Website designer and SEO recomendations
Discussion
Morning All ,
I wonder if anyone can suggest a Website designer who is able to put together a 6 page Website that is targeted to sell UK manufactured Industrial LED lighting to a B-2-B audience. I already have access to photos and text for the products so is really the website platform I am after if that makes sense ?
I am aware the success or failure to sell the product ,though ,is reliant on good SEO so would like the whole thing managed by one company if at all possible .
Personal recommendations would be really helpful
Cheers
I wonder if anyone can suggest a Website designer who is able to put together a 6 page Website that is targeted to sell UK manufactured Industrial LED lighting to a B-2-B audience. I already have access to photos and text for the products so is really the website platform I am after if that makes sense ?
I am aware the success or failure to sell the product ,though ,is reliant on good SEO so would like the whole thing managed by one company if at all possible .
Personal recommendations would be really helpful
Cheers
My job is web design and development, while I'm not in the market for putting myself forward for work I can tell you what to do to find a "good" one.
The most important thing you can do when looking for a designer is to see their previous work which they should happily provide you with. When you have that give those website owners a call and ask them for their experiences with that designer.
The next most important thing to do is to ask them what "platform" they're going to use - if any. If they're using something like WordPress then you need to make an agreement with them as to who will be responsible for security updates on the site. This is important as if you're running an out of date version of WordPress then you're opening yourself up hackers taking control of the site and serving nasty things to your visitors. If the designer is just going to give you a static HTML site without a platform behind it, then you're going to have to work out someway of updating the site.
Finally, with SEO, you can burn money with it. You mention you have text for your products, where is the text from? Did you write it yourself or is it lifted from somewhere else? If it's from somewhere else or you've copied parts of it, you need to rewrite it properly. Google can see that text as a duplicate, which means your text isn't as valuable in search parameters. The rule I've followed is that the text should always be easy to read and make sense. You write text to engage the reader, not to rank on Google.
You can look for the Black Hat World forum and you can find some SEO experts or packages that will help you, and quite often they're reviewed.
The most important thing you can do when looking for a designer is to see their previous work which they should happily provide you with. When you have that give those website owners a call and ask them for their experiences with that designer.
The next most important thing to do is to ask them what "platform" they're going to use - if any. If they're using something like WordPress then you need to make an agreement with them as to who will be responsible for security updates on the site. This is important as if you're running an out of date version of WordPress then you're opening yourself up hackers taking control of the site and serving nasty things to your visitors. If the designer is just going to give you a static HTML site without a platform behind it, then you're going to have to work out someway of updating the site.
Finally, with SEO, you can burn money with it. You mention you have text for your products, where is the text from? Did you write it yourself or is it lifted from somewhere else? If it's from somewhere else or you've copied parts of it, you need to rewrite it properly. Google can see that text as a duplicate, which means your text isn't as valuable in search parameters. The rule I've followed is that the text should always be easy to read and make sense. You write text to engage the reader, not to rank on Google.
You can look for the Black Hat World forum and you can find some SEO experts or packages that will help you, and quite often they're reviewed.
Redarress said:
I am aware the success or failure to sell the product ,though ,is reliant on good SEO so would like the whole thing managed by one company if at all possible .
At your level SEO is a waste of money, do not do it. PPC is the way to go unquestionably. I have 10 years of digital marketing experience across a wide range of sectors and SEO is only worth it for very niche sites or very big ones, and even then...If its your first move into the market keep costs low, get a lost cost site, many companies do this for a few hundred pounds, and see if it works. Its all about ROI. if you're growing in a few months then consider upgrading your site. Don't copy other content but with such a small and new site any SEO implications are effectively non existent if you did..
No, your product's success is not dependent on your website's SEO. Expecting Google to send you all the leads you need on the back of SEO isn't a feasible business model....you need to go to your customers, don't expect them to come to you. Do yourself a favour and drawn up a proper business plan and marketing strategy.
Your selling to other sellers who won’t want you selling to the end user.
You need a catalogue site but if you want ecommerce make sure trade prices are only visible via log in.
Also you need an asset library for your customers to use on their website.
I always recommend Shopify as a good platform, and I do in your case. We’re flat out and I’m not looking for marketing or dev but I’m happy to talk to you as someone who doesn’t want to sell you anything.
PM me if you want a chat.
Edit to say if it’s just a brochure site it’s obviously Wordpress.
Double edit to say - if you exhibit at electrex or similar having a site thats up to date and mobile friendly will help you make the most of your investment.
You need a catalogue site but if you want ecommerce make sure trade prices are only visible via log in.
Also you need an asset library for your customers to use on their website.
I always recommend Shopify as a good platform, and I do in your case. We’re flat out and I’m not looking for marketing or dev but I’m happy to talk to you as someone who doesn’t want to sell you anything.
PM me if you want a chat.
Edit to say if it’s just a brochure site it’s obviously Wordpress.
