anoadmin - Old City Web Services

SEO You Can Count On

February 20, 2014 by anoadmin

Old City Web Services understands the importance of getting top level search results. Besides, what's the point of having an awesome new website if nobody can find you on the web? Well, we provide our customers with custom search solutions that focus on local and niche markets. We offer three levels of SEO plans that are designed to ensure you remain competitive with other companies in your industry. We work with you to customize a strategy that is best suited for not only your business, but also within your budgeting needs. The best news of all? It works. Plain and simple, having high rankings in top level search engines will guarantee an increase of traffic to your site. More visibility means more leads, inquiries and revenue from customers wanting to buy your products and/or use your services.

Proof that Old City Web Services is the best company to optimize your website is written in our very own business model. OldCity.com is the oldest and most popular web portal in St. Augustine. It strives to provide useful information to both visitors and residents --and it works! OldCity.com is proof that a website can accumulate revenue for a business, solely based on traffic. OldCity.com shows up within the first 3 search results when it comes to the most highly used keywords and search terms . Just see for yourself with the two examples below.

Google Search Results done on Feb. 18, 2014:

1. What to do in St. Augustine

2. Where to eat in St. Augustine

Schedule your free 1/2 hour SEO consultation today by calling: 904-867-4112, emailing: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com....or just Google Us, we'll be sure to pop up! 😉

Small Business Resolutions for 2014

December 18, 2013 by anoadmin

As we ring in the New Year, reflect on ways to improve your business

Start setting your marketing goals for 2014

As 2014 quickly approaches, take a moment and think about where you want to take your business next year. What ways would you like to improve or grow? Here are three resolutions all small businesses should consider for the upcoming year.

Learn how to delegate & do more of it

It is no small feat to run a small business and sometimes it's easy to trick yourself into thinking you must juggle every task imaginable. Wonder why your always frazzled, constantly feeling overwhelmed or consumed with tiredness? Determine your personal R.O.I. (Return On Investment) and let someone else do some of these tasks for a change. Just remember - Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.

Make promoting a priority

It's easy to let the task of regularly and consistently promoting your business fall to the wayside while the urgent tasks seem to always remain at the top of the to-do list. The reality is, if you want to attract new customers, you must make promoting a priority. Make it a new years resolution to better promote your business. Try experimenting with different mediums such as an online advertisement or a promotional event.

Out with the old, in with the new

Is there a piece of office equipment that it so ancient it's interfering with your success or maybe it's something you don't have that makes your working life harder? Maybe it's your pain-in-the-you-know-what fax machine, an outdated computer or the eye-sore of a website that isn't doing you or your business any justice. Whatever it may be, get rid of it and find a replacement that will make your work-life a thousand times easier. Call it an early Christmas gift or a promise to replace it in 2014.

Old City Web Services can help you achieve your New Year's Resolutions! Contact Us for more info by giving us a call: 904-867-4112 or emailing us: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com

How many people are finding your site?

December 11, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Proven ways to market your website

So, you've taken the time and spent the money on a brand new website, but now what? You now have the challenge of bringing in traffic and not just any traffic, but new, qualified visitors that will spend time exploring your site and essentially contact you for either more information or to secure the deal.

Marketing your website once it's live is just as important (if not more so) than the site itself. Today, we are going to give you two HUGE ways to pull people into your site.

SEO, SEO & MORE SEO

We cannot emphasize the importance of this enough! Search engine optimization (SEO) is the primary way people are going to find you online. Search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo are taking over the web and you can guarantee people will be searching for you (and your competition!) on them. DO NOT let your competition get ahead. Make it easy for people to find you, and only you, by having your site fully optimized by a professional. Test it out by signing into your Google Analytics account and see what common keywords and phrases people are using to find you. Then Google these key-phrases and see if your website comes up as a result. If you don't see a link to your site on the first results page, people aren't finding you, plain and simple. Since SEO trends are constantly changing based on alterations made by search engines, this is something that should be ongoing and maintained to ensure your one step ahead of competition.

Facebook Ads

In September 2013, Facebook had 728 million daily active users and 874 million monthly mobile active users. Furthermore, these millions of users are spending a huge amount of time on the site-- an average of 55 minutes a day or 30 hours a month! The final kicker-- Everyone's on Facebook! All types of demographics are now regular users of the social network. So how does this pertain to generating more traffic to your website? Facebook Ads allow you to target specific demographics based on location, age and even those who have "Liked" your page. Basically Facebook Ad's are a cost-effective way to take advantage of Facebook's traffic in order to bring these users to your website.

Make sure your SEO and ad campaigns are done right the first time -- contact Old City Web Services so that people will start finding your website online today!

Once you've mastered these two crucial marketing challenges, you can focus on growing your website and expanding your social media presence, which will in-turn increase your web traffic exponentially.

eCommerce Holiday Gift Ideas

December 4, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

It's time to start selling holiday-themed gifts online!

