Website Started

I finally started my website. I got some photos now yeah! The website is not finished yet, but any suggestions would be great.
www.kyfaceandbodyart.com

Wonderful. I like the pictures, it looks like the kids (and adults) are having fun.

I was reading the part under facepainting where you say that 'your satisfaction should be guaranteed." It put up a red flag for me....remember the dry cleaner that got sued for a pair of pants, Sign said, satisfaction guaranteed, guy said he wasn't satisfied. Just my thoughts, although I understand what you are trying to say. I'll think about it and see if I can think of that magic sentence that says it. There's really smart people on this list...What do you guys think? OH! I might be wrong....It might be just me who sees a red flag.

Jenny

Thanks Jenny, I am still working on it.

I'm going to check the site out now! I love looking at new facepainting sites.

On the satisfaction part - I've not looked yet, but maybe:

"Your satisfaction is important to us" or something...

It's looking good Stacey!

Looking good, but think you should do something with the "logo_Logo1A.jpg" file at the bottom, since it looks a bit blurred. Maybe sawing at a higher quality?

The logo at the top corner (on the home page) comes off fine on my computer, so I'm not sure what the logo at the bottom is? It 's not showing up on any of my pages?

Sorry, was tired, meant at the top. But it still looks unsharp here. My screen shows everything, so if I'm the only one seeing it, then no problem ;-)

FANTABULOUS! GREAT JOB! Very User Friendly and Clean!

Hi

Haven't managed to get to this forum for a while ... but today have looked at the site discussed here and although I have many many comments, will mention just a couple today.

I don't think it good that, when a visitor arrives at the site, there is no image 'above the fold' anything to do with face or body painting. It's a long scroll until anything is seen. This is easily corrected as there's tons of space in the most important area of any page ... the top.

I believe it's important to 'engage' visitors when they arrive and the best way to do this is to mention them. Let them know that they are important and have arrived at a site that can answer their problems. I mention this because the copy you have used doesn't do this. It is all about you. It is very very short but even so has "we we our our us me".

I don't know if you hope to be found and listed by search engines so customers can find you, but if so .... there's some vital things you must change.

The Titles on every page is the most important thing Google (etc) look at first. You 'landing page' is called 'Home'. I doubt if anyone will be searching for that .. and if theyu did, they'd be offered many million! You must make this 'keyword' descriptive using the words your ideal customers will use.

Your Face Painting page title is 'About Us' and also should be changed.
The HotSnapZ page is called 'Customer Testimonials'!... and so on.

Google will look at the pages and expect some 'content' it can see on that topic. Unfortunately the site is lacking content and will get low low ranking. You should clearly identify each page and write a couple of hundred words on each. Then also make sure that the image titles also use descriptive words that relate, and include links to other pages within the text.

I have to say that I didn't understand why the design (typography) for the HotSnapZ page was so different to the others.

That's all for now ..... good luck

John Gordon
The Infotainer

Ok Thanks for the info, but that is way to much techincal stuff for me, I was lucky just to do what I have done. I'm not set-up for ad words from google or anything. I send the customers to my site, I really dont care who can search for it on the web. I am still working on photos etc.
I will look into changing my wording a little for the customer though. Everyone likes my site because it's Clean and easy to use without all the BLAH BLAH Blah!
It's still a work in progress.

Hi

Sorry .... tried to use no "technical" words at all ...

No, I agree, certainly wouldn't dream of putting an AdWords campaign on a portfolio site. That looks really cheap and tacky (as well as sending visitors away to competitors!).

OK ... fine if the purpose isn't for people who want people like you to find you. I guess it's like an online folio for them. I did preface that with "if"

Perhaps the comments will help others who do need more business and wonder why their site isn't getting enough visitors.

Good luck and well done

John Gordon
The Infotainer

I just made my website with free hosting....should I get my own domain???
tks!

