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GCzene

posts: 5

Jul 05, 2007 8:18 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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We just started an organic cleaning service in L.A. So far, all of our business has come from simple Craigslist Ads we`ve posted. We paid a designer who worked with our marketing person to come up with a website to link to directory ads and campaigns like Google. However, we`ve noticed that while we get views and clicks, NONE have materialized into a CALL.

Why? Obviously, need your honest critique of what is wrong?

Here`s our URL:

http://www.motherearthcleaning.com

I also want to link to one of our CL ads. I`m wondering if maybe it`s not that the website is bad, it`s that it`s not visible, whereas CL is highly compartmentalized. In other words, we get more interested, vested viewers. Help! Thanks.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/hss/366905860.html

TIA

 

vwebworld

posts: 1237

Jul 05, 2007 9:45 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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The good news is your site has been indexed by Google. But you do not have a page description and do not really present content in a search engine friendly way.  See your cached text: http://72.14.209.104/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8& amp;rls=HPIA,HPIA:2006-34,HPIA:en&q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fw ww.motherearthcleaning.com%2F

Also, you have a lot of scripting and styles near the top of the html page...which search bots have to get through BEFORE they read your content.

However, maybe the reason why you have viewers but no clicks... is you do not have a "call to action". You have call for free estimate... but that is not where the viewer`s eye focuses on the page (because of the layout/content/graphics).

Yours Craigs ad is an ad  and says CALL... while you can sall CALL US on a web page... internet users are more likely to complete an online form, or email you. They also want to see prices. IF you are want people to call.... put that call to action in the middle of the page and make it easily readable.

Why the links to the companies that insure you? Is that a requirement in CA?
As a customer I don`t care who insures you, only that you ARE insured.

~Roland



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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter
Videography

posts: 672

Jul 05, 2007 11:41 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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There`s nothing on your home page for the search engines to index.  And very little that tells me why I care if my maids use toxic cleaners.  Sure, you give me the typical left-wing old-news (partly incorrect) about agricultural pesticides, but what`s that got to do with my household cleaners?

The photo of the baby on the floor says more than the text - run with it.  The white tile background is also a good touch.

I think that what bothers me the most is the lecture.  In "Why Green" I get a lecture, I get why YOU are green, but when I am looking for the "What`s in it for Me" benefits, there`s nothing.

Perhaps it`s the covert racism that turns people off.  "All our team members are employees of Mother Earth. This is very important. It means they receive social security and are covered by Workman’s Comp" doesn`t resonate well.  What does this have to do with keeping my home or office clean?  The legal threats ("you may be liable for injuries ... class action suit for damages") are almost as hostile as the green lecture.  Throwing mud at the competition ("When a commercial cleaning company uses so called independent contractors") is not going to elevate the perception of your business at all.  I really don`t think that anyone outside of Orange County (California) really cares if the person scrubbing my toilets is receiving Social Security benefits.  It`s totally irrelevant to your stated goal of "Green cleaning".




-------------------------

Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email


GCzene

posts: 5

Jul 06, 2007 12:07 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Thanks to Roland and Steve.

We will bring the info regarding the technical aspects of the site design that make it spider/bot unfriendly with our web designer. He is actually a graphic artist, did the site for us with no guarantees of technical expertise.

As far as design and content. We are still working on all of that. The points you make about "why should you care" are valid. Sure, most people don`t care that their household workers are harmed when they breathe in ammonia & bleach fumes - as long as that toilet sparkles. Maybe we need to put in more about how we "guarantee" satisfaction. Seriously our customers are always satisfied. They can tell the difference between chemically, perfumed cleansers and our clean and fresh smelling essential oils.

I guess our copy needs work, right? Thanks so much for the insights.

CraigL

posts: 9051

Jul 06, 2007 12:34 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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.....The points you make about "why should you care" are valid. Sure, most people don`t care that their household workers are harmed when they breathe in ammonia & bleach fumes - as long as that toilet sparkles.

I think if you perhaps have a change in attitude on your end, you`ll find better ways to sell the products.

Aside from my being a conservative and being utterly tired of hearing this kind of reasoning, I`m also a fisherman and have a keen interest in reducing toxicity in the environment. But I`m not going to do it with some empty placeholder logic.

I think you may want to reconsider the core belief (which is apparently driving your whole business) that "most people" could care less how poisonous is their local environment as long as it "looks good." That`s actually an accusation many conservatives make toward liberal ideology, that there`s only an interest in what feels good or looks good---superficials.

