I was wondering if windowcleaning.com was living up to it’s initial success. I was hesitant to jump aboard until I saw how the whole thing panned out. I have done several google searches for major cities (ex. “window cleaning San Diego”, “window cleaning service Los Angeles” etc) none of the windowcleaning.com sites showed up anymore.
What happened…Google Panda?
I’m thinking the changes implemented in Google’s Panda revision have negatively impacted big directory sites with a lot of duplicate content like windowcleaning.com
Does anyone out there have one of their sites currently ranking well on Google?
I think they took a hit on the changes but it’s getting back to where it was. It will bounce back bbecause they are not just sitting idle on their effort to get their members a better ranking.
The more a person plays with their site and updates the site will fare better than having a hands off approach
[COLOR=#333333][INDENT]You make a good point. If I ranked high on the first page with my own site I would rethink wc.com.
With that said, are there advantages of having another site reinforce your postion as a quality window cleaner? This is what I think about[/INDENT]
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I can see a windowcleaning.com site being valuable if you live in a major metropolitan area that is very competitive seo-wise and having said site is what you have to do in order to be on the first page of Google. However it doesn’t make any sense to me to pay for something that you can do yourself… if you don’t have to. Another big thing that concerns me is that you don’t own your windowcleaning.com domain. As soon as you stop paying… poof, you’re gone.
It would be totally useless to me because I am not in a major city. In fact I am trying to rank high for a region. WC.com would have to charge me an outrageous sum to rank for the entire cape cod area.
It is interesting that wc.com doesn’t have anyone signed up in Massachusetts. It seems like WC isn’t gaining much traction on the East Coast.
Good points Jesse. I’ve got San Diego, and honestly I haven’t done anything to update my pages either in a very, very long time. Mine dropped too, as you said. The whole reason why I got mine is because I would rather have it than someone else, when and if it does come back up to page one, then I’ll own two spots on first page, with of course the optional third spot with the paid listings, and thats easy enough to dominate if you really do your homework on it.
I got faith in what they are doing, and believe they have the tools to completely dominate if they can solve the issues. I really believe that you touched on what the issue is; goo goo may believe that it IS a site with a ton of duplicate content. The updates for goo goo are continuously rolling out so hopefully it’ll get ironed out soon.
You’re right, you don’t own the domain (I wish I had it!), but you DO own the rights to your particular piece of real estate which can be a nice chunk of change if its PRIME real estate, but again, if it’s prime…why sell if its turning over more coin to you in your possession than if you sold out right? Who’s going to buy it for the price tag you put on it…PLUS a monthly bill? I know that I wouldn’t. How would you PROVE how much money the site brought in?
Prove in a way where I couldn’t fluff the numbers?
Good points, Tory. For you it probably makes sense. You are 1) in a major city 2) are a bigger operation 3) can afford to include it as a supplemental marketing strategy
I think for smaller operations, operations in more rural settings, and for people just starting out it doesn’t make as much sense.
I guess we are all waiting for the ramifications of Google’s Panda revision… it will hurt some and benefit others.
I can see what you mean Jesse but even for a small market it can be worth it.
Example, I have a friend that lives on a small town that is a start up and I suggested wc.com for him. Why? Because for 77 dollar and month he gets a high quality website, seo, and very nice print material. That’s not bad for 77 a month and considering he will only do wc part time.
Like any form of advertising or expense it can work great if utilized and it can be a failure if not thought out
Dedicated phone number… although it could be somewhat “hit & miss” (you could land a $1000 account one place, and a $20 account through another source.)
My only counter is having more pages rank for my keywords. I look at each click as a vote of confidence, each one that goes to someone else, takes good credit from me.
(hope that made sense)
