# how many calls a day do you get from your website?



## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

I am on my 3rd version of my website...im a plumber

my first one was from a relative for $500..it was horrible...rarely got a call
2nd one was with a pro for $2,500....I get 1 or 2 jobs a month from it

my latest version is $6,000....I have 20 pages...I consider that I went all out....its just went live last Friday....ive already got 1 call/job from it this past weekend

I know it matters where you are in search engines and im going to be putting more effort into it weekly

my question for all you Plumbers/Electricians/HVAC guys....how many calls a day does your website bring you???

ive always thought the potential was up to 10 calls a day...but since I get 1-2 a month maybe im being overly optimistic at my future possibilities

thanks


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Well its decent enough, the content is good. It has some onpage issues, the blog is isolated from the site, there is no interlinking , page titles are a mess, ect. 

If someone used 2012 for a 6k site I would hop on a plane and punch them in the face. 

Not that there is anything wrong with 2012, its just the point. 

But it is a good site, tell your webguy the onpage is not optimized correctly, you would like a contact form below the phone number, the footer is quite nice but the services should be in a drop down menu as well as the build and remodel section, put it in the drop down menu. Add your location in the footer on every page, you have no social media icons anywhere, put them in the footer, there is a review widget that can be rolled on the sidebar as well if you want them on the front page in a little box. 

In answer to your question I get 30 a week on average in season.


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## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

I dream of 30 calls a week from my website...your doing something right

what would social media icons do for me?

how much time do you spend a week to keep it optimized to get that 30 calls a week?


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

huggytree said:


> what would social media icons do for me?
> 
> how much time do you spend a week to keep it optimized to get that 30 calls a week?


Icons would be important for people to goto Facebook and see if you are a real company, if you have people bitching and how you handle it. I would hire someone to do social media management, its under a couple hundred a month or there a bouts. 

I dont spend much time on it now really, maybe 5 hours a week. But ive spent a hundreds up to now. 

You have good cash flo. Hire one of the regulars here to do some seo for you, develop some blog content and promote it.


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## lawndart (Dec 3, 2006)

Are you a plumber or remodeling contractor? I see you offer remodeling services also. This might confuse some of your visitors. You might want to think about re-branding your company, or separating them entirely.

The site looks professionally done. Make the logo in the header smaller, because it's overwhelming and distracting. 

I'd also add a contact form on every page, and remove the CAPTCHA from the contact form entirely (I hate those things)

Very nice site. Now you've got to build relevant backlinks, through blogging, directories, social media, etc.....


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Don't forget Yelp and Google Places. Very valuable lead generating tools.


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

6k seems pretty over priced in my opinion.

I get somewhere from 10-30 a week on average during spring, summer, fall. Some weeks way more, some weeks much less.


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## lawndart (Dec 3, 2006)

BamBamm5144 said:


> I get somewhere from 10-30 a week on average during spring, summer, fall. Some weeks way more, some weeks much less.


I get similar results as BamBamm with my site through the organic listings.


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## lawndart (Dec 3, 2006)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Don't forget Yelp and Google Places. Very valuable lead generating tools.


Also Facebook, Houzz, pinterest, angieslist, and the BBB all help generate business online.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

lawndart said:


> Also Facebook, Houzz, pinterest, angieslist, and the BBB all help generate business online.


Facebook doesn't generate much and will soon cost $$$ for businesses as public traffic is reduced by instagram and other sites.

Pinterest is not a good lead generator and never will be. It's just not setup for generating leads or traffic.

Angieslist is a scam. It's a scam for businesses and for the public. Eventually people will catch on. Can't wait to get that call from them wanting me to sign up and pay to combat a bad review. And once they have you signed up you are screwed. You have given them permission to use and abuse your name and reputation.

BBB, don't even get me started. What a waste of time. I have been sitting at an A for 5 years...unless I pay for accreditation, I will stay there for another 5 years, and even then, they will have to review my listing.

I cannot comment on Houzz, never heard of it. Probably a flavor of the month. Eventually we will be saturated with these sites and have to jump from each flavor trying to guess which one will be the next one.

