# Looking for a web developer for Painting Company



## ArtisticoFinishes (Jan 14, 2014)

Hey guys, looking for a web developer who may have some previous experience in developing painting websites. Looking for ground up website and SEO maintenance. If anyone has any recommendations would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!!


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

PM Darren Slaughter. Plenty of experience dealing with contractors. I think a few here are using him as well.

His site http://darrenslaughter.com/

Pat


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## ArtisticoFinishes (Jan 14, 2014)

Awesome , thanks!!


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## ArtisticoFinishes (Jan 14, 2014)

any other recommendations?


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

ArtisticoFinishes said:


> any other recommendations?


Nope he's the man I'd use.


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## richmondpainting (Feb 24, 2012)

i vote for footbridge media......


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

You don't need web designers that have previous experience in developing "painting" websites.
My experience with that has not been good.

In fact a designer and a marketing person are not the same thing.
Some say the two should not mix.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

George Z said:


> In fact a designer and a marketing person are not the same thing.
> Some say the two should not mix.


Why is that? I would think that if such a person has both skills then that would be better. Designer would build the website for marketing where as a marketing person would have to take a pre built web site and figure the best way to market it.

Also would you not want somebody with some with experience with our field? They would know what works and what does not work compared to just a regular web guy. I would want a certified Dodge mechanic to fix my Dodge then have just a regular mechanic to fix it. Sure they both would fix it but I would just have a bit more confidence in the dodge guy. I would want a painter to paint my house instead of a handy man. 

Pat


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## travunski (Dec 25, 2013)

I have a good cooperation with http://astermedia.net/ Skype: miloscode


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

PatsPainting said:


> Why is that? I would think that if such a person has both skills then that would be better. Designer would build the website for marketing where as a marketing person would have to take a pre built web site and figure the best way to market it.
> 
> Also would you not want somebody with some with experience with our field? They would know what works and what does not work compared to just a regular web guy. I would want a certified Dodge mechanic to fix my Dodge then have just a regular mechanic to fix it. Sure they both would fix it but I would just have a bit more confidence in the dodge guy. I would want a painter to paint my house instead of a handy man.
> 
> Pat


Finding someone that does both proper copy writing and SEO is rare. If found.. very expensive. Knowing painting is not necessary. Web writers consult with clients to get the basics of what they want to say. A good one knows that technical specs should be left out and will write about customer benefits. The web design person knows layout, navigation, fonts and color scheming. This also does not require any knowledge of the company they are designing for outside of collecting images and having a general idea of what colors the client wants to feature.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

PatsPainting said:


> Why is that? I would think that if such a person has both skills then that would be better. Designer would build the website for marketing where as a marketing person would have to take a pre built web site and figure the best way to market it.
> 
> Also would you not want somebody with some with experience with our field? They would know what works and what does not work compared to just a regular web guy. I would want a certified Dodge mechanic to fix my Dodge then have just a regular mechanic to fix it. Sure they both would fix it but I would just have a bit more confidence in the dodge guy. I would want a painter to paint my house instead of a handy man.
> 
> Pat


Pat, I am sure you have heard of the "computer guy" somebody knows that would do stuff for them. 
Marketing is a business skill, designing websites is not.
Now the contractors websites vendors availiable to us. 
I have used 4 in the last many years and there is no way to say 
who and what in a public forum but there is so much more choice out there.
Also some know "what's best for you dummy contractor" a little too much.
I am sure you can appreciate my general tone even though my experience was personal.
I have not tried all vendors here, so all I am saying
Is what we recommend our customers do:
Consumer beware.
You want a painter to paint, a designer to design, a marketer to market.
I am making your point: you don't want a handyman,
or a jack of all trades.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

One reason I'm not a fan of footbridge is they seem to just have one basic template. even though they are real nice and great for SEO, for the most part they do not represent the company. Meaning they all look like large company's when some of the users that use them are either one man shows or have a small crew. 

My point is the website should reflect on who you are. A basic web company might not know that putting links to your angies list, yelp, google reviews is a bad choice as it make the user leave the site and they might not come back. Instead having those reviews ported over to your site somehow. A guy that deals with us painters and contractors would know that stuff. 

My experience with Darren was good, even though it was only a website review through one of Chris's "RCP" hangouts, he seemed to know what works and what does not. Tes the copywriter lady that I think he works with sure knew her stuff. This is why I thought he would be a good choice for the OP. I have never hired him or used his services so I have no idea how the process works.

I just think to start out, having a guy that deals with contractors will generate better results then just regular web guys. 

Pat


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## richmondpainting (Feb 24, 2012)

Footbridge is your best bang for your buck.....they will get you leads....and I'm assuming that's what you want...I had great success this last year with them.....now there in the process of doing a site for my roofing company....and my secondary...well original website is eventually getting taken over by them and being turned into a strictly commercial/industrial web site.....

They will have all three of my sites and hopefully the two new ones work as well ad the first.....


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## john20 (Jan 15, 2014)

If you want someone to do this offshore/remotely you can check some web developers here. Although most of them are from the Philippines but you can contact the site to help you out in finding the best web developer in your place.

Hope it helps.


