# New business



## newfiesmum

So I have taken the plunge and built a website. http://pettaxisg8.yolasite.com/
I would welcome any constructive comments. Thanks.


----------



## Jenny Olley

I think it looks good, gives all the info without the waffle. I would perhaps put info about having correct insurance for carrying livestock to do with work, i would also put a little about your experience esp with large breed dogs, and also about the behavioural courses you have done, relevant or not people would like to know you understand the animals.


----------



## DoodlesRule

Looks good, as other poster said idea to mention your own experience with large breeds particularly. Maybe how much your charge?


----------



## Sled dog hotel

Nice clear info to the point, nothing else needs saying really.

Nothing else to add but good luck with the new venture.
I should imagine it is something thats really needed too, not everyone drives
who has pets, and getting them anywhere can be a nightmare.


----------



## Jenny Olley

DoodlesRule said:


> Looks good, as other poster said idea to mention your own experience with large breeds particularly. Maybe how much your charge?


The prices are there but you need to click and it takes you to another page.


----------



## newfiesmum

DoodlesRule said:


> Looks good, as other poster said idea to mention your own experience with large breeds particularly. Maybe how much your charge?


That is on the rates page



Sled dog hotel said:


> Nice clear info to the point, nothing else needs saying really.
> 
> Nothing else to add but good luck with the new venture.
> I should imagine it is something thats really needed too, not everyone drives
> who has pets, and getting them anywhere can be a nightmare.


Taxis won't take dogs and pet transporters won't take people. I have looked up the regulations and it seems I don't need a taxi licence if I am giving someone a lift as an incidental, which I would be as it is the pet I am transporting.

My daughter says there is a pet taxi service in Perth which employs 3 people because they are so busy. Waterlily would know about that; that's where she lives.

I have a couple of other ventures in mind as well, which I will tell you about when I get the websites done.

Thanks for your encouraging comments.


----------



## newfiesmum

This is the other venture I am going to try. Nothing to do with pets, though

http://help-for-learner-drivers.yolasite.com/


----------



## Polimba

I like it, very clear and concise 

Good luck


----------



## Sled dog hotel

newfiesmum said:


> This is the other venture I am going to try. Nothing to do with pets, though
> 
> http://help-for-learner-drivers.yolasite.com/


Another really good idea IMO, People do ask friends and family to teach them and often friends and family have got in to bad habits themselves, so a really cost effective idea and reasonable rates, especially if you compare the cost of a driving lesson. Good luck with it!!


----------



## newfiesmum

Sled dog hotel said:


> Another really good idea IMO, People do ask friends and family to teach them and often friends and family have got in to bad habits themselves, so a really cost effective idea and reasonable rates, especially if you compare the cost of a driving lesson. Good luck with it!!


Thanks. I think it might work, as driving instructors are looking to get at least 30 hours out of pupils, whereas I have had enough of them. I thought with this I would never have to see them again, and probably won't get anybody asking if they can drive on the right either!


----------



## koolchick

Good site I'm using Yola and that same site as you have to do my dog walking and pet sitting site though I have put a photo of my dog on home page instead of the white one.


----------



## newfiesmum

koolchick said:


> Good site I'm using Yola and that same site as you have to do my dog walking and pet sitting site though I have put a photo of my dog on home page instead of the white one.


Ferdie's on the about me page. I liked the photos they had, so thought I would leave them. I hope your doggie walking goes well; there are umpteen of them advertising round here. Nobody is doing a pet taxi.

I will have to go find another free builder to do my next website, though, as Yola only lets you have two free ones.


----------



## koolchick

newfiesmum said:


> Ferdie's on the about me page. I liked the photos they had, so thought I would leave them. I hope your doggie walking goes well; there are umpteen of them advertising round here. Nobody is doing a pet taxi.
> 
> I will have to go find another free builder to do my next website, though, as Yola only lets you have two free ones.


On my yola it says I can have up to 5 but that may be because I joined a few years back, they may of changed it to 2 since then.


----------



## newfiesmum

koolchick said:


> On my yola it says I can have up to 5 but that may be because I joined a few years back, they may of changed it to 2 since then.


