Hi I recently invested in my own domain with the intention of designing web sites for people. However I dont seem to get much traffic, despite affliating with similiar sites and registering with major search engines - what can else can I do to improve my prospects? :bawling:

Regards

Scott Fleming Admin of flemtech.com

Hey,

Are you listed in the web design directories out there? they can send you a decent amount of traffic. Also, if you are hoping to get inquiries for web design projects, you may want to update your site. In all honestly, it does seem quite out of date. It doesn't convey the professionalism and expertise that you need to convey in order to convert those visitors into prospects. Hope this helps.

i have to agree with the previous comment.

i dont mean to be offensive bu you really need to work on your site.

make it plainer, get rid of gradient bg

a few things... first off as speedy007h stated your site does not look professional. Just like you would not get your car fixed by a mechanic that has a broken down car you wont buy web design services from a poor looking site.

Second you said you RECENTLY invested in this venture. Dont expect things to just blossom.. and people to come just because you are on the web.. just like everybody else you will have to solicite your services. Find ways to advertise. Obviously the ways you are currently using are not working the way you want them to so find others.. get your name out there.. get some buisness cards and hand them out to everybody you meet.. etc...

These are things you need to do if you plan on becoming even semi sucessful in this buisness..

EDIT: something else to take into consideration.. your name.. i dont know how 'flemtech' became your 'company name' (if its your last name i aplogize). But loose it.. If my last name were Butts (like my elementry school teacher) you can bet that i wont be starting a company called 'buttech'.

I dont really mean so sound harsh just trying to jolt your awarness of how people are viewing your hard efforts.

one more thing.. speedy007h mentioned getting listed with a design directory. That is alright for some projects but dont expect to stop there. Unless you have a great portolio are are willing to lower your prices and do more 'free' work then you probably have time to do. I personally stick almost exclusivly to manually soliciting my services like buisness cards and just plane word of mouth, and have had much better results then any directory or website has ever given me.

Belive me there are tons of people and companies willing to pay good money for people who can desgin good websites. And hardly a fraction of them know about these online design directory services. Many of them dont know how to get online, thats where you should step in and bring everything to them. :)

Excellent points aredding. Only thing the design directories will do for you is moderately increase your website's exposure. You will get more hits/traffic but that doesn't necessarily translate to sales. To put it bluntly, if someone DOES go through such a directory looking for a designer/developer, what does your site offer to set itself apart from the 1000's of others? Unless you have a breathtaking site with a large portfolio, don't expect to get a whole lot of inquiries. Even from the inquiries, the closing percentage won't be so good. You can't compete on price alone. As aredding mentioned, you need to do a lot of other things to try and get some design business. Network ! Look for possible partnerships. Your site will not be the be-all and end-all in getting you the business you seek.

Design directories seem to only work for the best site, and not very well at that.

I tend to like to offer my services (for free at first) to local businesses and professionals. Once you have a few websites out there, people will view that site and maybe ask the business owner where to get a good site...word of mouth tends to work very well i think.

Phone up some local companies in the area..you might very well get a taker (but dont stop the web advertising).

another good place ive heard works well is local small buisness tradeshows or fairs.. you probably wont get much "walk up" buisness but other small buisness who set up a booth there might be interested.. just another idea..

With regards to speedy007h's comment about my site being "out of date" do you care to elarborate as it's a bit ambigious, do you mean to say I should include some flash content or should I update my news section. (which dates back to 01/01/04)

i think what is meant by 'out of date' isn't that it needs flash or news updating, but rather a new design. and i'd have to agree as well. perhaps you could use the same basic design idea, but make it a little more modern. it looks like you were trying to take what apple made with their site and twist it a bit to make one that fits you. unfortunately the one that fits you looks like i made it 5 years ago (when i first started working on websites). now, i'll admit i'm not the best, nor am i very good at all compared to the artists we have on this board, but i know wnough to use techniques that are more modern.

if you need an idea to what is more modern and up to date, goto the big sites like apple and microsoft and adobe and micromeda (soooo many sites like that) and see how they do things. get a few ideas from them.

*not meaning to offend*