Re: FN-FORUM thought

date posted 29th September 2001 23:09

If the local shop wont match - I find one that does or (horror of
horrors...!!!) I buy online. I am a keen user of locally produce and local
supplied goods. I would rather keep the centre of our small market town
alive than pander to the beast that we call the internet. (yet I stil go to
the out of town supermarkets - doh!) I recognise the power and use of the
net - i design sites, I buy from dabs.com etc - but I use it as part of my
shopping experience, rather than to replace it.

To be honest, I have yet to find a shop that wont haggle when presented with
a lower price. If the are slightly more expensive I dob't mind - a local
purchase means a local complaint and a local repair! I like a local shop for
local people.

Tubs
[EMAIL REMOVED]
(..............did the plan work Edward?)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Turner" [EMAIL REMOVED]
To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 10:27 AM
Subject: RE: FN-FORUM thought


> I like that thought!! What happens if the locals can't match the price?
>
> All the best
> Ian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> [EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Sent: 28 September 2001 07:06
> To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Subject: Re: FN-FORUM thought
>
>
> I often search for a product on the net - recently a camera - find the
best
> available price, then bugger off to Jessops in town and get them to match
> it. I am a search statistic but often not a buyer.
>
> The web is my leverage on local pricing.
>
> Iain
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Eckersall" [EMAIL REMOVED]
> To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 10:05 PM
> Subject: Re: FN-FORUM thought
>
>
> > you're totally, utterly and completely missing the point.
> >
> > my original argument was that your method isnt the most efficient,
> effective
> > way of improving a companies sales.
> >
> > i ask again:
> > of those 85% of websites found via search engines, can you provide stats
> > about the number of leads/sales generated from this?
> >
> > in addition - your search stats, can they provide me with the
following?:
> > what type of people searched (ie, joe public, opposition, corporate)
> > what size of company were they searching for
> > what sales were generated from the search
> > what was the cost/gains ratio from the site?
> > what increased percentage of sales did the client have due to the SEO of
> the
> > site.
> >
> > i am not arging about searches.
> >
> > i am arguing that there are more effective and efficient ways of
spending
> a
> > companys budget to increase sales and that too many
companies/freelancers
> > have relied on things like SEO alone and that this has contributed to a
> lack
> > of trust by SME's.
> >
> > if a regional-based client expects sales from his site and all you have
to
> > offer is SEO, then for all the sales its likely to generate you might as
> > well sell snakeoil.
> >
> > bottom line: searching aint buying.
> >
> > dave ecky
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Ian Bullough" [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 7:02 PM
> > Subject: RE: FN-FORUM thought
> >
> >
> > Bottom line,
> >
> > people do search for carpets and bathrooms and cars etc...
> >
> > I've got 18 months worth of stats that prove you wrong.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > [EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of David Eckersall
> > Sent: 27 September 2001 16:13
> > To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > Subject: Re: FN-FORUM thought
> >
> >
> > im not debating the effect of SEO for attracting people to a site - im
> > debating its use for *sales*
> >
> > people rarely look for a regional business over the web - anybody who
uses
> > the internet to find a local carpet seller, bathroom fittings, etc.
needs
> to
> > learn how to make more effective use of their time.
> >
> > on the other hand, SEO is fine for businesses that are
> > national/international are looking to expand in such a manner because
> those
> > type of companies people will. for these SEO will increase sales leads,
> for
> > many SME's who are regional based it wont.
> >
> > never, ever, EVER confuse people looking for websites with people
looking
> to
> > purchase something - they're 2 entirely distinct concepts. those 85% of
> > websites found via search engines - is there a breakdown of type, what
the
> > the searcher is interested in and what involved sales?
> >
> > 2 sites i did were optimized to hell last year, appeared in the top 10
in
> > some 15 differerent search engines (KN payed searchengineers a fair
whack
> > for this) yet generated no sales, because when KN sold the websites they
> > never considered *what* people searched for! hats and warehouse stickers
> > havent proved to be what companies/people search for...
> >
> > i said this some months back, but know your audience and target
> > accordingly - SEO is useful in many cases, but equally is also worth
jack
> > shit in many cases.
> >
> > dave ecky
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Ian Bullough" [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 7:58 AM
> > Subject: RE: FN-FORUM thought
> >
> >
> > You say...
> >
> > "if approached by a company like that i wouldnt even entertain the
thought
> > of
> > increasing business for them that way"
> >
> > ...However SEO isn't about increasing business for the website design
