12 replies to this topic

[NEWIBE-2-YOUBE]

HEy, I just wanted to know if any web designers have ever recieved work from having a high keyword rank on google? Does it actually bring in any business, or just traffic. Thanks

[Haystack]

Welcome NEWIBE-2-YOUBE.

Web designers can definitely find new business online. I've worked with a few designers who receive the majority of their business through a combination of web leads and referrals based on business they've done for clients who had originally found them online.

The ones that seem to do the best are designers who focus on their regional markets.

[NEWIBE-2-YOUBE]

Thanks, I deal with a huge market becuase I live in a major city. I was wondering if I really need to worry about SEO of my design site. It seems like no one really looks for web design online. I am new to SEO, but I have notice a lot of people would like to have me do SEO to thier site. Seems like people will pay more for SEO then they will on a wesite. Which is sad becuase traffic doesnt matter when your site is crap.

Guess I'll just keep learning. I still dont understand what makes someone better at SEO other then workable hours. But hey, I"m a newbie

[OldWelshGuy]

Which is sad becuase traffic doesnt matter when your site is crap

I disagree with this, as even a blind pig in a field will eventually find the food, he just has to walk about more.

I started with a website and no customers, I went out and built a really cheap hand made html directory. This got my name out, and lots of links. and it grew from there.

My advice to you would be this, build damn good looking sites, brand them with your name and link back (this stops the scum from saying they built them) and also when the competitors of the company whose site you built and promoted find that you built the top site, they will flock to your door.

A high ranking poorly designed site will bring in more business than a stunner that no one can find

I am not a great designer, but what I do is make sure that what the sack lacks in graphical design, it is more than made up for in quality SEO and marketing.

I get calls all the time, from competitors of my customers asking me to work for them, fortunately i have an agreement NOT to work for the competition of my customers. Many say I am mad to do this, but while they are out there quoting and fighting for work on price, I make it clear that I only work for 1 company in an area, in a market.

[Haystack]

I was wondering if I really need to worry about SEO of my design site. It seems like no one really looks for web design online. I am new to SEO, but I have notice a lot of people would like to have me do SEO to thier site. Seems like people will pay more for SEO then they will on a wesite. Which is sad becuase traffic doesnt matter when your site is crap.

Newbie, other than through web marketing, how are web designers marketing their services? Personally, I can't imagine many businesses are looking for prospective web design companies in the phone book or other offline media.

If you don't SEO your own site, it would look like you don't understand the importance of SEO, which is quite common among web designers and developers.

While it's true that traffic doesn't matter if your site is crap, it's also true that your site is crap if it doesn't attract any traffic.

Figure out an appropriate balance and you'll have some very satisfied clients.

[Paul J]

Newibe, it sounds like you could have the best of both worlds. You can build a great looking site and still optimize it for SEO. You can start out a step ahead of designers who don't immediately incorporate SEO, and ahead of SEO's whose design knowledge (like myself) is "sub par".

[dbmasters]

I dunno, newbie, I have only been taking SEO seriously for my home-based, part-time for-extra-money media business (web design/development being a good chunk of my work) for about two months and watched the results in the search engines. So far, on this the 3rd day of February 2004 I already have accounts receivable that are better than 50% of my entire last years income, plus a couple job in the can that I haven't even had time to start yet.

To me, personally that say a lot. And it also says if it keeps up, by next year I could be 100% self-employed (can anyone say "dream come true").

I am not entirely in agreement with OWG, while I totally respect his opinion, and yes, even a blind pig can find food, fact remains you will do better having a more atractive and professional web site yourself. Otherwise you become one of the hundreds of "web designers" on the yahoo forums saying "I'll build you a website for $50" check me out by clicking here, you click, and well...you know the rest...if you want serious work you must show yourself in a serious light. IMHO.

That said, OWG still rocks.

[OldWelshGuy]

Db cheers :-)

I agree with what you said 100%, you are NOT going to get design work, if your site is crap lol no matter how many visitors you get (even blind pig visitors will just say no)

I was talking about business in general when I made the comment. A badly designed site selling wedding stuff will sell something if it gets visitors, whereas a well designed slick site selling the same, will sell nothing without visitors.

There really is no excuse for a bad site today, what with templates and wysiwyg editors etc, why even www.blindpiginafield.com is a good site

And YES it really is "dream come true"

[torka]

Newbie, other than through web marketing, how are web designers marketing their services? Personally, I can't imagine many businesses are looking for prospective web design companies in the phone book or other offline media.

Interesting you should mention this. It relates to a newsletter article I got just yesterday, from Robert Middleton, who specializes in marketing consultation to independent professionals.

In this newsletter, he differentiates between passive and active marketing. What you're talking about is passive marketing -- getting your message out there in such as way that people seek you out for your services. That is a great way to get business as it works for you all the time, whether you're there or not and can reach people who are geographically remote from you.

However, there's also active marketing, which is especially good for somebody who's just starting out. They may not have the brand or portfolio or market reach to rely on passive marketing. As Middleton pointed out in his newsletter, you can build a business completely on passive marketing if you're persistent and you have lots of time, as it usually takes longer to produce results than active marketing.

Active marketing is where you get out there and put yourself in front of people. The classic example is to contact all the area business and professional organizations and volunteer your services as a speaker for their meetings. Most of them spend a lot of time looking for relevant, interesting speakers and will jump at the offer. In return for your presenting an interesting, informative 15 to 20 minute presentation (NOT a sales pitch!), you will generally get a free meal and the chance to chat with (and exchange business cards with) a whole bunch of local business owners. Follow up with the most likely prospects, and you'll be off to a good quick start.

That said, if you're advertising yourself as a designer, you really NEED to have a snappy looking site. And if you're advertising your SEO services, you really should have some sort of decent rankings for at least some relevant search terms.

But there are plenty of other ways for designers and SEO gurus to get clients without relying on search engine results.

--Torka

[dbmasters]

I agree with what you said 100%, you are NOT going to get design work, if your site is crap lol no matter how many visitors you get (even blind pig visitors will just say no)

Ahhhh, yes, OK, THAT I can stand in full agreement with.

I started pretty much the same way you did, a site and no clients. I took on a couple charity jobs for no pay, but got to attach the ol' "designed and developed by" in the footer and things kinda rolled from there...

Persistence is the key.

[Jill]

Hey Torka, that newsletter sounds interesting. Do you have a link to it?

Jill

[anthonyparsons.com]

You have such a way with words haystack. Hey torka, could I have a look at that newsletter too.....pleaseeeeee.....

[torka]

He only keeps partial online archives (which don't seem to include this article), and unfortunately, I didn't save the newsletter.

I highly recommend his free "More Clients" newsletter. It comes out once a week, is a fairly quick read, and usually has at least one good idea every issue. He's also got some freebies on his site (articles, downloads) related to marketing for independent professionals (as well as his "InfoGuru Manual" for purchase).

His website is http://www.actionplan.com/ . There's a signup link for the newsletter on the left hand side.

I'm sure to people who have a background in marketing or sales, a lot of what he says is going to be very basic, but to someone like me who had no experience with it and a comfort level of nearly zero with the whole concept, he's got a very good step-by-step plan with lots of practical examples.

--Torka