Well, I have to start paying if I want a third one. I tried that Web Eden but it was awful. Very complicated to use, and every time I tried to preview it it came out with the original template underneath.

I don't have any money to spend on it and it is only to go on the cards anyway.


----------



## Paganman

One thing I think you should put is your waiting time fee. Say if you take someone to the vet, it may be better to wait but that could be as long as a piece of string. 

Fix a rate and have some sort of timer in the car so when they ask you to wait, you start the clock in front of them so there is no arguing about how long they was in there. 

Also check you have your key words right for SEO.


----------



## newfiesmum

Paganman said:


> One thing I think you should put is your waiting time fee. Say if you take someone to the vet, it may be better to wait but that could be as long as a piece of string.
> 
> Fix a rate and have some sort of timer in the car so when they ask you to wait, you start the clock in front of them so there is no arguing about how long they was in there.
> 
> Also check you have your key words right for SEO.


I did wonder about that, actually. I was thinking perhaps an extra £5 if they want me to wait. I don't really want to do things by time, as it can get messy. So, trip to vet Royston to Royston £10, £15 if they want me to wait.

As to SEO, there's not a lot of searches going on for either of them. If I am looking for a pet taxi, which I have done to see what is going, I have put in Pet Taxi SG8, but I don't really know what searchers would look for about learning in their own cars.

I am not expecting a lot of response from the websites, to be honest, they are just there to put on the cards and adverts, which is why I don't want to spend any money on them.

I need to advertise in the local paper for both, I think. The pet taxi is likely to attract older people who don't have the internet, and I can put cards for that in lots of places. The other is not so clear at the moment, but definitely an ad in the paper will kick it off I think.

Any more suggestions are much appreciated.


----------



## Paganman

newfiesmum said:


> I did wonder about that, actually. I was thinking perhaps an extra £5 if they want me to wait. I don't really want to do things by time, as it can get messy. So, trip to vet Royston to Royston £10, £15 if they want me to wait.
> 
> As to SEO, there's not a lot of searches going on for either of them. If I am looking for a pet taxi, which I have done to see what is going, I have put in Pet Taxi SG8, but I don't really know what searchers would look for about learning in their own cars.
> 
> I am not expecting a lot of response from the websites, to be honest, they are just there to put on the cards and adverts, which is why I don't want to spend any money on them.
> 
> I need to advertise in the local paper for both, I think. The pet taxi is likely to attract older people who don't have the internet, and I can put cards for that in lots of places. The other is not so clear at the moment, but definitely an ad in the paper will kick it off I think.
> 
> Any more suggestions are much appreciated.


You don't have to spend money on a website to get good SE results.

In this day and age it is important to have a good SE presence and even smart phone optimisation.

If you google pet taxi Royston loads come up but not you.

You also need links on there.

Now you must start tweeting as well  it's all free


----------



## newfiesmum

Paganman said:


> You don't have to spend money on a website to get good SE results.
> 
> In this day and age it is important to have a good SE presence and even smart phone optimisation.
> 
> If you google pet taxi Royston loads come up but not you.
> 
> You also need links on there.
> 
> Now you must start tweeting as well  it's all free


Well I only put it up today, so can't expect to get seen yet. I shall do a facebook page as well, and the reason I used SG8 instead of Royston is because there is one in Yorkshire. Apparently, that is where they sent a skip I ordered once - Royston, near Barnsley!

Give me a chance. I shall get some links in to directories, also to my own website, my newfie one. And anyone on here with a doggie site.

I will have a look at the google keywords tool and see if I can find some other keywords for both.

Thanks.


----------



## Sled dog hotel

You have probably thught of it already but pets at home I think have a notice/advertising board and I think the super markets do to or Im Pretty sure Ive seen one in sainsburys. Also vets and pets shops maybe might put up a flyer and keep some cards to hand out perhaps??


----------



## Paganman

newfiesmum said:


> Well I only put it up today, so can't expect to get seen yet. I shall do a facebook page as well, and the reason I used SG8 instead of Royston is because there is one in Yorkshire. Apparently, that is where they sent a skip I ordered once - Royston, near Barnsley!
> 
> Give me a chance. I shall get some links in to directories, also to my own website, my newfie one. And anyone on here with a doggie site.
> 
> I will have a look at the google keywords tool and see if I can find some other keywords for both.
> 
> Thanks.


