Tired of paying for marketing that doesn't work

[Fixed Sight Training]

Hello all,
I own a firearms training school and range. I offer pistol and CCW training as well as long range rifle training on one of the few 500+ yard rifle ranges near Denver. Also shotgun training with automatic throwers. Mine is one of the only schools in the area that offers all this training in one private facility in CO. Because I offer these different types of shooting in one private range I've started doing private parties like corporate parties and bachelor parties with people coming out and shooting pistols, long range rifles, shotguns and carbines, an AR-15, all guns and ammo provided and all with basic instruction and with an instructor watching.

What I think I've done right,

I have a website which gets good feedback but I'd appreciate an honest opinion. Its my first attempt at a ws but it is ongoing. Fixed Sight Pistol Training | Centennial, CO 80015 (http://www.fixedsighttraining.com)
I have 20 to 30 5 star reviews. I've never received anything but 5 star reviews.
I've paid thousands for SEO and I have okay front page results but I still only get 10 to 20 hits a day and right now 2 or 3 people who follow up for training a week.
I have listings on yelp, manta etc, etc.

What may be hurting me but I don't know how to help it.
I don't have a store front.
Looking back I should have picked a name that was more descriptive of what I do and where I am. I don't know if it's worth doing a DBA or changing the name at this point. Would I loose the search engine standings I have?

Many local gun stores have their own CCW classes so they aren't too excited about advertising for me, even for the stuff they don't do like long range rifle training or shotgun training.

I have asked a few specific questions but I am looking more for a broad view of the problem by people who understand more about internet marketing. I am going to have to do more myself, I can't afford to pay these SEO companies anymore.

Thank you very much for any help.

[billbenson]

I'll leave the major commentary to the professionals here. One thing though - don't use gmail for your email on the site. That screams armature to me. You want a link that says 'Email'. There are also ways to hide the actual email so you don't get as much email spam.

[Wozcreative]

Your website is the problem. Whoever you hired for marketing and SEO should have told you this.

It looks like you have no professional branding strategy. Your using a template and it looks like you just kept adding pages and information as you went along. There is no real structure. It is also not mobile friendly.
Your gallery photos are far too small.
Contact page is non existent
About page is non existent
Pricing page is non existent (it's just scattered around the site)
Your sending customers off the page to random websites
Where are the photos of your location? Inside? Outside? Your store?
Where are the photos of people using your location for an event?
None of your imagery or colours match/work (this goes with branding)
The idea of a "links" page is as old as the internet. Get rid of it.
Projects should be like a blog and not just a running page with small text


How is someone new to the industry going to understand what you are offering? I'm assuming your audience is most likely 25 - 35 year olds. This age gap either have kids that are young and are getting into it, having bachelorette parties or wanting to try new things.

Your website is not doing you any justice. That's the bad news. The good news? I am willing to bet all the local competition has terrible websites. This is where you can benefit from having a well thought out structured site. I know this because I recently got my license for restricted and non restricted here in Toronto. I was doing a lot of research to find out the right local gun club to join. ALL of them had terrible terrible old websites that did them no justice. But you know what did give me more info than their websites? Their social media. I guess it was because it's free. They seem to do a good job locally updating social media.. I like that because I know they have some cool events.. like for halloween they are bringing people in for pumpkin shooting for example. I had a terrible time figuring out the rules, regulations, hours of operation, what their distances are, pricing etc. Terrible. I had to call these places up and ask a bunch of my friends who were members on some because the info was so terrible in the sites.

You need to get out of the realm of bad gun club websites and make thing EASY and INTUITIVE for the 25 - 35 generation whom are used to doing everything on mobile or used to seeing information in the most likely places. WE HATE looking for things. Pricing on a pricing page, contact on a contact page, about us on an about us page... you have a where's waldo happening on your current site! Make your website look like it's a hot trend, not somewhere old farts hang out to shoot at popcans. This is a FUN sport, make it LOOK that way!

I build, design and re-desing websites all day long for a living so I know a bit about what I'm talking about ;).

[Damon the Marketer]

You have to increase the conversion rate on your website for SEO to work.