If you begin with that assumption, you won`t feel you need to bother to explain your product. It should sell itself, right? And that`s likely at the foundation of why nobody`s buying the products. NOTHING sells itself! And not everyone in the world automatically thinks the same way.

There are plenty of non-toxic cleaners on the market, not to mention even more sites that explain how to make your own cleaners. Things like "How to clean anything with ordinary household supplies" abound. So what`s your unique selling proposition? How are you differentiated?

I remember Amway, which, although it was an MLM, did have a real product. And those products were "green" long before it became the pop-culture buzzword. They didn`t focus on the products, they focused on how to make money selling the products. Does being a capitalist automatically negate being "green?" I don`t think so.

To make this site work is going to also mean taking on the philosophic and ideological concepts of capitalism.
GCzene

posts: 5

Jul 06, 2007 1:28 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Thanks Craig,

O.K., I`m starting to get it. We should try to think more about creating the need in the customer. What`s in it for me? In thinking about the customers we have- some are animal lovers, they care about having natural products on the surfaces their pets walk on (and lick), there are men who detest perfume - so they like the subtle or no fragrance of essential oils. Safe enough for your pet, subtle enough for your husband? type thing. Some like that our employees all speak English. Some just think it`s neat that simple products like vinegar & baking soda, can clean. We leave them samples. I guess we`re just another cleaning service - the products don`t matter as much as availability, price, right? And the green part maybe sounds too gimmicky to sell? Could that be it?

Even my mom won`t hire us because she`s used the same lady for years...People develop a relationship with their housekeepers - so maybe we should target new/recent transplants? Thanks for makingus think about this.

CraigL

posts: 9051

Jul 06, 2007 2:00 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Exactly! With that sort of mind-shift, I think you`ll be able to much more clearly see what has to be done to *sell* the product. :-) My intent was to say that "being green" seems to be like a sort of special club, where simply being part of it is supposed to automatically sell your products for you. That`s totally unrealistic, and even somewhat arrogant.

When you look at it as "just another cleaning service," that`s when things start to pop. For example, note that your main argument to "vinegar and newspaper" is that you have a far more sophisticated type of product. Good! WHY is it that much more sophisticated, and HOW will it bowl me over and get me out of using that vinegar and water?

It comes down to "unique selling proposition," or the USP people talk about here on SuN. I didn`t know much about it, until learning it here. But I`ve grown up in a world of global enterprise and high-end executives. So I`m familiar with the "so what? What makes you so special?" question. :-)
Videography

posts: 672

Jul 06, 2007 8:08 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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...we have- some are animal lovers, they care about having natural products on the surfaces their pets walk on (and lick), there are men who detest perfume - so they like the subtle or no fragrance of essential oils.


That`s it!  There is your copy.


-------------------------

Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email


GCzene

posts: 5

Jul 06, 2007 9:08 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Thanks Steve & Craig -

We started the biz BEFORE we realized that pet owners would be our biggest customer. Maybe that`s why our copy didn`t take that into consideration.

It`s hard to do right, isn`t it? Thanks for all the input and suggestions.

Craig, with this: My intent was to say that "being green" seems to be like a sort of special club, where simply being part of it is supposed to automatically sell your products for you. That`s totally unrealistic, and even somewhat arrogant." I`m not sure exactly how we get that wrong, but I will think and work on it. Thanks!

ethnicomm

posts: 62

Jul 06, 2007 10:21 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Regardless of what you think or feel, as you can tell by some of the posts, your "selling" website is NOT about editorializing. If you want to make a statement, put it in a blog. The website itself should be designed to do one thing only - get customers to contact you for their cleaning needs.

Videography`s suggestion to address the "what`s in it for me" makes perfect sense. I know that people are concerned about the environment, indoor air quality and toxicity of chemicals but at the end of the day, that is not why they went to your site. They want a clean home. Tell them how you can give them that.

English-speaking housekeepers! WOW. English like Arnold Schwarzenegger or English like Martha Stewart? Do you customers really value this to warrant being on your site? Aren`t the majority of the citizens of the San Gabriel Valley Hispanic and Asian Americans? Are you going after a niche?

BTW - If you`re serious about doing the right thing in your cleaning business, why don`t you use vapour cleaners that clean using only water? I know the chemicals (even the "green" chemicals) provide an ongoing stream of margin but it is inconsistent with what you say on your site. I feel that if you really cared, you would not use any chemicals at all (if possible).

-------------------------

A good idea is a good idea NOW![sup]TM[/sup]

ethnicomm inc. | sales | marketing | web | strategy consulting
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