Like I said, the best are Yelp and Google Places. They filter and approve the reviews prior to posting them. It can take several weeks to get them to approve it and get it up on the site.


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## SectorSecurity (Nov 26, 2013)

6 grand seems like a lot for just 20 pages, 300 a page for something built on wordpress using a standard theme, just seems like a lot to me.


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## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

SectorSecurity said:


> 6 grand seems like a lot for just 20 pages, 300 a page for something built on wordpress using a standard theme, just seems like a lot to me.


a local LARGE website builder wanted $18,000 for the same thing + $500 a month to run my campaign

I got 5 quotes and $6,000 was one of the lower ones.....another was $9,000

you get what you pay for and since I know the potential value of a good website I didn't want to skimp this time....couldn't justify the $18k one though

thanks everyone for the info so far....so I know realistically I can get 10-30 calls a week from my website....its about what I would have guessed....now hopefully within a year I can achieve that goal....it would mean id be able to hire someone just to do service work(which is my intention with my new website)


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Did the company advise you on anything that you should be doing to help your site?


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

I'm curious as to who you contacted to build your site. The guys who put up my site did it for less than 1k and I have full control of it. Having a nice website doesn't get you calls. Having that website found by the public gets you calls.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

This is who made his site, and it says on this page a 10 page site is 2500. Why did you pay 6k?

http://www.pixelmagicdesign.com/pricing.html

Adding an additional page to your site is as simple as properly formatting the images and text. Its not like there are distinctive graphics on each property or whatever. and its not like it caused any additional on page seo work, because there is none. I could see it being $150 for an additional page if the person was expensive. That would bring you up to 4k I suppose, still a bit much but its in the realm of reality anyhow. 

But none of that matters really, even 10k would be acceptable if and only if it made your phone ring. You have massive holes in your system right now, more then can be just jotted down here that you need to get in order.


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

I've had my website for ten years now, and never _once_ has it called me. Ungrateful bastid!


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## Jhinton (Dec 1, 2013)

Have you tried craigslist as well? I get about 3-4 calls from that a week and it's free! Truth be told though, I only close about 1 job every other month from craigslist because most are looking for "handymen"... but it's still free.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Jhinton said:


> Have you tried craigslist as well? I get about 3-4 calls from that a week and it's free! Truth be told though, I only close about 1 job every other month from craigslist because most are looking for "handymen"... but it's still free.


Free to get every low balling, tire kicking cheap arse out there. And a 25% close rate bonus.


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## SectorSecurity (Nov 26, 2013)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Free to get every low balling, tire kicking cheap arse out there. And a 25% close rate bonus.


That has been my experience with Kijiji, it got me work but it was always from the cheapest people wanting to spend 300$ for a fully installed 4 channel CCTV system.


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Totally gave up on craigslist for finding gigs.

I've found apartments, roommates, tools, cars, jobs and everything else on there, but I cannot for the life of me seem to actually get paid to perform work from Craigslist.
No mas.


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

Your web designer should have set you up with Google Analytics so you know how many visitors are coming to your site overall. I think this matters less than how many people take action and call you or email you.

We average about 15 per week through our site.


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## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

Easy Gibson said:


> Totally gave up on craigslist for finding gigs.
> 
> I've found apartments, roommates, tools, cars, jobs and everything else on there, but I cannot for the life of me seem to actually get paid to perform work from Craigslist.
> No mas.


you could if you worked for 1/2 price....craigs list is great for side jobbers

when I want to sell anything for 1/2 price it sells same day...when I want what something is actually worth it never sells


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## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

CQC said:


> Your web designer should have set you up with Google Analytics so you know how many visitors are coming to your site overall. I think this matters less than how many people take action and call you or email you.
> 
> We average about 15 per week through our site.



website is still being completed...SEO will be started in a few weeks after we see where were at....I am setup to analyze

sounds like 10-30 calls a week is where my possibilities are....its very exciting to think about....since right now its 1 or less a week


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

huggytree said:


> you could if you worked for 1/2 price....craigs list is great for side jobbers
> 
> when I want to sell anything for 1/2 price it sells same day...when I want what something is actually worth it never sells


We actually got a decent lead on a roof job TODAY from Craigslist. The way we use CL is to place an add that directs homeowners to our website. We get a few leads every month with this approach.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

CQC said:


> We actually got a decent lead on a roof job TODAY from Craigslist. The way we use CL is to place an add that directs homeowners to our website. We get a few leads every month with this approach.


