Web site advice

[Darth Roley]

I am not interested in running a business just yet, but I did just move back from Japan after about 15 years and would like to start a training group to work with.

I want to set up a web site to let people know about myself if they go looking with an internet search. If they are not looking and would be satisfied with just anything, I would rather let them go to the local McDojos. But I do want to help folks in the area looking for what I can teach.

Is there any advice people can give me about this? I especially am interested in how to set up a web site that will come up on internet searches under key words like the city I am in and the style I practice. Any help will be appreciated.

[champion]

try championsway, give them a call and ask for more information, they're good with internet searching and stuff like that and they build the websites...

ChampionsWay, Martial Arts Billing Direct, Martial Arts Software, Martial Arts Websites, Martial Arts Marketing, Martial Arts Consultation, free billing

[Hardball]

Take a look at my website and let me know if you have any questions. TommyCaro.com :: Self Defense Training, Jujitsu Training, Black Belt Training, and More!.

Once your website is up and running you really don't have to do anything to get into a search engine. They come and find you. It takes a couple of months but I have gotten plenty of leads from people using search engines such as google and yahoo. And yeah, I assure you a website is the way to go. It beats business cards, flyers, phone books and word of mouth.

[Darth Roley]

try championsway, give them a call and ask for more information, they're good with internet searching and stuff like that and they build the websites...

Thanks for trying to help, but I have only heard bad things about them.

[champion]

Thanks for trying to help, but I have only heard bad things about them.

hmm, maybe feedback for some of their services wasn't great, but check out their websites, they're awesome looks wise, their website service is great. But then again there are other companies too, im just letting you know what im using. have a great day

[Darth Roley]

hmm, maybe feedback for some of their services wasn't great, but check out their websites, they're awesome looks wise, their website service is great. But then again there are other companies too, im just letting you know what im using. have a great day

I see that you have been pushing their project and post on little else. I take that to mean that you are part of their advertising team so I understand you can't exactly admit if there is any fault.

In any case, I have a few people I know personally telling me to avoid them as much as possible. I think you will have to excuse me if I take all of their words over someone on the internet like yourself.

[Ryan Wheaton]

I am not interested in running a business just yet, but I did just move back from Japan after about 15 years and would like to start a training group to work with.

I want to set up a web site to let people know about myself if they go looking with an internet search. If they are not looking and would be satisfied with just anything, I would rather let them go to the local McDojos. But I do want to help folks in the area looking for what I can teach.

Is there any advice people can give me about this? I especially am interested in how to set up a web site that will come up on internet searches under key words like the city I am in and the style I practice. Any help will be appreciated.

Darth Roley,

Great question.

1) Read this post found elsewhere on this form:

http://www.defend.net/deluxeforums/running-martial-arts-business/30252-how-get-website-turorial.html

2) Also, I wrote several relevant articles that might be of help if you wish to build your own website. They can also be passed along to your web designer as well if you go that route. I compiled the articles and called it "A Practical Guide to Building a Better Martial Arts School Website." Be sure to read the articles on "search engine optimization" that can help you get listed in the local search results. Check things out here:

A Practical Guide to Building a Better Martial Arts School Website | Marketing Martial Arts

[Darth Roley]

Ryan,

Thanks for your response. I went through your past posts and even though you only seem to post on how to run and promote a martial art school, I can't see anything that makes me think that you are just here to spam folks. (Maybe I just have not looked long enough.) (ps- smilies aren't working for me.)

You and Hardball have given me a lot to think about. Thanks for the input and give me a while to digest what you have posted.

[Hardball]

Be sure to get some business cards once you get your website up and running. Business cards are much more practical than trying to distribute flyers or other bigger media.

I wouldn't worry so much about potential students being able to find your website. Once the site is up and running google and yahoo will automatically include your site in there listings. People pay extra money to be on the top of a search engine but it not worth the cost in my opinion.

I have a small home based dojo with a small group of great guys that I teach and train with. Be sure to include photos in your website because a pic is worth a thousand words.

Whomever you get to build your website be sure to inquire about Administrator functions. My administrator functions were very difficult thus I have to contact the website builder everytime I want to make an edit or addition.

Hope that helps.

P.S. I got myself listed in the yellow pages for less than $30.00 a month. The yellow pages generated some key leads for me. If you are including this as a biz on your taxes be sure to claim your website and other expenses.

[Darth Roley]

Hardball,
Thanks for the advice. I probably will not go with the yellow pages, since I really only want to attract people that are actively looking for what I can show.

But the idea about pictures and such was not something I had thought of. It will help people figure out if they want what I can teach. If they don't like what they see (no fluff) then we both save our time. I probably would have gone with a text heavy site if you had not pointed that out.

Again, thanks.

[Hardball]

I don't know if you had a chance to visit my site or not but I have both still pics and videos. Good luck to you.

[Ryan Wheaton]

Darth Roley,

No problem on the info. Glad to be of help! Please keep us updated whenever you get going. It would be great to hear your experiences.

[jasmin]

I would rather let them go to the local McDojos. But I do want to help folks in the area looking for what I can teach.

[shaolin-warrior]

Web site building tools are very user friendly; you can buy a dot com name from Yahoo for next to nothing. Meta tagging all your content on your site and submitting site for review every 72 hours has given me a number one rating on yahoo, and MSN, number 8 on Google. You also have to have more reputable links on your site. What I mean is that you need to have links to other sites on your site. The more you have, the easier you get recognized. The more hits you'll get. You also have to embed a site map in your html.files this allows search engines to find you faster. I built my site, with no prior experience, it’s huge and no broken links, no spam crap, and I get over 200 hits a day. Yahoo has 24/7 support and will walk you through the whole setup if you need them to, but you won't. If you can use MS Word, or better yet, if you can navigate a forum, you can build a pro web site. Good Luck

[Darth Roley]

You also have to embed a site map in your html.files this allows search engines to find you faster.

Hmmmm, how do you do that?

I just got my sight up. Here it is.

I want to add more photos and such to let people know what kind of training they will get before they try to contact me. I also want to scare away the Naruto wannabes.

I did the whole thing through a Mac program and posted it through my Mac account. I can probably move the whole thing over to a site domain I buy later on. For right now I am trying to get things down. But the downside to everything being so easy and smooth is that I have no idea how to do the nuts and bolts of stuff like embed a site map.