Here is the question for the day……. Does your company have a website? If so, do you feel it is worth the money?
We live in a small county approx. 15,000. Our county and two others near us are seeing more people moving here for either a “second home” or retirement. My thought is that a website might be a good way to go for advertisement. Any thoughts would be great.
Thanks!
Tamara
Tamara
Replies
I certainly book a lot of overseas rooms, vehicles, and activities over the web rather than look at traditional guidebooks. Just "search New Zealand Kayak rentals" for instance.
I don't think that is as common for shopping locally yet. Certainly a good venue for the realtor who is trying to attract out-of-town clients looking to relocate.
Maybe get your names in with those realtors who specialize in raw land. It makes the deal more attractive (i.e. they are more likely to make the sale and get the commission) if there is a builder ready to assist in the process. I think it is much more common for people considering a relocation spend a day driving around with a realtor looking at property than to visit a few contractors, so maybe you should leverage off that practice.
Our company has a website, (http://www.rehkempers.com/)and it was a complete waste of money IMHO. We get zero business off of it.
But - We aren't a general contractor, but a component supplier. The way the component business is advertised is much different than some others.
You've got to make sure the right people get to your website, or it's worthless. Can you put a banner ad on a popular website that attracts people from your target area?
Put a website up that doesn't clearly layout where you do business, and you're likely to get people from halfway across the country emailing you to ask if you want to come fix their storm door or something like that.
I think it can be helpful in some circumstances - but it has to be marketed right.
Treachery will sometimes bring loyalty into question.
I have a web site for my vinyl window business http://www.vinylwindows-usa-east.com and it doing very well. I spent a good deal of time with a very good hands on web designer and it is paying off.
Edited 5/15/2002 12:55:51 PM ET by GCOURTER
I spent a year as the editor of a website and am now getting backinto the trades and starting my own carpentry business, (at least going legit with it). Being the least un-knowledgable of my tradesman friends, I have been advising them on this and have always told them the same thing:
Websites will not bring you sales, but they can help you make a sale. Think of it as a brochure. A website is a great place for a portfolio of your best work and pages and pages of stuff like your company's mission statement "commitment to quality" etc., history, awards, testimonials and letters of thanks from clients. Things that would bore a person to tears if you placed it on a table in front of them are "fun" to explore and click around in a web environment.
Having your simple, concise web address on your business cards, print ads, brochures, phone answering message, etc. is a great way for people to find out more about you. This way, it is very easy, when asked what you do, to say a sentence or two and hand them a card: "...there are some good examples on our website, you should check it out, the address is right there...".
That said, it is better, IMHO, to have no website than an amatuerish, ugly, out of date site. The quality of the site will be people's impression of the quality of your true work. It just needs to be clean and clear and free of unicorns, teddy bears and other hideous clip art, not fancy or high tech. If you have someone do it for you, don't let them oversell you on tons of features. All you need is a place for people to get info. There are many good programs out there that can help you build one, especially if you also buy one of those "Mastering (Name of Program)" books, they make a ton of them and there will definitely be one for your interest/expertise level.
Also, put one small or a couple tiny, if any, pictures on the front page. It should load quickly, and then people can CHOOSe to see larger pictures (and to wait while they download).
And don't forget all your contact info. I have seen a few sites of folks on these boards that are nice, but don't say where they are.
-Best of luck,
Don
I have a website http://www.jjwalters.com and use it the way you said. I DO make sales, but usually only after the person gets my webdress off my business card or from some other source like local paper adds. Expecting to get business any other way ...like using search engines or paying for a search service is IMO a waste of money.There are fast carpenters who care..... there are slow carpenters who care more.....there are half fast carpenters who could care less......
Interesting comments. I'm not a builder, and I've always thought of my website as a convenient online portfolio that I can point people to. It never occurred to me that people would just 'happen onto' it and feel that they must buy a piece of furniture from me on impulse. In three years it hasn't happened, but I've made a couple of sales because I was able to entice an interested party via the website. But as a money spinning source of sales it's never going to happen for me---------but it's there as an introduction or lure, and that's helpful, but not generally crucial to my sales efforts. Slainte, RJ.
Link to RJFurniture site.
Edited 5/13/2002 8:52:54 PM ET by Sgian Dubh
Your site is a great example. Great looking stuff! I had no idea anyone was building that kind of in Houston when I was living there. I've been in NYC for about a year now. Ever have a pint at Sliante Pub?
Don
Yes. In downtown Houston, on two floors? It was an okay bar, full of yahoo's, but still okay. I guess I was a yahoo for the night, and all the streets around there are one unholy mess right now too. Myself and the web guy are looking into breaking up The Gallery section into smaller logical parts. It's got so big it takes too long to download for most people. Slainte, RJ.
Link to RJFurniture site.
Edited 5/13/2002 10:36:23 PM ET by Sgian Dubh
Around our area (Indianapolis) it seems to be an advertising necessity. We contemplated a website for a couple of years until prospective customers kept asking if we had a website. I had a lady in her 70's ask me once what our web address was. So we took the plunge and had a young (college student) web designer put it together for us. He charged about $900 and the web provider charges about $100 per year.
It has brought quite a few prospects our way. I'm not sure how many actually panned out.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
http://www.lazarobuilders.com
John
I looked at your web site and am very confused. Why does the sub-division that you build in care about what people use for skiing?
The revenge of the spell checker.
I guess I know what the site designer was thinking about that day.
Thanks for the heads up. I missed that one.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
http://www.lazarobuilders.com
http://www.pro-dek.com was set up to refer prospective customers to so they could qualify my work and provide them with some assurance that I was not a fly by night hacker but sincere in my efforts to provide them with a quality deck.
