So Fed Up With Customers Not Checking My Location
Lounge By reginaherrin Updated 12 Feb 2014 , 9:08pm by Rosie93095
Mcaulir, thanks so much because it has always been my goal to cure laziness and stupidity. I mean I can do it all from my website, yeah bonus. Seriously? My location IS prominent on my contact us page. But let me look like a moron and super bend over backwards to make absolutely sure everyone and their dog know exactly where I am and that I am in TEXAS. And remember I am in Texas. Did I say I was in Texas? This is exactly what you are thinking that can stop stupid/lazy people from thinking I'm in Canada. This is kind of like newbies coming on here and posting pricing questions even though if they did a little research they would easily find many posts about it. And then tons of people get mad and post sarcastic and mean responses. Oh and where did I say anything about curing people of laziness and stupidity? Just curious where you get that big leap in reasoning.
Sorry I have wasted your time dispensing ridiculous advice. Although you think that having your location listed on the last tab of your website (and buried in a paragraph of text on another) is broadcasting it to the world, I have to respectfully disagree. Your location is difficult to find quickly, and honestly most people don't spend that much time looking for such information.
When I searched "cakes regina canada" on Google, your website came up as the 8th result. Do you know why? Because you have given Google no reason to exclude you. If you aren't going to prominently list your location, you at least need to include your state and country in your background search terms.
Best of luck to you!
Liz
I find it a bit odd that your complaint is that people are annoying you by not knowing where you are, a bunch of people have suggesting putting your location a bit more prominently on your website, and you keep asking if we're serious.
Yes, I seriously think that fairly prominently having the word, 'Texas' written on the front page of your website will help with your issue.
Seriously.
It did seem as though you were wanting help with the issue, so people tried to help. How dare they! lol
I have had the same problem, but with a different situation. I used to live in Amarillo, Texas and recently re-located to San Angelo, Texas. Every single day I would either get a phone call or an email inquiry from an Amarillo customer because google was still directing them to me. I finally ended up putting a field on my "contact" form on my site asking what area they were in, and if they checked Amarillo, it would notify them that I had moved and no longer service that area. That has helped quite a bit.
Quote:
I have had the same problem, but with a different situation. I used to live in Amarillo, Texas and recently re-located to San Angelo, Texas. Every single day I would either get a phone call or an email inquiry from an Amarillo customer because google was still directing them to me. I finally ended up putting a field on my "contact" form on my site asking what area they were in, and if they checked Amarillo, it would notify them that I had moved and no longer service that area. That has helped quite a bit.
Wow - that sounds like a really sensible solution. 
AGodot,liz at sugar, scrumdiddlycakes and mcaulir gosh I just love you guys sometimes!!!
First, I did not ask for advice, I was just venting which it states in my original post but having got some is no big deal since I assumed it would get some. I have gotten some advice that I have and will be taking even though I don't really think it will stop anything but others I do think is ridiculous. I find it ridiculous because it is very prominent on my contact us page which you HAVE to go to in order to ask for a quote or pricing or anything. If you aren't reading it there where there is no way you can't see it then I just don't believe you would see it anywhere else. Even if people don't know that TX means Texas, a rational person would still think it odd and want to check it out. Or see the zip code (or postal code) and think it looks really strange and not familiar (which if it was in the same location would be similar). Or even the phone number. Lauren situation is very different then mine since she actually was from the first city and moved to another city. And I just checked her site out and she doesn't have her address on the contact us page at all so for her adding a location box was sensible. You keep saying I am ignoring your advice and not wanting to hear what you have to say (or something to that effect) but a few of you aren't actually trying to hear what I am saying and just want to bash me for not taking you up on your advice. I have had several people that do agree with me have to pm me just so they wouldn't have to deal with the few of you that are putting me down for not agreeing with you.
But aren't people trying to help you solve a problem that would result in not having to vent in the first place? Isn't the ultimate goal? Not having to vent? :( I wouldn't want to have to splash my location all over either, but it IS a fixable problem. Yeah?
community. Thank you all for sticking around and not being afraid to post. AZ, to be honest I don't think it is fixable unless I change my business name which I am not. As I have said several times I have taken several suggestion away from this thread and have implemented some and will be implementing others soon. I really don't think it will change the very few people that are in Canada and think just by my name that I am in Regina Canada already to realize that I am not. I just baffles me that when they go to fill out the contact form they don't see the location which to me suggests that if I put it on every page they still wont see it since they are "too busy" to check it. But thank you all for the suggestions, I will be implementing several very soon.