Cyber Monday isn't the only day shoppers go online to purchase great gifts for the holidays. Almost every day in December leading up to Christmas proves to be a profitable time for online storefronts. In fact, US eCommerce and Online Retail holiday sales reached $33.8 billion last year, up 13% from 2011. What does this mean to you? It means it's time to get creative by offering great products that make even better gifts! Below are a couple suggestions to get you started:

Gift Cards Make Great Gifts

Millions of people give the gift of cash on a card for Christmas. This is the easiest way to guarantee your gift will be used and appreciated. It's also a simple way for you to generate more revenue online even without an eCommerce shop. Who will buy your gift cards? Your loyal following and people who who have seen or used your products or services time and time again. Give your customers an incentive to purchase online that will intrigue them to come back to you. Christmas themed cards are nice, but even if you use traditional certificates, get creative with the envelope you put it in!

A Little Taste of Everything

Gift baskets or gift stockings make excellent holiday presents because they appeal to a larger group of consumers. Buyers like them because they make great stocking-stuffers and offer a variety of items for those they don't know very well.

Select small, inexpensive products and place them in a woven basket or unique stocking. Then, fill it with Christmas-themed decorations, candy or other goodies. Don't forget a business card and printed coupon for them to remember you by!

Finally, take a picture of the final product and upload it to the Home page of your site or if you have an online shop, put it as the featured or seasonal item. Visitors from all over the world will be able to purchase your gift baskets online and then let them choose to pick it up in-store or have it shipped directly to the recipient in time for the holidays!

Want to make sure your customers are quickly and easily finding your holiday-themed gifts online? Contact us for more info: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com or 904-867-4112

Are you ready for Black Friday?

November 29, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Last year, $59.1 billion was reportedly spent on this highly sought after event, which now spreads from the Thursday before to post Black Friday weekend deals, with Small Business Saturday on November 30 and Cyber Monday on December 2, closing out the weekend shopping extravaganza.

How can the small businesses compete with the big guys you ask? Here are three ways to help you enjoy a piece of the pie while shoppers seek the biggest and best deals of the year.

Freebie Giveaways

Try setting up a stand, booth or section of your store offering small gifts to your customers that compliment your products or services. You are sure to have a plethora of people in and out your doors this weekend, so take the opportunity to engage with them so that they'll leave with a little reminder of you for next time. Are you an eCommerce shop? Offer an exclusive Black Friday e-coupon gift!

Two Heads Are Better Than One

There's a lot of truth in the saying "power in numbers." Team-up with other small businesses to spread the word. For example, if you're a local restaurant that offers gift cards, come up with a deal, network with other restaurants offering similar deals, create a coupon code and promote the offer on one flyer including all of the participating company logos. Put a Christmas spin on it since Gift Cards make great holiday gifts!

Make it a Social Event

Host exclusive Black Friday deals via your social media networks. Make it something that only your social followers will see and can take advantage of. If you want to be really creative, try offering different deals on different networks! Just make sure you keep track of the in-store or online responses you receive.

Even though you're busy entertaining family and preparing a Thanksgiving feast, take some time to really think about ways to generate more revenue for your small business this Black Friday weekend. Most of all, have fun, be creative and don't forget to let us know how it went!

Holiday Marketing Tip Challenge

November 20, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

FACT: St. Augustine attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each holiday season.

Whether a visitor stays for one night or all month, it is widely known that during the holidays, tourism in the nation's oldest city is thriving. If you own a B&B, restaurant or tour company, you're probably busy answering the phone and responding to email inquires this time of year.

Even though you're busy, don't forget to engage your customers with holiday marketing initiatives! This season, Old City Web Services challenges you to try at least one of these three marketing tips. Test it out and then shoot us an email or give us a call to let us know if it was a success!

1. Dress-up your Facebook page

As you dress your turkey for Thanksgiving, why not dress-up your Facebook and Twitter pages while you're at it! Create a holiday-themed cover photo that includes one incentive to customers--a promotion, discount or giveaway. What better way to engage customers while getting into the holiday spirit at the same time.

Not sure what a Facebook cover photo is? Old City Web Services specializes not only in custom design, but in Social Media too! Contact Us for more info.

2. Invite your website to the party!

Is your website holiday-ready? Make sure your site is updated with holiday flare, such as photos from Nights of Lights, a video featuring how to make a delicious holiday treat or a new Christmas package/special. Add a minimum of one piece of holiday flare to your website that will let customers know you're the go-to business to visit during their stay in St. Augustine.

Do you have the flare, but not the web expertise? Contact Us for a quote on giving your site that extra holiday glitz you need!

3. Give thanks to your customers

This is the perfect time of year to give thanks to those who love and support, not only you, but your business too! Send out an email to your past and present customers, letting them know you appreciate their brand loyalty. It's almost guaranteed this will bring back at least one new sale or prospect. After all, what harm can it do? If anything, you will put smiles on your customers faces...what more could you ask for?

No way of getting the message out? Old City Web Services can design an e-mail template using your photos, logo and colors & text, upload your contact list(s) and send out a mass e-mail blast to all your customers for you! Contact Us for more info.

