by Yvonne | Aug 21, 2017 | Local SEO, Small Business Websites
Prime Time Limousine guests can choose from two brewery tour packages:
- A 4-hour tour with two brewery stops, or
- A 6-hour tour with three brewery stops
- Your choice of vehicle (8-passenger stretch limousine, 18-passenger stretch limousine, 25-passenger shuttle bus, 30-passenger limo (party) bus.)
The Prime Time Limousines and Party Bus come stocked with ice, bottled water, cups, and napkins. Guests may bring their own beverages onto the vehicles to enjoy during the ride.
Guests may also purchase beverages from the local breweries they visit during their brewery tour and bring their beverages onto the Prime Time vehicles to enjoy during their ride.
by Yvonne | Apr 9, 2017 | Small Business Websites, Wordpress Website Design
Herbst Marketing has completed a website makeover for Blaser Physical Therapy, an outpatient Physical Therapy clinic located at 40 North Hill Drive in Warrenton, Virginia, and independently owned and operated by Kendal B. Blaser, PT since 1996.
The new website features a wide range of patient stories from patients who have fully recovered from debilitating injuries and surgeries, thanks to the professional care and guidance they received from Blaser’s experienced team of physical therapists.
At Blaser Physical Therapy, patient treatments always include hands-on manual procedures along with patient education, functional training exercise, and modalities for symptom relief. Blaser’s therapists communicate directly with the referring physicians, trainers, and coaches to maximize patient success.
Is It Time to Update Your Website?
How long has it been since you updated your website?
Does your website look good whether it’s viewed on computers, phones or tablets?
Are you proud of the way it showcases your services and products?
If you need a new website, or need an existing website freshened up with a new look and feel, we can help. If your needs are simple and straightforward, we can have you up and running with a brand new professional website in as little as a week.
by Yvonne | Nov 12, 2015 | Small Business Websites, Virginia Website Design, Wordpress Website Design
New website for Expert Kitchen Designs
We recently completed a makeover of Sandra Brannock’s website for Expert Kitchen Designs. Sandra’s new website is a responsive design — meaning it complies with Google’s mobile-friendly test and automatically resizes and reformats to display properly on all devices (smartphones, tablets, and desktop/laptop computers).
Sandra designs gorgeous kitchens for homeowners throughout the Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC region. She can even design kitchens for clients well outside our local area, like this Southampton, Long Island Kitchen.
Sandra has a unique ability to listen deeply, help clients figure out their unique style, define how they want their kitchen to look and function, work within the client’s budget, assist with product selection and work with her client’s home builder to get their new kitchen built and installed correctly and in a timely manner.
Here are just a few examples of Sandra’s work.
Warrenton VA Kitchen Remodel
Arlington Virginia Kitchen Remodel
Monkton Maryland Farmhouse Kitchen
Reston VA Townhome Contemporary Kitchen Remodel
If you are considering remodeling your kitchen and would like the assistance of an expert kitchen designer to help you plan your kitchen remodel, contact Sandra Brannock today:
Email: Sandra@Expertkitchendesigns.com
Phone: (703) 801-6402
by Yvonne | Oct 10, 2015 | Small Business Websites, Virginia Website Design, Wordpress Website Design
Glenn and Sissy Duckworth
Cabling Systems, Inc.
Herbst Marketing has launched a new mobile-responsive website for Cabling Systems, Inc., a leading residential and business security solutions company based in Remington, Virginia.
Cabling Systems, Inc. provides custom-designed security systems for homes and businesses throughout the Warrenton / Fauquier / Northern and Piedmont Virginia region.
Company President Glenn Duckworth has more than 28 years of experience in the home and business security systems industry. Glenn’s experience includes security systems design and installation, audio/visual systems design and installation, and customized wireless infrastructure configuration and installation.
Company Vice President Sissy Duckworth is responsible for marketing, human resources and finance for the company. Sissy has a solid working knowledge of the security, audio/video, and wireless business acquired through her former work with a large regional security company, as well as through her years of experience with Cabling Systems, Inc.
Services and products available from Cabling Systems include:
- 24-hour monitoring
- Smart home security systems
- Security cameras
- Driveway alarms
- Music systems
- Home wiring
- Wireless services to enhance your home or business
For more information about Cabling Systems, Inc.’s home and business security solutions, contact:
Cabling Systems, Inc.
301 E. Main St.
Remington, VA 22734
Website: CablingSystemsOnline.com
Phone: (540) 439-0101
Email: info@cablingsystemsonline.com
by Yvonne | Sep 25, 2015 | Small Business Websites
Herbst Marketing has launched a new mobile-responsive website for Brannock Enterprises, a leading Northern Virginia custom home builder and home remodeling company.