> > company it is PURELY to increase business for the small business.
> >
> > If you are a website designer, you need to get one fact very firmly
locked
> > in your brain:
> >
> > 85%+ of people find websites through search engines!!!
> >
> > You want proof???
> >
> > I run a website for one of the largest carpet buying groups in UK. They
> have
> > 240 members in different towns/cities. The website is set up to provide
a
> > page for each member (i.e. town/city) and also has around 10 pages about
> the
> > group. So we have 250 HTML pages.
> >
> > The group advertise heavily in specialist magazines, they have the URL
on
> > their stationery etc.
> >
> > I measure stats for them and collate them each month. The website gets
an
> > average of 3000 page views per month. I have trackers on each page and
> also
> > record where the hit came from and what search term they used to ge
there.
> >
> > In addition, every member promotes the website in their own
towns/cities.
> >
> > Now by your estimation, the most viewed page has to be (in this case)
> > index.html as that is a measure of the effectiveness of traditional
> > advertising (advertising the URL brings them to the homepage).
> >
> > But, out of 3000 page views, the index averages only 390 per month
(around
> > 15%? I haven't got my calculator). The rest of the page views are made
up
> > from the town/city pages being ranked highly on search engines, so that
a
> > person searching for:
> >
> > carpets in some town/city
> >
> > is likely to find that page on the website first (because I SEO'd it).
> >
> > SEO is always sold by saying 85% of people find websites through search
> > engines, I at first was VERY skeptical but the example I have given
above
> is
> > REAL and I've been tracking stats on the website for 18 MONTHS now.
> >
> > When I took over the website, it was set up with Active Server Pages,
> > unfortunately, setting up this way gives a very LOW profile on the
> internet
> > in fact the way the website was first set up, a search engine could only
> see
> > 10 pages as opposed to 250 as it is now.
> >
> > I don't mind people ignoring my posts or posting intelligent replies,
but
> > when you talk in terms of Search engine optimisation being a scam and
then
> > back it up with ludicrous arguments (can't you see how stupid
advertising
> > your internet advertisement is) I have to respond strongly.
> >
> > My bathroom site will have around 400 pages and I'm working on a site
for
> a
> > car leasing company that will have over 500. Covering all the bases, is
> the
> > ONLY way to get quality sales leads from the internet for small
businesses
> > (unless you have a MASSIVE advertising budget in which case ASP or PHP
or
> > JSP is the way to go I don't deal with this size of company - yet).
> >
> > I for one NEVER use the yellow pages and if you want a VERY interesting
> > statistic, I also track hits for a company that has a Yell.com link (the
> > ones that advertise your internet advert cost £199 per annum) they get
> (wait
> > for it!) 3 hits per month. My search engine optimisation brings this
same
> > company over 500 hits per month! I KNOW this (i'm not in the guessing
> > business) because the entry points are other than the index.html page.
> >
> > I repeat:
> >
> > For a small business website design AND search engine optimisation are
> EQUAL
> > partners.
> >
> > THE reason small businesses don't want websites is that their friends
have
> > told them that websites are a complete waste of time (unless your
selling
> > HOME PAGES or UNTITLED DOCUMENTS of course) and that position has been
> > reached because website designers don't know and couldn't care less how
> > search engines work.
> >
> > After all, 99.99% of people always use the Yellow Pages don't they???
> >
> > BULLSHIT!!!
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > [EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of David Eckersall
> > Sent: 27 September 2001 02:56
> > To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> > Subject: FN-FORUM thought
> >
> >
> > somebody the other day mentioned about cross referenceing this'n'that
with
> > local towns for a bathroom company.
> >
> > im trying to work out why since like 99.9999999% population if i
require
> a
> > new bathroom i have this big yellow book downstairs that is infinately
> > faster than searching on msn or google.
> >
> > if approached by a company like that i wouldnt even entertain the
thought
> of
> > increasing business for them that way - i would explain the advantage of
> > having an online 'brochure', the use of joining forces with other local
> > businesses and advertising in the local media in conjunction with the
> > website. the leaflets and newspaper campaign would be there to generate
> new
> > leads witht he website offering images, prices and accolades to
reinforce
> > the nonweb advertising.
> >
> > imo too many freelancers/companies have seen the web as the only avenue
in
> > which to help clients like this - this i feel has contributed to a lack
of
> > trust from many SME's towards the web. many of these companies dont have
> > websites because they dont NEED them! the outlay required for a few
extra
> > leads just isnt cost effective, however if used in a structured campaign
> you
> > could bring in these clients a much better cost/gains ratio.
> >
> > just a thought
> >
> > dave ecky
> >
> >
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