When I say links I mean on your site. They have to be two way like pet forum. There is a link here to your site and you link back.

You could also exchange links with other pet taxi company that are not competition.

Facebook and twitter are great. So is YouTube. It creates a "spiders web" that search engines like and boosts your page rating.


----------



## newfiesmum

Sled dog hotel said:


> You have probably thught of it already but pets at home I think have a notice/advertising board and I think the super markets do to or Im Pretty sure Ive seen one in sainsburys. Also vets and pets shops maybe might put up a flyer and keep some cards to hand out perhaps??


No I hadn't thought of pets at home. I am going to put some posters and cards round pet shops, kennels, vets, anywhere that has anything to do with dogs. I also have a friend who owns a garage who will keep cards for anything! I think I must have ads in the newspaper though. I know most go to the internet, but not everyone has it. And I still tend to look at the local services ads in the paper. The only thing worth looking at, really!


----------



## totallypets

It's free to advertise on Gumtree, I'm quite amazed by how many people use it! You could also target areas to do leaflet drops as well as pet shops, vets and groomers.

Good luck with it all :thumbup:


----------



## Sled dog hotel

newfiesmum said:


> No I hadn't thought of pets at home. I am going to put some posters and cards round pet shops, kennels, vets, anywhere that has anything to do with dogs. I also have a friend who owns a garage who will keep cards for anything! I think I must have ads in the newspaper though. I know most go to the internet, but not everyone has it. And I still tend to look at the local services ads in the paper. The only thing worth looking at, really!


I should imagine a lot of older people who dont drive and have pets would be really interested, when I think of my mum or her sisters none of them drive, and some of my aunts who are now widowed woudnt have a way to get their pets to vets and things unless by bus and thats not always practicle.
None of them interestingly enough would have the first idea about computers either, so for potential customers like them a loca paper or local classified like thompson would be where they would look.


----------



## newfiesmum

Sled dog hotel said:


> I should imagine a lot of older people who dont drive and have pets would be really interested, when I think of my mum or her sisters none of them drive, and some of my aunts who are now widowed woudnt have a way to get their pets to vets and things unless by bus and thats not always practicle.
> None of them interestingly enough would have the first idea about computers either, so for potential customers like them a loca paper or local classified like thompson would be where they would look.


Yes, that is what I was thinking. I need the local paper for this one. I will probably need it for the other one for a while. I might get some Facebook ads for that or Google Adwords, but I still owe them £50 so can't do that one yet!

Great ideas, everyone. Thanks.

I'm also planning on doing computer repairs and upgrades, wireless network set ups and stuff. That is not so exclusive, but no other females doing it.

My friend paid someone £200 to transfer her data to her new computer! I could have done that for her, but she didn't realise. Oh, and he didn't even bother re-installing her software while he was at it; I did that.

With three different businesses going, I should be able to survive, shouldn't I?


----------



## Manoy Moneelil

For a work in progress it's a great job. I notice that you have been working on the site while I've been writing this post. Within the limitations that I understand the hosting site offers for a freebie you can be creative and not get lost in putting up too much. 
I think *less is more*.

You might not expect much from the web-site in terms of custom to start with but unless it is there you will not know. While you have the site parked (hosted) with a free hosting company like you have, keep the production runs of business cards and adverts etc limited. If you move on to getting a domain name like www.PetTaxiSG8.com you will need to reprint. When you do you can leave a redirect message on your old site.

In the early days you can get a bit lost in registering and posting your details on different directory sites etc. It is wise to keep a register of your advertising in this manner so you can manage it in future. Likewise with adverts you place on noticeboards, keeping a book is wise IMHO.



newfiesmum said:


> As to SEO, there's not a lot of searches going on for either of them. If I am looking for a pet taxi, which I have done to see what is going, I have put in Pet Taxi SG8, but I don't really know what searchers would look for...


