anoadmin - Old City Web Services

Get ahead of the tide with a mobile website.

July 18, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Is your website mobile friendly?

If you don’t know the answer to the above question, ask a friend or family member to visit your website on a cellphone or iPad and see if they are easily able to navigate from page to page, find important information (hours, location, etc.) and contact you by phone or e-mail.

With a growing number of people searching the web on mobile devices, it’s more important than ever to make sure you have a version of your website that can be easily viewed on a small screen on a slower connection speed (which most cellular web providers have).

To give you an idea of how much growth we’re seeing in mobile traffic, our web portal, OldCity.com, has more than doubled its mobile traffic since January. In the last 30 days we received over 10,000 visits from mobile devices accounting for 15% of our overall site traffic.

Take a look at the following two example websites on your desktop or laptop computer, then visit them on your mobile device and compare the two:

http://sunsetgrillea1a.com
http://thecornerbar.gypsycab.com

We created both of these websites as well as their mobile counterparts to meet the needs of regular internet surfers and mobile internet surfers. The system automatically detects mobile devices and re-directs them to the mobile site, no extra domain names needed. It’s that simple!

Call us to find out how you can start a mobile website.

For more information, call (904) 829-2772 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com or take a look at some of our previous blogs about mobile devices:

– Your Customers Will Be Outside This Summer, Can Your Website Go With Them?: http://bit.ly/oh3KLP

– Give your website a mobile advantage: http://bit.ly/iavnja

Send the surf your way with optimization.

July 18, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

What kind of relevant search engine traffic is your website getting?

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), it’s a common misconception that all traffic to your website is good. In fact, one of the most important components of SEO is finding the most relevant traffic to bring to your website. What do we mean by that? Here’s an example…

Wally is St. Augustine’s premier postage stamp collector. He has an inventory of every postage stamp ever made in the history of postage stamps. To get more traffic to his online retail store, Wally optimized his site so that he comes up #1 on Google for “stamps”.

The problem with Wally’s plan, however, is that of the people who search for “stamps” online are either looking for rubber stamps (which Wally does not sell) or current mailing stamps from the U.S. Post Office (which Wally also does not sell). So while Wally’s getting tons of visitors to his website from his high Google ranking, none of them are purchasing his productsbecause they are searching for a different kind of stamps.

Understanding what people are looking for when they search for something on the Internet is a critical part of the SEO process. That’s why it’s sometimes better to optimize your site for more specific terms (like in Wally’s case, “collectible stamps” or “American stamp collections”) rather than the more open ended, general terms.

Get a free SEO evaluation from Old City Web Services.

If you’d like to find out more about your current page rankings and how we might be able to optimize your site to get more traffic, please call (904) 829-2772 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

For more information on SEO, read some of our previous blogs on the subject:

· – What is Search Engine Optimization?: http://bit.ly/qN2BBJ

· – Under the Umbrella of SEO: http://bit.ly/gBn2qn

5 Essentials for your Marketing First Aid Kit

June 28, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Your marketing plan is not complete without these important tools.

Promoting your business in today’s media saturated market requires the use of multiple marketing tools. We’ve put together a list of essentials you should have at the ready for your business, all of which we can create for you:

1. Website: It might seem obvious, but your website should be the headquarters for every marketing campaign. Every other tool you use should refer people back to your website.

2. Print materials: You never know where you might run into a potential client, but the easiest way to make a connection is to leave a tangible reminder of what your business has to offer, which can be a business card, rack card, folder with inserts or any other type of printed document.

3. Advertisements: Every successful marketing campaign contains an advertising component. Where possible, have your ads professionally designed so are sure to stand out from the competition.

4. Social Media: Using sites like Facebook and Twitter is critical to marketing success. You don’t have to blog your entire life, just mention some of the things your business is doing–sales, events, satisfied customers, etc.

5. Measurement tools: You MUST be able to measure the outcome of your campaign. How do you do that? Google Analytics can give you detailed statistics on your website to see if you had an increase in visits, where they came to your site from. For print ads and documents you can use special codes on discounts and coupons to keep tabs on where someone found your ad. Plus there’s always the good old fashioned way of just asking a client how they heard about your business!

You can read more of our tips for marketing your business by viewing some of these previous blogs:

If you would like more information on adding a content management system to your website, call us today at 904-867-4112 or email:
letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

Make quick updates to your site from anywhere

June 22, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Note: This month we are reviewing the most popular topics we’ve discussed so far this year, with links to previous blogs as well as some new information on each subject. If there’s a subject you’re interested in that we haven’t discussed, please let us know!

