Website Launch....So What Do You Think??

Cleaning Fool said:
A couple things I think you need. #1 you need a slot for testimonials. If you do not have any, after you do some jobs ask people in a short sentence or two to write down how well they liked the job and then incorporate those to your website. Make up a customer feedback card for this. Look at Zaino's testimonials on there site, thats smart marketing. People will always believe what others say about you versus what you say about you.
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That's a good idea and I really struggled with not putting one on, but my thought is the clients who refer me to others will do all my bragging and so will their cars so I shouldn't need a testimonial section.



I thought about just having some random quotes of clients posted up around the gallery section so people could look at the pics as they read quotes of the actual clients car.....



Maybe in a year or two when I update it all I will throw some in.



Thanks
 
JoshVette said:
YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!



Thanks, took the words out of my mouth. I've had plenty of price quoter's call just to never hear back from them again.



Those just doing a search for detailers are typically wanting a cheaper wash and wax and clean interior, not neccassarily wanting a high end perfectionist. I have no issues doing those jobs by any means, but they're typically not wanting to pay my prices for a simple job. (even though I don't consider myself expensive or overpriced)
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First off...Great website and design and very well put together.



You are right about the google price shoppers. They think it is all the same and wax is wax and anyone can polish a car. That is the crowd to stay away from. Most of the time they are people wih scratches that are way too deep and/or people with big SUV's with vomit and milk lingering in the back seats for 6 months, but then again they might give you a nice shiny quarter if you do a great job:furious:
 
WilliamHBonney said:
Dang Josh, that is one great webpage my friend. I would KILL to have something half that good for my business.
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Thanks, I really like it too, my bro. in law designed it, has his own web design co. and did an absolutely fantastic job. He really blew me away, I was just expecting a few pages with some prices and pics and whatever and he came out with that site and I was like....:faint: :bow :drool: :bigups
 
JoshVette said:
The claybar part is the kicker for me though, I'm too much a perfectionist and very black and white personality that I either clay the whole car or none of the car at all......It's one of the pro's and con's on my personality. It's very difficult for me to just spot clay or spot buff, I want to make the whole car perfect again no matter what process the customer pays for. I know I know.....
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I can understand that so you may want to just omit saying anything about claying in the description of your lower priced services and use it as an upsell instead.
 
JoshVette said:
YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!



Thanks, took the words out of my mouth. I've had plenty of price quoter's call just to never hear back from them again.



Those just doing a search for detailers are typically wanting a cheaper wash and wax and clean interior, not neccassarily wanting a high end perfectionist. I have no issues doing those jobs by any means, but they're typically not wanting to pay my prices for a simple job. (even though I don't consider myself expensive or overpriced)
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We've had a lot of discussions about websites and their intentions on Autopia; all I can speak from is experience. For me, I get a lot of google hits but not a lot of feedback from them - most are from out of town anyway. Where my website really benefits me is referrals checking me out. I honestly have lost count of the number of times I've heard "Joe Smith gave me your site and it totally sold me" in some form. The nice thing is when you deal with the clientelle most of us deal with referrals are often other "car guys" who we like to work for.
 
One more thing......



Get an analytics tool for your site. A great free tool is Google analytics (Google Analytics ). Easy to setup, basically send your webmaster a little piece of code that is pasted on every page of the site. He then re-uploads the pages with code and 24 hours later (sometimes sooner) you can see how visitors come to your site, the keywords they typed to find you, the site that sent them, how long they spent on your site as well as a myriad of other pieces of data that can help improve your site which should translate into more leads.
 
MX823 said:
One more thing......



Get an analytics tool for your site. A great free tool is Google analytics (Google Analytics ). Easy to setup, basically send your webmaster a little piece of code that is pasted on every page of the site. He then re-uploads the pages with code and 24 hours later (sometimes sooner) you can see how visitors come to your site, the keywords they typed to find you, the site that sent them, how long they spent on your site as well as a myriad of other pieces of data that can help improve your site which should translate into more leads.
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Already done. He's got it set up on active meter.



Pretty interesting where the "hits" come from too.
 
Bunky said:
It sure looks nice but why do many detailer web sites never clearly identify where they are located on the home page? I would think where they are serving and how to contact them should be clearly visible.
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Maybe the reason why so many detailers never clearly identify where they are located is because they are looking at their own website from their own point of view? Although most may not give it a thought, that type of thinking, (always focusing on their own needs and not the clients), may help to explain the major difference between being a detailer and doing what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and businessperson.