With good SEO work you need to write text that is meaningful to the people looking at the site, but also meaningful to Google. So including sentences that mention pet dog, rabbits, Royston - Hertfordshire, vet, groomers. But also mention Bedford, Stevenage, Cambridge etc.

Consider what someone is looking for. I really mean sit without TV, computer distractions, what is in the mind of the person that is looking for the service that you provide. Why move a dog? Mention on the site you take sick animals to vets for emergencies (What hours is the local vet open, where is the nearest 24 hr vets I suggest you will need the details of vets in Cambridge for clients to the North West vs Stevenage for those in the East and South, looks like you cover roughly 400 square miles.) also equip the car to cope with blood, vomit and upset owners.

You might consider asking the vet receptionists who they suggest when clients ring them. Compare Google Ad-words rates with the price of a box of chocolates in return for keeping a stock of your business cards, I suggest this offers better value for money. (Put the cards in a small box so they are not 'lost', I did something similar some years ago with a few 'thank you' post-it notes inter-spaced through the pile of papers I had someone hand out for me, small point but attention to detail pays off.

Also animal rehoming groups need transport, so hit them as well. In the event of an accident involving an animal what do the police do? Another sector to investigate.

Learn about using Google-Analytics to track how your site is appearing in the results that they offer, this tells you what keywords have been typed in that result in your site being offered as a result. It takes a little while to fine tune your site and many revisions of text to get to the top ranking. When I was in business doing this for my company in two months I took it from 100th to 1st place for each cluster of three keywords we targeted.



> I need to advertise in the local paper for both, I think. The pet taxi is likely to attract older people who don't have the internet, and I can put cards for that in lots of places. The other is not so clear at the moment, but definitely an ad in the paper will kick it off I think.





Sled dog hotel said:


> None of them interestingly enough would have the first idea about computers either, so for potential customers like them a loca paper or local classified like thompson would be where they would look.


Don't discount the old, many are very computer savvy and those that are not could easily phone a relative seeking a lift for their dog who in turn might just Google for a solution rather than drive over themselves. If you seek to directly market to the elderly use simple ideas, large fonts. I don't mean this disparagingly but by cutting to the key points.

We looked at doing a regional leaflet distribution within a national newspaper's Sunday supplement, it was going to be an A4 two fold in full colour glossy and the prices were not too bad for our estimated return. The problem with newspapers is they don't last long and the page impression for the advert is fleeting for the cost to a small business. IMHO an A5 leaflet or business card drop might offer a better impression as it gives the person something to keep. But the cost of printing/distribution is likely to be the killer.

But if you were to share the cost with the marketing for an up and coming light-duty computer "repair" and data copying venture, the cost might work out, A5 one colour divided in two. Not sure if it's best to promote it as one person or two companies. Targeting an older demographic this way might be effective as you might offer computer usage training. Is there a government grant for providing these services?

Gumtree, newspaper free ads etc are by far more cost effective :ihih:



Paganman said:


> You don't have to spend money on a website to get good SE results.
> 
> In this day and age it is important to have a good SE presence and even smart phone optimisation... ....Now you must start tweeting as well  it's all free





newfiesmum said:


> I shall do a facebook page as well....


I agree that there is no need to throw money at sites or their promotion on small scale projects like this. Your greatest asset is thinking about the site and the wording. Then think about the person that is looking for such a service and what they seek.

Tidy up the Tweet and Facebook links at the bottom of the page. Personally I would not put my address on the site, there is no reason for this apart from junk-mail and someone seeking to set you up for burglary, "Please pick up my dog from Newton we need to get to the vets quickly." then while you are gone...:sneaky2:

As for Tweeting, if you are not a natural Tweeter consider that 80% of this media is just verbal diarrhoea and not meaningful to many people. I was talking with a person (that I believe is a bit OCD) for a dog related business who runs a daily blog promoting his business, apart from the downright lies he writes the content is far too frequent and just repeats the same message rewritten a few different ways. From my monitoring of his eBay activities he is not making any money - poor product IMHO.



newfiesmum said:


> I might get some Facebook ads for that or Google Adwords, but I still owe them £50 so can't do that one yet!...
> 
> ....I will have a look at the google keywords tool and see if I can find some other keywords for both.