Imagine that you’re out of town on a business trip or vacation when something urgent comes up with your company’s website. Maybe it’s a new announcement, a special sale or a change in your business’ hours—whatever it is, it needs to be taken care of immediately. Rather than spending hours tracking down an employee with the access and ability to update your site, you jump on your Internet-connected laptop, log-in to your site and make the change yourself. In less than five minutes, you’re back on the beach or in your meeting and the change is live on the web.

That story can be a reality with a content management system.

Old City Web Services can build a new website for you with a built-in content management system (CMS) or convert your old site to the new program. In addition to making updates with ease, the CMS also gives you the ability to boost your search engine rankings and add functionality to your site including mobile features and photo galleries.

Read more about the benefits of a content management system by viewing some of these previous blogs:

What is a content management system?

Increase your search rankings with a content management system

Give your visitors what they want with a content management system

If you would like more information on adding a content management system to your website, call us today at 904-867-4112 or email letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

Turn over a new leaf with print design.

May 26, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Put your business’ best foot forward with folders, letterhead and more.

Imagine that you have just concluded your presentation to a potential client. The two of you shake hands, and the client walks out with a handful of marketing materials you have provided that recap the services and support offered by your company. Hours (or in some cases days) later, the client is back in his/her office contemplating whether to go with your company or your competitor. The client took only a few vague notes from your meeting, so the only thing to compare the two options at hand are the printed materials you’ve provided. At this moment, you have only one question…

What will your marketing materials say about you?

If you have a professionally crafted set of printed marketing tools, you can feel confident that your business will stand out amongst your competition. Not only will your custom created folders, inserts and stationery package carry forward your company’s brand, it will also show your potential and existing clients the level of quality and professionalism they can expect from your business.

Take for example, a recent client of Old City Web Services. The Looster Booster™ is a specially designed booster stool for kids to use during potty training that doesn’t get in the way of older kids and adults. The product’s creator and owner is a client of Old City Web Services who recently contacted us looking to “Wow!” potential distributors, retailers and promoters with a full stationery package. We created letterhead, envelopes, a 9″ x 12″ folder and a set of four shingle-cut inserts for her to use in marketing her product around the country. Take a look at what we put together (Click on the thumbnails to view the full images):

Call today for an estimate on creating custom marketing materials for your business

If you want to make sure that your marketing materials are conveying the right message to your clients, call or e-mail us to get an estimate on creating custom pieces for your business!

– Old City Web Services

Show your colors with banners and signs.

May 20, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

We go beyond the web.

For trade shows, company events and general displays, signs and banners give your business an extra pop to stand out from the competition. Old City Web Services offers more than just Internet-related services. We have a talented art department to create excellent sign and banner designs for your business. When we create banners and signs for our clients, we keep three important factors in mind:

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We recently completed this banner design for the Looster Booster

1. Color accuracy: You’ve probably been in that situation where you go to pick up something from a printer only to find that instead of using the same royal blue your company has always used, they have printed your logo in purple. At Old City Web Services, our designs are all created using Pantones, a color identification system for printers and designers. Every hue in the Pantone color book is identified with a specific number, ensuring that on the screen and in printed form, your logo colors will appear exactly as they are supposed to.

2. Quality imagery: All of our designs are done at a high level of resolution to ensure that images and other graphics will appear crisp and clear. From far away or from close up, your sign will look clean and professional without being pixelated or blurry.

3. Brand continuity: We offer web and print design under one roof so that you can keep your branding consistent from one medium to the next. We make sure that your fonts and images stay the same on your website, business cards, banners and more so that your clients will be able to recognize your company brand as soon as they see it—even if it’s from across the room.

Get started right now.

Call today 904-867-4112 or send an email to letusmarketyou@oldcity.com to get an estimate on creating a banner for your business.

– Old City Web Services

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Establish the look and feel of your company with an eye-catching logo design.

May 12, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Your business brand begins with a professionally designed logo. Whether you’re starting a new business or have an established company, it’s never too late to give your company a professional face.

For a limited time, Old City Web Services is offering 10% off the cost of logo development. Sign a contract for logo design between May 12th and May 31st and we will give you 10% ($100) off of the total cost of your logo development.

Back in February we went over the basics of what makes up a logo, but now it’s time to dig a little deeper and find out what separates a great logo from all the rest. To do that, we need to answer each of the following questions:

1. How does the name of your company fit with your logo?

Your company name is a major part of your logo—so how does it look? It is really long or really short? Does it accurately describe your business? You want customers to have an idea of what your business is just by reading your company name. At the same time, you don’t want the company name to be so long that it’s distracting. Striking a balance between the two is key.

