Need some help and feedback please

[jplevene]

I am not in the plant industry, we had a bit of very helpful feedback from some guys at HE Services and looking here for more as there are loads of you.

I do own a rental business, but in a different industry (lighting & sound) and our industry is very incestuous, in that we all hire from each other, so I started a website to help us cross-hire.

I came up with an idea where the hire companies can list their stock on the website for free so it could be easily found using specific search terms so you could hire a specific make and model.

HE Services and a few others listed and have been very helpfull. We do not charge for this, so this isn't some scam to get advertisers, it is non-profit.

The help I need is feedback for the site:

• What do you think of it
• Do we need more headings (they can be found by clicking the word sitemap at the bottom right of the page)
• What would help you
• What should prospective clients be aware of if they do want to hire
• How do I know who is reputable?
• Anything else you can think of

The site is called HireHop and thank you in advance for those who leave feedback, I will keep checking back here

[Muz]

I am not in the plant industry, we had a bit of very helpful feedback from some guys at HE Services and looking here for more as there are loads of you.

No there arent Hugh and me are a bit different .. theres not many of us around .. for the record I dont know the fella but someone compared me to him once .. only he's got a much bigger overdraft

I do own a rental business, but in a different industry (lighting & sound) and our industry is very incestuous,

AYe I was in music business too .. pile of crap .. full of blaw bags

Welcome to the forum BTW

checking your site now ! ..........

[Dan]

Howdy & welcome

[jplevene]

AYe I was in music business too .. pile of crap .. full of blaw bags

No comment !!!!

[Muz]

Ok Justin Ive had a look ... Its a good concept.

You'll be well aware of the difficulties in creating the marketplace that you want to do without me telling you.

The big internet search engines and big paper brands like Yellow pages, Thomsons .. are always going to be the thorn in your side, but hey, that hasnt stopped all the smaller outfits getting a foot hold before now, especially with paper, as so many are using smart phones these days

At the moment you are obviously working with a new unrecognised brand, and its establishing that brand that is the problem in the marketplace.

Also theres the concept. Where do people go when they want something ?.

The internet has been a fabulous method of doing research. Some of the biggest research tools have become massive brands, and most people will use those brands to do research, so you will need to make some form of connection with those brands to succeed with this in my view, if you want it to be bigger than your local hire network in the music biz

The web name doesent readily spring to mind, but that may change in time through recognition, but is the most obvious drawback so far,I can see

Perhaps you need to focus as a specialised 'hire' search engine, which is a little different to hosting actual content ... just some thoughts but you did ask

[jplevene]

Thanks

Ok Justin Ive had a look ... Its a good concept.

You'll be well aware of the difficulties in creating the marketplace that you want to do without me telling you.

The big internet search engines and big paper brands like Yellow pages, Thomsons .. are always going to be the thorn in your side, but hey, that hasnt stopped all the smaller outfits getting a foot hold before now, especially with paper, as so many are using smart phones these days

At the moment you are obviously working with a new unrecognised brand, and its establishing that brand that is the problem in the marketplace.

Also theres the concept. Where do people go when they want something ?.

The internet has been a fabulous method of doing research. Some of the biggest research tools have become massive brands, and most people will use those brands to do research, so you will need to make some form of connection with those brands to succeed with this in my view, if you want it to be bigger than your local hire network in the music biz

The web name doesent readily spring to mind, but that may change in time through recognition, but is the most obvious drawback so far,I can see

Perhaps you need to focus as a specialised 'hire' search engine, which is a little different to hosting actual content ... just some thoughts but you did ask

Thanks for the feedback.

Unfortunately with website names, too many cyber squatters to get the fantastic names and this was the best we could get.

This site allows specific and general searches. If you want a "100 Tonne Crawler Crane" to hire at a location, you can find it at HireHop. According to Google Analytics, after 3 weeks online, we are on the first page of Google (sometimes a few times) for specific searches people are putting in.

A huge problem is that hire companies do not list their stock properly on their website (there is a complex markup you should use) if at all, especially small companies. This is really infuriating when searching as the search engines can't find it, even if it is listed, so the search engines can't help. Another reason they don't is the cost of continually updating their website every time they buy or sell stock. That was one of the reasons we did the free plugin to list your stock on your website, all you do is put one short line of code where you want your list to appear and it puts it on with pictures for free from a live feed from HireHop. As the user interface is really easy to use on HireHop, especially to add and remove stock with images, this makes it easy and free for a hire company to keep their own website upto date.

Have you listed your company & stock, it is free forever? What do you think of the listing your stock and locations interface, is it easy, could it be made more simple is it too simplistic?

Regarding marketing, we have brought a new person on board who was hired 3 years ago by an obscure failed jobs website to turn it around, which he did, to make it the largest & most successful website in its field in the UK within three years, making just under £500,000 profit in year 3. He feels that he can market HireHop to be very popular.

We have got more free goodies for hire companies in the pipeline, some that we will really be thanked for.

[Stock]

Had a look and passed it on to some friends an acquaintances in the UK .

Best of luck and If you decide to venture to this side of the Irish pond let me know.........

Stock