When you say "keywords" did you mean "Ad-words"?

Keywords are the words that you expect someone to type in the Google search box to get your site offered in results: _Pet Taxi Service in Royston_

Ad-words is where you pay Google to get you site offered in results when someone types in words you pay for: _Taxi in Royston._

I strongly suggest that you avoid ad-words, Google will happily take your money, but in your situation I think you are well placed to be the only site focusing on the keywords *pet* and *taxi service* and *Royston* and the other local town names etc. You offer a well defined service in an area with 35,000 people in the SG8 zone, I don't think you will have huge competition. With dog experience, CRB and the car with ramp and harnesses you can present yourself as the best in the area without having to pay for Google ranking. ALSO consider with the current Google privacy issues that there will be some that move away from Google and there are other search engines, like Dogpile :devil:



Sled dog hotel said:


> You have probably thught of it already but pets at home I think have a notice/advertising board...


On notice boards don't make it look like another text only postcard, a bold outline of a car with the important words and contact number etc. Also look at putting a QR code on the card, people with smart phones will get your web site. Not hard to build QR codes into an image. (This was a cool example.)








*....or just your phone number *









newfiesmum said:


> I'm also planning on doing computer repairs and upgrades, wireless network set ups and stuff. That is not so exclusive, but no other females doing it.
> 
> My friend paid someone £200 to transfer her data....


Well done, looks like you will be a mobile one stop multi-tasker.

As I've mentioned before when responding to various "comment on my web-site" threads, to get any leverage with SEO placing you need to use relevant file names for your images. "Ferdie and Margaret in Woods.jpg" is great for a family web-site but "Pet Taxi in Royston.jpg" is much better for the Google computers when they visit your web-site and want to understand what the picture is all about. Also if you pose a picture of you and your car and a stooge dog walking on the ramp wearing a harness make it nice and clear, take the picture in early morning or evening with the sun at a good angle - photographs taken mid-morning look washed out. Read a few chapters from a photography book, you *will pick up a few tips* that make a difference.

If you are using a freebie web host that only allows one or two uploaded images, be clever and prepare a composite montage image that gets your visual message across in one hit, with a little thought and artistic flair you can be creative. (I see that you have Photoshop Elements already.)








Also you can "own" the pictures by watermarking them or putting the company brand on them to stop them being used elsewhere.

You can reduce the file size of the image you upload to make it load quickly, on the "About Me" page your picture has a file size of 668KB the image I've created above is 56KB, small pictures load quickly and make the site look professional.

At the bottom of the page what's the story with the pictures of the rabbits and fish etc? Not sure they add anything to the site.

 I know that's not your mileage rate nor your car, I've done the QR codes what more do you want? ​


----------



## newfiesmum

Manoy: Thanks for your detailed response. Just a few things. The Google Keywords tool tells you how many local searches there are for a keyword and how much supply there is. It is a good indication of what keywords people are putting into the search engine.

Good idea about renaming the photograph. And I agree it does need to be smaller in loading time. I shall be taking photographs of the car, but I was hoping to get the door magnet on first which I have only just ordered. Also, my task for today is to clean the thing out and make it presentable. So far I have mainly used it for my dogs and it does whiff a bit! It also wouldn't look its best on a photo.

The photographs at the bottom came with the template and I thought I would leave them there, as a display really of other animals. 

I had thought of animal shelters, but I think they would need a special rate? 

As you probably know, free templates and hosting sites are limited, so I need to see whether I can put the code in for Analytics. I probably can, but I haven't investigate the program fully yet, being in a rush to get it done.

You have given me a lot to do!


----------



## Manoy Moneelil

As I said at the beginning great work for a freebie site and it's limitations done quickly. 

If you spend you time horning the text to get the key points across with all your words in different combinations you can run with the current site for some time (year?) as you develop a customer base, you might find you earn more being an IT person. 

If you can take a few posed shots of you, car & dog in harness or dog on ramp etc. in different situations; with snowman in background, in park with daffodils, outside the vet with a dog having a bandaged paw etc. It gives you some seasonal photographs to rotate through the site. I used to give our web sites a refresh as the seasons changed, the idea being that potential customers saw a site that was relevant to the weather and their seasonal mood. If one looked closely at our Summer and Christmas team photograph on the web-site one had a half decorated tree to one side and the Easter one a small table with flowers on it, they were all taken in July :ihih:.