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

PatsPainting said:


> One reason I'm not a fan of footbridge is they seem to just have one basic template. even though they are real nice and great for SEO, for the most part they do not represent the company. Meaning they all look like large company's when some of the users that use them are either one man shows or have a small crew.
> 
> My point is the website should reflect on who you are. A basic web company might not know that putting links to your angies list, yelp, google reviews is a bad choice as it make the user leave the site and they might not come back. Instead having those reviews ported over to your site somehow. A guy that deals with us painters and contractors would know that stuff.
> 
> ...


Totally agree! :notworthy:


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## ArtisticoFinishes (Jan 14, 2014)

Lots of info shared, thanks guys! I also found a developer "Contractor Gorilla" anyone use them?


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## thinkpainting/nick (Dec 25, 2012)

ArtisticoFinishes said:


> Lots of info shared, thanks guys! I also found a developer "Contractor Gorilla" anyone use them?


www.Sites4contractors.com as someone who has used them all and then some since 2001 the biggest thing is you want to be found. Without being found when the pre respective customer searches what good is your site? Don't get me wrong it's great to have a clean looking nicely designed site but unless your loaded with work the whole point is to be found SEO. Yes content, portfolio , number of pages etc matters but a simple site that makes the customer want to call you is king. IMHO. Kind of like my best DM piece the designer designed it and the marketer put the message simple easy to read customer friendly. Carl is a great guy give him a call knows his stuff and how to be found.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

To be fair:

You can choose any theme with Footbridge most don't.
Any slider, any contact form any element whatsoever.
You can contribute your content to Footbridge or write it but most don't.

Believe it or not they are open to most custom requests than most vendors suggested here (I have no experience with Carl)

The fact that most don't use them such is another story.

If you give FB as much as any other vendor suggested here expects,
they are a better value, nobody is even close (again, no experience with Carl)


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## carls (Jan 15, 2014)

> To be fair:
> 
> You can choose any theme with Footbridge most don't.
> Any slider, any contact form any element whatsoever.
> You can contribute your content to Footbridge or write it but most don't.


The same can be said for pretty much any designer... We are all flexible. Contributing your own content as in written articles (helpful for your target customers) and excellent project photos, even video will go a long way in the development of a great site.

There is a big difference between a web designer and a team that specializes in online marketing. Web designers can become a web designer by watching a few YouTube vids or taking some night classes and firing up Wordpress then calling themselves a web designer. (we fix these sites lol)

Online marketers (who are successful) usually got that way because they learned from actually marketing businesses and services online everyday, for years. When you can find a good team (of Internet Marketers) it's very easy to spot the difference.

Most web designers can't even rank their own websites, let alone get a client any first page presence.

Footbridge is a competitor of ours but they do offer decent value to a contractor on a limited budget. This is providing they don't have a client in your area (or several closeby) already. You will want to learn about SEO and either do it on your own or have someone else contribute. The SEO Footbridge delivers is generally not something that is on-going. Your business gets added into a pile of their blog networks right away and that's pretty much it, you'll rank where you rank. Now that blog networks/directories don't carry as much weight for backlinks it's started to work against some of their customers in competitive areas. Just something to think about.


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## MDHpainting (Mar 4, 2014)

If you are okay with spending some $$ and you want something that is designed well as has all of the SEO components, give WebAscender a call (http://webascender.com).

If you want a quick, do it yourself site like mine (mdhpainting.com), check out this video tutorial I made: how to setup a website for your painting business.


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## Grateful_Monk (Jul 17, 2012)

Before you hire someone to build a website you need to ask yourself what you want to achieve with your website. Are you using it as a channel to bring in more business?

A website alone will not generate traffic. If traffic is what your looking for I suggest you educate yourself with the terms SEO, Pay-Per-Click advertising and back links. If you choose not to your website may get lost in some dark, obscure corner of the internet along with millions of others.

To start, a basic 4-7 page website will work fine. Spend the money on getting your website exposure. Add to your website as the need arises. Do not include every bell and whistle just because you think it's cool. Your visitors will be annoyed.

Also, be sure to have your web designer include some sort of analytics to your site that YOU can access to determine if your hard earned money is generating, not just traffic but, the traffic that converts to leads.

I learned this the hard way. I ultimately learned how to build my own website and how to generate traffic. No one has interest in the success of your business as much as you.

Even if you aren't computer savvy, it pays to educate yourself so you understand what you are paying for and what to expect.


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## Not-SoHiRoller (Sep 19, 2011)

Footbridge has been good for us. Gives us a nice source of decent leads to mix in with the referrals. The professionalism of the website pre-sells us a little bit vs other painters in the area. Very affordable for the value it brings.


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## spraytip (Jun 28, 2012)

I'm well pleased with the guy that built our site www.rosepainting.org 
We're adding to it daily. He and I bartered for his service as he needed painting done in his home. But the cost of Domain name only costs me $50 annually and he hosting fee is very reasonable.
Give it a look and if you like I'll be glad to PM you his number....Godspeed


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## richmondpainting (Feb 24, 2012)

Not-SoHiRoller said:


> Footbridge has been good for us. Gives us a nice source of decent leads to mix in with the referrals. The professionalism of the website pre-sells us a little bit vs other painters in the area. Very affordable for the value it brings.


Yes....footbridge....I second that....


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