I totally agree with Al, the area served and your contact information should jump right out in plain view for all visitors to clearly see. It's basic marketing; who? what? when? where? why? And for those who may have not heard about this stuff before, these are the basic questions clients will have when they visit your website. And the quicker your visitors can find the answers to these questions, the more likely they will be to hang around and begin to think about using your services. Make it difficult and they will be out of there.
 
mirrorfinishman said:
Maybe the reason why so many detailers never clearly identify where they are located is because they are looking at their own website from their own point of view? Although most may not give it a thought, that type of thinking, (always focusing on their own needs and not the clients), may help to explain the major difference between being a detailer and doing what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and businessperson.



I totally agree with Al, the area served and your contact information should jump right out in plain view for all visitors to clearly see. It's basic marketing; who? what? when? where? why? And for those who may have not heard about this stuff before, these are the basic questions clients will have when they visit your website. And the quicker your visitors can find the answers to these questions, the more likely they will be to hang around and begin to think about using your services. Make it difficult and they will be out of there.
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This is true. It's hard to think like a client though. That's why I put it out here for all of you to view and give advise.



Good advise, thanks for the input.
 
Superior Fine said:
Looks good. And thank you for charging a decent amount for your work! Too many are too cheap! :wall



Good luck to you! :usa
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Thanks,



I still don't charge what I feel it's worth, but I'm still getting started out as well. A few more years I'll be able to have a good base built up and I'll probably up it again.



Quality is really priceless.....



Josh
 
I'm not sure I would put those yellow vette pictures up in the before/afters. It looks like it was only washed as there is still very noticeable traces of crap left behind in the after pics. Any insight as to what was going on there?
 
BuffMe said:
I'm not sure I would put those yellow vette pictures up in the before/afters. It looks like it was only washed as there is still very noticeable traces of crap left behind in the after pics. Any insight as to what was going on there?
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Are you talking about the pics of the chrome rims on the yellow Vette? or the whole car itself?



The pics of the car dirty and then cleaned is just a before and after of a wash of the whole car, the pics of the rims (front wheels and rear wheels) is just a before and after of the rims, the rest of the car had not been cleaned yet, I do the rims before I do the whole car, I describe that in my Procedure Page.



Thanks for noticing though.

Josh
 
JoshVette said:
Are you talking about the pics of the chrome rims on the yellow Vette? or the whole car itself?



The pics of the car dirty and then cleaned is just a before and after of a wash of the whole car, the pics of the rims (front wheels and rear wheels) is just a before and after of the rims, the rest of the car had not been cleaned yet, I do the rims before I do the whole car, I describe that in my Procedure Page.



Thanks for noticing though.

Josh
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Gotcha. I saw that the rims looked great but was confused b/c the rest of the car was still dirty. I guess if you're looking for opinions, I would do some cropping to show less of the still dirty car when just showcasing the rims to kind of direct the OP's eyes to exactly what you're trying to showcase.
 
Well done overall.



You've tried to insert almost 100 pictures and they are difficult to navigate.



Consider posting examples of 13 detailing issues (dirty floor mats, oxidation, pet hair, road tar, messy consoles, water spots, etc.) and posting your best before/after photos of those particular issues--thus, 26 large pictures.



Your customer are bound to think--"I have that exact problem with my car"--an hire you based on your demonstrated ability to fix the problem.
 
Josh,



I like the web site but do have a suggestion. Joe Public doesn't know about swirls. I mean they either don't pay any attention to them or they think swirls are just part of owning a dark colored vehicle. Heck, most show cars are swirled up.



Put a picture of a black hood with half of it swirled and the other half buffed to a perfect shine. The caption could read: Does your car look like this in the sun? (Before) If so I can make it look like this. (After) Put it right up on the first page. Education is key in getting more and better customers.



Tic
 
Ticman2 said:
Josh,



I like the web site but do have a suggestion. Joe Public doesn't know about swirls. I mean they either don't pay any attention to them or they think swirls are just part of owning a dark colored vehicle. Heck, most show cars are swirled up.



Put a picture of a black hood with half of it swirled and the other half buffed to a perfect shine. The caption could read: Does your car look like this in the sun? (Before) If so I can make it look like this. (After) Put it right up on the first page. Education is key in getting more and better customers.



Tic
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You are right. I actually have a few excellent swirl shots that I forgot to include in the before and after gallery gallery. When I have the gallery updated in a few more months I will have better before and after pics of swirls.



Great suggestion, thanks.

Josh
 
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