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Local Biz Themes/ Sites

by netbroker
12 replies
Hi..

Does anyone know of any decent Local Business Themes for lead generation for the local market in particular the UK

Thanks In Advance.

Netbroker
#biz #local #sites #themes or
  • Profile picture of the author Nathan Franklin
    One that not many people are using. Try to differentiate from the crowd.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Honestly... do you think the theme you use is going to affect conversion? You could use something as basic as the Responsive Theme or as complex as the Virtue Theme.

      I will tell you right now, for local business I have used both, and BOTH have had a better than decent amount of return. Forget about the theme and worry about the message... the USP of your clients, the benefits of you clients, Selling or lead Gen has NOTHING to do with the theme itself. Themes are TOOLS or better yet a PLATFORM to your selling message.
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      • Profile picture of the author wordpressexperthelp
        I think there are a few nice ones that have been offered here on warrior forum as WSOs. It may really help if you can do a quick search in the WSO section for offline wordpress themes.

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      • Profile picture of the author netbroker
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        Honestly... do you think the theme you use is going to affect conversion? You could use something as basic as the Responsive Theme or as complex as the Virtue Theme.

        I will tell you right now, for local business I have used both, and BOTH have had a better than decent amount of return. Forget about the theme and worry about the message... the USP of your clients, the benefits of you clients, Selling or lead Gen has NOTHING to do with the theme itself. Themes are TOOLS or better yet a PLATFORM to your selling message.
        Thanks for your post and your views: I was merely asking if anyone had a theme they could recommend for local business.. I am fully aware of how to generate leads I have been doing it for 3 years to good affect: And depending on functionality of a certain theme or plugin would determine how I would use it for my existing business :Honestly!
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          Originally Posted by netbroker View Post

          Thanks for your post and your views: I was merely asking if anyone had a theme they could recommend for local business.. I am fully aware of how to generate leads I have been doing it for 3 years to good affect: And depending on functionality of a certain theme or plugin would determine how I would use it for my existing business :Honestly!
          am I missing something? Let me back up a moment... ok lets get a few things laid out. First, You said nothing about aesthetic, and in my book that is a good thing. The next thing that has to be understood with WordPress in general, better yet anything that is listed on wordpress.org is what is the "Benchmark" to determine function between plugins and Themes.

          ALL plugins have to meet certain requirements and needs in the eyes of the main office. Part of the requirement process is that it obviously has to be complaint with the latest version of WordPress. To be more specific, the plugin has to work with the theme Twenty Twelve. THAT is the benchmark.

          What has happened in recent years is that there has been a migration from "Official" Wordpress code ( Wooframework ). Now there are separate frameworks at play. Be it Genesis, or Bootstrap ( in a great amount of varieties ), or Thesis, or Gantry, or Nouveau, or even Wooframework +Canvas. BUT the Woo standard is what is still in place in regards to plugins. As I am sure as you allude to, it is pretty much a disaster on a designers end.

          What has become of the greatest importance in the WordPress designer world, as I see it. Is the selection of developers for both Themes and Plugins that are on top of their game. And to be honest, its not an easy task. The PRIMARY thing at this point that I look for is the amount of time the designers have been working with WordPress.

          The folks at CyberChimp have been around a while. A plugin I have been looking at a lot lately Icegram, those guys have been around the block a few times. The Virtue Theme, the guys at Kadence have been around. In particular the last 2 names mentioned Kadence and Icegram, they very clearly state if you have an issue with compatibility, they will fix it. That's what you have to look for.

          In my professional design career I choose maybe the low road, and for the most part only use Wooframework themes. Less issues I have to deal with, and in turn less issues my clients have to deal with. Yes I have used the mentioned themes here and the experience has been good, but not as smooth as dealing with WooThemes.

          SO back to the point. there is no such thing as a "Offline" theme. There are themes that have pretty little logos and images, but the theme again has nothing to do with it. Look at Sean Lowerys, nice guy and all, but look at his themes.. they are the exact same theme with different imagery and colors.. THATS IT. He is simply good at packaging. - Basically he is doing the design work so you don't have to. and at $10 or whatever he charges how can you go wrong LOL - unless according to a previous poster the themes have compatibility issues.

          Bottom line Is, if you are good at what you do and been dong it for 3 years, It really should not matter what theme you put it on... you will get results. well.. that's what my just short of 20 years experience as a designer/developer tells me.
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          • Profile picture of the author MarkJez
            Interesting post Savidge4.

            However, I use a WP theme that is as close to an "offline theme" as you can probably get.

            It's the SmallBiz Dynamic Theme by Expand2Web.

            It's not cheap but it fulfills the needs of a small offline business needing a website almost perfectly.
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            • Profile picture of the author Tim Bazley
              I can also recommend Smallbiz. It's easy to use, gives you everything you need and and produces nice looking sites that generate leads and customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author umc
    Watch any theme in the wso section very carefully. Research their previous offerings. Most I've bought have not been supported and the sellers disappear. Sean Lowery is one guy that I've got some good ones from. Otherwise my experiences have been poor at best. No seller is perfect, but many are just hit and run sellers.
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    • Profile picture of the author zimbizee
      Inkthemes have some decent local biz themes
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  • Profile picture of the author HassanAjmal
    I too am looking for a theme, Sean Lowerys themes don't seem to work or be supported anymore so I need something else to build my lead gen sites
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    • Profile picture of the author umc
      Originally Posted by HassanAjmal View Post

      I too am looking for a theme, Sean Lowerys themes don't seem to work or be supported anymore so I need something else to build my lead gen sites
      My apologies for the recommendation then. The one's that I've got have worked fine, but maybe the sales threads were abandoned or something. Who knows on here. There's lots of nice themes on sites like ThemeForest and the like, but I have no idea what support is like on those sites either.

      Back a few years I had a subscription to Elegant Themes and liked some of what they had, though they didn't necessarily have a "lead gen" theme as we are accustomed to seeing back then. They had pretty good support. Then again, things change, so I don't know what they're currently like.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freebiequeen1999
    I like the look of the Small Biz theme - I love the phone and address and contact info right up on the top .


    IMHO most small biz need this sort of easy to figure out website, I have seen sites for a salon, pet groomer etc where you have to dig for the "contact info". That is just crazy.


    Hours, directions, parking info - these are all important. I work with one pizzeria that did not even have their hours on the site - go figure


    If you want the phone to ring - put it right out there, put it out several times, don't hide it on a contact page,don't do fancy stuff and have it float around in some obscure font LOL
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