It is completely beyond me why businesses spend thousands on SEO without optimizing the website content. If you need specific help, feel free to contact me. I can give you a few free pointers. But you'll most likely have to pay someone if you want to get optimal results from your website, which will probably pay off in the end.

[Brian Altenhofel]

As a gun enthusiast who often looks for local ranges when I travel, I can say that I'd have likely backed directly out of your site if I came across it. A site that looks like it belongs in 1995 triggers something in my mind that makes me assume that the owner is no longer in business. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm in the firearms retail and training industries (especially training).

You basically have 1-2 seconds to capture a user's attention, and that's it. When I go to your site, the only thing that grabs my attention is the diagrams at the top. I spend the next 2 seconds waiting for it to change and actually provide useful information, but it doesn't and I get frustrated. At that point, I'm pretty much blind to the rest of the information on the page unless someone else I personally trusted sent me directly there.

Odds are if I'm coming to your website I want to know two things - where and how much. The "where" is way down near the bottom of the page in an area that no user is likely to scroll to and in the middle of a paragraph that virtually no one will read. The "how much" is scattered and hard to quickly establish. The link on your homepage to "Advanced pistol training..." shows me the information for basic. As a user, I want it on my screen, front and center, and I don't want to go looking for it.

Using a gmail address (or any email that doesn't match your domain name) makes you look like just another fly-by-night. Having an email link that tries to open the user's email client (which I know you don't have) is also very frustrating to users because most users these days don't use local email clients. You need a contact form with a non-intrusive spam filter (preferably text analysis, not one of those annoying CAPTCHAs).

You said you've paid thousands for SEO, but that was just a case of putting the cart before the horse. If your website can't convert visitors into paying customers, then it's a failure. Do you know how many of your visitors become paying customers? Do you know the revenue that is being generated per visitor? (What tracking are you using, btw?)

By the way, when searching for your brand name, you're also competing with yourself (denvershootingrange dot com). Google generally doesn't like sites that are clearly only there for gaming the search engines and eventually penalizes both the SEO site and the site that it's related to. It's a fast way to rank highly, but it's also an easy way to get sandboxed. Also, it doesn't share any sort of branding with your main website.

All of your pages have duplicate content issues arising from having both capitalized and lowercase URIs for each page (such as About-Us.html and about-us.html). You've also got three links that result in Page Not Found. You've got some duplicate pages in a weird directory (/~local/), too. 26 pages have duplicate page titles and 8 are missing descriptions. Your non-www domain has a temporary redirect to www which means anything linking to your non-www domain won't count for link juice. You also have 4 pages with titles that are a single non-descriptive word. That's just what I got from running a basic crawl - I haven't even bothered to look and see if the markup is proper. In other words, you could use a lot better SEO.

The only linking domain that's worthwhile coming into your site is from thefiringline, and I'll get to that in a minute. The others are yellowpages and intuit directories which are of very little real value.

By the way, that Links page needs to go away for the same reason woz said above. If the other site is trading links with you, that can also penalize you. What search engine crawlers look for is natural linking.

Like most gun training organizations, you're doing a better job on social media than you are on your website (though there is still room for improvement).

I pretty much agree with everything woz touched on above. Your site needs some serious improvement.

I hope you don't mind me throwing an idea out here - but I think something that you could do to set yourself apart would be online booking. I only mention that because it's something I wish trainers offered. Some of us 28yo folks hate picking up the phone. You could maybe poll your current customers to gauge interest. You might also think of an opt-in newsletter, too, to keep in touch with both past customers and potential customers.

Now, for marketing. I'm a bit biased because I run the largest gun forum in Oklahoma (http://www.okshooters.com), but both our current and our past sponsors have seen a great return on investment. I know you're aware of forums because you have an incoming link from The Firing Line, but have you looked at Colorado Gun Owners (http://www.cogunowners.com/)? Colorado AR-15 Shooters (https://www.ar-15.co/)? Maybe advertising with advocacy groups like Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (http://www.rmgo.org/?view=featured)? Forum users tend to be loyal to those who contribute to their community. Something to think about for actually marketing your website.

Like woz (and several others here), I build websites all day, though I mostly do e-commerce. Feel free to get in touch with me. You're going to need to get your website into shape so that you can convert visitors into customers before worrying about the SEO and marketing for it.

