One of the fastest-growing industries here in Dallas, and really all over the country, is iPhone repair services. Yes, our smart phones are amazing pieces of technology that keep us connected and functioning in 2017. It's a sad/strange addiction but it's the truth. However, for all their engineering beauty smart phones are also very fragile. And since we use them constantly, there's a constant risk of dropping them. Then they shatter. Ouch.

Luckily, there's a massive groundswell of companies in the Dallas area that repair mobile phones, specifically the glass screens that can shatter in an instant if your phone slips out of your hand. One such business is G&S Wireless Solutions - an on-site phone restoration service that also has a new retail location in the 75220 zip code near I-35 and Walnut Hill. If you need help immediately, hit up their contact page.

Gilbert, the owner, was referred to us by a mutual friend and former client. He has an amazing vision for his business and wants it to be known as the very best in the DFW area. We want to help him get there. We're re-designing his website, as well as expanding his online reach to include Youtube how-to videos. 2017 should be a great year for G&S and we look forward to being along for the ride.

A basic landing page has been launched for Dallas Digital Fund. DDF (as it's tentatively known) will be the first-ever investment fund (or hedge fund) based in Texas that is devoted entirely to the blockchain. This is an interesting side project that will likely be expanded upon in the coming months. The reason for the caution is simply due to the fact that blockchain technology (bitcoin, ethereum) is still so new that setting up the fund is taking some time.

Consulting will also be provided as part of Dallas Digital Fund's mission of bringing blockchain asset investing to main street and taking it out of exclusive Silicon Valley social circles. Will it work? No idea, but investing in blockchain assets is 100% going to increase in the coming years. More to come soon as the rest of the world gets on board with the idea of immutable data ledgers.

There's ethical, honest, "white hat" SEO. That's us :)

Then there's shady, off-shore, cloaked, "black hat" bad-guy SEO. That ain't our scene.

And then there's.... uh.... "ULTRA-SHADY, GET SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR 36 MONTHS" SEO. In the Dallas area, no less!

Huh?

​Basically, some guy named William Stanley (age 53 and complete with plenty of aliases) was recently arrested and sent to prison for attempting to extort money from companies in the Dallas area. After being hired on to help with SEO services.

Lovely.

The full story can be found here. I'm spotlighting this article because in all my years of doing SEO, I've NEVER seen anything like this. 

The awesomely-named Somethin' Like Texas Pool Fence Company reached out to us about building a sales site for their brand. There are a lot of contractors in North Texas, but only one specializes in safety fences.

Who's the target market for this niche? Young families who have moved into new homes with swimming pools and a need to protect their children. We look forward to helping them grow their brand in the coming years, especially during peak seasons like spring and summer.

An existing client decided to expand his business in 2015 by founding Dallas Wholesale Nursery - a full-service plant nursery that also handles all manner of sod grass, trees, ground covers and more.

The new venture is located at:

2118 California Crossing Rd.
Dallas, TX 75220
Ph: (214) 280-9208

and should be open as of January 20th. We look forward to helping this green and eco-friendly business becomes a Dallas fixture for many years to come. More coming soon, plus pics of the building.

One of the best books on website design (and online advertising in general) is Don't Make Me Think. It blew my mind the first time I read it and it's a must-read for anyone who owns a business. Yes, it's that important.

Why? Because it's the only book on web design you need. When a visitor reaches your site, he's presented with options. Learn more about your company, read testimonials, coverage area, etc. He's bombarded. And that's not good.

Obviously you want to present information that's relevant. This info should be presented "above the fold" to use a newspaper analogy. While it might be tempting to fill your site with a long history of you and your business, most people don't care.

What they do care about is how to get in touch with you. If you own a carpet cleaning business, I don't need to see 100 pictures of you standing in front of a company van, and I don't care that your business was started in 1994 and has grown. I care about getting my carpets cleaned and that means getting in touch with the company.

