Hits are one thing but getting business (actual customers) is another.
My son is a web designer and search engine optimization specialist. He has worked on websites since the internet began back in 1996.
He created my cleaning website for me which ranks very very well with all the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing (formerly MSN). My site even ranks No1 on page 1 of Google for certain keyword searches like: 'Cleaners in (our town)' or '(our town) Cleaners' which is basically what you want.
As for hits to the website this means nothing! I see people mentioning here they are getting between 20 and 40 hits per day...
Without trying to sound big headed I often get over 150 unique hits to my website a day sometimes over 200 but none of these convert to getting extra business (well 1 has!) 0.5% of hits.
Hits can mean anything such as the spiders/crawlers which are sent from the search engines like Google and Yahoo to crawl your websites content so they can index it.
They can send these out several times a day to your website to collect the information on it (that's several hits a day). The more you update your website content the more times these spiders/crawlers will come to your site to keep the internet updated.
So those who are receiving 20 to 40 hits per day may actually be receiving less than they think - people wise! Hits do not equate to actual people looking at you site on the internet - and there arn't just crawlers from Google and Yahoo there are hundreds of different search engines, directories etc.
THINK BEFORE YOU WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Let me tell you now before you all go wasting your money on a web design company that will promise you the earth... Don't bother with them!
What they will do is promise to get you on page 1 of Google (and lets face it if your not on Google there is no point having a website as 90% of all searches are done on it). Yes most companies promise to get you onto page 1 of Google but 99 times out of a hundred this will be for your company name for example 'Joe Bloggs Cleaners'.
When they have finished designing your website and have published it to the internet and Google have indexed it for you so it shows up in searches, they will tell you to type 'Joe Bloggs Cleaners' into Google and Hey Presto! There is your lovely new website (Joe Bloggs Cleaners) at the top of page 1 on the worlds most popular search engine.
Don't let them insult your intelligence - of course 'Joe Bloggs Cleaners' is going to rank very well on the first page because the name of your company is probably unique.
Lets say your business was called: 'Mandy and Pauls Cleaning services' - What's the chances of someone else having the same business name? So obviously your website called www,mandyandpaulscleaningservices,co,uk is going to rank top when some types into Google 'Mandy and Pauls cleaning services'.
THIS IS WHERE THEY CON YOU!!!
They say they will get you on page 1 of Google and they have, so you have no grounds for complaint.
You need to be on page 1 of Google when someone is looking for cleaners in your area NOT SEARCHING FOR YOUR BUSINESS NAME you will probably come top for your business name anyway!
Either set up a free one yourself or get a friend who is a bit more tech savvy to do one for you and save the hundreds of pounds some of these companies charge you.
If you are going to use a web design company ask them if they can promise to get you to the top of google for better keywords like... '(Your town name) cleaners' and wait for the hmmms and argghhs or the other bulls*** that will spew out of their mouths.
Lets face it, only people who already know your business exists are going to type into a search engine 'Mandy and Pauls Cleaning Services' or whatever your business name is. And having a website is not about attracting people who already know you, it is about attracting people who don't know you exist (NEW CUSTOMERS).
Basically you do need a website these days just as much as you do need business cards and letterheaded paper for invoices etc.
It's also good to have a presence on the web in case someone wishes to look at your business and see your porfolio of work or what you offer - rather than trying to explain everything you do to someone you can just say to them... "Check out our website for further details" include on business cards, letterheads and submit your website address to business directories (use caution with directories asking for money to list your business website).
Then there's networking! Network with other cleaning businesses who are not in direct competition with you say in your area.
You could put a link on your cleaning website business based in Sheffield to another cleaning website business located in London or Glasgow and vise-versa.
The more links you have coming into your website the better rank it will achieve with the search engines.
Personally speaking I have tried ads in the Yellow Pages - very expensive with little return.
A website - cost me nothing because my son did it but doesn't generate much new custom.
Local free paper - quite good at times.
Word of mouth - the absolute best!
In summary, Yes - get a website but don't spend a fortune on it and make sure it is geared toward your specific cleaning subject e.g carpet or contract and also your specific area.
So, for example a carpet cleaning business in sheffield would be geared towards these 2 keywords:
'Carpet Cleaning' and 'Sheffield' nothing else.
If anyone is interested in a website doing I can always ask my son. I'm sure he will do you one in his spare time for a few quid and it will rank much better than those offered by these conning companies and he will submit it to all the free business directories for you... Without sounding biased he's a genious when it comes to stuff like this.