AYou're right, I don't have my address on the "contact us" page, but I do have it on the footer of every page, which also helps google put me on the first page of google search. I also purposely changed the header tab for my homepage to read "sugar rush bakery - san angelo, Texas" and on the home page changed it to say in large print "proudly located in san angelo, Texas to clearly state to anyone visiting to my site where I was located. I wouldn't change your name, but adjusting your site might lessen your frustration. Sometimes we get too attached to what we create that we don't want to change what we've done, and I get that, but adding a few things might save a lot of headache for you and also people in Canada looking to order a cake!
Quote:
First, I did not ask for advice, I was just venting which it states in my original post but having got some is no big deal since I assumed it would get some. I have gotten some advice that I have and will be taking even though I don't really think it will stop anything but others I do think is ridiculous. I find it ridiculous because it is very prominent on my contact us page which you HAVE to go to in order to ask for a quote or pricing or anything. If you aren't reading it there where there is no way you can't see it then I just don't believe you would see it anywhere else. Even if people don't know that TX means Texas, a rational person would still think it odd and want to check it out. Or see the zip code (or postal code) and think it looks really strange and not familiar (which if it was in the same location would be similar). Or even the phone number. Lauren situation is very different then mine since she actually was from the first city and moved to another city. And I just checked her site out and she doesn't have her address on the contact us page at all so for her adding a location box was sensible. You keep saying I am ignoring your advice and not wanting to hear what you have to say (or something to that effect) but a few of you aren't actually trying to hear what I am saying and just want to bash me for not taking you up on your advice. I have had several people that do agree with me have to pm me just so they wouldn't have to deal with the few of you that are putting me down for not agreeing with you.
I'll try to explain why it's not ridiculous advice once more. Your location was not 'very prominent' on your contact us page. It was in the same font as the rest of the text, in the same colour, albeit a different shade to your background colour. Someone earlier explained how the human brain will often skip over things like that.
The people from Regina, Canada have Googled 'wedding cake Regina' or something and your site has come up. So in their head, they don't need to look for location information, because they already 'know' where you are. So they're just not looking for it. Their eyes just literally skip over that text. Your zip code is in a different format from ours - ours are four digits long. I don't know what they're like in Canada, but perhaps also different. So a string of 5 numbers is meaningless to me. I don't immediately recognise it as a piece of information that shows your whereabouts. Same with your phone number. It's in a different format, so I, again, don't immediately recognise it as a phone number.
LaurenSadler's situation was slightly different, but she had the same basic issue: people confused about her location. Can I urge to to have a close look at her website again? Hers is exactly what I had in my head when I suggested putting your location on your front page. Something as a sub-heading about proudly serving the XYZ area, and a very elegant footer with her exact location, including street address and a map. It doesn't look silly or rude, or like she's splashed her location all over. It looks elegant, and makes it immediately clear to anyone looking at her site where she is.
I see you've added your location to your front page. But again, it's small, and in a similar font to the background colour. I don't know if that will be any more visible to people who aren't specifically looking for it.
Good luck.
Quote:
LaurenSadler's situation was slightly different, but she had the same basic issue: people confused about her location. Can I urge to to have a close look at her website again? Hers is exactly what I had in my head when I suggested putting your location on your front page. Something as a sub-heading about proudly serving the XYZ area, and a very elegant footer with her exact location, including street address and a map. It doesn't look silly or rude, or like she's splashed her location all over. It looks elegant, and makes it immediately clear to anyone looking at her site where she is.
Thank you
And honestly, it was only after doing a LOT of research into SEO's (Search Engine Optimization) that I discovered what all was wrong with my website. I honestly can't remember where I went, but I went to this site that basically walked me through my own website. It had an outline of things every website should have and told me to click those things on my page and label them. It was then I realized how much my site was lacking and it helped me know what to add and where to add it. It was a great tool to use and I highly recommend it for anyone that is serious about upping their website traffic!