[Wozcreative]

I like Brian's idea of taking courses by booking them online. The courses and network events that interest me most are usually bookable online. It makes it SO easy for me but it takes me a click to auto fill my CC info and get a receipt via email. For what it's worth, I'm also 28. For non-computer people who's into guns like my boyfriend, he would STILL rather use his mobile device to book an appointment (he buys all his handguns online via his iphone). Calling to talk to someone is a last resort.

You'd make your lives a lot easier in the office if you had all that information available and clearly written out on the website.

An example of how another company/sport that has failed locally is the Axe Throwing business. It's become huge.. but their website is so comber some. I have to call them to book an appointment. The have a bunch of text regarding minimums and waiting times and some other jibberish that isn't very clear.. I havent called them yet because their site makes it sound more difficult then it should be. I also want to do hang gliding.. theres the same problem with the websites, the info is not all there. Haven't book anything and I've been thinking about it for about 2 years. Make it easier for us LOL! Remember we just want to be fed the information at the right times.

When I took my firearms license, I opted for a website that had a clean and updated look and feel. I felt they might cater to my generation of people. I was right. There was no older people in my class. It was all 20 somethings. As a female it made me feel a lot less intimidated as well. There was about 5 out of 13 people there that were female. The details were clearly written out on the site and I knew exactly what I was getting into when singing up. (I did have to call but the details made it easier for me.. all I had to do was book—no question asking).

[Fixed Sight Training]

Thank you very much for the input. As expected the answers give me more questions for instance,
I have an @fixedsighttraining email account through homestead, my web hosting company but it truly sucks to use. I use gmail because it puts the entire conversation in order so when I get an email back that says "sounds good, see you then" I can see instantly the whole conversation. Then I put it in a file named for the date and time of their lesson and in less than 10 seconds I have all their information and correspondence filed and done. Then after the class I send myself a quick email about what we covered and any notes and file it in the same folder. Also, a few years ago someone contacted me and told me they were a "42 yo instructor" and we had an email conversation. Recently I needed another instructor for a large party but couldn't remember his name. I did a search of my gmail acct of "42 yo instructor" and 30 seconds after I though of him our entire conversation came up. He did come out and help for the class btw.
I'm not trying to sell gmail or argue with you but is using a gmail account so detrimental that it's worth switching to a provider which will probably add hours of work a week for me and end up costing money in the process? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm genuinely asking.
I will make the "email and contact me" buttons a priority to get hold of me. I understand what you are saying about the difficulty of contacting me to get information.

The prices are in bold on the middle of the home screen next to pics and a brief description of that type of shooting. The only way to make it more obvious is to have a breast pointing at them.


By the way, when searching for your brand name, you're also competing with yourself (denvershootingrange dot com). Google generally doesn't like sites that are clearly only there for gaming the search engines and eventually penalizes both the SEO site and the site that it's related to. It's a fast way to rank highly, but it's also an easy way to get sandboxed. Also, it doesn't share any sort of branding with your main website.

All of your pages have duplicate content issues arising from having both capitalized and lowercase URIs for each page (such as About-Us.html and about-us.html). You've also got three links that result in Page Not Found. You've got some duplicate pages in a weird directory (/~local/), too. 26 pages have duplicate page titles and 8 are missing descriptions. Your non-www domain has a temporary redirect to www which means anything linking to your non-www domain won't count for link juice. You also have 4 pages with titles that are a single non-descriptive word. That's just what I got from running a basic crawl - I haven't even bothered to look and see if the markup is proper. In other words, you could use a lot better SEO.


I honestly don't have any idea what you're talking about but I guess I'm going to have to learn because 100% of what I've paid people to do has been done half assed at best.

I have a lot of work to do between the things mentioned above and splitting the difference in content between keeping the real content, which a lot of the intelligent people have complemented me on and dumbing it down and making it flashy so average people are dazzled by my shiny stuff and not somebody else's. BTW, that is not an insult to the people on this forum, just a sad fact. Just look at the geico insurance commercials.


But you'll most likely have to pay someone if you want to get optimal results from your website, which will probably pay off in the end.

I didn't pay for SEO, the people (four companies now) I paid were supposed to help with internet marketing and this is what I've ended up with. As I said I'm going to have to do it myself which sucks because I have zero interest in web design and marketing.
I want to thank you again for the help. I am very frustrated but not with you.