Company President Guy Brannock has provided custom home construction and remodeling services to homeowners throughout the Fauquier County, Culpeper County, Fairfax County, Piedmont and Northern Virginia regions since 1984. As a Class A Contractor, Guy has gained a local reputation for superior home design and construction quality.
Guy’s construction experience and portfolio includes kitchen and bath remodeling, basement remodeling, townhome remodeling, deck building, starter home construction, as well as custom home builds in the multi-million dollar range.
In addition to his warm personality, personal attention and supervision of each project, clear communication and creative problem solving skills, Guy’s client’s appreciate his transparent open-book accounting practices.
“I provide every client with a daily and weekly progress report as well as a detailed accounting of all costs pertaining to their construction or remodeling project, so they know exactly what they are getting for their investment, including my profit mark-up on each project,” Brannock says.
To view examples of Brannock Enterprises residential construction and remodeling work, visit:
by Yvonne | Sep 24, 2015 | Contractor marketing, Small Business Marketing, Small Business Websites
Take a look at the chart above and think about its implications for your business.
Google’s 2014-2015 Consumer Barometer Survey (from which this chart is drawn) clearly shows that search engines are the top resource people are using to find local businesses online, followed by:
- Business websites
- Online map / navigation services
- Online business directories (Houzz, YellowPages, Yelp, etc.)
- Advice or review sites
- Social networks
What do Google’s findings mean your business?
If you are among the 28% of small business owners who don’t have a website yet .. it’s time you got one. And, make sure it is “mobile friendly” so your audience won’t be frustrated when viewing it on a smartphone.
A website is one of the most affordable and cost-effective investments you can make in your business because your customers are looking for your business on the web.
But don’t stop there! To truly leverage the power of the internet to bring you more business, you need all five of these “Must Have” marketing tools to reach and attract today’s consumer and compete effectively in your local marketplaces:
#1 – A Website
Your website should showcase your business to customers and prospects and make it easy for them to call you, email you, and find you (if customers come to you.) Your website should have all the key information your customers want and need to make a purchasing decision or action.
Your website also needs to be optimized so your customers can find you fast when searching for businesses like yours from their computers or smartphones.
Optimizing your website requires both on-site and off-site work. On-site work includes giving each and every page a unique page title, unique page description, and unique content. Each website page’s content should include the words and phrases that will help people find you online for the products or services you provide. In addtion, all photos and images on your website should be given meaningful and optimized file names, titles and descriptions we well. Optimizing your photos and images can help more people find you online and help bring in more business.
Off-site optimization includes getting your business listed in key online directories and making sure that your directory listings provide accurate and consistent name, address, and phone number data. will help classify you as a local business.
Your website also needs to be designed with conversion in mind. That means it needs to have well-placed highly-visible calls to action (phone numbers, contact forms, and short messages inviting people to contact you.)
#2 – Social Media Presence
At a minimum, your business needs to have a Google My Business page set up and linked to your website, a business Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a LinkedIn profile.
Next, set up a YouTube channel and develop a library of educational and/or entertaining videos to introduce your preferred customers to your business and build rapport with them.
Instagram and Pinterest offer additional platforms to showcase your home remodeling projects and give them wider visibility. Posting photos of your work in multiple online venues can help you initiate conversations with potential customers and your community.
#3 – Local Directories/Maps
The more places you list your business, the more likely you are to be found by your ideal prospects and customers. Business listings in directories and location-based local listing services also provide valuable backlinks to your website which will help your search engine optimization efforts.
Attention to detail is critical when listing your business in other directories. Your business name, address, phone number and website URL must be listed consistently everywhere in order to avoid confusing search engines. Inconsistent data about your business can harm your search rankings and make it harder for potential customers to find and contact you.
#4 – Reputation Management
Be proactive about getting your best customers to review you online. You can have a special page on your site reserved for publishing and highlighting customer feedback and testimonials. You should also have a system in place to follow up and ask your customers to review you on Houzz (if you have a Houzz business profile), Google, Facebook, Yelp and other popular and authoritative review sites. Since reviews appear on search results themselves, the more 5-star reviews people find for your business online, the more you are likely to attract the attention of potential customers.
#5 – Measuring and Analytics
Google Analytics and other tools can show you how many website visitors you are getting, which website pages are most popular, and where your visitors are coming from (both geographically and via other social media or websites.) This data can help you evaluate what is working well, what is not working, and identify ways you can improve your online marketing activities.
