-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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I'm in the process of designing my own web site, and I enjoyed checking yours out. One thing I found distracting were the changing images on the home page. It could be that I am just tired at the end of the day, but I found myself getting frustrated by them. If no one else chimes in and says the same then ignore this. Other than that I like it.
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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where does it have the call to action?? the request to call you now for an order?? I think i missed it..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Brenda, Nice Work! We were in Kemptville last June, coming back from a week in Prince Edward County. I stopped at a Pizza place to ask directions, there was a Very Cool Sign next door, maybe 2' x 12-16' Yours?? have to go thru pics to give name, but i got a couple of shots, Very Nice! hope it's yours!1
John
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006 Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
Brenda, Nice clean design, easy to navigate. Now for the hard part, marketing. A web site with out marketing is like winking at someone in the dark, you are the only one that knows you did it.
Here is my 2 cents: --Work hard at getting high quality, relevant (high Google page rank)links to your site. Its like bringing movie star with you to a party. Instantly you are a popular guest.
--Understand your keyword universe. Use wordtracker.com to find the keywords that are relevant to you products and services. Put these in a spreadsheet and build on them. Make sure they are properly represented in your copy (be careful you don't inadvertently use spam techniques). I use a program called submit it from Microsoft. It spiders your site and makes suggestions for changing the copy to be search engine friendly.
--Use Google adwords to run an add campaign. Adwords is the most significant advancement in advertising in 100 years. You can be on the first page of search results tomorrow morning for any keyword search once you know what your doing (and not many people do at this point, but it wont stay that way for long). Read up on it first or you will throw money away (I recommend the Ebook from Perry Marshal (the definitive guide to adwords).
-- Be patient, the longer your website is out there, the easier it is to get ranked.
This all assumes you do want to sell to other in addition to your local area. I think its the main reason to have a site (rather than just an online brochure). I have shipped to every state except Alaska and many other country's. Its a lot of work but well worth the effort.
-------------------- Dan White Keuka Studios, Inc. 66 North Main Street Honeoye Falls, NY 14472 585-624-5960 dan@keuka-studios.com Posts: 12 | From: Honeoye Falls, New York | Registered: Jul 2005
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-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Thank you so much for all the positive impute. Yes John, the sign shop you saw beside the pizza place was my sign. I do remember someone telling me this summer that a "sign guy" was taking pictures of my sign..must have been you! haha Thank you also Dan for giving me some advice to think about. I'm going to look into that. Thank you also Kelly for your impute. Most like the flash display, but some don't. I myslef like it, but maybe I'll have a look at it and see if I can tone it down.
-------------------- Ottawa Custom Signs Stittsville, Ontario Posts: 346 | From: Stittsville, ON | Registered: Dec 1998
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I am somewhat ambivalent on Flash intros. Yours is quite well done, but usually I want to get right into the site I'm visiting, even though I have broadband.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5092 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
nice work Brenda. The only thing that drove me nuts is that the color of the scroll bar on the right and the scroll arrows is so close that I didnt even see the arrows, I had to hope there were some there to scroll with. but I'm using an old machine to try it from, I will try it from my newer machine later and see if its similar maybe.
-------------------- Harris Kohen K-Man Pinstriping and Graphix Trenton, NJ "Showing the world that even I can strategically place the pigment where its got to go." Posts: 1739 | From: Trenton, NJ, USA | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
very refreshing, Brenda, beautiful work! Great suggestions about the marketing with Google. I've never heard much about that before, but I can see how that would definitely get you out there. Your murals are very nice too.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3489 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Thank you everyone for the replies as well as the emails sent. This year I have been working hard trying the give the business a "face lift" and it has paid off. Web page, brochures, networking etc. With moving the business to a commercial space, hiring some staff and concentrating more on the business end of things it has been a better successful year. In many ways it was almost starting the business all over again and not without many speed pumps, but I'm glad things are moving forward. I fell more "put together" now, even though I've been doing business on my own for eight years. I've had a good eight years...but it was time to step it up a notch.
[ December 12, 2005, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: Brenda Daley (Beaupit) ]
-------------------- Ottawa Custom Signs Stittsville, Ontario Posts: 346 | From: Stittsville, ON | Registered: Dec 1998
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