It's not how you use it, but who is using it. It attracts the lowest denominator.

Knowing your audience is key. But if it is working for you keep doing what you are doing.


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

TNTSERVICES said:


> It's not how you use it, but who is using it. It attracts the lowest denominator.
> 
> Knowing your audience is key. But if it is working for you keep doing what you are doing.


You can say that again! With the help of a biz consultant, we developed a pretty solid prospect qualification system.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

huggytree said:


> website is still being completed...SEO will be started in a few weeks after we see where were at....I am setup to analyze
> 
> sounds like 10-30 calls a week is where my possibilities are....its very exciting to think about....since right now its 1 or less a week


I am afraid of what you have waiting for you. When you label page titles it takes as long to do proper seo optimised ones as it does to do (biz name-plumbing) page titles. Especially since you used a local company familiar with the towns. 

I would ask them what methods they will be using for ranking your site, I would also have your attorney type up an agreement that they will not create spam, post your site to any directory that is not construction related, you want no blog comments that are not related to construction ect. You dont want blog posts in blog farms and you dont want anything with spun content. You want all your links to stick once you no longer retain their services as well.


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

JBM said:


> I would ask them what methods they will be using for ranking your site, I would also have your attorney type up an agreement that they will not create spam, post your site to any directory that is not construction related, you want no blog comments that are not related to construction ect. You dont want blog posts in blog farms and you dont want anything with spun content. You want all your links to stick once you no longer retain their services as well.


Good points!


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JBM said:


> I am afraid of what you have waiting for you. When you label page titles it takes as long to do proper seo optimised ones as it does to do (biz name-plumbing) page titles. Especially since you used a local company familiar with the towns.
> 
> I would ask them what methods they will be using for ranking your site, I would also have your attorney type up an agreement that they will not create spam, post your site to any directory that is not construction related, you want no blog comments that are not related to construction ect. You dont want blog posts in blog farms and you dont want anything with spun content. You want all your links to stick once you no longer retain their services as well.


It's my understanding that while page titles are part of the equation they do not hold the weight they use to. Good content concerning your subject as well as new content yields the best seo results.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Page titles and a proper interlink is probably the most important part 9 the site.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JBM said:


> Page titles and a proper interlink is probably the most important part 9 the site.


Even though Google will replace your title on search results with text from your content to better relate to the search string? 

Interlink and titles will go no where without GOOD CONTENT.


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

GOOD CONTENT is key!


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

Houzz isn't a flash in the pan. I've been using it as a means to have customers collect ideas to send me without having to understand email for four years. Pinterest is much newer and less focused for my purposes.

Houzz can certainly be used well by contractors to collaborate and show off portfolio shots. I plan on filling out my profile and uploading projects when I get to a slower window. That window is looking to be about a year away at this rate, but I'm not complaining.


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## CQC (Aug 5, 2013)

EthanB said:


> Houzz isn't a flash in the pan. I've been using it as a means to have customers collect ideas to send me without having to understand email for four years. Pinterest is much newer and less focused for my purposes.
> 
> Houzz can certainly be used well by contractors to collaborate and show off portfolio shots. I plan on filling out my profile and uploading projects when I get to a slower window. That window is looking to be about a year away at this rate, but I'm not complaining.


Totally agree. We have a few things posted http://www.houzz.com/pro/custom-quality-carpentry/custom-quality-carpentry
and hope to add some more when we slow a bit. 

