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Thread: It's not happening!

  1. #11

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    Thanks for the replies and comments. All good advice.

    We can agree and disagree about certain aspects of web design. Getting the SEO right is only one part of the battle and very important it is too! Using HTTPS as a ranking tool is new to me. Very interesting! The disco site is now 'secure', admittedly at the expense of one of my other sites not being secure anymore, but that wasn't delivering the goods anyway.

    I have always believed that a website is there to show you mean business. It's a confirmation that you really exist and you can point people to it. Hoping that people find your website is a different matter. And this is exactly what pp has said.


    Marc J:
    I'm not getting huge results from the website so far but then it is still relatively new. It does appear to be working, however. There have been a lot of click-throughs from a Facebook ad I ran over the weekend, which is very encouraging indeed. I'd been experimenting with a new ad which actually produced the highest number of 'engagements' I've ever had from a FB ad, even if it did only produce one rather strange message. My web analytics show a sharp increase in visitors for the duration.


    ppentertainments:
    Getting people to my site, explained above in reply to Marc's post.

    I disagree about the freebies. I'm a beggar at the moment and not a chooser, so compromises have to be made. The fact is, and always has been for my discos over the years, that having a presence on a stage, in a village hall, or wherever, almost always bring about enquiries and bookings, so I am happy to do one or two (Maybe three at the most if it's appropriate at the time) FREEBIES. These will of course be carefully chosen.


    Imagine:
    "there's a reluctance at the moment for people to commit to things" Indeed! Personally, I haven't heard anything to back this up, but I can imagine that this is absolutely the case. It's been an easy one to overlook for me as, based on what I have learned recently, I was expecting a rush of people eager to get back on the dance floor. This has been somewhat muted by the recent news of virus cases increasing and the government's usual confusing messages telling us that we can all return to normal and then that we can't return to normal.


    Marc J & rth:
    Again, it's a fairly new site and a work in progress. I keep adding to it. I hope to be taking some photos of the new rig this week now it's all complete. The ones you see on my site at the moment are very old ones and not at all good quality, hence the deliberate blurring, but they were only intended to be temporary anyway. Again, we can all debate what is a good website, etc. I've had no complaints so far, but it could do with some improvements, admittedly.

  2. #12
    Web Guru Marc J's Avatar
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    There's also something strange going on with your manifest.json file(s), referencing SEDO Parking & IONOS Parking

  3. #13

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    If it's anything to do with Ionos then expect the worst.

    I don't know if these issues have anything to do with my telephone conversation with Ionos this morning but they managed to (I'll be polite) make a total mess of things with two of my sites while they were making changes. I have been having a lot of trouble with them regarding email recently too. The problems are definitely at their end.

    Changing hosts is something I have found necessary more than a few times over the years. It's always been about finding the lesser of all the evils. I have come to expect that they are all as bad as each other. I almost left Ionos a couple of years ago when their ranking plummeted but they did improve significantly. Now they are slipping again. I'm sick of changing. They were great when they were 1and1.

    Nothing has been modified in the javascript. This was a fully W3 compliant website at the start. It might have become less so now I've been playing around it but I have only altered the content, not the code.

  4. #14
    Web Guru Marc J's Avatar
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    I'll host it for you for whatever you're currently paying. If you're in contract I'll host it free until the term is out. I'll give you a free SSL (issued by Let's Encrypt). I'll also be able to iron out the little issues you're having, get it loading fast and maybe even working as a PWA

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    Marc J & rth:
    Again, it's a fairly new site and a work in progress. I keep adding to it. I hope to be taking some photos of the new rig this week now it's all complete. The ones you see on my site at the moment are very old ones and not at all good quality, hence the deliberate blurring, but they were only intended to be temporary anyway. Again, we can all debate what is a good website, etc. I've had no complaints so far, but it could do with some improvements, admittedly.
    Sorry to be a pain, but you opened your first post with "I have constructed a website with good SEO"

    I'm not going to touch on the 'what is a good website' - I'm trying to understand what you believe is the 'good SEO' you have done with the website.

