eCommerce Tycoon

**CSS4Life** · 04:15 PM

A recent question in the web hosting forum regarding local hosting made me wonder - should I say on my site that my hosting is for the local area, or just say for the UK? I'm afraid that by saying the local area, I might put some people off from choosing me, which is something I definitely wouldn't want to do. However, I set up the company with the idea of advertising locally to find a niche etc.

What should I do? The site is my hosting one in the signature for those who don't know me.

**vangogh** · 10-09-2007, 08:26 PM

Daniel I think it's really just where you want to focus. By promoting yourself as more local you might lose some potential accounts from outside the locality, but you might be able to grab more accounts from inside the locality.

For example I offer web design services. I can do the work without actually be located in the same place as my clients and in fact most of my clients I've never met in person. But if I promoted myself specifically as a web designer for Boulder, Colorado businesses I'd be able to make myself more appealing to a certain group of people in the are who want to work with a local designer. I'd also only be competing with other locals for those particular people.

It should also be easier to market and advertise to the smaller and more focused group.

It should be easier for you to convince local people who want to go with a local host to choose you than it would be to convince anyone in the UK. On the other hand there are naturally more potential customers in the UK as a whole than in you specific location.

Which market you choose to target depends on your resources and where you want to focus. You can be successful either way, but you would use different strategies and tactics to succeed in the two cases.

**CSS4Life** · 04:15 PM

OK thanks for your input Vangogh. I've actually now got 2 clients from outside the country entirely (USA and Eastern Europe) which is pretty amazing, but I was really wondering whether to target my local market (the original plan) or whether to simply target the UK market. I think I'll strike a bit of a balance and reword the introduction slightly so that while I mention the local market, I'll also say that UK customers are welcome too.

Thanks for the advice again,

**vangogh** · 10-09-2007, 09:03 PM

Glad to help Dan. I think you could target both. Maybe it's best to start more local since it should be easier and less expensive to reach the more local market. You could promote yourself with the idea that you're part of the local community and people could have access to you personally instead of being just a phone number or email address.

As you build locally you can start to expand your reach.

If you go more local make sure to optimize for your location. Add your contact info (address) on every page and make sure to add it to page titles. I think you already do this, but I wanted to reinforce the page title thing.

By the way I've always like the way your site looks. I think I may have mentioned it once when you first joined, but I think the color scheme is great. I get this silky velvety feel when on your site. The image of the laptop is great too.

**CSS4Life** · 10-09-2007, 09:09 PM

What do you think of my redesign? The main image has gone so maybe that silky feeling will go too

Still, at least the markup looks a lot better

I'll add that address thing to the page tomorrow when I have time

**vangogh** · 10-09-2007, 09:31 PM

Funny, because the one thing I was going to suggest on the current design was going with a more fixed layout since I thought it would be easier to read.

I think you could actually go with the current header and let it flow 100% of the screen while fixing the width of the content below. I really like the color of the gradient in the current design and yes the new design loses that silky feeling, though overall I do think the new design is more user friendly.

**ForrestCroce** · 10-10-2007, 12:25 AM

What does local mean? I've never been to Europe - I still haven't been to about 15 US states - so all I can do is bring up the idea. Over here, we think of ourselves as being pretty regional. Steve could advertise as the Boulder web guy, or he could market himself as the Denver web guy. He'll tell you that in many ways comparing the two cities is insulting, and that they're 35 miles apart, but when a flatlander comes into the room gasping for breath, Denver and Boulder are one.

I try to get people to associate me with Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general ... I even push a little to blur the distinction. People and companies have shown interest from Portland, Oregon, 175 miles away, and Boise, Idaho, maybe 500 or 600 miles from here. Not too much from Vancouver, unfortunately. The plane that just crashed in the Cascades was flying from Boise to Seattle.

So ... without knowing the geography and demographics where you live I can't say. There's definitely a lot of appeal to being able to deal with somebody face to face if you ever need to, and there's some kind of diminishing return as you spread out. Can Mid Wales support your business by itself? How far can you go and still more or less feel like you're at home?

And since we're talking about geography, I hope you fellow badge carriers don't mind a little shamus self promotion. Have a look at just about any post on my blog. The Google Maps are a big hit. They make sense for photography and travel ... but they also make sense when you're trying to play up the home advantage.

**CSS4Life** · 04:16 PM

Hi Forrest. Well as someone said (Learning Newbie/Old man if I'm not mistaken) in another thread, Americans think 100 years is a long time, English think 100 miles is a long way. That sort of sums it up I think - America, from what I'm away is fairly sparsely populated even these days with vast expanses of desert and plains in the centre. The UK is extremely overpopulated - 60 million people on a small island!

Mid Wales and Herefordshire could probably support my business - I know there are a lot of other local web designers and companies in the surrounding 40 or 50 miles which put most of their focus on local clients I guess. I think as I said before, I'll try to strike a bit of a balance between the two so that neither people feel excluded from my business.

Also, thanks Vangogh for your advice - I'm unsure of the copyright restrictions regarding the header image though, but I'll see what I can do

**vangogh** · 10-10-2007, 05:47 PM

Glad to help Dan. Is that image not yours then? Don't add it just for me if it means getting in trouble.

Forrest I think local means different things to different people and depends somewhat on where you are. It also depends on how far you want to reach.

I could include Denver in local marketing, though I would probably limit myself to Boulder. The main thing is the smaller the location you market to the more likely you can dominate. As far as I know I'm the only person on my block that does web design/seo work. If I market to my block I have a good chance of gaining every possible client. I'm close enough where I could talk to everyone in person and my charm and good looks would win the day. (ok, maybe not)

Obviously there are only going to be so many people on my block who ever need my services and while I could dominate that market (assuming I really am the only one offering the services) I'd be better off expanding what I consider my local market.

There are plenty of web designers and SEOs in Boulder itself so I could market exclusively to North Boulder. Not as easy to dominate the market, but a larger market.

I think the key is finding the balance between enough potential clients/customers and competition. You can really define local as anything you want.

**CSS4Life** · 10-10-2007, 06:22 PM

Well interestingly, at a Church meeting this evening, I've had a possible inquiry for web design

(My first commercial customer!) There is also a second potential customer that may be interested in design services too (I haven't asked him yet but he's set up a local community project and I can see them wanting/needing a web site in the near future).

No that image isn't mine, although I may have a replacement. However, my graphic design skills are appalling/feeble so it's questionable that I will include this.

**vangogh** · 10-11-2007, 02:33 AM

Funny. My graphic design skills aren't my strongest point either, though they have improved over the years.

Congrats on the two potential clients. It's exciting when you get your first commercial client.

**ForrestCroce** · 04:17 PM

Most definitely. Congratulations!

You can add a byline saying "© Except Where Noted" and then give credit in the alt and title attributes to the photo ... which are visible when someone hovers over the image.

**cwg** · 10-12-2007, 06:32 PM

My maiden voyage as a poster - I'm interested in getting some basic questions (see below) answered by forum owner/administrators. Do you(s) have any suggestions on where to post these sort of questions (assuming this isn't the correct forum)? 1) What are some things that you wish you could provide through your forum?
2) How do you generate revenue through your forum?
3) What revenue generation facilities would you like to provide?

**CSS4Life** · 10-12-2007, 06:53 PM

I think this is probably the right place - go here and then click the "new thread" button, type in a title and then what you want to ask people.

**cwg** · 10-12-2007, 07:10 PM

Thank you! I'll give it a try.