I want to be a web consultant - Advise?

I'm sure there are a lot more, but for one you'd need to know how to do on-site SEO.

There is enough room .Just move ahead , We welcome good Web Consultant as The world need them.

If you are doing SEO for local businesses, most don't need advanced members and product portals they just need simple lead capture pages or simple product pages with some social media interaction and obviously some good on/off site SEO to get these business to the top of their chosen local key phrase. If you are in IM, then you should know these basics. If you are struggling, I would recommend that you search the WSO section of good local SEO courses, simple to do and profitable and some even recommend Fiverr fulfilment. Good luck in your consultancy business

Regards

James Harkin

As a web consultant not only do you have to build and maintain websites for customers, but you should also look out for them buy recommending products for their business. Essentially you are selling them extra services but ones that can grow their business such as newsletters, forums, Facebook pages etc.

I do a lot of freelance web work in the evenings for a number of customers and that's essentially what I do. Maintain their websites and suggest efficient ways of doing things, and of course suggest new products.

I've put together a guide of my own if that is of any use to you. Link here

As a website Designer/Developer/Marketer, I find that most web developers don't build sites that are marketable - and sometimes do things that actually make a site difficult to market.

So you need a good theoretical and practical understanding of Online Marketing and SEO. Especially important is the clients UVP (Unique Value Proposition) and how that is expressed on landing and sales pages. (see Marketing Experiments .com ).

This means that you also advise on business issues to some extent - I mean as a small web developer you are experienced in business are you not?

It also helps if you're a digital artist and Photoshop master (like me). Visual Marketing is not something everyone is good at.

You should know how to built traditional static websites in Adobe Dreamweaver AND WordPress sites - including the best WordPress plugins and SEO methods.

The tek you need to know is:
* HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
* CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
* PHP (at least some)
* Javascript (at least some)

And you need a library of useful page widgets (the static page equivalent of WordPress plugins) for things like pro navigation systems (see Project Seven.com ).

No, I'm not an affiliate for any of those companies I link to.

Hope this helps...

The most important thing a website consultant can do is get your clients results. I like to offer free or super cheap "front-end service" like re-vamping their website or customizing their theme, making their site more effective, in return for a long-term marketing contract. Charge about $1000/month for marketing & maintenance and make them sign a one year contract so that your effort to get the client pays itself off in the long run. Also a good way to build an endless chain of referrals because clients are likely to refer you after you do good work for free or cheap.

Thedanbrown makes some good points above.

I often market to new clients by providing a free, in-depth, critique of their current site - including giving away ideas for big improvements. You might think that giving away good advice would lead many to take your ideas and run with them. But I find they much more often hire me to implement those ideas. That often results in maintenance projects as well.

This method has many advantages:
* Demonstrates your expertise and creativity
* Giving free value triggers the Social Psychology principle of "Reciprocity" (they feel obligated)
* Gives you a chance to link to your portfolio, website, etc.

Cheers!

Traffic sources and how they work and methods , that is always good to know in such matters