The site is fine. Not great, not horrible. I agree with some of what John Gordon said but not all as it is wrong to design a site solely for the ranking in search engines. This type of business is more word of mouth and by referal compared to a software coding company who needs high rankings in a search engine as most of their business is generated via the internet. These are things we need to keep in mind as we create a website we feel comfortable with for our own use.

I spent many years as a webdesigner. Sometimes, people loose track of their purpose for a website.

To Camilinhaw, a domain is cheep. If you can find one you like (do not settle due to availablility), my professional answer would be yes - get a domain name. However, it is not required. Baby steps. Steady customers locally, business cards given out like candy, a brochure, website, then domain name, etc. Everything does not need to be done all at once.

Debbi is 100% right.

Our business is not generated on the internet. While ranking at the top is great if someone does a search for "Face painter your town" and to get that you do need to make sure that your page names and titles on each page have that information there somewhere, it is not the only purpose of having a website.

Mine is my online portfolio and it is where I refer people to look at my work - and I use my website address on EVERYTHING so if people don't have my phone number, they can find my site and therefore find me. When you search "shannon fennell" I am number one.

I get inquiries from my website, yes, but most of my work is referrals, repeaters and from direct mail. I don't sell through my site, I don't taking bookings through my site, they have to contact me.

Let's face it... our work is pretty much generated locally and realistically spending an inordinate amount of time on website optimization is not going to improve your bottom line and get you more bookings necessarily. That is going to come from your local marketing efforts.

Debbi said that she didn't agree with some of my comments "as it is wrong to design a site solely for the ranking in search engines". Well, of course I didn't say anything remotely like that. Nor would I, as it would be very wrong.

Nor do I agree that "This type of business is more word of mouth" and a software company generates the majority of their business via a website. I've had hundreds of entertainers, software companies and all kinds of other businesses as clients over many years and whilst traditionally many would have majored in offline marketing (print and other media) that's all changing big time. If entertainers choose to ignore the part of their market which is increasingly using the internet to research and make purchasing decisions, that's their choice. But it's certainly no longer the norm!

Clearly Debbi and Shannon market in ways that bring them the type and volume of work they need. And that's what is important. For me, I've only ever been interested in work from a wider area than local. Whether Blue Chip / Fortune 500 companies, prestige venues, celebrities or major events .... few were local.

John

I would hazard a guess that MOST face painters are working locally and that MOST of their busines is NOT Fortune 500 companies, nor likely to be.

Concentrate on the small things and the big things will take care of themselves... that means work on your local business opportunties. I really REALLY feel that face painting is a business that is more a locality based industry... there are going to be few and far between that are in an area where there are lots of opportunities or capable of or want the level of work that John talks about... and while it is certainly something to aspire to, it is not reality for most of us.

I am doing very well, THANK YOU, in my small way without worrying about SEO and that facebook thing or twittering my life away...

I'm out there talking to real people, giving them my card, and painting kids who remember me.

Most of us are out there, painting every weekend, kid after kid, booking birthday parties and local festivals... the idea is to make a living, or as close to one as we possibly can doing what we love - FACE PAINTING.

Having a website is just a tool... an online portfolio that gives people a method to see what I do and get my contact information. Yes, it is important that when someone searches for a face painter in MY TOWN that my name comes up.... or if they type in my name I am the one that comes up... but, the emphasis in our business is the LOCAL AWARENESS of our services NOT some global conglomerate who may or may not even have a presence in my country!

And creating LOCAL AWARENESS is NOT on the internet! It is getting out there and painting, and handing out cards and mailing out postcards and talking to real live people in person and having happy customers pass along your name and book you for their next event and so on.

And I can pretty much say that MY customer base which is pretty wide ranging across a couple of provinces and COUNTRIES didn't book me from my ranking on Google.

Thanks guys!
Did u guys read my mind?? That was exactly what I was thinking....
I'm working now in my business cards and all promotional stuff trough www.vistaprint.com (you can get lots..I mean LOTS of free stuff there)
Here's my website www.wix.com/artsyfaces/artsyfaces
I did totally free....the only thing my URL is huge....but I think for the beginning it's just fine.