[KristineS]

I saw you did have a Twitter account, but you hadn't updated it since March 30 and it didn't appear that you were using it regularly. Social media could be a fertile source of new clients for you, if it's approached correctly. Since you would, I'd assume anyway, want to mostly pull clients from the nearby areas, you'd need to focus on following local people. Also look for any other gun clubs or shooting ranges in your area and follow them. Check out their follower lists and follow those people.

Next, make sure you're updating your feeds on a regular basis. Share stories about shooting parties, information about gun safety, and information about you and what you do and how you've been trained. You need to realize that guns are a controversial issue for some, so be prepared for people to give you some grief. When they do, explain why safety training is so important and how what you do can help people use guns in a safe manner.

You might also search for outdoor bloggers who are based in Colorado and see if any of them might let you write a guest post or might be interested in a free session with you. Some outdoor bloggers have rather large followings, and a write up on a blog, providing it has the right audience can be helpful.

As for your website, I'll second what others have already said, it does need some assistance.

[Fixed Sight Training]

Wozcreative,
Could you pm me the ws of the firearms school you liked and attended? I've been looking around and most of the ones I've seen are full of catch phrases but very little info on why I should take their classes. I'd like to see one that you like.

[whiteboardvideos]

I WOULD LISTEN TO Wozcreative ! she know what she is talking about, if you do the changes she says you will have a great site.

[ashleyidesign]

To be perfectly honest, you need to take your site out back...

Does your web site company offer the ability to install Wordpress? If so I would look into moving to Wordpress and paying small money for a decent template. This will solve a lot of your problems in terms of disorganization and page structure.

Send me an email if you have any questions as you go along. I find it frustrating when so-called internet marketers smooth talk small businesses into doing things that aren't real solutions.

[appointmentCare]

Hi,

Here is some generic ways of marketing your Small Business Online on a shoestring budget that has helped us as a small business entity. A lot of them would apply to your business as well.

Today with well defined platforms to market your product online, the avenues of reaching your audience is growing and as a small business owner we would want to choose our marketing strategies wisely to get the maximum bang for the buck.

As a small business owner, we are deeply passionate and committed to our business. However, when it comes to marketing our products online, our passion has to translate into well thought of strategies which do not require deep pockets and large teams to execute. Here are some tips to help you plan your online marketing strategy and create an edge over your competition.

1. Cut the umbilical cord

This is the most unspoken but a very important first step. Passionate as we are towards our business, more often than not it clouds our vision towards our product and ideas. We end up believing that whatever we are thinking is correct and best for the business. The first step to a clear marketing plan is to jump into your customer’s shoes and look at the product from their point of view. Go out and talk to your customers, understand why they use your product and how do they use it. Ask them for feature requests and you will get a ton of feedback that will leave you surprized. If your business is completely online, crowdsource ideas and feedback. You dont need to pay large dollars to any consulting teams to do your product research, just go and get it from your customers.

2. Market and Opportunity Research

Many a times as a small business, we tend to overlook market and opportunity research. A common myth is that only medium and large businesses need to think and spend dollars on market research. As a small business, you should spend some time to understand your market, its trends and the opportunity space. It not only helps you define your target addressable market but also validates your business idea and helps you set your business / financial goals.

3. Competition Research

Competition research is as important as market research. You must spend quality time every month to track your competition. Sign up with your competition’s online portal. Spending time to understand their new product offerings, new features, their marketing techniques, their sales pitch will help you refine your offerings and you can plan your moves to keep yourself ahead of competition.

4. Select the right Channels and Platforms

Once you have clearly defined your target audience, spend time to find out more about your target audience. Where do they go online, what are their likes and dislikes, what kind of stuff do they like shopping online, etc. This will help you select the right platforms and channels to market your product. For example, if you are using google adwords, this research will tell you the right keywords you should us to target your audience in a cost effective manner

5. Create and amplify compelling content

One of the best ways to bring your target audience to your site is via inbound marketing. Creating compelling and useful content, designed to provide value to your target audience can go a long way to increase traffic and grow your business. Write blogs, participate in online forums like quora, do guest blogging, etc and use SEO techniques and social media outreach strategies to amplify them to your target audience. This is not a magic pill which will start bringing growth from day one, but when done religiously over a period of time, you will see definite value coming out such exercises.