The photograph files can all carry similar names and be stored on the web site, but just edit the code to display "Dog Rabbit Cat Pet Taxi Royston.jpg" or "Rabbit Cat Dog Pet Taxi Royston.jpg" or "Cat Dog Rabbit Pet Taxi Royston.jpg" etc. This also shows Google that your site is active because it changes with time.


----------



## choclabwoody

Hi
On your main menu, change 'index' to Home

For SEO purposes, add a unique page description to each page. In Yola go to Page => Page Properties and make sure you use the keywords in the description.

There's too many Tweet, like buttons etc at the bottom, you only need one set to do the job.

You need to reword it so it mentions that you are a Pet Taxi Service operating in Royston, Hertfordshire.

Under the main title, could you not add 'Royston, Hertfordshire'? SG8 could mean anything.

Have you looked at other websites offering these services to get some ideas, here's one Pet Taxi, Pet Transport, pet shipping UK & Europe - Pet Transport, Pet Shipping UK & Europe This website is developed in WordPress and is free to download and install, all you need is a web host.

Another one mentions some prices Pet Taxi and animal transportation service - Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, uk

Colin & Woody


----------



## newfiesmum

choclabwoody said:


> Hi
> On your main menu, change 'index' to Home
> 
> For SEO purposes, add a unique page description to each page. In Yola go to Page => Page Properties and make sure you use the keywords in the description.
> 
> There's too many Tweet, like buttons etc at the bottom, you only need one set to do the job.
> 
> You need to reword it so it mentions that you are a Pet Taxi Service operating in Royston, Hertfordshire.
> 
> Under the main title, could you not add 'Royston, Hertfordshire'? SG8 could mean anything.
> 
> Have you looked at other websites offering these services to get some ideas, here's one Pet Taxi, Pet Transport, pet shipping UK & Europe - Pet Transport, Pet Shipping UK & Europe This website is developed in WordPress and is free to download and install, all you need is a web host.
> 
> Another one mentions some prices Pet Taxi and animal transportation service - Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, uk
> 
> Colin & Woody


The word Index is annoying me, but it will not let me change it. I have to look into that. Also the Tweet buttons. They did not appear on the draft, so I clicked them again. Now I've got three and I don't know how to get rid of them either. I am unfamiliar with Yola, so need some time to investigate.

SG8 is the postcode for this town, and more likely to get searches I think. I will be putting royston in as well, but didn't want it for the main web address because of there being another in Barnsley.

Yes, I have looked at other sites. From what I have seen these are either official pet transporters, who take them anywhere in Europe, or they are general pet services doing this as a sideline, not a main thing. None of them will take people, just their pets.

I have tried Wordpress before, but it is really for blogging not for static websites. And I found it quite complicated. I will have another look when I get time. Let's get these two sorted first.

I am still investigating, but thank you for your comments


----------



## choclabwoody

Hi
I would remove the first part of your address and just have
Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 ??? Use your full post code as well.

Hover over the bottom tweet buttons and it should turn to a box and from here you can delete it by clicking on the 'X' button.

Index to Home, just follow:
Site => Site Settings => Content => Pages/Navigation
In Page Manager click on edit for the Index page and change the label to 'Home'.

Wordpress is not just for blogging it can be used as a Content Management System or CMS. It can be complicated at first but once you are use to it, it is easier to add extra functionality and add/change written content, upload photos etc. It's got to be far easier than Yola in my opinion.

Colin & Woody


----------



## Dally Banjo

Great idea good luck


----------



## Dogless

Very good idea; I did a canine first aid course with someone who had started a Pet Taxi service....he was doing very well within a short space of time I believe. Best of luck.


----------



## newfiesmum

Dogless said:


> Very good idea; I did a canine first aid course with someone who had started a Pet Taxi service....he was doing very well within a short space of time I believe. Best of luck.


Funny you should say that. There is a first aid course at Steve Mann's kennels in June I am going to book myself into.


----------