If your existing website doesn't feature a phone number or contact form prominently displayed, you might want to find a different web designer. I know, I know - this site doesn't feature those things, and that's on purpose. But the vast majority of the sites we see and work on do.

Your conversion rates will sky rocket because LESS IS MORE. Don't make a visitor think when he hits your site. You only have a few seconds to get to the point before he clicks "back" and is on to the next (competing) company's website. 

Also - make sure your contact form works. This happens way too often and there's no excuse for a non-functioning contact form on a website. It makes you look amateurish and only frustrates the end user.

Your website doesn't need to be flashy. In fact, the opposite usually works better. People don't want Youtube videos exploding on them when they hit your site. They don't want 100 links to sift through. They want a clear, concise presentation about who you are and what you can offer them.

If someone really wants to read about the history of your business, or view a slideshow, they will seek it out. And that's fine. But most people are as busy as you are and just want to speak with someone about their problem/need. Make it easy and you'll get more business.

Two newly-formed ventures have joined our ranks for October. We are pleased to now be working with the following businesses:

DFW Chimney Sweep - A new division of a long-time client of ours, they plan to offer one thing and one thing only: professional chimney sweep services. They are located in McKinney, TX and will be operational in a month or two, just in time for the cold weather. Learn more at their (still developing) website. Services year-round.

Somethin' Like Texas Pool Fence - Much like the above company, this is another offshoot of an existing client's fence company. With an overwhelming demand for iron pool safety fences, they decided to start a division devoted entirely to this niche speciality fence. This is a popular purchase in the Spring and Summer, so we have plenty of time to work some magic in the meantime.

Both of these are seasonal industries and we will be offering special pricing since (in the case of DFW Chimney Sweep) there really isn't much action in the dead of summer. We look forward to working with both companies for many years to come. A wildlife portion might well be introduced sooner than later to handle the summer months.

Our friends at Little Elm Tree Trimming recently reached out to us regarding a basic site overhaul and we were happy to oblige. The owner's son, Sean, had built a basic site using a free site builder and we wanted to step the look up a little. Our philosophy with local business websites has always been clean and simple and we never want creativity to get in the way of the company's message. We implemented this design strategy yet again with a new site that is both functional and good looking.

Tree trimming services abound here in DFW and we look forward to helping this local company stand out from the crowd in the years to come. Since Little Elm is a popular destination for new home construction and has over 30,000 residents (and booming) this should be a win-win over the next few years.

Update: Little Elm Tree Trimming has been acquired by our friends at North Dallas Tree and Sod.

We've been fortunate to have some great referrals in cities like Dallas, Royce City and Keller over the past few weeks. Some of our latest projects include work for:

DFW Landscaping - this was formerly a division of DFW Tree Trimming that has become a separate venture in the Dallas area. Specialties include xeriscaping and custom landscape design work.

Michael Nail's Retaining Wall Division - this new division specializes in residential work in the Keller and Southlake areas. They also have a pool removal division that we will be doing some consulting work for.

The DFW Fence Dr.'s Staining Division - Bryant has been a trusted client for years and his new fence and deck staining division is equipped to handle a variety of touch up services. This is one of the larger fence companies in the Dallas, TX area and they always produce great work.

We look forward to a busy summer and appreciate the referrals that brought these great businesses to us!

Our buddy Chance at Best Texas Appliance Repair in the Keller, TX area contacted us because he felt he wasn't getting the most out of his website. While it had good content, the old site wasn't HTML friendly and therefore wasn't search-engine-friendly. He was missing out on some huge opportunities since his site actually had plenty of credibility.

Since Best Texas offers services like:

• Washing machine repair
• Dryer repair
• Oven and dishwasher help

and eventually all of these appliances break, the competition for this type of work online, even in smaller suburbs like the HEB area, is pretty intense. We look forward to working with Best Texas for many years and expanding their online presence ethically and honestly.

Find Best Texas Appliance Repair on Google+