You dont need to hire a PR/ advertising agency or consultants to market your business. All you need is to spend some quality time to plan and execute the strategies outlined to market your business on a shoestring budget to your target audience.

[Express Web Studio]

SEO:
You can only make a Toyota Camry so fast. You have to get a Corvette if you want to beat everyone else. The website needs to be redesigned completely. It shouldn't be hard because there isn't much competition in the gun range world.

WEBSITE:
It does look unprofessional and not very clear what the users options are for classes.

EMAIL:
I build websites and I couldn't care less what email you use. Especially for a gun range business.

COMPETITION:
Gun owners are a very loyal bunch generally. They may not want to go some place new and since you don't have a building that does turn people off. Not so much that they would never go, but many customers need to be enticed to buy or try new things.

Get a new website that is professionally done. Don't buy the SEO packages from companies that don't build websites. They are all scams.

[Brian Altenhofel]

Don't buy the SEO packages from companies that don't build websites. They are all scams.

Personally, I wouldn't buy an SEO package from a company whose primary business is web design, marketing, PR, hosting, SEM, lead acquisition, etc. SEO best practices are a constantly moving target, and you need someone who specializes in that field.

[billbenson]

Personally, I wouldn't buy an SEO package from a company whose primary business is web design, marketing, PR, hosting, SEM, lead acquisition, etc. SEO best practices are a constantly moving target, and you need someone who specializes in that field.

I'm going to disagree here. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO. SEO is an integral part of a web site. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO.

Having said that, the current trend of content being a very important part of SEO, I would use a copy writer that is competent in SEO. That can be difficult if your subject matter is unknown (as mine is). But I bet there are a lot of good copy writers that know guns. There are probably a lot of web designer / developers that know how to design a good site, know guns and know SEO. That IMO is what the OP needs to look for IMO.

[Wozcreative]

I'm going to disagree here. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO. SEO is an integral part of a web site. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO.

Having said that, the current trend of content being a very important part of SEO, I would use a copy writer that is competent in SEO. That can be difficult if your subject matter is unknown (as mine is). But I bet there are a lot of good copy writers that know guns. There are probably a lot of web designer / developers that know how to design a good site, know guns and know SEO. That IMO is what the OP needs to look for IMO.

Sort of. You're not taking into account that SEO is split in two (or three) tiers. On-site, Off-site and Social Media. A designer must know on-site SEO, but they don't have to know off-site if they aren't providing that as a long-term service.

[Brian Altenhofel]

I'm going to disagree here. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO. SEO is an integral part of a web site. I wouldn't hire a web designer that didn't know SEO.

Having said that, the current trend of content being a very important part of SEO, I would use a copy writer that is competent in SEO. That can be difficult if your subject matter is unknown (as mine is). But I bet there are a lot of good copy writers that know guns. There are probably a lot of web designer / developers that know how to design a good site, know guns and know SEO. That IMO is what the OP needs to look for IMO.

I don't think we're in total disagreement here. I'm saying don't buy SEO services from someone whose primary business is not SEO.

Should you buy design, development, or copywriting services from someone who has some SEO knowledge? Yes - it will make your SEO's job much easier. But SEO is too specialized of a field to hire a jack of all trades or look at it as a mere add-on.

The only exception to that would be if the designer or developer is offering it through channel partnerships. In that case, you're getting actual expertise, but you're just having to go through a middleman (which can be more convenient for you, or can even provide more value than going direct).

[billbenson]

I don't think we're in total disagreement here. I'm saying don't buy SEO services from someone whose primary business is not SEO.

Should you buy design, development, or copywriting services from someone who has some SEO knowledge? Yes - it will make your SEO's job much easier. But SEO is too specialized of a field to hire a jack of all trades or look at it as a mere add-on.

The only exception to that would be if the designer or developer is offering it through channel partnerships. In that case, you're getting actual expertise, but you're just having to go through a middleman (which can be more convenient for you, or can even provide more value than going direct).

Ya, after I read my post I was kind of thinking we actually are pretty much in agreement. Particularly when you add social media into the picture.