Call Herbst Marketing For Help With Your Web Presence
Most home remodeling contractors do not have the desire, the time or the required expertise to create a robust well-rounded and comprehensive web presence that will position them at the top of their local marketplace. Herbst Marketing can help you with all your online marketing needs, including: search engine optimized and lead-generating websites, online copywriting and content development, video production, social media setup and marketing, and reputation marketing.
Call us today to discuss your needs and request a quote for marketing services.
by Yvonne | Sep 4, 2015 | Affordable Websites, Small Business Websites
Can a well-designed website really attract more customers and generate more sales?
As a professional web developer providing revenue-generating website design services to local businesses since 2008 I can tell you for certain: a well-designed mobile-friendly website can absolutely attract more perfect prospects and help you convert those prospects to loyal customers.
Your website is the virtual doorway to your business. As such, it needs to:
- Look inviting and professional
- Make it easy for customers to contact you by phone, email or in person
- Demonstrate credibility and trustworthiness
- Educate potential customers as to why they should choose to do business with you.
Almost every single customer and prospect you serve will visit your website before they hire you or buy from you. Just as you recognize the importance of making your physical store front inviting and customer-friendly, you should also think of your website as the digital front door to your office or place of business and take equal care to make it inviting and user-friendly as well.
Clearly, an uninviting entryway to your business can deter potential customers from choosing to do business with you. But what if they can’t even find your front door in the first place?
You might have the most beautifully-designed website in the world, but if your prospects and customers can’t figure out how to call or email you quickly from your website, they’ll move on.
This issue of “closed signs” hanging on businesses’ digital front doors is more common than you’d imagine. Have you ever noticed how some websites don’t provide a phone number ANYWHERE visible on the site? Or their websites are on outdated platforms that you can barely read or navigate from your smartphone screens?
It’s shocking how many small business websites are turning away leads and customers because it’s too hard to find the business phone number or email address, and /or they don’t have a clear invitation and call-to-action.
We’ve filled out contact forms on some of the best looking websites, only to find that we don’t receive a reply or phone call. This is the kind of stuff that is hurting businesses everywhere.
Take it from our long-time client, Sandra Brannock, a kitchen designer in Amissville, Virginia. Sandra’s do-it-yourself website was enough to get started when she was new in business, but as her client base and reputation grew, she needed a site that looked more professional and was more user-friendly. She needed a website that showcased her portfolio of kitchen design projects, promoted her design expertise, and attracted a higher quality clientele who were searching for kitchen remodeling resources and ideas online.
Sandra’s website also was not mobile-friendly. When she decided it was time to step up her game, she hired Herbst Marketing to help, and this is what she says about the results she’s experienced since working with us:
Before I engaged Herbst Marketing, new business came my way strictly by way of client referrals. After I engaged Herbst Marketing, website leads equaled my number of referrals. All but one became bona fide kitchen remodeling projects.
And Lora Gookin, owner of Gateau Distinctive Cakes, says:
Yvonne is very technically knowledgeable about website design, SEO and blogging. This is evident by the dramatically increased traffic to my website after I had her completely redo the site for Gateau. She is very easy to work with and I am thrilled with my new website.
Need a Website? Ready for a Website Makeover?
Call or email us today to schedule an introductory 15-minute consultation. We’ll discuss your website goals and how we can help you.
Call: (540) 729-4076 or Click Here to Contact Us by Email
by Yvonne | Mar 29, 2015 | Small Business Websites
Herbst Marketing has launched a new website for Gateau Distinctive Cakes. The new website includes an extensive photo gallery of Pastry Chef Lora Gookin’s stunning and memorable custom wedding cakes, groom cakes and special occasion cakes. It is also designed to be mobile-friendly, so that all content automatically resizes and to be easily viewed on smartphone screens and other mobile devices.
The website also incorporates an online appointment scheduler, which makes it easier and more efficient for Lora to schedule cake tasting appointments via her website.
Online Appointment Scheduling
The Fascinating Transition from Civil Engineer to Pastry Chef
Prior to starting her wedding and special occasion cake business, Lora worked as a civil engineer for 10 years, designing storm sewer systems and residential subdivisions, among other things.
So how did Lora make the leap from civil engineer to pastry chef?
“I wanted to make a special cake for my daughter’s birthday, and my mother gave me a cake decorating book to inspire and guide me.”
“For me, baking cakes was like designing and building edible structures. Soon, cake baking became a passionate hobby of mine, and in 2008 I enrolled in the Pastry School at the Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona, where I learned from some of the top pastry chefs in the industry,” Lora says.
