner.

   edit: Oh, yeah. Steve did a fantastic job, IMHO. I've got some product fleshing out to do, but I couldn't be more pleased.

   http://www.quittintime.com/      View Image        

   Edited 11/24/2008 6:08 am ET by seeyou

1. 
   HARDWOODGUY | Nov 24, 2008 04:42pm | #11

   I don't mean to criticise Roman...I'd rather help you guys out with a good web presence.  But Roman could help your site even more if he removed the name Grant Logan in the title tag. Or if it's important, place it at the end of the title tag.

   For example

   http://grantlogan.net/roofing_projects.html

   Placing the company name in front of the page content in the title tag actually hurts in trying to get search traffic for the term "metal roofing" And when you think about it, what consumer would use the term "sheet"

   I was interested in a metal roof not long ago. I probably used the search term "metal roofing north georgia." Now if someone in Kentucky was looking for the same I would guess they would use the term "metal roofing ky." People use abbreviations big time.

   Is the site listed? I gave up after page five.

   http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&fkt=49075958&fsdt=49078071&q=metal+roofing+ky&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

   The competition is and a #### load of directories. These little adjustments can made a world of difference and a few other secrets many are anware of.

   Location (shown in text) should be on every page including an abbreviation of Kentucky. If that was the case in the example Grant's site probably would have shown up on page one or two. 

   But it takes time, and as someone mentioned backlinks. Very important! IE sites linking to you.

   So far Grant has only two.

   https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?p=http%3A%2F%2Fgrantlogan.net%2F&bwm=i&bwmo=d&bwmf=u

   Look at some competition for that term "metal roofing ky"

   http://www.taylormetalsales.com/

   Sure they're a manufacturer but he can get ahead of them on page one. Look at their links..

   Oh geez, there ain't no competition for that term. They only have three links but they have the KY abbreviation on their only page.

   I could go on and on with because I really enjoy analyzing this stuff and I'm pretty good at it.

   Let's do an experiment. Give me 1-2 months and I'll get you on page one. You don't have to do anything.

    

    

    

1. 
   seeyou | Nov 24, 2008 05:37pm | #12

   Thanks for your input. We're still tweaking. The site just went live last week and has not yet been submitted to search engines.

   I'm on page 5 if you search for "copper roofing ky"

   http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=copper+roofing+ky&start=40&sa=N

   and on page 2 if you spell "kentucky" out

   http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=copper+roofing+kentucky&start=10&sa=N

   which lends credence to your advice.

   But it takes time, and as someone mentioned backlinks. Very important! IE sites linking to you.

   So far Grant has only two.

   We added one this morning and I've been changing over the business links from my old site before I saw this post.

   Thanks again.

   edit: I'm on page two if you search "copper chimney caps ky" or "kentucky".

   http://www.quittintime.com/      View Image        

   Edited 11/24/2008 9:39 am ET by seeyou

2. 
   FatRoman | Nov 24, 2008 09:18pm | #13

   Thanks for the info, especially on the title tag text ordering. Never realized the ordering was as important as it's become.I think you were using Grant's old site. so a number of your concerns should be addressed as the crawlers take in the new one.Yes, lots of directory info on a search for him. He's got a Google business account, and when he switches the info there, that should help land him better results.As far as the state abbreviation v. spelling out the full name goes, the full name translates better in the search requests. A search for Kentucky will also return KY, but that's not necessarily true for the reverse.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb

   View Image

1. 
   HARDWOODGUY | Nov 27, 2008 05:30pm | #14

   "the full name translates better in the search requests"

   I agree completely, but many people don't do that. 

   On another note, one should think what Harriet the housewife will use when searching, not somone familiar with the construction industry. Women find the information more than men. They're more patient on the web, spend more time.

   Rather than me get involved, you should submit your site to dmoz.org. That's a very good directory, but it takes time to get listed. When asked title of the site do not use Grant Logan. Use some keywords like Metal Roofing Contractor Kentucky. With all links you get use keywords in the link including that one from Joe Fusco. Mix up the keywords from time to time.

   Examples:

   Copper Roofing & Gutters

   Metal Roofs Central Kentucky, KY

   Being on page two or five is meaningless really, but you know where you're starting from. If you work at this slowly over a period of a few months with say 10-12 links from other sites there's no reason why you should not be on page one with location and keywords being used by the searcher.

   You should put some locations where the work was done under the photos as well. They don't have to be accurate...few will actually ask. Stick some key affluent town names, locations etc in there, or locations where the work is at. That way chances are good you'll pick up search hits like "Podunk KY metal roofs"(example)

   Edited 11/27/2008 9:32 am ET by HardwoodGuy