Shannon

As I've said before .... clearly some major differences with how and where you work. I try never to presume and when someone asks for help increasing their work, becoming more visible, getting more visits, more enquiries, and help converting a larger percentage into paying clients ... I would always recommend a website that is a 24/7 sales person for what they offer.

Clearly it doesn't suit everybody.

I was painting before the internet was available, and in the days before Web 2.0 etc so have seen the marked difference it can make ... but ony if you wish to 'break out' of the 'local' mode.

But the figures for 'local searches' is rising at an astronomic rate. More and more people are using this instead of local papers, Yellow Pages etc. If they have your info on the fridge or wherever, that's great but I know dozens, hundreds of stories of clients wanting to rebook someone but not remembering their name or details. So they go online and book someone else. The entertainment world is full of such stories.

I am sure your final statement is correct. I searched for "face painter Alberta" and you came up 51st under facepaint.co.uk membership list. Your own site was 55th. This is clearly because you haven't optimised your site to be found for an Alberta search.

As a consultant, the first question to always ask is: what do you want to achieve? Then use appropraite tools and design strategies around that. But I'd still recommend getting a website high for the search terms that your prospects will use ... clearly that doesn't mean you own name.

John

Alberta is HUGE.... and people looking for a painter in my area would put in "Grande Prairie."

Inquiries from people looking for a painter in "Alberta" actually are a little annoying TBH. They are either from somewhere else and have no concept of the massive distances here or are spammers/fraud artists.

All that I am able to do for those people is refer them on to online directories to look for other painters in their areas as I guarantee 100% of them aren't interested in paying my travel expenses to paint at their birthday party in Brooks or Coronation or even Indian Cabins.

Search "Face Painter Grande Prairie"... that's what people looking for a painter here would search.

I get inquiries via my website several time a week.

Yes, I agree, people are using the internet to look things up (BTW I have never been listed in the yellow pages or other print directories), and being there is important. But we aren't an internet BASED industry and it is the word of mouth that REALLY sells us - in the small markets which is what it is here - and probably for 75% of all face painters out there.

For people just starting out, setting up websites etc. it is getting that client base established IN PERSON that is important... word of mouth ultimately will get you the work locally over a killer internet presence... people like what they see IN PERSON and recommend you to friends, co-workers, etc. I get more birthdays booked from painting at a company picnic than I do from internet inquiries.

Websites are a great tool... just, not the be all and end all of a face painter's marketing arsenal.

My own site is five years old on January 2nd... and it has been a huge benefit, yes, but... I'd rather spend my time doing direct mail, and personal contact with past customers, and getting my business cards out everywhere. I've been working in the field for over 12 years... and I had lots of work before I had a website!!

It is a contact point and information source. I started my blog this year and that is fun, but I'm not going crazy on all the other things and tools available on the internet... I get the work I want and can handle on my own. I get booked for out-of-province and out-of-country gigs, as well as locally...

There is only so much one person can do and you can spend 24/7 on the computer checking alerts and hit counts and analyzing to death the source of the hits... in the end, it all comes down to.... Do I have a gig this weekend? And that, in all likelihood, came from a phone call from a word-of-mouth referral.

That is my reality. The bookings I have confirmed and get paid for. It all boils down to paying the bills and it doesn't matter who the client is that signs the cheque!

You provide lots of information John, and lots of it is useful ... but much of it is way beyond being applicable to most of us working out here in a one person operation in the small to medium markets.

Baby steps... baby steps...

I must agree that our websites are tools for us, but not the be all and end all of being an entertainer. Mine is a free site with a free domain name and for me, that is plenty because I'm still spending money on costumes, props, training, materials and while those will always be there... they are more important to my ability to provide the best service possible. And providing the best is what gets referrals and gets you noticed.

I have my site set up to be an important way of finding me and contacting me and I know full well that at the moment I am on page 8 or 9 of a search for a clown in my city, but I am always looking for more free links to raise my google rating without spending my much needed grocery money.

