Hey All,

I’ve decided to start posting content to the blog that deals specifically with how to make the most from a window cleaning related website and/or how to get a website online if you haven’t done it yet.

This came about as a result of talking with many window cleaners over the last few months and also from listening to my hosting customers at 5.88webhosting.com. There is clearly a need for information on what steps people need to take in order to get their websites online.

The first thing I’d like to mention before we do anything is that I don’t think some folks realize how many window cleaning customers they can secure by having a website for prospects/customers to find. I know window cleaners who rely only on the internet to generate phone calls from interested prospects.

Here’s an email I received the other day from a window cleaner in new york:

Hi Steve,

I have had more calls coming in this year where people are telling me they heard of me from the internet. I just want to thank you for helping me with the keywords and everything else that make my web site land in the top 3 spots in search engine searches for window cleaning in my area. I never would have thought it possible and I still find it pretty cool when people say they found me online. Thanks again.

Tom

So remember that a website is just a lonely brochure in cyberspace if nobody visits it. In addition to having a website, you need to get traffic to that website.

And high rankings don’t just happen. I’ve actually received emails from more than a few window cleaners who will ask me something like this: Ok…I signed up with a premium listing in 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory so when will I see my listing in google?

Getting visibility and top rankings in google is not a push button operation. You can’t expect to create a website or a webpage and “poof”, there it is at the top of the search engine rankings. Sorry…it doesn’t work like that. It depends on many variables. How much competition is there for your keywords? Are your meta titles correct? Is your webpage keyword optimized? Do you have a sufficient amount of links pointing to your webpage? And on and on.

Anyway…I’ll talk about this in more detail later on in upcoming articles. But for now, I figure it’s best to start at the beginning in order to set the stage. I realize that there are different skill levels and knowledge bases out there, but I figure I really can’t go wrong by starting at the beginning and building from there. If you already know all this initial stuff, great. Feel free to bounce right over it.

And I have no idea how long this series of articles will be. I guess until the website/online/search engine optimization subject is exhausted. I’ll just start typing until my fingers get tired.   :-D With that said though, I’ll probably just release small chunks of info. at a time. Information overload can quickly take over especially when dealing with websites and the internet. One thing I may do though is to include a video at some point to further clarify things.

Ok…let’s jump right in.

First up, you need a domain name for your website. See I told you we were starting at the “beginning”?  :-D

A domain name is considered your website address and is also known as a “url”. For example, the domain name/website address/url of this blog is “http://www.windowwashingsuccesstips.com”

I would recommend that you buy domain names at godaddy.com. I’ve purchased domain names at different registrars over the years and I’ve found godaddy to be the most convenient.

Tip: Before going to godaddy, go to google and search for “godaddy promo code” (w/o the quotes). You’ll find different coupon codes you can use when buying your domain name through godaddy. Look for one that’ll give you $3.00 off. I just searched and it took me 10 seconds to find this one: ZINE7

By the time you read this, I don’t know if this particular promo code will be good anymore, but it doesn’t matter. There are always $3.00 off coupons for godaddy.com domain name registrations.

So do you have the code copied/written down somewhere? Great. If you don’t care about saving 3 bucks, that’s cool too. When you get to the last page of the godaddy checkout process, you’ll insert the promo code and click the “update” button. It should end up costing you a total of $7.69 for a one year .com domain name registration.

Let’s now head over to godaddy.com. One note to make is that there are many different domain extensions available like .net, .org, .info, .biz, etc. etc., but I’d recommend that you go with a “.com”. It’s the most common, so people are used to typing “.com” at the end of domain names.

There is a search box in the middle of the godaddy webpage. Just search for a domain name that you might like. Contrary to popular belief, there are many .com domain names still available.

Obviously common domain names like “windowcleaning.com” will already be taken, but be creative. And remember that you can use dashes or numbers in the domain name.

After finding a domain name, go through the checkout process and buy it. Don’t buy anything else that godaddy will try and sell you as you go through the checkout process. They’ll display all kinds of options and services that you can buy. You don’t need any of it. So stick to your guns and buy a one year domain name registration for $7.69.

Ok…that’s it for today. Next up I’ll talk about editing the dns information in godaddy. This is necessary so that your domain name points to the hosting company. This’ll be fully explained in the next article. I think I’ll include a couple of screenshots also.

Have a great day.

Steve

P.S. I’ve been asked in the past whether I’d be willing to optimize other window cleaner’s websites so that they can achieve top search engine rankings. Well…the good news is that I have decided to start doing this. The bad news though is that I can only work with a handful of clients at a time. Probably around 20 or so. Stay tuned to this blog for more information.

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