Is it worth the money? Yes
People do find my site through Hyperlinks from other lumber yards, as a preferred deck builder also which gets us some business.
Will you get more business from it? You will get some but as others have said it is best to use it as a portfolio. Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Some quick bullet points (and these are things that others have said as well):
- Think of a web site as an alternative to the yellow pages. A lot of people go online now to find a particular business/service. Be SURE to put your phone number on every single page!
- Think of it as a brochure. Most of the time, for a lot of business, a web site really shouldn't be anything more than a brochure.
- Keep in simple. Don't fall for bells and whistles. People want information. Not animated logos, music, and animations.
- Hire someone to do it if you are not comfortable doing it. This is true of most marketing materials, it's no different on the web.
- Pick a GOOD URL. Try to avoid dashes, as those are hard to communicate verbally. Be sure to put your URL on everything (business cards, yard signs, etc...)
- A good web site doesn't have to cost a lot. Don't hire a 'package deal' place that gives you 5 pages for $x (a lot of phone companies and ISPs do that) it may be cheap, but you get what you pay for. Find a freelance web designer or a small design firm instead.
- Register the domain name yourself. Don't let anyone else do it for you. DON'T use networksolugions/verisign to register your domain either. I prefer dotster.com
- Photos are good. If you sell 'product' (ie, homes) put a gallery/portfolio on your site.
- extras to think about down the road: (These are things you can do with your site that go above and beyond a brochure. While these can be great things, you need to study the ROI before diving in)
- Web cams (put a web cam/snap digital photos at your site to show customers the progress of their new house)
- Completed house archive. Do you snap in-production photos of houses (to show interal wiring, plumbing, etc...) if so, maybe consider an online database of these photos that current home owners can access for reference. Maybe allow home owners to add to the database over the years as improvements are made (can really help at resale time).
- Content Management System. If you plan on updating your site a lot yourself (which is a good idea) consider investing in a content management system when you build the site. This is an online tool that allows you to update the site via a web browser. This costs more initially, but can save money over the long-term.
- Client extranet. Do you have clients review and sign-off on plans/budgets? If so, you may want to consider a client area of the site where they can review documents.
- discussion boards. They can be good, if managed well.
- Online Scheduling. Do you deal with lots of subcontractors? Perhaps an online extranet for your subcontractors to check schedules may be a time saver.
What do you have against Verisign?
Besides their fraudulant direct mailings?
And besides their greedy abuse of their position?
And besides... oh well... I hate the scum too.
But seriously... why do YOU advise against them? I know why I do but why do YOU? Curious minds want to know!
BTW, I filed complaints with ICAAN, with the USPS Inspecters office, with our state attorney general, the BBB, and with the FTC about their fraudualnt mailings.
I'm a Builder and have a web site.( in Australia) I think of it as an electronic brochure, potential clients want to see past work and instead of them traipsing all over the place and looking at the outside of a house, the website gives them a more detailed look, interiors etc. I was lucky my son was able to do it for me, now if only I could get him to put up the latest house shots.......
I too live in a rural county, population 25,000, and have found my web site http://www.tinyhousecompany.com to be more than worthwhile. Fortunately, we have three colleges in the county, so a very well-educated and well-employed population, and we're within the "retirement belt" of Washington DC so we get a lot of well-heeled retirees here. I'm linked to the chamber of commerce so anyone from outside the area who is considering moving here is likely to see my link and be enticed by the name, then they follow up on the content. It also makes a great "business card" for locals who want to know more about our design/build services. My business partner is the web site designer and manager, so it only cost us the cost of the provider in direct costs, about $120 per year I think. I recently sold a $34,000 house lot and a $135,000 house to a lady who checked out the web site before contacting us, so I've made a handsome return on the investment. Sometimes its hard to gauge the value of the web site, though, since in some cases the sale might have happened anyway, and the web site was just icing on the cake. Regards, Andy Lee
I keep a website at http://www.contractor.com/tcw with a link to an MSN Community where I maintain photo albums of current and past jobs. Hosting through contractor.com costs about $15.00/mo. I set it up more as a portfolio to showcase our work for clients that have already contacted us, I have not received, nor do I expect to receive any job inquiries because of it.TCW Specialists in Custom Remodeling.
AndyLee
Your website is really nice! But I saw some spelling and grammar mistakes that detract from the contact (their vs there usage) boxes spelled boxs, etc by drawing my attention to the mistakes. But I agree that a well built smaller house is hard to find, and if I was looking at your website with the intention of having a smaller home built I would give you a call. So it is a very effective website.
Hey, thanks for the compliment, and for the heads up. We are currently re-vamping the site, to add the new cabin line we've just designed, ranging from 400 square feet to 1100 square feet. I'll make sure it gets proof-read a few times before we relaunch it. Thanks, Andy Lee
Andy.......WOWWWWW....you got it all together (sorry for the spelling and grammer.....lol). I totally envy all that you are doing. Totally incredable. You're one of the few builders that I actually envy. Personally I'm looking to move west after 51 years here as a native New Yorker and do some of my ideas along with all the skills I've acumulated over the years....Ain't gonna devuldge my idea's just yet but tell ya what......you'd be the first I'd devulge them to. You rock man....Keep it up. The earth needs more folks like you and yours!!!!
Be well
Namaste'
Andy (the other one : )It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Thanks for giving me your website address. Great stuff! I will show this to Lars. Thanks again to all that have responded to my question.Tamara