Obviously if you are based in an area and you tend not to work outside of that, then 'local' maketing is the only option. And optimising your pages for just that district should ensure you appear high - if not first. But I doubt if many of the sites painters launch get several enquiries a week ... and it's easy to see why. They often don't have their ideal place of work in their page title, or even on their home page at all!

This isn't about optimnizing for some mysterious computer reason.... it's about ensuring you can be and are found by people looking for peole like you. In fact that's all SEO is ... you'll end up with a site that is better for your visitors and you. And that's surely what matters.

Whether it was done intentionally or not I don't know but your site, Shanon, does fairly well in the SEO stakes. This is probably because SEO is actually about what's good for visitors (and not some tekkie thing at all) and that's what you had top of mind. It is full of good content with both internal linking and external linking ... all good SEO stuff.

Over the last 20+ years only about 5% of my work has been local! Why? Because I've either lived in remote areas or certainly where there was no upscale clients and no corporate venues of any note. A 200 mile journey for work would be normal.

A large percentage of those I work with and those I coach, they want to do local work but also establish themselves in other areas, different niches and perhaps more lucrative markets. SO I show them about both local marketing and search marketing so they enjoy success in both. And yes, the most powerful force in marketing is word-of-mouth recommendations, but these are also effective in the wider markets. But it's important to realise that word-of-mouth now happens online (hence the massive growth of Facebook, Twitter and all the other Social Networks).

What I always attempt to do is to give advice that will help people get more prospects, more enquiries, more conversions, more bookings and higher fees. In this case, Perry's site being on page 8 isn't very good. It's a known fact that most people will never look that far. They'll find other links to click on way before they reach you. And, despite the comments, there are several small changes that should (must) be made that could change this .... and it's FREE. That doesn't take any money from props, act development or groceries. On the contrary, being found by more people who haven't seen you or had a recommendation can only be good for more bookings and fees.

But it does take a willingness to realise that and take the tiny action.

So I think it's a shame to even suggest that online marketing is a 24/7 activity. It simply isn't true. It'll put people off and they'll continue to avoid keeping up with a world that is using online searches and online purchases. On the contrary, automating many of the tasks eventually saves you both time and money. I can spend just say 10 minutes and with one click send a direct mail to just people who have enquired about me but never booked, or only those who have booked me only at Christmas ... and have them click on a new sales video of a new service. Actions like this generate more enquiries and bookings over and over.

Thanks Shannon for the comment ... of course my help isn't aimed at those who don't need it! However, I don't believe that we should generalize and presume that "it is way beyond being applicable to most of us working out here". It's a big and varied world and nobody achieved any breakthrough success by accepting what they already have as the max. There's a ton af friendly advice for those who just want tiny incremental growth, but very little for those who have not had the success they want yet and truly want to make big changes to their lives and ensure that next year is not like last year. These are th people I like to help and I love seeing them achieve their dreams.

For now ....

John

Wow, I was only gone for a three and a half day weekend...

From what I gather; John in the UK is rather set in his thinking and believes we need to focus a bit more on the websites' rankings. I, in the midwest USA like Shannon in Alberta CA and Perry in Windson Ontario, dissagree and in general feel that is it a helpful tool for us rather than a huge marketing deal. So many variables.

We can agree to disagree. We will each do what works for us in our area of the world. I have no doubt, it will be different for each of us.

So, I am signing off this thread. I do not think there is any need to continue (personal opinion only).

I say this, first, as a professional webdesigner (my day job) and a face painter (my fun job) second.

I agree to disagree!

But I am very flexible in my avice and don't necessarily recommend the same all the time. If YOU wish to be set in your ways because what you do now works perfectly, then that's also fine.

I help people who need help. Who want to get more visitors to their site. Who want to be recognised as having expertise in their niche. As being the best for their ideal customers. Who are busy but not earning nearly enough. Who want to plan ahead and build a business that earns them a 6 figure income and one that is solid all year round.

I say this as a Professional Design & Marketing Consultant, Performance Coach and Entertainer.

John