2. Is your logo similar to that of your competition?

Old City Web Services designed this logo for the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

The idea of a great logo is to stand out against your competition—so do your research and know what colors, icons and other elements are already being used by other businesses in your industry to make sure your logo will be unique and completely original.

3. Who is your company’s target market?

From business professionals and soccer moms to young students and retired seniors, you need to know who your logo should be designed for. Different colors and icons will resonate with different groups, so you want to be sure that your logo is appealing to the right audience for your business.

4. Is the name of your business readable within your company logo?

It’s tempting to get really creative with fonts and shapes for your company name, but above all else you want to be sure that no matter how big or small your logo appears that it’s easy to read your company name.

5. What colors do you want people to associate with your business?

Certain colors evoke specific feelings with people, for example warm tones like browns and deep reds convey a sense of comfort while orange and yellow tones are more about energy and liveliness. So while you may be inclined toward your favorite color, you should also think about how those colors set the tone for your business.

6. How simple is your logo?

At the end of the day, the best advice you can ever get in terms of logo design is to keep it as simple as possible. Simple logos are easy to remember, easy to reproduce (even in embroidery and different print styles) and easy to understand whether they are in full color or black and white.

Turn over a new leaf for your business with a professionally designed logo.

Old City Web Services has been creating custom logos to fit the needs of businesses both small and large for almost a decade. Take a look at our online logo portfolio to see samples of work we’ve done for companies such as Village Academy, Devil’s Elbow and Arizona Custom Knives.

When you’re ready to get started with a new logo for your company, give us a call. The process begins with a 50% deposit and signed contract. We provide every client with four logo ideas to choose from, all created by our experienced professional artists on staff.

Call today 904-867-4112 or send an email to letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

– Old City Web Services[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Time to put on those gloves and weed your website.

May 5, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

With summer just around the corner, now is the time to clean up your website in preparation for a fruitful year. As technology grows and changes, some things that we once needed on our website become unnecessary and actually hold us back from a blossoming business.

We have put together a few suggestions for some of those “weeds” that we could help you remove from your website.

1. Copyright dates: Look down at the very bottom of your website—do you have a copyright clause written in the footer? Some clauses include dates and if yours is more than a year old, you should think about updating it or removing it all together. Simply stating that the website is a copyright of your business keeps the site timeless and keeps you from worrying about updating it every year. Otherwise, having that old date can make your website look…well…dated!

2. Hit counters: Back in at the start of the new millennium, designers used hit counters so that website owners could track the number of people visiting their website. Now we can use sophisticated tracking codes from Google Analytics to not only count the visitors to your website, but obtain crucial information about them to help you structure successful marketing and advertising campaigns for your business. Trade in that old hit counter for a free Google Analytics account, we can have it set up for you in less than 24 hours.

3. Auto-play Music: Once upon a time, it seemed like a great idea to use music to set the tone for your website. Visitors would arrive on your home page and immediately be greeted by a nice melody. But maybe after a few years, that music has started to get a little redundant. It can also be inconvenient for users who are surfing your website at work or on the go. Consider changing the music so it only plays when visitors press a button or we can just remove it all together.

4. Flash introductions: Although an introduction page with moving animation can add a lot of visual appeal to your website, it can also hurt you in terms of search engine optimization and usability. Search engines rate your website based on text, but text from within a video can’t be seen by search engine crawlers. Flash animation is also unsupported on a lot of mobile devices, meaning that you could lose traffic because people can’t see your website when they’re surfing on iPhones and iPads. Lastly, people who visit your website often can get frustrated with having to sit through the same introduction every time they try to access your site. Call us and we might be able to convert your introduction into a video that can be added to part of your website so people can still see it if they want to, but it won’t hurt your business.

Visit our blog to read more about why these “weeds” are hurting your website: https://oldcitywebservices.com/index.php/blog/

Need help getting started? We are a phone call away!

Old City Web Services can remove these pesky weeds from your website and help you spruce up your site in a few other ways, too. Give us a call today and we can get to work improving your business’ website.

– Old City Web Services

Give your business a competitive edge with the latest technology.

April 26, 2011 by anoadmin

Five years ago, only a handful of people had ever heard of social media. It certainly wasn’t a tool that businesses were using to promote themselves on the web, but now social media has become an essential component of every successful marketing campaign. This is just one example of how quickly technology evolves and how important it is as a growing business to stay on top of these changes.

We strive to stay on top of new technology as well so that we can provide the latest tools to our customers. Our goal is to keep your business one step ahead of your competitors when it comes to online marketing tools and services.

