anoadmin - Old City Web Services

5 Things You Need to Know About Google

October 7, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Learn how Google relates to your business.

1. Google doesn’t automatically know what your website is about.

In order for Google to catalog your website in their search database, you need to have text on your site that explains what your website is about. This can appear in both the content that visitors see and in the metadata that only Google will see.

2. Google doesn’t have feelings.

If Google favors one website over another, it’s not because it likes one site’s owner better or thinks that one site has better pictures. Google’s organic rankings are based strictly on a mathematical algorithm. That equation filters the information in Google’s database and provides the search results you see on the web. If you’re not happy with your ranking, you have to analyze your website in terms of the criteria used in Google’s algorithm, not what a human might think about your website versus someone else’s.

3. Google is by far the most popular search engine on the web.

From September 2010 to September 2011, Google had 90.7% of web usersover Yahoo! (3.76%) and Bing (3.7%). Although our optimization services still cover all three, it’s obvious that Google is the preferred search engine around the globe.

4. Google gets it wrong sometimes.

Even though Google works very hard to make their results more accurate, every once in a while Google does something wrong. Sometimes it returns a result for a website that’s not there anymore, or a result with false information. Most of the time this will clear up with time as Google updates its database, but if it doesn’t you can visit the Google Webmaster tools and (after creating a free Google account if you don’t already have one) you can report a bad site.

5. Google hates scammers and spammers alike.

You know the old expression “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is”? That’s the case with a lot of SEO companies who promise you specific rankings, especially the coveted top spot. Some of those scammers might be able to get you to #1 on Google, but not for long. Google is constantly updating its algorithm to keep out the spam because it hates to be manipulated. Good, honest SEO uses the right combination of keyword rich content, good navigation and site structure.

Christmas eCards: Save money, send thanks.

September 22, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe that we have almost reached the start of another holiday season, but ready or not here it comes! Why not take advantage of St. Augustine’s September lull to get your business ready for the holiday season, starting with a Christmas card? You can choose from one of two styles for your custom designed greeting:

1. Traditional Paper Card.

Beautiful, memorable and noticeable, print cards often hang in your clients’ offices and homes throughout the holiday season. Make yours stand out from the rest with a custom design and message. Old City Web Services has years of experience creating the perfect designs, call today for pricing and information on developing a card for your business.

2. Cost Saving eCard.

Forget postage and envelopes, you can show your clients some appreciation without breaking the bank by using an eCard. This custom designed HTML can be sent out to your clients using one of the many online email marketing systems (like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp) or to a small list of important clients using your own email program.

What are you waiting for?

Christmas is going to be here before you know it! Get a jump on the season and contact us about creating your eCard today.

What’s going on in our neck of the woods?

September 22, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Congratulations to Revels Pepper Company on a new logo! Earlier this month we helped our friends at Revels Pepper Co. create a logo for their new business. These ghost pepper growers and distributors now have a bright, colorful image that will help them establish their new brand with potential customers.

Join Unity Outreach for the Think Pink Motorcycle Ride! Next Saturday, Oct. 1st, Unity Outreach of St. Augustine will hold its biggest fundraiser of the year–a 70 mile motorcycle ride. Beginning at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds, this ride helps raise money for families in St. Johns County affected by breast cancer. For emotional, physical and financial support, breast cancer patients and survivors in our community can depend on Unity Outreach for help. Sign up for the ride or just come out to the fairgrounds and show your support!

The St. Augustine Center for Living has a new home on the web! Earlier this week, Old City Web Services launched a brand new website for the St. Augustine Center for Living. The look and feel of the new site is based off of a new logo also designed by Old City Web Services. In addition to the colorful branding the Center was looking for, the website also has a built-in content management system so that the staff can post new pictures and events anytime, anywhere! We also optimized the website for better placement on the major search engines.

The Looster Booster continues to wow critics and moms! We’ve been working with the fun folks who created the Looster Booster for over a year now, creating a variety of print and web materials to help promote this ingenious little potty training stool. The Looster Booster has been receiving praise, awards and sweeping endorsements including a segment that appeared on Fox 25 in Boston, Mass. Check out the stool with its bright, colorful label designed by Old City Web Services.

