"Hey Mike do you think the guy featured in that page had more to do with instigating the 7 figure revenue stream than the page did?   Because I reckon what Dave does with the service he provides is going to be far more important than his business card."

Hi Jon,
 Kevin is a great guy to work with... and surely that is the key to success.

 I can only pass on the statements which he has made to me where he voices his opinion that the website was a stepping stone for initial contact that has resulted in this sort of revenue. He says he has repeatedly been told that his name was referred by some mechanism and that the caller said a quick visit to the website and THE INCREDIBLY EASY ACCESS to contact information made the caller feel very comfortable with taking the next step.

 Kevin isn't counting the follow up business in that figure, he attributes that figure to the work directly initiated through a contact made with the website.

 I, personally, suspect that the low-tech get-it-done .htm approach appeals to people that work behind the scenes in the entertainment business.  Now, while I say I enjoy the idea of the low tech look... I think it may be useful to state that regular old html can be used to make the slickest and fanciest looking pages anyone might want. It's versatile.






 I think very highly of Dave M. and I am aware that he is a full featured band arranger. I think he is the perfect candidate for a 1 to 3 page business car website. I think his OP reflects values I identify with... and I think his vision of hoping to get the website to initiate opportunity for him to present his detailed info in subsequent personal communications is spot on and will be very effective.

 I don't want to make his website but I hope he will take the idea of simplicity seriously and if he doesn't do it himself I hope he finds a good local service provider that still enjoys working simply.

 I happen to know his market, which I'll refer to as the Tampa Bay metro area and I am aware that there are a lot of website service folks down there that drive around with a bunch of templates and sell badly made template based websites to small businesses and then they hit the road. I hope Dave can find someone who is keeping it real and wants to help out for the long run.




 I know why "wordpress" needs a hi powered search tool... you can't find anything in the quagmire of a blog.
 I know why "wordpress" needs a hi powered spam filter... all that Web2.0 linking to Face-tube exposes you to lots of world-wide-spam.


I have another tip: :-) The best and most effective way to get to the top of a search engine is to place pertinent content on a static htm page and leave it there. It's like, well, magic... if the content is pertinent and it's sitting there on the web Google will be happy to suggest it as a top pick. It is so simple that it is hard to justify charging money for good advice like that. :-) Active server pages are remarkably ineffective in this regard... and so you need to find other ways to crawl up a search cue.
 

 I tried to keep my 2cents out of this, and I wish I had... but then I got weak and posted my personal opinion. I'm gonna try to back out gracefully.




 best regards,
mike

From the "horses" mouth. If you want to maximize search engine rankings (specifically Googles) the right way..., this is a must read.

Webmaster Guidlines

I happen to know his market, which I'll refer to as the Tampa Bay metro area and I am aware that there are a lot of website service folks down there that drive around with a bunch of templates and sell badly made template based websites to small businesses and then they hit the road. I hope Dave can find someone who is keeping it real and wants to help out for the long run.

I hear you on that aspect of finding the wheat from the chaff.

I actually also think he could do a lot worse than employing your services in particular in this case because of your local knowledge and being an advocate of the simple approach to the business card aspect.  Dave is a good step above the average hobbyiest, semi-pro music service provider and his representation on the web ought to reflect that, because he needs to be found through a similar  mountain full of lesser services than he is able to provide also.

His requirements specification should be thought out long and hard because there are services he can cater for that may well be overlooked, getting somebody to implement a good brief is key here.

I'd also advocate your recommendation of the quick-loading simplistic html implementation here for the business card 'contact' aspect of the site but I can't help thinking he also has other strings to his bow that might benefit from a longer look at where he can capitalize further on the services he is able to offer world-wide.

So I'd say Dave you've found your man if you can talk Mike into doing the initial contact page, but there's so much more you can do when you've got that part up and running.  And don't forget this is called the Web for a reason there's lots of advantage in having a few linked domains all taking on a single aspect of your services that lead back to the same place, which of course is yourself.  So get that contact page up first it won't need much maintenance or alteration over time but it will get you afloat in the vast ocean very quickly.

(p.s. Mike stop advocating nested tables already, <div>'s are much more elegant to work with these days, they make far more sense when producing readable mark-up...  They even work properly on most newer browsers which is a novel bonus...)

One of my favorite musicians
 
One of the worst sites ever.
 
http://www.mike-gordon.com/home/

Mod Bod


Until I come up with something better, I'm up with a temporary site at http://www.gatortraks.com

Looks better than my old one already.

It's a good start.

I think the blog part is a good thing.  It showcases the work you've been doing and you can use it highlight stuff that's coming up.  The important thing about having a dynamic aspect such as a news page or blog is that it makes the site look alive and thriving so it's important that you update it regularly with some good stuf.

So basically what you do is have your static business card style page, such as the one Mike is advocating, which makes you easier to find through a search and link out from that to your wordpress blog page.  You get yourself the best of both worlds then very easily.