Take a look at these new FREE tools and let us help you put them to work for your business:

• QR Codes

You might have seen these little boxes of black and white pixels on recent advertisements. It’s a special barcode that smart phones (with a camera and a barcode reading application) can scan to receive information. The barcode can send the mobile user straight to your website or provide a message such as a discount coupon code.

How is this an advantage? Well, if you’ve ever searched the web on your mobile device you know that it’s not always a quick and easy process. Instead of making someone pull up their mobile browser and search for your website or type in the address, they can simply scan the bar code and go straight there.

• YouTube Direct

Have you ever wanted to harness the power of YouTube on your own website? With YouTube Direct, you can add a video uploading and rating system to your site so that clients can upload their own videos and rate them without having to go directly to YouTube.

While this tool isn’t for every business, attractions and other businesses that offer an experience to their clients could benefit from adding video interaction. It also generates more content, which in turn gives people more ways to find you on the search engines.

• Google Places

Customers who search for your business on Google are most likely to come across your Google Places page first. This free page built right into Google features a map with your location and some basic information, but it can be so much more. You can add photos, videos, hours, a short business description, a link to your website and more. Just visit the Google places link, enter your address, and supply the necessary information. Google will send you a postcard or give you a call with a verification code so that you can certify that you are the business owner.

Once you’ve got your Google Places page set up, encourage your customers to go and leave a review of your business. The review system on Google Places is one of the biggest advantages to the system. More reviews and high ratings will help your website move up in search engine rankings while also providing potential customers with positive endorsements. Google Places also pulls reviews from other sites like TripAdviser, Hotels.com and other sites with reviews and ratings.

Want more information? Give us a call!

Old City Web Services can help you get set-up with all of the above services on your website. Just give us a call today for estimates and pricing.

Wading through domains and hosting.

April 20, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Important information every business owner should know about domain names and hosting.

Whether you host with Old City Web Services or not, there are a few important details that you should know about your website. Every website has to have a domain name and a host. But what are these things? Who owns them? How do they work?

We’ve put together a quick list of frequently asked questions that we receive along with some simple explanations that will help you manage your business presence online.

Questions:

1. What’s the difference between domains and hosting?

A domain name is the exact URL where you website can be found (i.e. www.oldcity.com) whereas hosting is the storage and maintenance of your website files. Think of it like this: Your domain name is like your office building, your hosting is like your utilities. You pay rent to occupy the space where you run your business and you pay the electric bill to keep the lights turned on. You can have a domain name without hosting, but you won’t be able to run your online business without it.

2. Who owns my domain name?

You should personally own your domain name. Be wary of any web designer or associate who wants to put his/her name on your domain—this is the Internet equivalent of someone else putting their name on your lease or property title.

3. How can I update the contact information on my domain name registration?

It is critical to keep your contact information up to date on your domain name registration. If you do not have your correct e-mail address listed, you will not receive notifications when your domain comes up for renewal, which could lead to you losing your website. If your domain is registered through Old City Web Services, we can update your contact information free of charge.

4. Why do I need to know where my domain name is registered?

Almost any time you need to make changes on your website, you’ll need to know the log-in information for your domain and/or hosting account. The same goes when you launch a new website. Your designers and developers have to be able to access your website files to make any changes.

5. What are the advantages to registering my domain with Old City Web Services?

When we register a domain for you, our contact information goes on the registration along with yours so that we receive the same notifications that you do. This is an extra, personal measure to protect you from losing your domain when it comes up for renewal. We notify you at 90, 60 and 30 days before your domain expires to make sure that you have a chance to renew your domain. We can also update your contact information on your domain registration at no additional charge.

6. How much does it cost to register a domain at OCWS?

Domain registrations are ordered in annual increments up to five years at a time. We charge $20 per year or a total of $90 if you register the domain for five years. The longer you register your domain for, the better it looks to the search engines. It’s a sign that your website is legitimate and will be around for a long time.

7. What is included in my hosting charges at Old City Web Services?

In addition to regular hosting and technical maintenance of your website, your hosting service with us includse 500 MB of storage space and up to ten e-mail addresses at your domain, with more available for a nominal fee. You will also receive three free listings on OldCity.com (a $25 per month value) and a link in the footer of your website to OldCity.com. This link reciprocation will enhance your website’s search engine rankings.

If you have a question about hosting or domains that we haven’t answered, please feel free to give us a call. The best thing about hosting and domain maintenance from Old City Web Services is the personal attention we give to your business. Don’t get caught in the changing tides of technology, we’re here to help.