We love sharing news from our wonderful clients and there is so much more to come! It’s been a busy summer and now we’re ready to transition right into a busy fall. If you have a website that needs developing, a brochure that needs to designing or any other marketing needs, give us a call!

– Old City Web Services

5 Tips for Protecting Your Computer

September 7, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Avoid viruses and protect your identity with these helpful tips.

Every day when we check our email, surf the Internet or play an online game we are exposing our computers to potential dangers. To help keep your computer safe we have put together a quick list of protection tips:

1. Change your passwords: Most computer experts advise changing your password every 90 days and using computer generated passwords with a mix of letters and numbers instead of something you create yourself.

2. Don’t open suspicious emails: If you don’t know the sender, don’t open the email! If the subject line seems odd, even if it’s coming from a friend or relative, don’t open the email! Be especially wary of emails with attachments as they could be viruses that will be downloaded to your computer.

3. Get good virus protection software: A top notch virus protection system is a must and there are many to choose from. Just make sure that you understand what options are available and how they will affect your computer. Some programs have strict spam blockers and firewalls that can affect your email, software and web access. If you run into a problem, consult a professional for advice.

4. Update your operating system: Computer viruses are constantly evolving and finding new ways to break into your system. Keep your software up to date to stay protected against the latest viruses. This includes your operating system (Windows 95 and anything older should be updated) and your Internet browser (Internet Explorer 7 and anything older should be updated).

5. Back-up your data often: There are several affordable options on the market for backing up your data including external hard drives, flash drives and even online data storage. It’s always a good idea to have back-ups of your computer documents, photos and other items just in case!

Do you still have questions?

For technical support questions about your computer and computer software, we recommend The Computer Guys. This local shop has been offering computer services and advice since 1995 on site and at their location in St. Augustine Beach. You can contact them at (904) 471-6703 for residential questions or (904) 471-6746 if you have a small business question.

5 Ways to Add Extras to Your Website

August 31, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Add function and flair with ease.

Many websites today go beyond the basics to provide visitors with interactive tools and professional displays that help illustrate the importance of your business. If you have a content management system, Old City Web Service can add these extras for you to take your website to the next level:

1. Monthly Calendar: Share events and activities on an easy-to-use calendar that you can update from home.

2. Photo Gallery: Display photos in a professional slideshow or give visitors to the option to browse through a thumbnail gallery of your images. Either way, customers will be impressed with what they see!

3. Mobile Plug-In: Are your customers constantly on the go? Let them view your website on their phone with a mobile plug-in. This addition will automatically convert your content into a mobile friendly format.

4. Contact Forms: Give potential customers an easy, instant way to contact you with a short form that’s sent directly to your email.

5. Social Media: You can not only add a link to your Facebook/Twitter, you can display recent posts/tweets and other features from your social media pages right on your website.

Let us help you make your website more exciting!

To add some new features to your website (including a content management system) contact your team at Old City Web Services via phone 904-867-4112 or you can send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

Corn mazes, weather updates and more!

August 25, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

As we approach the end of a busy summer for Old City Web Services and many of our clients, we decided to take a quick break from our regular weekly newsletters to talk about some of the exciting things that have been going on in the OCWS family lately.

Crown Weather Presents the St. Augustine Weather Page

From comprehensive charts and live radar to current conditions and detailed discussions, everything you need to know about St. Augustine’s atmosphereic conditions are now available on Crown Weather (a site designed, developed and hosted by Old City Web Services). Based out of Maine, meteorological guru Rob Lightbown is one of the most reliable forecasters on the web, so we are honored that he decided to give St. Augustine its own page on CrownWeather.com. Thanks Rob!

A new site and sponsor for Unity Outreach St. Augustine

We recently launched a new website for community group Unity Outreach, an organization dedicated to providing assistance to local breast cancer patients and survivors. The new site (http://unityoutreach.org) features online registration forms for each of Unity Outreach’s three annual events, including the Think Pink Motorcycle Ride this Oct. 1st, which Old City Web Services is helping to sponsor this year.

Sykes & Cooper Farms is preparing another aMAZEing fall

Throughout the month of October, Sykes & Cooper Farms will be running its second annual 9 acre corn maze, pumpkin patch and hayride in Elkton, Fla. OCWS created a new logo for Sykes & Cooper, plus we launched a new website (http://sycofarms.com) with information on all that the farm has to offer for guests, field trips and birthday parties.