But it gets complicated. With AdWords, for example, you really need a landing page that matches the ad. That's a job for a web designer / developer who understands AdWords. Social media, not everybody uses or needs it. I don't use it. It seems to me that is something that can be farmed out.

You are also correct in that nobody can know everything.

[Harold Mansfield]

There's really not much to add. Your entire web presentation is horrible. From your website to something as simple as your email. It all screams small time and amateurish.
Anything you've spent on advertising and SEO has been completely wasted money.

You need to get that in order first before you do anything else. You cannot compensate for it with other things. You cannot spend all around it and hope to make up for it. It has to be right or you will never grow.

[Harold Mansfield]

By the way, your email is part of your marketing. If your host sucks and doesn't offer a decent email program, then move. But if it's just about a terrible interface...that's a ridiculous reason not to use your own email when you can use an email client like Thunderbird or Outlook.
You can also import private email into your Gmail inbox.

The only things I expect to get from free accounts are from friends, Italian Lottery officials, and Nigerian Barristers trying to track down the last heir of my wealthy oil baron uncle.

I would expect anyone else to represent themselves as a grown up business. I don't care if you get a killer email address that spells out your business perfectly @yahoo.com. Nothing is cooler than your own email url. Nothing. The only exception would be if you actually worked for Yahoo or Google. Then that would be a pretty cool email address to have.

Your email address is a free, basic form of marketing that you use everyday. You already own it and can choose any messaging that you want. It is 100% do it yourself and you are completely ignoring it. Not just ignoring it...going out of your way not to take advantage of it. So of course you're wasting money on other forms of marketing because you don't understand that everything is marketing and how one thing affects another.

I would never take any ads, business cards, brochures, or websites seriously that had a free email address on them. In my mind if that's the best that you can do then this must be a fly by night organization. In an industry such as guns and gun safety, professionalism and credibility needs to be at the top of your priority list.

That's my rant against businesses using free email accounts. It's a real pet peeve of mine as it should be for everyone.

[billbenson]

I'll add to what Harold said on the email. My business is B2B. There are times when a server goes down and a customer will have me use their Gmail address. But since I take orders on terms, meaning they send me a check in 30 or 60 days, a free email address is a red flag. I might not take the order...

Another thing, the Nigerian scam stuff usually uses yahoo emails. I have no idea why they picked on yahoo, but it has been very consistent.

[Brian Altenhofel]

There are times when a server goes down and a customer will have me use their Gmail address.

When that happens, I make a sale on email service.

[KristineS]

But it gets complicated. With AdWords, for example, you really need a landing page that matches the ad. That's a job for a web designer / developer who understands AdWords. Social media, not everybody uses or needs it. I don't use it. It seems to me that is something that can be farmed out.


Have to disagree with the idea that social media can be farmed out. I mean it can, certainly, but I don't think companies that farm out or completely automate their social media are doing the best job they could with it. There's an advantage to having social media for your company created by someone who actually knows your company. Generic social media posts, which is a lot of the stuff that most farmed out social media posts will be, won't generate the necessary results. Social media is about community and, especially for small businesses, it pays to have a person who owns or is close to the business creating the social media posts.

[Harold Mansfield]

Have to disagree with the idea that social media can be farmed out. I mean it can, certainly, but I don't think companies that farm out or completely automate their social media are doing the best job they could with it. There's an advantage to having social media for your company created by someone who actually knows your company. Generic social media posts, which is a lot of the stuff that most farmed out social media posts will be, won't generate the necessary results. Social media is about community and, especially for small businesses, it pays to have a person who owns or is close to the business creating the social media posts.

It can be farmed out effectively. I have and do still run social media profiles for other companies and it can work pretty well.
It works best when there is a marketing strategy in place or developed together with the company.

A lot of business owners think farming it out means just having someone post to their profiles for them and that's it. And it can be just that, but there still needs to be a plan.
A good Social Media manager will work closely with to develop an overall plan and integrate existing company communications into it keeping the marketing, sales, and customer service departments involved.

If done properly, it can work really well and efficiently.

If you just hire someone to post whatever to your profiles for you, you're wasting your money.

