Web Site Building for Detailing?

5

5IVE

New member
I'm currently creating a website for my business and wanted to know what/who you guys used to create your sites? Some of them are very user friendly and marketable too. If you could share any programs you used, I would GREATLY appreciate it! Thanks guys!
 
I currently use sitecube.com . However, in the past, I've used web.com and citymax.com in the past for this and other websites. Sitecube produces the coolest websites in my opinion, while web.com and citymax.com both produced very nice clean websites. All have templates that you can use to make your own website from, and all were easy enough for me to use, so I'm sure anyone else would be able to handle them as well. It all depends on what you want. There are cheaper hosting companies with templates, but these are the ones I liked best.
 
Tripod.com for the website challenged LOL. It's super simple easily customizable and dirt arse cheap. (for the pro package I pay like $8/month) Much nicer sites out there than mine but I don't have all day to learn programming and I'm not about to pay some chucklehead $200+ a month to do it for me.
 
5IVE said:
thanks guys. is there anything that's available and worthy that's free or at a one time cost?
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Not without a crap load of ad on banners and stuff that really take away from your overall site. Free sites just aren't worth the hassel from everything I've personally seen.
 
err... try Lowesthosting.com.... you have to build your own site, but you may find that a one time fee to a "chucklehead" and then this place is less expensive then an all in one service..
 
since we're on the topic of web site hosting and building...I'm using iWeb to attempt to build a site for my detailing services. Does anyone know of any hosts that can host my iWeb-built site? If I host on .Mac, they have a really long URL which obviously is not effective for marketing purposes.
 
Hostgator is a good host. I host probably 5-6 sites with them, mainly forums. They should be fine for you, its around $7.50 to 10 a month, depending on the package and term you choose.



PM me if you want my referral link and coupon code to get $9.94 off the price.
 
There are a few good hosting services for you to choose, just be advised that a few dollars saved may mean the difference of [good] customer support or not. Check out their contact or support page to see how you can contact them and any documentation they may provide.



domainnameroundup.com

globedomain.com

godaddy.com

+1 hostgator.com

1&1.com





Good luck.
 
I use 1&1.com and like it. I'm not too computer smart, but I managed to pull together my site by myself. I recently upgraded my package, switched from Linux to MS Hosting and lost everything. Had to, still am, re-doing the site.

I have called customer service MANY, MANY times. The wait time was minimal and the support was awesome.



Just my experience.
 
For free web hosting and design one you could try Freewebz.com, the same site as, i think, Freewebs.com. The only thing they ask, is to include a very small link to their site. You have to pay to remove the link and update the services.



For a small site it might be worth it.



But hosting is cheap nowadays, so it might be worth the cost if you plan on saying around for awhile. Web-Hosting-Reviews.ca
 
I'm a chucklehead and this is what I would consider when building a detailer's site:



Traffic Generation: What's going to drive visitors to the site? Banner ads? Direct mail? Flyers? Word of mouth? How about email blasts to previous/current customers with special pricing/events?



Design for your market: Are you going to cater to the high-income, full-detail crowd or the larger wash & wax crowd? Knowing this will help you determine the right look & feel and language to use. Don't assume you can't change your market over time either. Plan to do at least a minor redesign in 2 to 3 years regardless.



Features: Are you going to offer anything for your existing customers, or is it just an informational site for potential customers? Some features to consider for your customers is the ability to schedule their appointment online. You could even go so far as to allow them to see their history with you including the date of their last appointment, the services rendered and products used. How about the ability to schedule a reminder email so they're automatically notified when it's time to make an appointment?



As math teachers are apt to say, "you gotta show your work": Put only your best details up. Impressive turnarounds and exotic cars are probably going to give you the most mileage. Don't go crazy with the number of pics and make sure the gallery is easy to navigate.



Okay... I'm done.
 
kaval said:
since we're on the topic of web site hosting and building...I'm using iWeb to attempt to build a site for my detailing services. Does anyone know of any hosts that can host my iWeb-built site? If I host on .Mac, they have a really long URL which obviously is not effective for marketing purposes.
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I use iWeb with .mac. I also have a domain name from GoDaddy.com and they offer free domain name forwarding, which is routing to the long .mac url.

Godaddy=$20/yr

iWeb=included in iLife (included in new macs) or $99

.Mac account=$99/yr



Fairly cheap way and very easy to use. The only drawback is no ability to include meta-tags for search engine optimization to drive people to your site. I just post a CL listing and include my website in the ad. For some strange reason it works.
 
What is a "CL listing?"



I just got my site up with the basics using iWeb. Still got a lot of work to do which is mainly writing DIY's and such. After vacation I'll try to optimize the content. I notice that iWeb puts a TON of unnecessary code. If you have Dreamweaver, you can open your site in there and see what I'm talking about.
 
About optimizing for Search engines.... focus on the title tag (keyword rich) and then ensuring the keyword is properly seeded within the content.



Meta tags are basically useless (google reads but does not account for in the rankings, while Yahoo only gives a little weight to the tag) - a few years back everyone started stuffing non related keywords into their meta keywords just to score traffic.... basically ruined it for everyone.



Focus on one keyword phrase for a single page - build relevant content around the theme. Include the keyword phrase in headings, bold and bulleted lists etc if possible. Don't over do, and remember that it still should read nicely for a human visitor. (You will be penalized if you try to game by stuffing the keyword) If you have 300 -500 words on the page use the word in different variations about 5-8 times (that includes using in title and headings)



If you can control your url structure i.e examplesite.com/auto-detailing.html try to use your keyword in the there as well.



As you are probably starting to realize.... the page needs to be aligned with the selected keyword.



I could give a whole dissertation on this..... as there are a host of other factors.... one final point. If you are looking to use a free hosting account... if your website resides on the same server as someone who has tried to game the system you too maybe at risk for being penalized. So free is cheap but in the long run you may do yourself a disservice.



Hopefully I have helped (I apologize if I just confused you more :) ) but SEO can be a deep rabbit hole.



From and SEO standpoint the local marketplace is still wide open..... an example is auto detailing vs. Sturbridge auto detailing as a keyword phrase. (the second phrase is for a detailer who I built a site for and helped optimize for local traffic)



Good luck
 
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