Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

vwebworld has the answer, above.....in the first 5 seconds I came to your site, I couldn`t find anything to act on, right in front of me (towards upper left)....like "click here for free estimate", or "click here for price/package options", or "special package now available" or even "areas served" (although this is really tiny on top).

Here`s what I`m thinking:

1) sounds like a good service, (2) is it available now, in my area, for a reasonable price? 

Can`t find the answer to (2) quickly, so I move on...

OK, so I am your target market ... I`m guessing.
We live in California (okay, wrong end, but still.)
We have a toddler.
We have pets.
We use things like Method products and that Eco-whatever dish detergent.
We`re middle class, busy people.
We shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Farmer`s Markets.
The adults in our household range from 29-40 years old.
I`m the female who makes 99% of the purchasing decisions in the house.

About right? I list these things so you can understand who the market is, not because I really want people to start wondering about the age range in my household.

That being said ...
"Your home cleaned totally toxin free
Safe for you, your children & your pets"
completely speaks to me. (It`s just too bad it`s a graphic instead of text so it won`t be picked up by search engines!)

"About Us" and "Why Green" need to be completely overhauled. I agree that I don`t want a green lecture. I looked for your company because I`m already buying green. What I want is for you to tell me the benefits to me. Why do I care who was a banker and a restaurant manager? I am not trying to be mean ... just seriously, no one cares. I don`t want "Why Green" ... I want "Why Us".

Drop all the links at the bottom with the insurance companies and the business licenses.

I will defend the English speaking housekeepers though, and I don`t think people who don`t live in southern California will get that. I think your target market is affluent white people (like it or not), or you wouldn`t have a blond haired-blue eyed baby right on the front of the site. And I think that market, in that particular area, wants to know that their workers speak English.

I think you need to focus on that 1-2 Stuff on your front page. That is good. Now add the what`s in it for me. Love the baby picture. And you`re golden.

I wouldn`t put too much emphasis on the SEO stuff. You`re a local company. Create a marketing strategy that works locally. Make a whole stack of business cards and flyers and doorhangers. Target certain neighborhoods. Target mom`s groups and pet groups. Put up flyers at the dog parks. Make friends with daycares, nannies, dog walkers, and vets. Who cares about Google? You need word of mouth marketing.

Make locations served and call for a free estimate bigger.

Meta Tags Baby! I viewed the source (anyone can do this on any page -
it`s under View)

The meta names and keywords are what drive a search engine to your
site. Here is the HTML for RiverNetwork.org`s meta tags

<meta name="description" content="River Network, a national non-profit
organization, offers river information, resources, workshops and river
grants to help you raise money, build organizations, and protect rivers
and watersheds." />
<meta name="keywords" content="river information, monitor protect and
restore rivers, river monitoring protection and restoration, river links,
national grassroots river groups and organizations, non-profit funding
sources, clean water act, river conservation jobs, grants, mission
statements, drinking water, non-profit development, nonprofit
assistance, nonprofit help, board development, strategic planning,
watershed protection, environmental protection, success stories" />

so a search for any of those terms would at some point lead to
rivernetwork. Get it?

I would have maids housekeepers, cleaning service, the zipcodes maybe,
the cities you serve, natural, non-toxic, safe, clean, confident, hypo-
allergenic, protect ....

I would also ask your web desinger to do teh changes for free. If they are
a professional they should know about the importance of meta tags.

I like the look of the site but agree the location links are too small and
hard to read. Your logo should certainly be bigger. If you could find a
fun `mother earth` graphic and add a mop and spray bottle it might make
it more catchy.
Good luck...

QueenSalmon

For a more objective view of meta tags:

How important are meta tags and meta keywords?

Death of a Meta Tag

Google Keeps Tweaking its Search Engine

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?

Someone made this statement above, and I agree with them what does it matter if they are english speaking?  I think that is irrelevant information on your website and it is now August have you made changes to the website as it didn`t look as though you did?  I think you should also advertise on the Cleaning Services Directory, my business has gotten lots of hits from there.  Good Luck