Influence with design

November 14, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Determine your goal, make a plan & persuade your audience

What is design and how does it relate to my website? Let's start with a definition:

Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; interface design; user experience design and search engine optimization.
Web design refers to a process or a series of activities that will ultimately give someone or something a unique identity via the world-wide web.

Web design should accomplish a goal. Ask yourself: Why would people want to visit my site? What will people want to see or do once they get there. Is the important stuff easy to find? Think about your site's intent. Are you trying to showcase products, reach new people, expand employee relations, interact with your customers more or maybe you just want a mere presence.

Want to learn more about the power of design and how we can help make your digital goals a reality? Contact Us today to learn more!

CMS Update Management

November 6, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

The importance of staying on top of site updates

One of the many services Old City Web Services, Inc. offers our clients is Quarterly Content Management System (CMS) Update Management. It is important to update both the version of your website and all of the plug-ins as a preventative maintenance measure to lower the risk of potential security issues.

During the unfortunate event when a website is compromised, not only can valuable content and prospects be lost, but it can also decrease your website's position in search engine rankings. Google actually de-indexes sites with malicious code on them, therefore when such code is placed on your site, you can almost guarantee your placement in Google search results will weaken.

Furthermore, updates aren't always compatible with existing themes or plugins, consequently causing problems to arise with the functionality of your site. Unfortunately, WordPress does not provide an easy way to "roll back" updates; therefore it can be a time-consuming and often times scary task if you do not have a reliable way to first conduct a backup on a secure server. Old City Web Services will always keep a recent backup of your site prior to completing these updates. This means if there are any issues, we can easily restore your website immediately.

Let us help you manage your CMS updates for you. This service includes updating the WordPress core, all plugins and the removal of any spam comments when necessary. Each quarter, we will ensure your site is completely clean and updated.

Want to learn more about our new CMS Update Management service? Contact Us today to learn more!

Hashtags for #Smallbiz

October 30, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Hashtags are something you definitely should be using when formulating tweets, assuming you already have a Twitter account dedicated to your small business that is. A hashtag is designated with a number sign (#) paired with a word or phrase (without any spaces or other characters) to perform a variety of functions. In the Twitter world, users attach hashtags to tweets as a search mechanism that categorizes keywords and phrases. For example, two hashtags commonly used by small businesses are #smallbiz or #smb. Attaching one of these to a tweet will help categorize your business, allowes users to find you. Want to begin using Hashtags on your #smallbiz Twitter account? Here are three tips to get you started:

1.) Keep it simple

When crafting hashtags, a good rule of thumb is to keep them simple and consistent. Long, complex tags are neither search-friendly nor commonly used. For example, if you want to tweet about a new app you recently launched, instead of tagging #Smallbusinessappsandtools, you're better off breaking it up and using two shorter tags, such as #smallbiz and #apps. This also increases the readability of your message. Lastly, don't be afraid to use abbreviations for words--there's a character limit for a reason!
2.) Be creative

Twitter allows users to create their own hashtags so don't be discouraged or think that just because you're a small business, your new tag won't be discovered. Both large and small brands create hashtags to generate buzz around a marketing campaign or to entice customers. For example, if you're having a contest for free concert tickets, you may want to create a hashtag that incorporates you and the band name (i.e. #StyxOldCity ). Your tweet could be something like: RT to win FREE TIX to the Styx Concert this WKND #StyxOldCity. Maybe provide a link to for people to get more information or purchase tickets online.

3.) Organization

Stay on top of trending and relevant hashtags by organizing your columns on your social dashboard. You can customize these columns by either your social networks, popular search terms or by specific hashtags. Not sure what a social dashboard is? Check out Hootsuite and TweetDeck--two social media dashboards that allow you to schedule, manage and analyze multiple networks in one centralized location.

Want to learn more about how to implement hashtags into your social media strategy? Contact us today by emailing us: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com or by giving us a call: 904.829.2772.

Need help updating your site

October 23, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Nobody likes to see outdated / false information on a company or organization's website. If your site currently has inaccurate information, such as dates, prices or ancient photos, it's time to think about an easier way to maintain this valuable investment of yours.

Setting aside time to update your site is often difficult for small business owners, especially when many already exceed 40+ hours a week running their business. Sometimes it's much easier (and more efficient) to let the professional manage it for you...and that's where we come in! Old City Web Services offers a monthly or quarterly update service for Content Management System websites. Let us spend a few hours each month or a little more each quarter, freshening up your site with new photos, updated pricing sheets, specials, media, links and more. These updates will help ensure customers keep coming back to your site. There is no better way to get repeat visitors than by making sure your site presents a new or different experience for users.

How does this work you may ask? First, we'll take a look at your website and then come up with a customized, viable and affordable plan that will suit your needs and schedule best. All you have to do is shoot us a quick email to: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com with the subject line "Help me update my site" and include your website URL and the best way/time to reach you. Our Project Manager will be in touch shortly to discuss!