OCWS Tip of the Month: Take precautions to protect your computer during storms

Whether it’s an afternoon thunderstorm or hurricane, we want you to know that there are steps you can take to protect your computer from lightning related power surges. Every computer at your business or in your home should be plugged in to a surge protector–just last week our office building was hit by a powerful bolt of lightning that damaged several computers in our building, but all of Old City Web Services’ equipment was safe thanks to our surge protectors. In really bad storms, it’s a good idea to completely unplug your computer and any other electrical equipment from the wall outlets to prevent damage. You should also back up your files on an external hard drive or CD.

5 Things You Need to Know About Writing Excellent Web Content.

August 16, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Once you’ve got a great, professional web design, the next step is to create professional text that will inform your potential customers about what your business does and how they can sign up for your services. We have put together a couple of quick tips to help you write excellent website content:

1. Be Original: Don’t start off your home page web content with a generic “Welcome” message. As soon as a visitor sees a standard greeting like that, he or she will stop reading and move on to something else. Grab their attention, give them the information they need to know and finish with a call to action.

2. It’s okay to be repetitive: Users can enter your site on any page, so it’s okay to repeat some content. Make sure the key points of your business—services offered, target clients (are you reaching out to contractors or soccer moms?) and a point of contact—are mentioned on every page.

3. Break it up with headlines: Separate long paragraphs of text with headlines to point out certain sections. This is another way to grab the visitors’ attention and pull their eye to certain sections of text, it also creates visual appeal in your content.

4. Keep it relevant: Focus on the most important things you want your customers to know. You want your text to be long enough for people to get your message and decide that you’re the right business for them. Any extra information will just create confusion and steer them away from what you want them to do.

5. Call them to action: Just like the rest of your marketing materials your website should drive users to contact you. Close out every page with a call to contact you for more information or to schedule an appointment, whatever it is that people need to do to engage your services.

We can write professional website content for you!

If your time is maxed out doing all the other things it takes to run your business, contact us about writing your content for you. Whether you have a new website in progress or an old website that needs some updating, we have talented writers on staff who can write great content for your website.

For more information call 904-867-4112 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

5 Things You Need to Know About Website Navigation

August 10, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

When it comes to websites, the buttons or “tabs” that allow visitors to move between pages are referred to as “navigation”. This navigation is key to creating a user-friendly website that will allow your visitors to find what they need to know about your business. This week we’ve put together some quick tips to help you create the best navigation for your website:

1. Keep it simple: Less is more when it comes to web pages and navigation. Don’t spread a few sentences of content over many pages, requiring your visitors to move through page after page just to get the information they need. Most businesses only need three or four pages to get across their services and contact information. This will keep your navigation and subsequently your website very simple and easy to use.

2. Use standard terms: A little creativity with your page names can be okay, but when it comes to the most popular pages–Home and Contact–go with standard titles. Most people are used to looking for Home or Contact on a website, especially when they’re ready to take action and contact your business. The worst thing you can do is slow them down by making them hunt for the right page. Stick to the standard terms and they will easily be able to find the right information.

3. Make it readable: Don’t use fancy fonts or small typefaces that make it difficult to read the navigation titles. You also want to be sure your navigation is in a prominent place on your website—most are at the top or the left side where they are easy to spot.

4. Be consistent: Your navigation should be in the same place on every page and list your pages in the same order. Visitors will get frustrated and confused if they have find the navigation every time they change pages. Having it in one place also makes it easier to make adjustments down the line if you add more pages.

5. Plan for expansion: Horizontal navigation is the most popular in today’s design, but vertical navigation has more room for growth if you plan to add a lot more pages to your website. Vertical navigation is also best for eCommerce sites with lots of product categories and selections. Know where you plan to go with your website so you can choose the best navigation style for your website.

Let us help you put together a user-friendly website!

From navigation to design and everything in between, Old City Web Services can create the perfect website for your business. For more information call 904-867-4112 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

5 Things You Need to Know About Great Website Design.

August 3, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Over the next month we’re going to take a closer look at the most important components involved in creating a good website, starting with design. With every custom website design we create, there are several principle factors we take into account, including:

1. User Friendly: The most important factor in any design is the ease of use it provides for visitors. Clean lines, clear navigation and a simple layout will make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Our user friendly designs also help direct visitors to do exactly what you want them to do—whether it’s to fill out your contact form, call you, or visit your business’ physical location.