Lauren, by your last post I am assuming you where think I was saying what you did was wrong or putting you down or something that you took as bad which would explain you posts tone but I assure you that was definitely not my intention. I was just stating the differences in our situations. That being you where actually from the first city and moved to the second city and it being reasonable that you had people thinking you where still in the first city especially since you did not have your location on your contact us page (which was unnecessary since you had it in other places) and what you did worked in your situation. Sorry if you took it any other way.
Mcaulir, you have made my point by saying they already think I am in Canada and don't even worry about checking it out. Canada phone numbers are done the exact same way as Americans so they would notice it was different. I guess you didn't see that I did actually go ahead and spell out Texas as, which I believe was a big contention with you. As I have said numerous times now, I have taken several pieces of advice from this but the other suggestions I will not be using. That is my prerogative and I'm not sure why you are trying to force me to do what you think I should. You have constantly berated me for not taking you up on your excellent advice. Again that is my prerogative to take it or leave it. Any by the way, if the first line of a page, sentence or website is not prominent then I don't know what else is. You are beating a dead horse and I am so tired of it. I will not be doing a ton of changes just for a few people. And by a few people I literally mean 4-5 people in the last 6-7 years. Yes it is annoying but not as annoying as having my state blasted all over my site when it is in the appropriate place.
Lauren, by your last post I am assuming you where think I was saying what you did was wrong or putting you down or something that you took as bad which would explain you posts tone but I assure you that was definitely not my intention. I was just stating the differences in our situations. That being you where actually from the first city and moved to the second city and it being reasonable that you had people thinking you where still in the first city especially since you did not have your location on your contact us page (which was unnecessary since you had it in other places) and what you did worked in your situation. Sorry if you took it any other way.
No, I was just saying that not only did it help stop the calls and emails from people outside of my current city, but it also helped with search engine optimization, because people who aren't coming to you based on a recommendation typically tend to google "Bakery in Fort Worth, Texas" or wherever. I was just curious how to get higher up on the google search page, and that's what led me to change my page, even after adding the button on my "contact us" form. Just stating what worked for me 
Okay my bad. By the way, google sucks which is why I never use it. It is not very effective in doing a good search and gets things wrong all the time but I know most people use it. I normally use bing which is much better and if you do the same search mcaulir has done, cakes regina Canada in both bing and yahoo my site does not come up at all.
A
Original message sent by reginaherrin
Okay my bad. By the way, google sucks which is why I never use it. It is not very effective in doing a good search and gets things wrong all the time but I know most people use it. I normally use bing which is much better and if you do the same search mcaulir has done, cakes regina Canada in both bing and yahoo my site does not come up at all.
I have never heard someone say Bing is better than Google. Wow! first for everything
I have never heard someone say Bing is better than Google. Wow! first for everything
I find it much more accurate. Haven't you seen the bing commercials that go to this one town and do a side by side search comparison between google and bing? Of course that is an advertisement for them but I think it is pretty true. Just by the search I did for my site showing up in Canada it shows it in google but not bing or yahoo so that tells you something. Google is just more accessible which is why it is used more often.
AOh yes, bing is far superior to google. Especially translations. [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3184873/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
Well you have now and I don't know about you but I don't think I have ever sat around talking to my friends or family about which search engine I prefer.
If I'm on my phone and just have to look something up I do use google since I have a google toolbar and don't have to type anything but on my computer I have saved bing on my favorites toolbar on the top of my screen so it super easy. That way I don't have to type anything.
Quote:
It doesn't happen all that much, maybe one every 6 months to a year
Wait. Am I the only one who noticed all this drama is about something that happens only once or twice a year? OP, your frustration level seems awfully high for that. I was thinking you were fielding multiple Canadian inquiries a week!
My frustration was with the few posters on here. I originally posted because it had just happened again and it dumbfounded me and I found it ridiculous that they couldn't read the location which at that point was right before the send button. My OP never said anything about me being frustrated about it, just not understanding how someone could think that I was in Canada just by my name.
Quote:
Wait. Am I the only one who noticed all this drama is about something that happens only once or twice a year? OP, your frustration level seems awfully high for that. I was thinking you were fielding multiple Canadian inquiries a week!
...........................Mountain
molehill
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%