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Hi Roxanne40. The host I use is Serversaurus, a small company based in North Melbourne. I highly recommend them.
Cheers, Natalie
Up0Hi Adam! My first question upon looking up your website is why would I use your services when there are plenty of great comparison sites out there? If your sell is a real person looking at the figures rather than a machine, I feel the overall look of your site doesn’t convey ‘real’ people as you’re using stock photos and don’t have real staff profiles in the ‘about’ section. If I were you, I’d reconsider your key selling propositions and ensure that next time you’re writing copy, address the concerns or barriers people may have in taking up your services. Let us know if you want any help with that! Cheers, Natalie
Up0Hi Ash! Congrats on your side venture. But because it’s new to the market, I don’t know what purpose the website has, and what it’s all about. If I were you, I’d consider writing some clear copy on the homepage above the fold to explain what it is you’re trying to achieve and what users are supposed to get out of it / interact with it. If you need a hand crafting your key selling propositions and/or how it works, let me know! Good luck with it! Cheers, Natalie
Up0Hi Missile! Are you sure your decrease in web traffic was due to the web redesign? Without seeing the old one, it’s hard to tell whether your current site is better or worse for SEO. What I can suggest, however, is that perhaps there are more competitors online since you launched this site – and/or people are going straight to delivery apps like Uber Eats than looking up individual restaurants online? If you want to improve SEO it might be worth considering putting more effort into social media, getting customer reviews, blogging etc – these are content marketing efforts external to your site that will have a positive impact on your ranking. Good luck! Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Up0Hi Chris! Your website takes way too long to load, and when it does, I feel quite overwhelmed by the imagery and choice there is perusing your portfolio etc. How about simplifying your website so that your style shows in the design but you don’t necessarily showcase as much stuff? That’s what Instagram is for. Think of your website as a CV – the ultimate goal is to get an interview (client meeting) not win the job by bombarding the customer straight away. Keep it simple.
On a more technical note, although your website is responsive, it doesn’t adhere to UX and accessibility best practice (i.e. H tags in order, useful metadata, alt text). Those factors influence SEO and this could be one of the reasons you’re not ranking as well as you’d like.
Up0Hi F1. Can I ask how you came to the idea of selling essential oils in the first place? Going into business should be about fulfilling a gap in the market – a need, or a problem that people have. So whoever it was who told you they wanted more essential oils… That’s the person you need to speak to. Find someone you’re genuinely solving a problem for and you should start business rolling from there. Good luck!
Up0Hi Kiara. Sounds like you have a business that would benefit from relationships, relationships, relationships! You need to foster strong partnerships with other businesses who might be interested in purchasing product from you at scale. Or at least passing your details onto someone else in the industry who you could help. Get out there and network at trade events as much as possible, and line up meetings with other businesses that complement what you do. Also, you’ve got a great website – but it’s not clear who your target market is i.e. that you’re B2B not B2C. Could it be worth you tweaking this so it’s clearer upon first glance? Good luck!
Up0Hi Avalas. I’ve been working for myself for 7 years (initially alone), and for the past 3, I’ve hired staff and run my own company. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if running a business was really the best idea… It’s rewarding as we’re growing but it’s really hard work for less pay than what I might earn elsewhere. So think about what matters to you: Do you want to report to a boss each day that you might not like, or do you want to be in control and have a lifestyle you’ve dreamed of, but with some financial sacrifice and many peaks and troughs of income woes! Running a profitable business is marathon, not a sprint – and there’s no such thing as an overnight success!
Up0Hi Bryce, great to hear your commitment re starting your own business! But growing something of your own while also working another job is incredibly difficult. You really need to put in everything you’ve got and it can take years to become profitable. In saying that, a good simple one-page website to complement any flyers will go a long way and any dollars on digital marketing should be spent maximising your visibility on local searches (not all of Melbourne) i.e. handyman
, whether that’s via SEO copywriting or paid Google ads. Good luck! Up0Hi Teeeggs. Seeing as you are a business that will be heavily dependent on locals, I strongly suggest you do everything you can to provide the best experience for your customers as possible. It goes without saying your coffee should be worth coming back for, along with your food, but also customer service goes a long way. Retention is easier than acquisition – so look after your existing customers and they’ll not only come back but they’ll tell their friends, family and neighbours – meaning they’ll do the marketing for you! A good one-page website will complement these efforts so people can check menus and/or get a feel from the venue (from one or two photos) prior to visiting – and ensuring you’re listed on Google Places means people can also check your address and opening times if they’re unsure.
Up0Hi Christine. I think investing time and effort into doing social media well is a great low cost way to get your brand out there. Likes and followers don’t necessarily translate directly into sales, but it does get the word out to more people and keeps you front of mind next time someone is in the market for what you offer. Make sure you think about what channels are best suited to your audience. Good luck!
Up0Hi Christine. I’m glad your company hasn’t forgotten about offline marketing. These days, so many businesses are focused on getting on the first page of Google they forget that customer service and networking provide some of the best quality referrals and conversions you can get. I like to remind other business owners that retention is easier than acquisition; so make sure your existing customers are super happy. If all is well, they’ll become raving advocates for you
Up0MichaelF, post: 237267, member: 79983 wrote:This is the big one.Your Facebook page needs to provide the user with value. This won’t happen overnight either. Persists with putting out quality content which engages the end user to start building real relationships with your customers.
Guaranteed success in the long run.
Thanks, Michael!Up0Hi Tutorsfield. Before you spend any money on SEO, I strongly suggest optimising your website in line with best practice. As some others in this thread have pointed out, there are some overall design improvements that could be made. But most importantly to me, you have some fundamental flaws in the HTML code. For example, a website’s information hierarchy should be ‘clean’ and in order. You should only ever have one ‘H1’, or Heading 1, on every page. Your homepage has 39! Following that, your H2s and H3s should run in order – but you have an H3 above/before your H2. In addition, your website does not adhere to web accessibility best practice either (this is important for facilitating good user experience, and is in fact a compliance point for government-based sites). If you don’t know what web accessibility is, you can read about it on my blog via the URL below. Let me know if you have any other question re doing a web audit/review. Good luck!
http://avioncommunications.com.au/latest-posts/making-website-accessible/
Up0Hi Matthew. You have a genuinely cool business that I’m sure a lot of millenials and working professionals will appreciate. I see you have a blog (great!), but have you considered guest blogging or contributing to other fashion/lifestyle websites? Try to get some publicity by being featured elsewhere – other sites that your target market like to read. And I’m not talking about writing a post about how great your business is – but rather, how about you tell interesting stories about your products? For example, where does the wood come from in your sunglasses? Who are the artisans behind handcrafted watches? With a little creative thinking, you’ll find there are tons of topics to choose from that affiliate/industry sites may be interested in publishing for you.
