Website or facebook

[Heidje Janse Van Rensburg]

Ians,
As an Electrical Contractor I would suggest that you upload yourself to various contractor sites. Here is the websites I use, the listing for Contractors is free of charge unless you want more exposure than just a listing.

http://www.fixshack.co.za/

http://www.buildersspace.co.za/

[tish23]

Interesting idea there...that explains those sites like Angieslist. Testimonials are sooo important..Personally I think both are needed which is why I say so below.

Here a few examples of testimonials on websites.

Review Sites
Those sites like Angieslist are a goldmine because they are the neighbor online. Definitely a look into for any company because they help you show neighbors that your company is popular locally.

Your Own Page
Testimonials on your own page are another great idea because they help you showcase success from using your product or service. The trick is to make them stand out with colorful text so people will notice it. They should pop and not be hidden in the background. You can find examples anywhere online and from even massive corporations too.

Social Media Pages
I know this thread discussed facebook or websites but both really are the best for any company. I wouldn't only be on Facebook, but LinkedIn too for my social media.

[Blurock]

Social media is for talking and communication; PR mainly. Website is for serious advertising and marketing. Product and company information is very important for decision makers. One may even have a link where people can ask for quotes, buy or place orders on-line.

[ians]

There are too many likers and tooo little potential buyers on facebook, some one has already mentioned it and i would agree after a couple of years of trial and error. You mingle on facebook then you attach a link to your website. You will get sales on facebook but not that many unless your facebook is open to the public and you have thousands of followers.

I have found forums work well , but once you sold the product to everyone on forum sales go dead with the odd sale hare and there.

So lessons learnt learnt to date.

Spend a "little" time making or sourcing a product, then mingle on social media, facebook, forums,etc and make sure you play nicely with people, this is very important. Setup a simple easy to access website with links all over social media to your website. 2 key elements PRICE and pretty pictures, a video is sometimes a good idea for bored housewife or person at work looking keep busy at work ,people are not interested in reading pages of product info and whatever you do dont bling your website with useless garbage. If you want to bore people product info put it after all the pics and pricing on the second page or last page the only time people are interested in the technical stuff when they they want to screw you.


Something i have found really works to attract women and even some men is to add a "cute" kid or dog cat etc,

[ians]

Just so we are on the same page, i am talking product sales not services, that is something i will be looking at expanding in the future, but for now i have products i want to start expanding sales. I have another product which seems to be a very popular product by the responses i have seen, but finding it difficult to move the stuff, finding the buyers, not likers.

[wynn]

So post a link on your signature already so we can have a look, offer us a discount so those of us in other centers may turn out to be successful agents for your product.

[manny17]

You can post ads on both of it for a long time....and compare both of them to see which one is better for your business...

[Eclipse]

Both i would say, only facebook is too weak...

[Eclipse]

and twitter

[Brett Nortje]

Why not try a free site like gum tree or o.l.x?

[New Perspective studio]

I have to make a decision in the next day or 2 about which method I will use to promote my business.

Do I really need a website as an electrical contractor or do you think face book and forums will do, I know I have to change my approach to replies and new threads.

Like Neville has proved on this forum, be a nice guy who helps people and post the best pics on a forum and you will get a good response or do I get Mark to spice up my really 2 bob website, which by the way only gets responses from people looking for work at this point in time, in the 2 years I have had it up and running I can honestly say there hasn't even been one work related lead.

So any ideas or I suppose could start a south African forum like Dave has done and promote my business, NOT, too much hard work, I will leave it up to Dave.

Lets hear what you have to say, any idea or other options?

I have a client who asked me the same question. My simple answer was both.

Clients for now tend to look on the internet for whatever product or service they are looking to use. The benefit of Facebook is its low maintenance and close knit communities, but you are now missing out on a whole bunch of (not so close ) clients who are looking who are typing "electrical contractors in East London" into their search engines, and believe me their numbers are alot more than those on Facebook.

The sooner you start with a website the sooner you can get your seo going to push back competition for keywords. Having that foothold makes it difficult to not let your company be the first thing that pops into the faces of people when they search.

That being said i believe that in the future google is starting to lean more towards social signals when it comes to ranking factors, so these things will work synergetically.

Hope this helps
Regards
Juan

[New Perspective studio]

I have a client who asked me the same question. My simple answer was both.

Clients for now tend to look on the internet for whatever product or service they are looking to use. The benefit of Facebook is its low maintenance and close knit communities, but you are now missing out on a whole bunch of (not so close ) clients who are looking who are typing "electrical contractors in East London" into their search engines, and believe me their numbers are alot more than those on Facebook.

The sooner you start with a website the sooner you can get your seo going to push back competition for keywords. Having that foothold makes it difficult to not let your company be the first thing that pops into the faces of people when they search.

That being said i believe that in the future google is starting to lean more towards social signals when it comes to ranking factors, so these things will work synergetically.

Hope this helps
Regards
Juan

My apologies , with all due respect your website may not be optimised to appear for the right keywords or your competition is simply outranking for the proper ones to the point where you are not being seen all this is seo related.
Submit your site to directories, and also use google+ my business.Its a free tool. This will help state exactly what you do and help you appear on the knowledge panel ( top right hand side on the first page of a related search).

[HR Solutions]

This is from a few years ago so perhaps they are no longer operating ..........

[New Perspective studio]

Late night forum surfing haha. The thread should be closed. Maybe it will be of use to somebody else. Thanks hr

[ians]

Small business...like cash is king...so if word of mouth promotion.

mingle with people...join clubs and get out and do shyt... dont waste time trying to punt business on social media...like facebook etc...rather get active on local whatsapp groups...you will have far better exposure...close to home.

use facebook to upload info on current jobs and pretty pictures...for people to like or hate on...because that is about all they its worth.

get a dynamic web page with company details and what it is you offer and most important a big visible contact button.