2. Great Photos: Users are most often drawn to a website by engaging, professional photography. You provide your own photography or allow us to select images from stock photo sites. If you decide to use your own photography, be sure to get signed releases from your subjects, use a camera with good resolution and make sure you have ample lighting (outdoor shots are usually best!).

3. Clear Message: Your website must convey the message of the company through appropriate design elements. The design has to match up with your company’s brand so that the visitor will have a clear perception of your message.

4. Complimentary Content: The best designs are balanced with just the right about of text and information. We often don’t think about it, but text has a certain design appeal to it as well. A combination of headlines, short paragraphs and bulleted lists provide design balance. Additionally, sites with sidebars should be mindful of having so much text in the side column that it runs longer than their primary content column.

5. Viewer Readability: Along the same lines, we want to be certain that your selected fonts are easy to read in all sizes. Scripted or highly stylized fonts should be reserved for headlines and titles while primary text should be displayed in simple fonts for easy reading.

Click on one of the “Read More” links above or visit the Old City Web Services blog for more details on each of these five design essentials.

We’re ready to create a professional, custom design for you!

The Old City Web Services staff features talented designers who can create professional web designs just for your business. For more information call 904-867-4112 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

A summer of big launches for Old City Web Services

July 18, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

St. Augustine, Fla. – The space shuttle Atlantis isn’t the only launch worth noting in Florida lately. Old City Web Services has been hard at work this summer creating a series of new custom websites for several Northeast Florida businesses and community organizations. Since May, this boutique graphic and web design company has launched six new websites with more still to come.

The summer began with the launch of SmarterMeds.com, the new home of a web-based business that pairs certified pharmacists with patients for one and one medication therapy management. Old City Web Services was actively involved in the creation of the new business’ brand from start to finish including a custom created logo. The company also sought help from OCWS in optimizing their website for better search engine results.

On the heels of launching SmarterMeds, Old City Web Services created two dynamic websites for St. Augustine restaurants Sunset Grille (http://sunsetgrillea1a.com) and The Corner Bar (http://thecornerbar.gypsycab.com). In addition to custom designed desktop websites with menus, interactive maps and more, OCWS also created separate, mobile friendly websites for both of these restaurants, making it easier for potential patrons to find them on the go.

Just in time for the 4^th of July holiday, OCWS launched its fourth website of the summer—this one for antique book and ephemera retailer Wolf’s Head Books (http://wolfsheadbooks.com). Locally owned and operated, Wolf’s Head Books has long been a favorite stop for visitors and locals alike. The new website includes a Featured Items section with an evolving list of special titles available at Wolf’s Head which will be updated using the website’s built-in content management system. Users can also browse much of the store’s collection through the ABAA link on the new website or find directions to browse the collection in person.

With a company history so intertwined with St. Augustine, it’s always important to Old City Web Services to give back to the community where possible, which is why the company recently helped local non-profit Unity Outreach launch a new website for their organization. Unity Outreach (http://unityoutreachstaug.org) is dedicated to providing financial, physical and emotional support to St. Johns County residents undergoing or recovering from breast cancer treatment. These services are provided thanks to the generous donations of local citizens, many of which are collected through the group’s annual Think Pink motorcycle ride. Interested participants can now register online for the Motorcycle Ride or one of Unity’s other annual events. Qualified candidates can also download an application for assistance online.

Most recently, OCWS launched a new website for Gateway Contracting, Inc., (http://gatewaycontractinginc.com) one of Northeast Florida’s most trusted commercial and industrial contracting companies. Based out of Jacksonville, Gateway operates throughout the southeast, specializing in commercial plumbing, industrial/mechanical piping and general construction work. The company’s new website features more details on the services offered as well as a sample of completed projects for some of the company’s top clients including the U.S. Navy.

It’s certainly been a busy summer for Old City Web Services, with no signs of a vacation anywhere in sight! Visit oldcitywebservices.com, follow us on Twitter or “like” us on Facebook to keep up with all the exciting things going on at OCWS and find out how our services can help your business boom this summer.

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