“I believe that cake is so much more than a mixture of flour, butter, eggs and sugar. It is the marriage of high quality ingredients, the science of baking, thoughtful design and artistic execution. Cake is love.
Cake is a much anticipated guest at a party, second only to the guest(s) of honor. It is an extension of a celebration, it is one of the gifts. Cake completes the party. It is the WOW moment when mouths open and gasps are heard. Then I know my job is well done.”
If you are looking for a special cake to celebrate a wedding, an engagement, a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation or other special occasion, take a look at Lora’s photo galleries and Wedding Wire reviews at http://1gateau.com/gallery. I can personally attest that Lora’s cakes are not only beautiful, but delicious as well.
by Yvonne | Mar 21, 2015 | Small Business Marketing, Small Business Websites
Would you like to have more money flowing into your business effortlessly?
Most small business websites were not designed with sales in mind. Typically, they share three common errors that are blocking money flow into the business.
But with a few simple tweaks, you can transform your underperforming website into a powerful round-the-clock sales force and profit center that will get more money flowing into your business with less work and effort.
Here’s how: (more…)
by Yvonne | Nov 6, 2014 | Small Business Websites
Your company is unique. Therefore, your new website needs to be tailored to your specific needs, goals, and expectations.
We need to understand your business in order to develop an appropriate quote and scope of work for your new website.
The following questions will help you clarify your goals and objectives for your new website, and your answers to these questions will help us create an appropriate scope of work and quote for your project:
Business Information
- How long have you been in business?
- How do you currently attract new customers to your business?
- Is there anything you are not currently doing to bring new business in that you would like to do more of?
- Are you required to be professionally licensed in order to conduct business legally? If so, do we need to publish your business license information on your website? Can you provide that information to us?
- What is your business address, phone number and email address?
- Do you work from home?
- Do customers come to you? Or do you go to your customers’ home or place of business?
- Who is your competition?
- Have you won any awards that you want to mention or feature on the website?
- Do you belong to any professional associations? If so, do you want to include those membership logos on your website?
- Do you have any social media accounts set up? Can you provide us with login information and URLs for each of your social media accounts?
- What is your sales cycle?
- What is the primary message that you want to communicate to your clients / customers?
- Do you have any published customer reviews or testimonials that can be included on the website?
- Do you have a convenient way to gather / collect customer reviews via your website?
- How many people work in your company?
- What do you sell?
- What is your list of services??
- What is your service area?
- What distinguishes or differentiates you from your competitors?
- What’s your tagline?
Project Information:
- Do you have a website now?
- What is your budget?
- What is your timeline for getting the website completed and launched? How critical is it to have the website completed and launched by a specified date?
- What problem do you expect the website to solve for you?
- What are your expectations for the website? Including how it will look, how it will function, how you will maintain it, and what results it will deliver for your business.
- What don’t you want?
- Do you have any examples of other websites you like and would like to emulate? Where can we find those examples?
- How many people will be participating / providing input into the website building process?
- Will you be the sole decision maker or is there a group/ committee making the decisions?
- If a group: How many people will be involved? How much time will they need to deliberate / make decisions at project milestones? How far along are you in the process?
- Have you worked with another designer before? Why are you not working with your previous designer?
- How involved do you like to be in the process?
- Is your site meant to be a lead generator or an online brochure??
- Who is writing the website content?
- If you sat at your computer and did a Google search which keyword(s) would you expect your site to show up for?
Design
- Do you have images you want to use on the website? Are you able to provide those images to us? Do you have copyright to use those images?
- Do you have a logo?
- What color scheme do you have in mind?
Technical
Do you have a domain name? Can you provide us with the login information for your domain name registrar so that we can direct the domain name to our hosting service?
Do you understand the distinction between a domain name and a hosting service? Do you need us to explain how hosting works and why it is necessary?
Do you already have a hosting service for your website? Are you willing to host the new website with our website hosting service?
How is your email configured? ?Do you have a Gmail account that you use? Can we use your existing email account or should we set one up? (We need this for Analytics & Webmaster Tools)
Working Style
- What is the best method of communication for you? Emails, Skype, in person, phone?
Web Presence
- What else do you need aside from a website?
- Do you have social media accounts??
- Do you plan on blogging?
- Do you want training on WordPress?
- Do you need a lead generating form set up on your website?
- Do you want me to customize templates in an email platform to match your web design? If so, what email platform are you using or do you plan to use? Will you be able to provide me with the login information for your email platform account?
- Are you interested in having us provide local search engine optimization services, Google adwords advertising and/or Facebook targeted advertising for your business?