    The main thing to consider is 'targeted traffic'... it's all very well having visitors, but how well targeted is that traffic? Only when you have relevant traffic coming to the website that isn't converting do you need to consider your next option.

    But just be aware that there are many moving cogs in the process of getting someone to your website and then converting them. Just having a 'good looking' website isn't enough. Subtle changes can make a big difference in the number of (and quality of) enquiries generated. And that ranges from the traffic through to the words and images used on your website - even how easy it is to find a phone number and/or contact form.

  6. #16

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    Well thanks for the kind offer Marc. I'll have to think about that one.

    I know web design has a place in this thread to some degree, but I feel this is becoming all about my website now and quite critically too. I'm not going there. The thread was about "this not working" in an attempt to encourage feedback on how things might be for other forum users in this regard. It seems that I am not alone in my relative lack of bookings, but I hadn't really given a lot of consideration to the current state of play now we have supposedly 'opened up'.

    A lot of the success of discos is based on standing the test of time. Becoming established and that old 'word of mouth'. As far as I can see at the moment, the internet has simply over-complicated things. When I placed an ad in one of my local newspapers years ago and ran it for a few weeks, that was it. Bookings every weekend! (and other days of the week) for the next year. Oh, to have those days back again.

    For me and me alone, having a website is just a confirmation of an existing business. Yes, it is desirable to get as many people as possible to visit that site and feed them with as much useful information as I can, all presented in a clear and concise manner and get them to make a booking, but that's as far as I am going to push the website. It's a web presence and that should suffice for my needs. I'm not going to go OTT on SEO and stats, I think I can spend that time better by promoting in other ways, but each to their own.

    Call me naive, but I have always believed that social media would give the business a good kick-start, then to progress up the ladder to some degree, i.e. to attain more in the way of the kind of gigs I'd rather be doing and certainly getting more profitable ones. I know it won't happen overnight, but I had half-expected a few positive signs by now.

  7. #17
    Web Guru Marc J's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    Well thanks for the kind offer Marc. I'll have to think about that one.
    No worries, just shoot me a PM here if you want to go ahead. I'll move it for you if you give me access to the current site. If you're not aware, I host this site as well as a lot of member's websites.

    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    I know web design has a place in this thread to some degree, but I feel this is becoming all about my website now and quite critically too. I'm not going there.
    I don't think that's the case. Nobody has criticised your web design, but for things "to happen" you need traffic to your site, and for them to engage. That needs good SEO and no scary "this site is not secure" once you get them there, nevermind submitting their details via the form. So, I think, you've been given some good advice in this thread on the technical aspects... which are easy to fix and not critical of your site per se.
    Last edited by Marc J; 26-07-2021 at 03:16 PM.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    When I placed an ad in one of my local newspapers years ago and ran it for a few weeks, that was it. Bookings every weekend! (and other days of the week) for the next year. Oh, to have those days back again.
    That was then - now people go to Google to find a disco.

    Before, if you weren't in the newspaper, then you missed out on those enquiries.

    Now, if you're not on Google, you miss out on those enquiries. And 'being on Google' can be either through paid 'pay per click' advertising or through organic SEO. But both take work, and are a lot more competitive than the old methods of the newspaper (alongside other DJs, you're also competing against some pretty efficient agencies, and even the likes of Bark, Guides for Brides etc who all rank in a Google search results).

    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    Call me naive, but I have always believed that social media would give the business a good kick-start, then to progress up the ladder to some degree, i.e. to attain more in the way of the kind of gigs I'd rather be doing and certainly getting more profitable ones. I know it won't happen overnight, but I had half-expected a few positive signs by now.
    'Social media' is a big word. Again, it's competitive, and people work hard to get results from it. Organic social media is very difficult to generate business from alone (I see social media more for providing social proof for someone who has visited my website). Facebook ads and other paid for social media advertising can be very powerful, but again, it has to be set up correctly and optimised to get the best results. Simply 'boosting' a post on Facebook will likely see the results you had last time.

