TaxiDriver Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) When I started trading as a taxi & private hire business I registered a couple of domain names which I never did anything with as I don't have the ability, knowledge to create a website and they have now expired a few months ago. This year after looking at the web presence of other local cab/taxi firms I'm reconsidering trying to market my business more effectively and being a bit more switched on to things like advertising/internet presence as I do some private hire work for other operators who use the internet and adverting far more effectively. just as an example belongs to a chap who I do some 8 seater work for, I only need something along these lines and maybe an ability to take prepayments by debit/credit cards. If one has a website, how do I do things like make it known for people to look up, make it appear at the top of searches, make it appear even to people searching for other similar or related businesses. Restricted budget and my lack of technicals skills being greatly limiting factors. I've seen ads recently on telly for a company/group called 1and1 and looked at their website re registering domains etc but its all dutch to me. Apologies, I've edited this 8 times now trying to post the flaming link/website addy that belongs to friend of mine Edited January 11, 2012 by TaxiDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Google SEO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR1960 Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Ah, the dark art of search engine optimisation.... there are dozens of companies that will guarantee you a top 10 Google ranking etc, makes you wonder how they all manage it! Basically the more relevant (and most popular) the meta tags attached to the site and the more links to your site the better. TBH if you don't know then your better off either doing one of the 'make it yourself' web site pages and relying on advertising your website (on your cab, cards, etc etc) or just biting the bullet and paying a web developer to do it for you, but you need to be certain the investment is worth it dependant on the size of your business. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marnold Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hi TaxiDriver. As a software developer myself in both Delphi Borland and web technologies (Classic ASP, .NET and PHP) I would steer you away from such companies as 1&1 etc. SEO is also an expensive way to go - companies offer you a top 'X' rated google search listing but this is seldom guaranteed - this requires constant meta tag updates (portions of code inserted within the source code) as others web pages are updated and rank more highly than yours with better hit rates generated from the meta tags. If you do go down the route of external hosting and using an SEO company to ensure you page ranks well in searches, I would make sure that you have an agrrement in writing that you can hold them to should your site drop down the ranks. These services are not cheap though. Should you want any assistance in creating a site or SEO I would be more happy to help - free of charge of course, I am not canvassing for work All the best mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
955i Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Talk to Frenchieboy off here. He dabbles in website building Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Contact ME he knows all there is to about this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) Facebook is the absolute winner at the moment. Forget Google Adwords. To give you an idea of how good it's been for me, I'm advertising for a developer in St Albans. My ad has been seen 100k times and cost me £30. Edited January 11, 2012 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 You mean Facebook has its uses ? Well I never How does using Facebook work for advertising a local taxi business ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) You mean Facebook has its uses ? Well I never How does using Facebook work for advertising a local taxi business ? Really simple. Set up an advert - you get 150 characters to mention your business and room for a small heading and a photo. Here's my ad: If you look at the parameters of my advert it might make sense to you: Only target people aged 25-45 Only target people who have the following interests - (C# .NET) or (C#) or (ASP.NET) or (Web Development) or (Programming) Only target people who 'Like' the following - (ASP.NET Developers Group) or (Web Developers UK) or (C# Developers) Only target people who live within 30 miles of St Albans That gives me 3,200 people. I know that those 3,200 people are pretty much who I need to see the advert. So you can set up an advert, targeting people who follow the group "Can't drive, Won't Drive" or who's interests are "Drinking". You can also target people who 'Like' your competitors' Facebook pages. So the people who already have an interest in a cab company will see your ad (this might then lead you to advertise that you're cheaper than 'Stans Cars' or whatever.) If you want me to go through this in more simple terms, or help you set up a campaign, let me know Edit: Changed 7000 to 3,200. I was looking at the wrong campaign Edited January 11, 2012 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Marnold and Billy, Cheers guys, still doesn't make diddly sense to me Have PM'd you both a few days ago now.....eagerly awaiting to know what to do next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 (edited) You mean Facebook has its uses ? Well I never How does using Facebook work for advertising a local taxi business ? Why don't you ask Russell Brigden? He is a friend of a friend on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/ChelmsfordTaxis Social Media is the way forward. Facebook enables you to do very targeted advertising. Anyone can get a cheap site chucked together, but ask the website designer to show you sites that they have done that are on page 1 on Google for a one or two word key word / phrase like "taxi chelmsford". It is all very well having a site but if it can't be found it is useless. You need to be spending £750-£1000 if you want a decent site that will get found. You will get people offer to do it for free or £200 but buy cheap, buy twice If you have decent money to chuck at it I can recommend someone in Great Leighs who will do it all for you. Edited January 23, 2012 by ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Marnold and Billy, Cheers guys, still doesn't make diddly sense to me Have PM'd you both a few days ago now.....eagerly awaiting to know what to do next. I replied with my mobile number. Best to explain it over the phone. Check your messages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Facebook seems a cracking idea for taxi services! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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