Hey everyone,
I could use some advice regarding my very young web design agency. (Had 1 1/2 clients)
However, first I would like to explain my situation:
Earlier this year, in March, I decided to start a web design business with a buddy.
I can build websites and have advanced experience in SEO. My buddy sells insurance. The division of labor was: he would generate leads and I would do the service and consulting. Until the first order, I tried to get the first order together with him.
We were so motivated that we tried to sell our service to local stores (hairdressers, hotels, opticians, small stores) with ugly websites. We tried after 3 days of running around with the phone to become more time efficient. After a few weekends of Invest, I recognized a pattern. People with ugly websites, love ugly websites. Because the websites were mostly created by friends or acquaintances. A friendly review, was always a friendly review to the relatives.
Our target audience was all local stores with no websites or with ugly websites. I found a channel on YT that described my situation exactly and spoke from my soul. There I also learned something very helpful.
"Stop selling your services to people who love ugly websites. Go after the businesses that already place value on their website. These businesses want to accomplish something with their website and are willing to pay for your service."
So we called stores that already have a semi-acceptable website but lack the finishing touches. Hard to believe but believe me this is what happened: after discussing the new stragie and making the first call, we had a frustrated hairdresser on the phone for a consultation appointment. I drove over and picked up the order. The service went reasonably smoothly. The money came on time, the customer was very satisfied.
Unfortunately, we had to realize that this was connected with a huge luck. Because we received a bunch of other rejections. However, my motivation was at its absolute peak after the first order. The first 1000€ earned, the service works, the first reference. I knew it was possible, I just had to turn the right screws.
My buddy, however, lost motivation after 2 montes, so I decided to create my own website, so that from now on people will contact me and not the other way round. This one ranks number one for the keyword: Webdesig (Location) and has a search volume of 110 per month. I come from a town of 40,000 people. There are hardly any better keywords for the area.
I tried to build loading pages for more keywords (web design (near city) to increase traffic. However, Google seems to notice this and won't let me rank in the top 10 with the landing pages. As far as I know, Google does not provide for Locale Businesses like mine to rank in other cities as well.
Currently it's been 3 months since my order, and I'm optimizing the UX and UI so that finally someone fills out my contact form. But even if I manage to do that, my chance of success is limited due to the low search volume of my main keyword.
I wonder if this business even makes sense in such a small city, since I can't really scale SEO technically in my city. Maybe it makes more sense in a big city where the search volume is 1000-2000.
My next job doesn't really count because I'm building a website for an acquaintance. So my new customer acquisition had nothing to do with that. And with it everything falls and stands.
In parallel, I am continuously building my site. I want to create informative pages. Gain trust through videos and tutorials, etc.. Unfortunately, this does not make the search volume bigger. The situation is a bit frustrating.
Currently I am considering building web pages and pretending to be a local business to generate leads that I then sell to the real local businesses. I may even sell the whole website. (Niche: PV system builders, pool builders, real estate agents, where the leads are worth something) The big challenge here, however, is that Germany is very strict with privacy and advertising promises. I can only formulate the apparent services (which I do not really offer) in a vague way, so that I am not legally chased through the meat grinder by competitors.
I don't really want to admit to myself that my web design agency is over. After all, there are successful competitors who probably make revenue via existing customer service or referrals. My branding isn't as good as my competition's yet, but I'm working with a subcontractor to make my business look more like an agency than a freelancer.
Is there perhaps a more experienced SEO here who would have tips for a new strategy?
What do the rest think? Should I just keep optimizing until I finally get a contact request? (I had an inquiry at the very beginning. However, the interested party said that he would like to build the website himself, this was about 2 months ago).
Since I am new here, I don't know if I should post the link to my website. If someone needs it to assess the situation, I can post it.
I could use some advice regarding my very young web design agency. (Had 1 1/2 clients)
However, first I would like to explain my situation:
Earlier this year, in March, I decided to start a web design business with a buddy.
I can build websites and have advanced experience in SEO. My buddy sells insurance. The division of labor was: he would generate leads and I would do the service and consulting. Until the first order, I tried to get the first order together with him.
We were so motivated that we tried to sell our service to local stores (hairdressers, hotels, opticians, small stores) with ugly websites. We tried after 3 days of running around with the phone to become more time efficient. After a few weekends of Invest, I recognized a pattern. People with ugly websites, love ugly websites. Because the websites were mostly created by friends or acquaintances. A friendly review, was always a friendly review to the relatives.
Our target audience was all local stores with no websites or with ugly websites. I found a channel on YT that described my situation exactly and spoke from my soul. There I also learned something very helpful.
"Stop selling your services to people who love ugly websites. Go after the businesses that already place value on their website. These businesses want to accomplish something with their website and are willing to pay for your service."
So we called stores that already have a semi-acceptable website but lack the finishing touches. Hard to believe but believe me this is what happened: after discussing the new stragie and making the first call, we had a frustrated hairdresser on the phone for a consultation appointment. I drove over and picked up the order. The service went reasonably smoothly. The money came on time, the customer was very satisfied.
Unfortunately, we had to realize that this was connected with a huge luck. Because we received a bunch of other rejections. However, my motivation was at its absolute peak after the first order. The first 1000€ earned, the service works, the first reference. I knew it was possible, I just had to turn the right screws.
My buddy, however, lost motivation after 2 montes, so I decided to create my own website, so that from now on people will contact me and not the other way round. This one ranks number one for the keyword: Webdesig (Location) and has a search volume of 110 per month. I come from a town of 40,000 people. There are hardly any better keywords for the area.
I tried to build loading pages for more keywords (web design (near city) to increase traffic. However, Google seems to notice this and won't let me rank in the top 10 with the landing pages. As far as I know, Google does not provide for Locale Businesses like mine to rank in other cities as well.
Currently it's been 3 months since my order, and I'm optimizing the UX and UI so that finally someone fills out my contact form. But even if I manage to do that, my chance of success is limited due to the low search volume of my main keyword.
I wonder if this business even makes sense in such a small city, since I can't really scale SEO technically in my city. Maybe it makes more sense in a big city where the search volume is 1000-2000.
My next job doesn't really count because I'm building a website for an acquaintance. So my new customer acquisition had nothing to do with that. And with it everything falls and stands.
In parallel, I am continuously building my site. I want to create informative pages. Gain trust through videos and tutorials, etc.. Unfortunately, this does not make the search volume bigger. The situation is a bit frustrating.
Currently I am considering building web pages and pretending to be a local business to generate leads that I then sell to the real local businesses. I may even sell the whole website. (Niche: PV system builders, pool builders, real estate agents, where the leads are worth something) The big challenge here, however, is that Germany is very strict with privacy and advertising promises. I can only formulate the apparent services (which I do not really offer) in a vague way, so that I am not legally chased through the meat grinder by competitors.
I don't really want to admit to myself that my web design agency is over. After all, there are successful competitors who probably make revenue via existing customer service or referrals. My branding isn't as good as my competition's yet, but I'm working with a subcontractor to make my business look more like an agency than a freelancer.
Is there perhaps a more experienced SEO here who would have tips for a new strategy?
What do the rest think? Should I just keep optimizing until I finally get a contact request? (I had an inquiry at the very beginning. However, the interested party said that he would like to build the website himself, this was about 2 months ago).
Since I am new here, I don't know if I should post the link to my website. If someone needs it to assess the situation, I can post it.