    Sorry if it comes across as negative, but there is no simple and quick silver bullet to getting enquiries. It's actually now a lot of work - as those who have achieved it will testify.

    Now long term, relying on word of mouth, especially venue recommendations is the 'silver bullet' that can provide a great stream of incoming enquiries at low cost - but at launch you have a chicken and egg situation. Because you're not performing in those venues, then it's hard to become recommended...

    I started out using SEO, Facebook ads and Pay Per Click to generate enquiries - and I had to work hard on them (and was lucky I had significant experience in those areas). I used that to get gigs at the venues I wanted to work at. Appearing regularly helped me become a recommended supplier, and that has started to take over much of the marketing work - although I still generate around 50% of my sales outside of the venues I am recommended at, through SEO and Google PPC advertising.

  9. #19
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    I'm not an SEO wizz by any stretch of the imagination so I won't go down that route but I will give feedback. Heads up this isn't meant to squash you when you've clearly put a lot of time and effort into it, I'm purely coming from a point of view of trying to help someone who is clearly passionate about getting themselves up and running on the right foot. You can make of that what you will.

    One thing that's always stood me well with the business is to approach EVERYTHING I do in the mindset of the client.


    To that end, I don't think it's a very good website on various counts.

    - stock pictures are usually a red flag and these ones aren't particularly good quality at that. I know it's difficult if you're not out and able to get real life shots but blurry dark photos don't sell professional. I'd do something about them as a matter of urgency even if it's investing a little in some quality stock photos. I do my own photos because I'm decent with a camera but I know other guys who use paid for stock photos and they're night and day compared to what you've got there. They instantly make your website look old and amateurish when even the dafties out there can knock together reasonably pro looking websites these days.

    - On that note, there's nothing there to differentiate it from other disco website in any way at all. If anything the only thing different is that yours has hardly anything on it which isn't good. The scrolling long page with headings is the design du jour just now for a lot of people and if you're going down that route you need to be doing something to stand out otherwise you're just another scrolly website in amongst the half a dozen other scrolly websites they've looked at.

    - The lack of pages / links - again it's a tricky one but even linking the venue links to a blog, venue info or something is better than no links at all. To a client they see either a DJ without any experience or a site that doesn't work... DJs want to see photos of rig set ups, clients don't.

    - No testimonials. Now I'm in no way suggesting you make some up but if I'm weighing up Centre Stage discos with 0 testimonials and Left Stage discos who has a similar site and price plus a bunch of feedback, I know who I'm going to be booking...

    - The fonts could be more cohesive. I'll go on record and say that one thing I've had criticism on my website is about the number of fonts but there's 3 or 4 across the whole site and they largely fall into the same type / family so it's not too jarring to most eyes. You've got a standard texty font for your logo, block fonts for the headings and then scribbly fonts throughout the page, it doesn't knit together very well from a design point of view. It might seem minor but people don't notice what they notice and this is a prime example of something they might not put their finger on but will put them off the site.

    - The writing is quite clunky too. I can't put my finger on it and I'm sure it's because it's geared towards SEO but it doesn't read very well and after the first few sentences I was losing interest.


    That's the constructive suggestions I can see from a quick glance at it.

  10. #20
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos View Post
    but I had half-expected a few positive signs by now.
    There's the crux of the issue - if you're getting people onto the page in the number you want but aren't converting any bookings then the page is the issue and that's down to what is on it, not the SEO and other tech stuff.

    I don't check my stats and I'm pretty sure my landing rates are comparatively small compared to a lot of DJs but I consistently convert and it's all down to my website - the vast majority of these people don't know who we are, haven't seen us or know what we can do so what else are they going to base their judgement on other than the website?

    I think if you're not cognisant of that and how a website should be made to work for your business, it's probably going to do you more harm than good having one.

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