[kimoonyx]

Get your site fixed as overwhelmingly suggested by others here.... Then.... There is a way to drive traffic to your site and your door. You mentioned paying thousands for ineffective marketing. I signed a deal to advertise in theaters before the feature films play... It started on the 4rth... my phone has been non stop since.. Granted my commercial is really cool and video games are a market that people tend to get excited about... But I had to pick regions all across the country... You would only have to pay for your local area. there are pros and cons to this type of advertising but I am having lots of luck with it. Just wanted to throw that in there. good luck bro.

[kimoonyx]

One more thing... Since you seem to be a do it yourself guy (I am too) I am a huge fan of video testimonials... Video some... Get em up front and center on your site. When people can see third parties giving info that confirms you are a good source for their needs... It lends way more credibility.

[briancarter]

1. WEBSITE

I'd agree your website looks outdated, but if you had up to date tweets and Facebook page posts in your right sidebar, it would be clear you're current.

My suggestion for 99% of businesses is build your site on wordpress (not on wordpress.com or org, but on your own domain), because there are tons of free things you can get to help with marketing. For example

** SEO plugins that make SEO easier
** Easy way to add to your sidebar things like: surveys and twitter feed and FB page feed.
** Contact forms
** Email opt-in pop-ups like Pippity
** Auto headline testers like "Headlines"

And it's easy enough to edit your website pages and blog posts with it that you won't have to keep going back to website designers.

2. SWITCHING TO A NEW DOMAIN

This can be done as long as you use 301 redirects from the old pages to the new. Then you keep the SEO value of the other sites that link to all your various pages.

3. STOREFRONT

Definitely would look into adding that stuff.

4. EVERYTHING ELSE

For just about everybody I recommend:

** Email opt-in list and weekly email to it
** Free piece of content (ebook) in exchange for signing up to email list
** Retargeting ads on Google and FB, can cost very little but get you a lot of attention and keep you top of mind for prospects
** Facebook ads, even $1 per day will get you 4,000 ad views per day, lots more awareness of your company.

[Brian Altenhofel]

** Retargeting ads on Google and FB, can cost very little but get you a lot of attention and keep you top of mind for prospects
** Facebook ads, even $1 per day will get you 4,000 ad views per day, lots more awareness of your company.

Speaking from experience, neither of these will work for his business.

[CallBettie]

I'm not an expert on websites by any means however I would suggest removing much of the content on the first page. The meat n potatoes of your home page should all be viewable without scrolling down. You should be offering 2-3 choices tops of where you want viewers to go. Do you want them calling you, booking an appointment and viewing your pricing? Offer these options on the first page. Always include a call to action like a pop up to book online now. Just clean it up a bit and best of luck to you!

[Fixed Sight Training]

I appreciate the constructive input and SEO suggestions. I will take it too heart and try to come up with a way to schedule online.

Since posting this I have received hundreds of emails and a bunch of calls of people wanting to take over my web design for a monthly fee. I'm not doing that so please stop trying to contact me. I don't want to seem ungrateful but come on….

[Harold Mansfield]

I appreciate the constructive input and SEO suggestions. I will take it too heart and try to come up with a way to schedule online.

Since posting this I have received hundreds of emails and a bunch of calls of people wanting to take over my web design for a monthly fee. I'm not doing that so please stop trying to contact me. I don't want to seem ungrateful but come on….
I'm pretty sure that you aren't getting "100's" of emails from members of this forum. If you are, message me privately who is spamming you and I'll take care of it. Be sure they are members here, and not just outside spammers who saw this thread in the search results and tracked down your email address.

[Fixed Sight Training]

It probably isn't members of the forum and may just be people using the forum to get contact info but hopefully it will stop. It's not a huge deal just one more small PITA. I'm certainly not going to rat anyone out and I do appreciate much of the real advise I've gotten so hopefully letting people know that I don't want to pay for someone else to do a website for me will be the end of it.

Thanks.

[Harold Mansfield]

It probably isn't members of the forum and may just be people using the forum to get contact info but hopefully it will stop. It's not a huge deal just one more small PITA.
Well that's pretty normal to just being online. The way the forum is set up, non members shouldn't be able to see your signatures, or profiles. But it's true we can't stop people from logging in and lurking.