# For companies with websites.



## rjets00 (Nov 22, 2003)

Do you think that they are a effective tool? Do you gain lots of inquires about services ect? What do you think total costs are ie: design, monthly rates?


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

http://www.grandviewlandscaping.com/snowplowing.htm

I get a hits all the time. I do get calls and have closed a few deals with it to. With a website you also get calls out side your area. A website is just another part of marketing.


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## ServiceOnSite (Nov 23, 2006)

i agree with grandview. i have a crappy web site but i have advertizing with verizon yellow pages dot com and i get a lot of commerical calls from that.


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## Enzo (Feb 27, 2008)

Well a good designer will cost a few bucks maybe around $200-300, as far as hosting it from a company a domain is like $10 a year and it cost like $3.95 a month for a decent ammount of storage, databases, and bandwidth usage. Some also allow you to make unlimited email accounts depending on what company you use. For some of my projects in the past I have used bluehost.com


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## rjets00 (Nov 22, 2003)

nice site gv, looks good


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## ScnicExcellence (Jun 9, 2008)

I find the site helps me out for landscaping alot, not sure for snow plowing yet, The landscaping though it helps show the work have done.


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## scottL (Dec 7, 2002)

I use lunarpages.com Great tech support, reliable, great pricing and tools, etc, etc.

I've used and build sites for folks. You can track your page hits, I'm ranked top 5 for my area and services. Yes, we get emails and calls every week in the winter many turn into work some are simply not in my area but are close. 

But, as pointed out it's only a piece of the marketing puzzle.


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## gkm (Nov 6, 2004)

nice site gv !


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

Its actually an inexpensive way to advertise. Not much to set up, and the domain is really cheap. The French girl on the other hand is costing me a fortune


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

sp please excue me being dumb on this subject.... just how would i get into this? i really dont even know were to start


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## SS2500HD (Sep 18, 2008)

see if your domain is available first i guess? ie: www.eliteservices.com or www.elitelandscaping.com or whatever, and talk to a local website programmer who can help guide you through the process of obtaining/purchasing the domain and having him create a webpage to your liking...


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## ColliganLands (Sep 4, 2008)

i actually have my site hosted through vistaprint it costs somewhere around 15 bucks a month and you can design it and set it up yourself very easily/or they can do it for you for $$. also it lets you take contact forms (or whatever you set it up for) you can have paypal buttons, and you can see activity by search engine/day/location. Also the vistaprint site lets you check your domain name that want right there to see if its available.


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## QuadPlower (Jan 4, 2007)

I have had one for years. I have found that the main purpose of my site is to show potential customers that I have talked to some of my projects. It gives them a look at what I can do without them driving to all the locations. 

I think it also prevents a lot of estimates from people that aren't serious or can't afford my price and quality.

I built it my self and I have it hosted by Lycos for $4.95 a month. I need to update my snow plowing pages as I am moving away from sidewalks into condos and residential.


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## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

grandview;587934 said:


> http://www.grandviewlandscaping.com/snowplowing.htm
> 
> I get a hits all the time. I do get calls and have closed a few deals with it to. With a website you also get calls out side your area. A website is just another part of marketing.


whose the chic talkn gv


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## lumps (Sep 3, 2005)

For me, the design was the most expensive part. I have to take her out to dinner at least once a week, haha.

Actually, it works out pretty well. My gf is a graphic artist, so she can come up with an image of how the website should look. Then I can take that and turn it into the html and css needed, along with any backend database stuff. And I host it on my own server. It's not done yet, but when it is, I'll post a link.


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## LoneCowboy (Jan 2, 2007)

I get a lot of calls (or meetings) with people who say "I looked at your website and saw this or that and had some more questions".
That tends to lead to work.
I get a few emails, but mostly those are just price checkers (not always, but probably 2/3 or more)
I think it adds more of a "we're a real company" type of thing and is part of your marketing effort.

www.lone <dash> cowboy.com

I think it's well worth spending the money to have it professionaly done. It wasn't really that much (considering what I spend on advertising) and once it's done, it's done for years.
The name is easy to check (type it in, see what pops up), no reason to pay anyone for that.
It's cheap to register the name and even most hosting is pretty cheap (under $10/month)

It also allows you come up in searches, which is easily how 50% of the people search for business's. No presence on the web means you miss everyone who searches for numbers via google/msn/yahoo, whatever


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## Ipushsnow (Oct 29, 2007)

I have mine set up through yahoo, its like $10 bucks a month, they will check if the domain is available, register it for you, and you can download their "Sitebuilder" program and you can have a website up and running in about an hour or two. You can pick templates and fill your info in on their pages, post your pics, do whatever you want. I started my website off with a template and gradually totally customized it. I recommend it highly, its cheap, really easy, and ALL my advertising it done online now. Here is my site:

http://www.milwaukeegarage.net/Snow_Plowing.html


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

IPUSH- thats a nice simple site, might start off like that.. so who do i contact to get started?


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## Ipushsnow (Oct 29, 2007)

Go to Yahoo.com and on the left side about halfway down is a link that says "Get a Website". Don't have to talk to anybody.


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

now , i created a few trifolds that look REALLY nice, using micro soft pubisher.... i got TONS of compliments, on my snow one, 

anyway , i started last winter , making a rough web page using that, can i use that program to make it ? since i already have alot done with it?


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

:waving: hi every body 


so today , due to the rain , was spent indoors

what was accomplished besides nothing, was i called for some info on the website things

Using micro soft publisher, i have set up a basic home page, that says its still under construction , but its not too bad.. its a little rough around the edges... does anyone have publisher, so i could send you a copy and let me know what you think?


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