Add a BIG boost to your business with Google My Business

Google My Business puts your business on local google map search results.

If your competitors are on google map and you are not – You are missing out on customers.

  • You will need an address for best results
  • If you work from home, you can hide the address. But is better to let people know.

This link explains how to set yourself up:

https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

If you can use a web browser on your Windows or Apple You Can Do This.

It is a bit trick though – We can help

Call Andy on 0452 260 051

Cheap Website Design

cheap website design ocean grove victoria

As a local business, Plumber, Electrician, Home Maintenance or whatever – what do you charge. You all have valuable skills.

Small business website design is valuable skill that can make a make a small business a lot of money. So what should you pay for your website? You will have noticed cheap website designs – under $1000, some for $600, but what do you get?

Will a cheap website provide a high google rankings, be easily found, attract customers looking for a quality job in their home? At $60 per hour, a $600, cheap website will be given no more than 8-10 hours of work – 4-5 hours if the web developer is charging more than $130.

To produce good website design, you need the following:

  • Your website designer need to have a good look at your business and type of services or products you provide.
  • Next is proper keyword research to find the type of search you customers will use when they are looking for you.
  • Its good to run over your competitor website, to make sure yours is better.
  • Logo and graphic design to suite your business, for each page in your new website.
  • Technical stuff, like a website name – your internet address and hosting.
  • You will want your website to be running on quality computers with a stable and reliable content management system, like WordPress – used by 32% of all websites word wide with a 59% market share. Jooma the number 2 CMS has 6% market share.
  • Next come building your website. Depending on how complex this should all take about 10 days.
  • You need access to prompt service when things go wrong and quick updates then your products change or you acquire new skills. All the website software needs regular maintenance so its all using the most up to date versions. If this isn’t done you could get infected.

So do you want a cheap website, wouldn’t an affordable website be a better option? Because I’m new to business, I’m offering a 50% discount for the next 2 customers to get some traction. This doesn’t mean any cuts in service or quality. In exchange, I would like to advertise your new website on AndlynWEB.com.

Ring Andy on 0452 260 051 for a free assessment of your needs. I will provide a fixed price quote for design, build and optionally maintenance.

Is your Website mobile friendly?

Phone

Lets test it now! Grab your phone, find the internet browser and type in your business name or URL if you know it. Hopefully it is easy to find.

Internet Marketing and websites
Internet Marketing and websites

When you find it, the site should load quickly and be clear and usable. The fonts should be easily read and navigation should be easy. A good WordPress theme will work well by automatically resizing the website for maximum impact. 

Now find someone else’s phone and check that the phone number on your website calls your phone with one click.

Tablet

Now try your tablet or ipad. Should work the same. Your website should be quick to load, easy to read and easy to navigate. Google will have rated these things for all common sizes for phones tablets and computer monitors. The main rule for Google is: your site must provide a quality user experience on all devices. 

Personal Computer

I am sure that you have looked at your website on your PC, but have you really tested all the bits that build a website? Have you tested all your pages and posts? Have you tested that your Contact Us page actually emails you? Or that your product links are working?  One of the services we provide is a full SEO audit of your website.

Google is rating your website to find the best solutions for their customers. The websites offering the best answers to google customer searches and the best user experience are given the highest page ranking

If it doesnt do this, we can fix it for you. Its probably cheaper and easier than you think.

Ring Andy on 0452 260 051 for a free review and quote

Pick My Project

Update – we missed out this year. Perhaps if we had an additional 20-30 votes we may have succeeded. Better luck in the next 2019 round.

The Ocean Grove Business Association has requested funding for our local Christmas in the Grove night in December to help with setup of bands and hire of the stuff needed. If you live in Ocean Grove or The Bellarine, please vote for our project by visiting this site: https://pickmyproject.vic.gov.au/rounds/pick-my-project/ideas and voting would be great. I’m thinking the money is given the the projects with the most votes.

You will have to create a login, then get to the voting area. It seems you need to vote for 3. So Vote for  Christmas in the Grove 3rd so it is the first on the list.

If your a local business in Grove, the Ocean Grove Business Association is worth joining. Membership only costs $110/annum. The money goes to local projects like the free WiFi and a defibrilator in the main street. http://www.oceangrovebusiness.com.au/

Your Business needs the Internet

One of the switches on my oven failed last week. I went straight to the internet and started searching in Google. After the listed Ads, which I usually ignore, I found a helpful map showing locations of electricians. I rang a few near me and discovered I needed to source the part myself, so I searched Google for Oven repairs and didn’t really like the pricing – the electrician was cheaper but they didn’t have the part needed, so I searched Google for oven parts and found 3 shops on the neat map interface with the list of businesses down the side. After a few calls I found the switch and organised the electrician. Yes I did have to drive into North Geelong as Geelong Appliance Spares has recently moved. Yes the electrician could have ordered the part for me, but the job would have cost more in multiple visits and taken longer.

While searching, I did not notice any Internet based Yellow pages ads in the process. I know these are expensive. I am recently aware of just how much some of Telstra’s extra bundled internet services cost businesses. So my guess is some businesses are opting out.

As I looked at each search result, in each case I looked at their website  to see what they offered, how professional they looked, hours open etc. A website has 5-10 seconds to gain my trust or skip to the next result.

I did not use yellow or white pages or the local version I still have in a kitchen cupboard. 

Interesting fact – 60% of internet usage is from mobile phones.

It is my belief and the belief of the eBusiness Institute, that if your business is not on the internet in the next few years, you will not be found and will loose business. 

Younger people use the internet for everything. Over 60’s are using the internet. Even my 80 year old neighbours are really good at the internet. So if you havn’t made the leap yet, get a website. It cheaper than you think and heaps cheaper than Telstra or the commercial news papers.

Call Andy on 0452 260 051 for a free initial assessment of your needs. I am much cheaper than the bigger Geelong based agencies. I can build a great website for your business.

NAP is Important

Name, Address, Phone No is NAP. NAP is really important. Your business has a name, address and phone number listed in many places, your shop front, business cards, website, yellow and white pages and up to 20 internet directory sites like Hi Pages and Google My Business. 

The different internet search engines all search the internet constantly looking for supporting evidence for your website details. When these bots find other references they make links back to your website. These backlinks increase the authority of your website. This increases the search popularity or your website. 

For this to work your name, address and phone number needs to be exactly the same everywhere it is listed. Every listing should have the same format, punstuation and spelling.

Some examples: 

  • 0392342345 or 03 9234 2345 or 9234 2345 – it doesnt matter which, as long as you always use the same one. For the sake of the customers, pick one that is easy to read.
  • Arnies Plumbing or Arnie’s Plumbing
  • Air St or Air Street
  • 53 John St or Cnr John and Paul Streets

None of the examples are right or wrong. The important point is what whichever you like, you stick with. A good guide is your listed mailing address.

It is especially important if you have moved, to find the old entries you created and update them. 

Your business should get a boost when all the listing are the same.

If you need help contact Andy at Andlyn WEBsites on 0452 260 051 for a free quote.

Phone 0452 260 051
Monday to Friday 9-6