The thing I like about Houzz is clients can leave reviews about us :clap:


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Even though Google will replace your title on search results with text from your content to better relate to the search string?
> 
> Interlink and titles will go no where without GOOD CONTENT.


I think everyone is under the assumption that good content goes without saying. Where people get lazy is the onpage. Onpage to me isnt good content, good content is supposed to be there. 

Mess up your page titles and try to rank for town or city terms. It will be pretty tough. 

Do random searches for cities like Houston or Boston for roofer or plumbers and see how many results dont have those locations in their page titles. zero. 

Thats why im surprised at the web company and how they did the page titles. No locations, lazy and will never rank for any town without pounding it with very powerful links-which that company probably has no access to because if seo was their stong suit they would know what a decent page title is. Round and round. 

Here is something from moz, they say page titles are the second most important part of on page, second to good content-which just goes without saying right.

http://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag

Web designers dont always make good seo sites. They might not even know a thing about seo, which is fine. But when they start charging for it red flags go off for me, because I know just from looking at the interlinking and page titles they are not familiar with seo at all, so they have no option but to outsource it to "someone" and god only knows who. 

So if you are going to have "someone" else do your seo with this knowledge, why would you have a middle man, especially someone who probably doesnt know good seo from bad? I wouldnt. If it were my site I would hire Steve or Ben to do the seo. They by far are the two I would trust without question to do the seo on my site if I needed it done right. And that isnt from reading their posts, its from digging into their seo work and checking their clients rankings. Its good stuff.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JBM said:


> I think everyone is under the assumption that good content goes without saying. Where people get lazy is the onpage. Onpage to me isnt good content, good content is supposed to be there.
> 
> Mess up your page titles and try to rank for town or city terms. It will be pretty tough.
> 
> ...


How does it go without saying? If it's number one, it's the most important thing, and needs to be said. There are so many sites with great titles and great links, but terrible content. Most pages do not have great content, because it's not that easy to create and maintain. Great titles are easy to create.

I think it's a great excuse to blame your titles for poor results. The first thing you have to review is your content.

Nothing should go without saying, especially if you are listing the most important of anything. You give those that know little about the subject the wrong idea.

But like I said, you can create great titles, but Google can and will replace what they think is better, pulling from your content.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

EthanB said:


> Houzz isn't a flash in the pan. I've been using it as a means to have customers collect ideas to send me without having to understand email for four years. Pinterest is much newer and less focused for my purposes.
> 
> Houzz can certainly be used well by contractors to collaborate and show off portfolio shots. I plan on filling out my profile and uploading projects when I get to a slower window. That window is looking to be about a year away at this rate, but I'm not complaining.


It's jumped in popularity in the past two years, is found mostly through Google and by people searching for it. Quite a large percentage of traffic comes from schools, not from residents or businesses.

But I did not say that it was a flash in the pan, just that it may be the flavor of the month. Until it stays at the top for more than a few years and is used more by home owners and not students, I'll bite.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> How does it go without saying? If it's number one, it's the most important thing, and needs to be said. There are so many sites with great titles and great links, but terrible content. Most pages do not have great content, because it's not that easy to create and maintain. Great titles are easy to create.
> 
> I think it's a great excuse to blame your titles for poor results. The first thing you have to review is your content.
> 
> ...



His site has good content, it didnt need to be brought up. Not so good content can rank too if everything else is done right. Page titles are not re written, the snippet can be changed if not set specifically in a plugin like yoast or coded in. His site looks like a web designer made it, which is good, its a nice looking site. but it has holes in it-for 6k I would have thought it would be tighter. 

Page titles are a big deal even if you dont think they are.


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## DKnafo (Feb 1, 2009)

You paid 6k for the site and it is using a free (not for commercial use) version of wowslider?


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## huggytree (Nov 3, 2013)

DKnafo said:


> You paid 6k for the site and it is using a free (not for commercial use) version of wowslider?


others have mentioned that one too

I let it go because to 99% of the population it wont be noticed

when people mentioned it to me it took me 4 times before I even was able to see it...now that I know its there, yea it bugs me a bit


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