Internet Listing- is it worth the money?

[Maff]

Since getting MCS 3 weeks ago almost everyday I get cold called by people/firms trying to sell me stuff. Especially these firms that claim for about £175 + VAT they can get my company name at the front of google searches for PV in my area?
Does anyone use this, and if so does it generate leads? (It all seems a con to me, like a few years ago I paid £75 to an internet firm who said they had 25 people (clients) who wanted to buy my car which I had recently advertised, never sold it).
I just think that in any one area for them to honour their claim they can only ever promote one company as it would conflict with their promise. Maybe I am cynical Anyone?

 

[JulianC]

Best thing to do with these parasites is hang up on them.

 

[Green]

If you press them a bit further you'll find that they say they can't guarantee it. My knowledge of google etc is limited but a friend of mine who is in the industry explained that algorithms etc change constantly - you'll either need ongoing SEO or not bother at all.

Up to you obviously, but without prior knowledge of the companies offering the service AND referrals from people you trust I wouldn't say it's worthwhile.

 

[Maff]

Cheers just as I thought. I'll save my money I think.

 

[Worcester]

We rely solely on SEO to maintain our position on google - top of page one after the ads for all the key search terms that matter to our customer base.
It took us two years and over £2,000 of courses to learn all the tips, tricks and techniques to do it. It takes less than 15 mins a week to maintain it.

Any web page can be got onto page one within about a fortnight (We've done it in less than 40 mins in front of a live audience of 300 people and the page unaltered is still there 2 years later) however WHAT it gets on page one for is what matters, the SEO companies will opt for a 'long tail keyword search pattern' that is unique to you i.e a VERY specific phrase like "MCS accredited installer in Middle Wallop" which has no competition, the change of getting listed for 'solar pv' or 'solar yourtown' is very slim and requires a lot of work to set up and then continous effort to maintain.

Having said that, our efforts get us a better return than an ad in the paper.

As for subscrining to the lists / directories, it helps, though it's not essential - here's our marketing mix:


OR:
Buy leads, network (picked up one 50kW lead on Wednesday..), develop referrals, take out ads in the paper, yellow pages etc

To see if subscribing to lists / directories for your area is worth it, type in to google the search terms that you think people will use to look for you.

If the directories / lists come up on page one, then that is a quick way for you to get there.

To succeed in business, one way or another you have to market yourself.

How many leads do you need to get a proposal? How many proposals convert? What's your gross profit per sale?

How much of that profit would you pay to get a customer?

Divide that number by the total number of leads you need (see above) - that is how much you can afford to pay for each lead.

 

[davidanson]

They are a total waste of time and money. I am watching all that is going on in this forum because I started working for a friend who was just starting out on installing Solar PV. I had started a new business (Search Matters - Home Page) to help small businesses with their web presence and particularly with helping them to set up Google Adwords - these are the sponsored links you see on your Google searches. I helped him set up his website and sorted out his Google Adwords.

My experience for this business was formed in the school of hard knocks by realising I had been wasting thousands of pounds (I don't really want to know how many) because for a few years my adverts had been appearing all over the world as Google had changed the system. Digging into it I found out that there were a lot of ways I could do things better and started Search Matters as a response to that. I work primarily around my home city of Sheffield because my approach is to help you set up Google Adwords and then over three one-to-one sessions spread apart by at least one week teach you how to run your own Google Adwords because you are the best person to do it. As Worcester says with SEO, once Google Adwords are set up then it is 10-15 minutes a week just to keep on top of things. This is not a sales pitch - you are in Kent, I am in Yorkshire and I only do face-to-face training - but I charge £150 for the three sessions at the end of which you will have a fully functioning system. Someone locally was charging £400 just to sit in a classroom for a day with X other people and all you probably left the course with was a manual. Worcester's suggestions for your marketing tips are very good, use them to ask yourself the questions. My only experience from dealing with PV around Sheffield and in my main business (I train UK Police Officers - hence the waste of money paying for adverts worldwide) is that advertising in most magazines is a total waste of money nowadays - the only phone calls we seem to receive are from other people trying to sell us some more advertising - or Google optimisation. And I am not sure about listings sites. Whether you are doing traditional SEO or managing Google Adwords you will really get best value by doing it yourself as you are the best motivated person - other people will tell you they can do it for you but you really have no idea how good or bad a job they are doing.