Open Source Content Management

Hi Everyone, We are new in Business and need some major help ... please have a look at our website and help us, it's www.nthimkuluprojects.co.za
thanks:lol:

Your website link is not working!

I've looked at your logo. Is that a baobab tree? Why did you go with that tree?
Is this logo the one you've settled on, or is it still a working version?

yip... that link is not working... also - you say nothing about what you need help with... that doesn't help us to help you!

Thanks for the response. Yes that is the final logo, it's a boabab tree because that is the direct meaning of the name of the business.

How do you think I can improve on my website?? did the link work in the end??

oh sorry I put the wrong website adress, it's meant to be www.mthimkuluprojects.co.za ooops. I need serious help with my website, and also with Marketing my business without spending alot of money...

Hi Willie,

I gave some suggestions to another user. You can read these suggestions on how to market your website at www.mysmallbusiness.co.za/forum/marketin...es?limit=10&start=20.

These tips are to get more visitors on your website.

Once they are there, you website need to convert them to clients. I assume that this is another area where you would like some advice?

Hi Andy/ Francois.

This was a great reply and in essence exactly what you need.

When talking about any online search (Which is probably why you have a website - to acquire leads)it all starts with research on your market.

Take your "hot" (key) word and go across to Google Adwords tool (Just google this). Plug it in check broad match in the right sidebar, as well as selecting South Africa as region. Hit search and Google will tell you how many people are searching for this on Google. It'll also give you hundreds of other related terms that people are searching for - your "hot" word may not be the best for generating traffic.

Select about 5 to 10 of the best fit/ high traffic terms. Re-enter these and change the setting from Broad to Exact. Redo the search - now you'll get the total number of people searching for that EXACT term. Don't forget this is TOTAL traffic searching for these terms.

You also need to make sure your selected terms don't have serious competition - otherwise you'll never rank on page 1 of the search engines.

There's just so much to Search Engine Optimisation that I can't go into it all over here. If you'd like to find out a bit more I can send you a Free report on how to optimise your website online (And broadcast it). Just drop me a mail and I'll get it across to you.

Have a great day
Peter

Hey Willie. I posted this blog for you. It's a section from my free e-book booklet that helps entrepreneurs who want to develop their own website. Unfortunately it's far from complete and the copywriter hasn't reviewed any of it, so many grammar mistakes. you can find it here: www.mysmallbusiness.co.za/articles/entry...g-their-own-websites

You can combine this with the help Peter has given you.

As for your website...

I'm not a great fan of these template driven websites, they don't do justice to businesses. I'm not sure how much control you have over your website but here are a few ideas:

1. social network link not working?

2. try to align your paragraphs to justify, makes it look cleaner. paragraph indents not aligned and some headings not sized correctly. Spaces between paragraphs are to the same. maybe make the headings a different colour but keep in mind high contrast, stuff you want people to focus on has high contrast. Try to keep things the same, people like that. Makes it easy to find things and figure out what's what. Alignment and proper sizing is often
overlooked and creates an unprofessional image which can be bad for business.

3. The ad banner "car services from R399.00" , that image is just asking to be linked. What if I wanted to find out more about that offer, what do i do, where do i go? link it to a page with more details and a button to order/add to chart.

4. Why not make the images under the main ad banner a sliding banner instead of linking away from the main page to other pages of an just an image. The user has to click back after viewing each image, it's more comfortable to use a slideshow navigation gallery there.kind of like under products and services : Vintage Engine restoration gallery, if it can move automatically that would be great. something like this: ryanflorence.com/slideshow/1.0/#mixed-content.

5. Try and categorize your services and products. Maybe make them seperate pages with their own navigation button on the main navigation bar like a drop down sub-menu if possible.

6. Also branding direction on your website is lacking. You need to tell people why buy from me? What do they get out of it? Create a website idea around your branding so that it does feel to forced.

The reason I asked about your logo is that using an image of a dry leafless tree when you provide car maintenance solutions just sends the wrong branding message, don't you think? Just my opinion though. Maybe turning the logo into an illustration would remove the dryness effect. Please don't kill me, just trying to help ...

Hi Willie,

Let's touch on conversion - changing a visitor to a customer.

Target your client; know you client.
Who is he/she? Is he a car-nut or just a commuter, or a can't-care-less-about-my-car person?
Is he a brand fanatic? Is he as passionate about his BMW as I'm about Ferrari?
What is his problem? Did he experience a breakdown, or is he concerned about the continual maintenance on his car?

When writing pages for your services, create separate pages for each service. Don't confuse people. Focus on one problem area and one solution at a time.

Here's a suggestion or two:
Your page on the specials you offer are great.
Create a page for the car fanatic. Maybe even a seperate page for the BMW fan and another page for the Merc fan. These people may be looking for someone that shares their passion for their cars, someone they can trust to maintain their car. Tell them about your passion for these Germans and how they will benefit from your expertise and passion.
Create a page for vintage car restorations. Answer questions like engine overalls, panel beating, source of original parts, what if the original part is not available, cosmetic work on the interior, etc.

Hope these tips can help you.

Regards,
Francois

Hi Rika

I am happy to help. Drop me a message and lets work something out.

N