Kamike

After a bit of advice or a pointer in the right direction if possible?

I have a website that provides information anout who and what the company I work for does etc and it has a very limited contact feature. IE the customer can put there name and contact number into the input box an i get an email to that says Joe Bloggs - 1232 456 7890.

This is getting annoying as there isnt enough information for me to pass it to the right person and according to the company that host the site little can be done to change it so looks like a new site is in order.

I have been told a pay per click site could work in our favour but I have no idea how they work, can anyone shed any light?

I'd like the customer to be able to input

Contact Name
Contact number
Contact Time
Area of advise
And then a type box for an questions?

Can this be done?

ballin

iTrader: (1)

The company hosting your site are talking shit. It's easy to put in an extra field, or in fact many extra fields.

Quite what a "pay per click" has to do with this I don't know, I assume they mean they want to put advertising on your site and then magically you will get what you are asking for?!

Anyway, in answer to your question, yes this can be done, and it is ridiculously easy so go back to your hosting company and kick their arse (unless you have missed out some info! URL to look would help)

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Should be very simple to request some more details.

Whats the URL?

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

yes that can be done using php or some other scripting language.

or an easier solution is to simply add a mailto form on your page which when clicked will open an email window and the client can then fill in their details. you can tailor this to include a preformatted subject line and also fields that they need to fill in.

Downside to above is they will need to have a relevant email client installed - such as Outlook as it will automatically use the default mail client on the clients pc.

First option would work best but will require a bit more work and moiney.

Second option is cheap, cheerful and gets you out of a hole.

Regards

Ran

Kamike

It would seem that our host knows little more about the subject then I do then, who would we speak to about getting a brand new site? At the moment we have an old .org address but the powers above want a .com address or .co.uk as they think it has a better image.

natehall

iTrader: (2)

Hi Mike,

It is very simple to do, I run my own company where we do all of this work, as well as optimise your site in many ways, can build ppc to gain traffic to your site

If you want to have a chat i think you have my mobile number, if not drop me a pm. Its usually fairly simple to create a contact us form for any website

THanks

Nathan

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

You have, on the fact of it, been given extremely bad advice so far pal.
Nathan above can definately help you mate.

_SpeedX_

iTrader: (1)

as ballin said, hosting company sound like a bunch of cowboys with no knowledge lol...

if you have a cgi-bin on your account you can get free mail forms to add to your site and can customise it as much as you like...

Sites are easy to do as is optimizing on search engines!

no idea why people charge so much!

ballin

iTrader: (1)

How's that then

natehall

iTrader: (2)

Id agree with teh hosting company sounding poor!

optimising for search engines is different, its very easy to get a website to the top of the listings for a very uncompetitive term (know as longtail of search) and therefore very cheap on a per keyword basis. However if you are starting to go for more compeitive terms then the price quickly goes up as the amount of work goes up. I am very proud of my pricing structure, I like to think my pricing is cheap enough that you can afford it, whilst still providing the service you require - with the most important thing being your company makes a Return on the Marketing Investment you are making and me making a fair living.

Unfortunately there is a lot of scum in our industry, who overprice and dont deliver anything at all! I do not like companies like this!

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

You think his hosting company have advised him well that he needs PPC?

ballin

iTrader: (1)

No I don't!

I was just checking that you didn't mean the advice in this thread (hence "so far") was not the bad advice you were referring to )

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Doh, bad wording, sorry guys.

ballin

iTrader: (1)

lol np at all, just checking before kicking off

Kamike

Well after speaking to the hosts again it apears then now nothing about websites they just host them on big fancy server type thingamajigs. The powers abouve have let me loose to find a new website this will be interesting as I know sweet FA.

natehall

iTrader: (2)

if you need any help mike - just let me know.

Nathan

_SpeedX_

iTrader: (1)

wasnt digging at you buddy if you thought that!
i know how it all works used to run a site pulling in over a million visitors a month

Kamike

Cool, got your PM so may have to give you a call

RSTurboSI

iTrader: (1)

as a buisness runer also, you can scriped (php) into your webpage and there is no need to bother with even making it linked to out look exspress, bar in mind you will need to enter your email,

so what will happen is,

the person who is submiting a conact us page, part. will fill in the feailds that are needed and will then hit send, this will then enter into your email that you have directed to it, its really simple todo.. and the scripts for dreamweaver or front page can be found on google. as you may not have a scripting book handy

natehall

iTrader: (2)

Cool - look forward to speaking to you

cjwood555

Depending on what line of business you are in, might I suggest making sure that if you do have a scripted 'contact us' form on your website, you also list a standard email address?

I for one much prefer to have a record of what I've sent as an enquiry and when, which you only have if you send it using your own email/webmail system, generally.