Double edit to say - if you exhibit at electrex or similar having a site thats up to date and mobile friendly will help you make the most of your investment.
Edited by DSLiverpool on Sunday 4th March 13:09
I'd echo the above. I'm not convinced B2B sales of this type is actually worth pursuing online tbh. In my experience most B2B is still done by phone/in person. If you are looking to sell to developers, architects, facilities managers etc you might be hoping they're all sitting there frantically Googling to get the best deal on LED lights, but they're not. They're too busy speaking to the guy who phoned them up and is offering them what seems to be the right price. Whether it actually is or not.
By all means have a professional looking site, but in that game there's no substitute for a decent sales guy who knows the ropes of the industry.
By all means have a professional looking site, but in that game there's no substitute for a decent sales guy who knows the ropes of the industry.
technodup said:
I'd echo the above. I'm not convinced B2B sales of this type is actually worth pursuing online tbh. In my experience most B2B is still done by phone/in person. If you are looking to sell to developers, architects, facilities managers etc you might be hoping they're all sitting there frantically Googling to get the best deal on LED lights, but they're not. They're too busy speaking to the guy who phoned them up and is offering them what seems to be the right price. Whether it actually is or not.
By all means have a professional looking site, but in that game there's no substitute for a decent sales guy who knows the ropes of the industry.
depends on the market sector, we certainly have B2B clients for whom an online catalogue / easy way to see specifications and photos is a critical success in their market v. their competitors... in other markets it may make no difference at all...By all means have a professional looking site, but in that game there's no substitute for a decent sales guy who knows the ropes of the industry.
akirk said:
depends on the market sector, we certainly have B2B clients for whom an online catalogue / easy way to see specifications and photos is a critical success in their market v. their competitors... in other markets it may make no difference at all...
We don't do a lot of B2B to be fair, although we did have someone approach us last year for a site to (coincidentally) sell LED lights. They also wanted a paper catalogue which was iirc 80odd pages, all of things which looked much the same to me. I think whatever the product the question is about expectation management, and how much you can spend online before getting any traction. Anyone hoping to fire a few quid at SEO and get rich without doing what I would call the basics (the traditiona/offline/business stuff) well are going to find out the problem with that approach.As it happens the company went tits up almost as soon as we'd agreed to build the site so nothing ended up getting done. Hopefully not an omen for the OP.
technodup said:
e don't do a lot of B2B to be fair, although we did have someone approach us last year for a site to (coincidentally) sell LED lights. They also wanted a paper catalogue which was iirc 80odd pages, all of things which looked much the same to me. I think whatever the product the question is about expectation management, and how much you can spend online before getting any traction. Anyone hoping to fire a few quid at SEO and get rich without doing what I would call the basics (the traditiona/offline/business stuff) well are going to find out the problem with that approach.
As it happens the company went tits up almost as soon as we'd agreed to build the site so nothing ended up getting done. Hopefully not an omen for the OP.
so true... the number of companies setting up online because it is cheap, and all they need is seo and social media, is scary... we always warn clients that it costs at least the same as setting up a shop on the high street, just easier to scaleAs it happens the company went tits up almost as soon as we'd agreed to build the site so nothing ended up getting done. Hopefully not an omen for the OP.
technodup said:
If you are looking to sell to developers, architects, facilities managers etc you might be hoping they're all sitting there frantically Googling to get the best deal on LED lights, but they're not. They're too busy speaking to the guy who phoned them up and is offering them what seems to be the right price.
Speaking as director of an architectural practice, and former design director for a major developer, I wouldn't agree.Anyone who bothers me by phone or email gets very short shrift indeed - I'm too busy to tolerate spam and nuisance calls. They're more likely to get sworn at and/or blacklisted.
I operate a 'don't call us, we'll call you' policy, and when I need a specific product like lighting, I will go off and Google it (or task a minion to do so).
Equus said:
technodup said:
If you are looking to sell to developers, architects, facilities managers etc you might be hoping they're all sitting there frantically Googling to get the best deal on LED lights, but they're not. They're too busy speaking to the guy who phoned them up and is offering them what seems to be the right price.
Speaking as director of an architectural practice, and former design director for a major developer, I wouldn't agree.Anyone who bothers me by phone or email gets very short shrift indeed - I'm too busy to tolerate spam and nuisance calls. They're more likely to get sworn at and/or blacklisted.
I operate a 'don't call us, we'll call you' policy, and when I need a specific product like lighting, I will go off and Google it (or task a minion to do so).
Equus said:
I operate a 'don't call us, we'll call you' policy, and when I need a specific product like lighting, I will go off and Google it (or task a minion to do so).
I put that policy in place for a major insurance companies many years ago - on the basis that we actually had 1,000s of IT staff and therefore pretty good internal knowledge - where we needed to top it up we would come looking...the best response was a supplier who sent me a bin with the comment that as I had no doubt been binning all their marketing, I would now need this as my bin must be full!
Still got that bin under my desk (of my own business now!) 15+ years later...
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