Mod Bod


I'm thinking that my "home" page as it stands right now is too word-sy.  I'm thinking that maybe instead of paragraphs explaining where I am and what I do, I should basically lay out in bullet points to help someone make a quick estimation of what I am, what I do and whether I'm worth investigating.  If they need more info to make the call they can get it on the other pages.

IMO, as far as internet copy goes it is very much 'less is more'.

Most people have the attention span of goldfish when browsing so succinct and punchy is where it's at.

I don't see too much wrong with the copy you have just now. 

The main point of having the index page as a static page is for making it show up better during a search. You can link to your blog from it and theres no reason for it to look any different to how it does now.

In fact if you like how it looks just now you can make a static page out of it just by 'viewing the source' and cutting and pasting it as a text document called index.htm and remove the corresponding page from the blog itself.  You'd have to amend the links between Wordpress and your new static page and vice versa but you'll be good to go after that.

So look at the index.htm page as being a static gateway into the rest of your content.

If that makes sense.

Dave - just curious - why are your evening and weekend rates half your daytime weekday rates?

some of the following was already mentioned by Alegria, Jon and Mike: (I have a few IT pros in my family and they fill my head with this stuff whether I want to listen or not)
 
do not discount wordpress; it has a clean code especially set up for SEO. most wordpress beginners use the same free template that screams 'I'm a wordpress site'. (the free templates usually have restrictions - type, header, menu, column width are decided for you)
 
You can purchase pro designed wordpress templates for under $50 which give uniqueness, more options as far as content placement and invaluable free e-mail support
 
do not use flash if possible (search engines cannot read flash and it doesn't load on ipad, phones etc.)
 
As mentioned before: make sure to use your search engine target words in your text; numerous times without being ridiculous about it; using target words wisely is paramount for SEO
 
use ALT text on all images (search engines don't read pics)
 
if possible use one of your target words in your domain name
use backlinks and more backlinks (very important)
 
hire a pro photographer; nothing makes a site look amatuerish than poorly shot photos
 
link to facebook, twitter and other social sites; make a few you-tube videos showcasing your studio and use those videos on your site; (you-tube videos are great for SEO)
 
search engines like large sites; gradually fill it up with pertinent content
you need not register your site with search engines; they will find you
you-tube is an excellent free source for learning wordpress
 
GOOD LUCK!
 
 
I am fairly proficient in Photoshop but know next to nothing as far as web design;
and this is a wordpress site I built for a friend in Montana.
www.mural-artist.net
 

"mike_mccue"
I Googled "Gatortracks Studio" last night and it showed up first place...

As it should. But as a potential new client, I don't know about GatorTracks at this point. Right? So what happens when I type "good recording studio" or "reputable recording studio" or "semi-pro recording studio" in the search field? Where's Gatortracks now? This is an exercise that needs to be done in order to help a site owner define the hierarchical and textual structure to maximize hits that can translate into potential new clients.

"mike_mccue"
All those methods will outperform a Google search.

I understand what you're saying and mostly agree with you. And I view these various methods as being complimentary to each other.

For anyone who is following this thread with the thought of doing something similar in Wordpress:

I went to a couple of search engines with a few keywords and I found that I had references to old HTML pages that I removed from my webhost.  I went back and created automatic redirect htm pages to shoot them over to the new Wordpress site. 

Yeah Ken, Brandon would be a trip across the state.  I've had UG events at my studio and got a guy all the way up from West Palm Beach, IIRC.

Thanks for your input.

Mod Bod

kgarello


Dave,

My two cents...

I think equipment lists are overrated.  I think they tend to expose weaknesses when comparing to "PRO" sites.  If you have all vintage equipment and are trying show that, then I think it is useful.  Otherwise I think it is filler.  Why does anyone that your are recording care whether you have sonar x64 vs x86?  Or a Studio Projects C1 vs MCA SP1? 
I don't really have a useful counter-suggestion, though.

I also like studio sites that show a nice comfortable recording space.  I don't know if that is part of your draw, but if it is, flaunt it.

Otherwise I think the site is fine.

On another note, I'm moving to the Melbourne area (from HI) Sold all my equipment, but kept my software.  Hopefully we can meet up some time.  Maybe try to get a Sonar or Reaper UG together.  Looks like brandon is nearer to the gulf, though.

Ken 

I considered what you had to say about equipment pages and you shared a lot of wisdom and I totally agree.  It took me a few weeks to find time to come up with something to say that was "me."  I've change changed the page to reflect that.

Cool Dave,
 
Selling yourself is much better than selling gear.  Looks good to me.
 
Getting settled into my new Florida home (sebastian).  Boy is it warm here.  But Air conditioning is MUCH cheaper. :)
 
Ken

Originally from Minnesota.  For the last 20 years I keep hearing, "...but Texas is a drier heat."  Funny, my sweat seems just as wet to me.

"...but Texas is a drier heat."

Not in Houston