See what you lot think

[Biddy 62]

I'm a self employed Electrician, been offered some advertising with a firm called BT Directories. They claim to provide me with a website and to put me(along with others) on Googles first page, if you type in Electricians in Barnsley. Cost- £199 set up fee plus £39.99 for 12 Months all +Vat. Thats a fair whack of money, so i phoned a few who were already set up with them. Not happy bunnys. So i think i'll give it a miss but if you were after a tradesperson would look on the net, yellow pages or local press? Works shit at the moment so i have to do something.

[Laxie]

Local press first of all, but preferably word of mouth.  Yellow pages and the net can be too random for the type of work you do.

[kinboshi]

First page of Google?  What for, your company's name?

If you want to rank well on google for relevant searches (so searches like 'electrician birmingham' or wherever you're based , you can pay someone £500 to build a site and set it up correctly, and then pay maybe £20 a month.  This will bring in business.  But anyone who guarantees first page listings are basically lying, or will get you there for a phrase that doesn't bring in any customers, or will use pay-per-click advertising to get you on the first page - and that's a completely different thing.

[cia260895]

I take it you are a house basher?

[DaveShoelace]

Dunno if you have the equivalent in Barnsley, but being as you are a quick drive away, you should advertise your services for free here:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/

Very popular, word of mouth sort of forum and I know a ton of local businesses that swear by it

[TightEnd]

local press first

price above is too expensive for likely returns

[Bongo]

First page of Google?  What for, your company's name?

If you want to rank well on google for relevant searches (so searches like 'electrician birmingham' or wherever you're based , you can pay someone £500 to build a site and set it up correctly, and then pay maybe £20 a month.  This will bring in business.  But anyone who guarantees first page listings are basically lying, or will get you there for a phrase that doesn't bring in any customers, or will use pay-per-click advertising to get you on the first page - and that's a completely different thing.

I think they have a site that ranks well and they are selling space on there.

[MANTIS01]

Posting flyers in your catchment area for a locally available electrician is the best form of advertising and probably the cheapest too.

[Dingdell]

I was contacted by bt customer street this week and checked them out - they are a nightmare - here are some other peoples comments about them. Their phone number is 01524 529000. Not sure if that is the same people.

http://www.blagger.com/scripts/db4.php?recordindex=25&viewDetails=1&company_id=7189

The message they left for me was "can you ring re your availability to take on more clients.Thanks" so if I ring and say yes I can take on more clients they say well you better advertise then. I hate that approach.


Definitely concentrate on getting local business and referrals - cards and leaflets through doors are ok but referrals are much better. When you have done a good job don't be frightened to ask for business - ask them to refer you - they will think they are helping (which they are) and will often go oout of their way to get you another job with someone else - people are generally nice and liek to help in my experience. A small ad in the local paper would be good too.

[kinboshi]

First page of Google?  What for, your company's name?

If you want to rank well on google for relevant searches (so searches like 'electrician birmingham' or wherever you're based , you can pay someone £500 to build a site and set it up correctly, and then pay maybe £20 a month.  This will bring in business.  But anyone who guarantees first page listings are basically lying, or will get you there for a phrase that doesn't bring in any customers, or will use pay-per-click advertising to get you on the first page - and that's a completely different thing.

I think they have a site that ranks well and they are selling space on there.

I see, like TouchLocal.  So his listing wouldn't actually be on the first page of google, and probably more than one click away from that as well.  Why get a listing alongside loads of other electricians when you can rank above that site for less and get more?

[kinboshi]

Cost effectiveness:

ad in a local paper > ranking highly in google for relevant phrases?

[Bongo]

This is the site:
http://www.electriciansregister.com/

Oddly enough they appear to offer a free listing on the site itself, probably a con though.

[Biddy 62]

Thanks for the replys thats was the response i was hoping for. The majority of my work is word of mouth. I advertised in the Yellow pages last year that brought in 3 jobs which just about covered the cost, i've just payed £200 to go in again. Dingdell-   Yes thats them, i think they are a direct sales team and commision based so unfortunately they won't give a shit. I'll have a look at other stuff later thanks again. Cia- No not just house bashing, commercial, industrial.

[lazaroonie]

what about google ads ? (your website will be listed in the ads beside on the right of the screen ). Apparantly its free to setup, and you only pay when someone clicks thru to your site.

[kinboshi]

what about google ads ? (your website will be listed in the ads beside on the right of the screen ). Apparantly its free to setup, and you only pay when someone clicks thru to your site.

It's less than free to set up as they usually dish out £20 or more into your account when you open one.  You just need the code.

In the long run, search engine optimisation is more cost effective (getting a ranking in the natural listings), but the PPC (pay-per-click) advertising can be very effective as long as the costs for the clicks in your market place aren't too prohibitive.