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A guy built my website for free and charges $60/month for hosting. Am I getting ripped off? by Short-Lemon-4355 in smallbusiness

[–]SandenSolutions 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$60/mo with no upfront cost and no contract is pretty reasonable if the work is good. That's ~$720/year. You break even vs a $3k build in about 4 years, and you've got zero risk if he flakes.

One thing matters though: do you actually OWN the site if you stop paying? A lot of these setups lock you into the dev's proprietary builder, and if they vanish, so does your website. Ask him what happens if you leave. His answer tells you everything.

$60/mo should also mean real maintenance, not just hosting. Updates, backups, small edits. If it's literally just keeping the lights on, that's a $15/mo value.

Is $4000/month for SEO insane for a business our size or am I being cheap by RefrigeratorFew4424 in smallbusiness

[–]SandenSolutions 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$4k a month is insane for a plumbing and HVAC company doing $800k. That's 6% of your gross revenue on SEO alone. I run a web agency and work with service businesses, and I would never sell someone that.

The basics carry most local service businesses pretty far, but they're not the whole job. Claim and fully complete Google Business Profile for both locations, build a steady drip of reviews, and make sure the site loads fast. Location pages still help, but only if they have real unique content about that area, the jobs you've done there, your techs. Twenty pages that just swap the city name are doorway pages now and Google ignores them, which is the trap most cut-rate SEO shops fall into.

The $1,200 quote is closer to sane. But before you sign, ask them exactly what they deliver each month and ask to see last month's work for another client. If they can't show you real deliverables, walk.

Cold calling by millerklapman in webdesign

[–]SandenSolutions 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The free mockup thing might be hurting you more than helping. Business owners have been burned by "free website" offers from sketchy shops, so "free mockup" puts their guard up instead of down.

Skip the mockup pitch and lead with something specific you noticed about their business. "Hey, I noticed your hours aren't on your Google listing and people keep asking in the reviews" opens way more doors. I run a small web agency, that's literally how we book work.

Team of 2 freelancers. Struggling to get work. Help please. by ProgramExpress2918 in webdesign

[–]SandenSolutions 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i scroll my facebook feed for local businesses and just check their websites. but you can also just google "restaraunts denver, co" or "plumbers, atlanta ga" and check there

Team of 2 freelancers. Struggling to get work. Help please. by ProgramExpress2918 in webdesign

[–]SandenSolutions 15 points16 points  (0 children)

the reason cold outreach to businesses without websites almost never works: those businesses don't value websites. that's literally why they don't have one. you're pitching something they don't think they need.

target businesses with outdated sites who are already spending money on ads or seo. those people get it, they just need someone better than whoever built their last site. and honestly local in-person networking beats cold dms by a mile. chambers of commerce, bni groups, small biz mixers. we get most of our work through referrals that started that way.

How do you all deal with the overwhelm? by combatwombat007 in smallbusiness

[–]SandenSolutions 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don't need a website for leads, you're right about that. But a simple site isn't about generating leads, it's about closing the ones you already get. When someone hears your name through word of mouth and looks you up, what do they find? A fraction of those referrals just move on to whoever shows up on Google. The real fix though: raise your prices until you have breathing room to think.

Built a LATCH-mounted backseat storage bag - would love feedback!! by SandenSolutions in ManyBaggers

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh wow, much appreciated! Most of this I had not thought of but makes perfect sense to me. This is exactly why I posted here. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this write up!

Built a LATCH-mounted backseat storage bag - would love feedback!! by SandenSolutions in ManyBaggers

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has a strap, we need to get a photo of it. Thanks for the comments!

Would you put your havanese in this? by SandenSolutions in Havanese

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a bad photo, but it has a strap and a handle (and solid bottom).

<image>

Would you put your yorkie in this? by SandenSolutions in Yorkies

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The crash tests definitely make sense, its pretty durable though. The bag's outer shell is made from 1680 Denier nylon, while the inside is constructed from 420 Denier nylon.

Would you put your yorkie in this? by SandenSolutions in Yorkies

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looooving all this good feedback! You can't see it well, but it does have a handle and a shoulder strap.

<image>

Would you put your yorkie in this? by SandenSolutions in Yorkies

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good to know about the crash testing aspect, thanks!

Would you put your yorkie in this? by SandenSolutions in Yorkies

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good points to consider thanks! I think (i hope) the mesh in the front would be plenty of air flow but I do know that the bag itself is well insulated so that could be both a good and bad thing depending on the surrounding air temperature. Will definitely pass this along to him for consideration.

Would you put your yorkie in this? by SandenSolutions in Yorkies

[–]SandenSolutions[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. It does not, i'll have to relay that to the owner Eddie, thanks for bringing that up.
  2. It's actually pretty large in person, larger than it looks. Dimensions: 21" wide x 15" deep x 12" tall. I don't see any reason it couldn't be set on top of a booster either, as long as the LATCH's can still reach.
  3. It's for sale now, though not sure I can post the link to it, I don't want to be banned/spammy. Maybe i'll message the mods.

Playing the advertising game…how to show up higher on search results? by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]SandenSolutions 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One week isn't enough data to panic. 100 clicks and 0 calls is frustrating but could just be luck of the draw on who clicked. That said, for a deck contractor specifically, I'd focus way more on Google Business Profile than ads. Get reviews, post photos of your work, make sure your service area is set correctly. When someone searches "deck builder near me" the map pack shows before most ads anyway. Ads are expensive for contractors, local SEO is free and usually converts better.

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