anoadmin - Old City Web Services

All About CMS WordPress

January 29, 2018 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

When a client asks us which content management system (CMS) is best for their online needs we always recommend WordPress. In fact, we even suggest that clients with a different software convert to WordPress. It is the easiest application for business teams to manage, its user-friendly and powerful software can support a variety of small and large businesses, and it is also cost-effective.

WordPress is an Open Source CMS

The two most popular types of CMSs are open source and custom.

CMS (content management system) - Software for your website that allows multiple users to manage website content.

Custom CMS - A CMS that is built from the bottom up by a programmer and is costly. Pricing starts at around $5,000.

Open Source CMS - Software that is open to the public to create, edit, and transform. In most cases, no single individual owns an open source CMS, rather, a community of developers and programmers work on it simultaneously.

The most popular open source CMSs: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal

WordPress offers more free plugins and themes. Overall it's more popular and has double the downloads than other CMSs. Photo from websitesetup.org.

Did you know that 29.3% of websites run on CMS WordPress?

User-Friendly Software

Back-end of CMS WordPress

Despite the complexity of designing and developing a website, business owners can make updates with ease to WordPress’s user-friendly software. Its back-end is structured with business owners in mind, unlike the back-end of Drupal and Joomla, which even developers have a difficult time using. This means that nearly anyone can make website updates and manage their own website. As you can see in the photo above, WordPress clearly lists a series of functions on the left-hand side of the dashboard.

However, the software alone is not enough for an effective website. Along with software, you will need a WordPress theme and plugins.

Plugins and Themes

WordPress has more free and budget-friendly themes.

A theme is the underlying functionality of a website. WordPress has a vast selection of responsive and quality themes. While some may require recurring fees, all themes require maintenance fees. However, WordPress offers twice as many quality themes than the competitor.

Check out these popular and responsive themes. See anything you like?

: Theme: News/ Blogs/ Content Functionality

: Theme: ECommerce Functionality

: Theme: Property Booking Functionality

WordPress also has more plugins.

Plugins are functions that you can add to your website such as a calendar, a reservation bar, a scheduling bar, or to convert to an eCommerce site. CMS WordPress offers over 45,000 quality plugins, exceeding offers from Drupal or Joomla. Furthermore, their plugins are far less expensive than the competitors.

Despite the budget-friendly perks of using WordPress, maybe you find Drupal or Joomla's plugins and themes more attractive. Keep in mind, the themes and plugins available for these two CMSs are going to be just as difficult to navigate as their confusing software.

The photo below will give you a better idea of how difficult it is, for developers and website owners alike, to navigate the back-end of Drupal and Joomla. WordPress' software guides you in the right direction when you need to update your site, add/edit/delete products, add a service, or add imagery.

: WordPress

: Joomla

: Drupal

Unless you enjoy labyrinths,

call us today and we'll convert your website to a WordPress site.

Steve here from OCWS coming at you with my second Tip For Success!
First off - happy new year! I've got one BIG and SIMPLE tip to help you succeed online in 2018. It will help your business more than you can imagine. All you have to do is go to Google.com/MyBusiness, log in, and add as much information about your business as you possibly can.
You're probably thinking, "I did that years ago when I started my business!" If you did, that's great! But guess what? Google has made some changes since then. Google now allows you to add different types of information. The search engine then uses this information every day to serve up search engine results in interesting ways. I'm sure some changes have been made to your business since then and Google would LOVE to know.

Mission Statement

Our mission at Old City Web Services is to navigate the world of web design, web development, and advertising for our clients so that they can focus on what they do best – running their business! Our business intentions go beyond the metrics of graphics, coding, and SEO. Located on Florida’s First Coast, we run a personable home front service and consider our relationship with our clients as a partnership in their success. If you are looking to increase your business’ visibility give us a call at 904-867-4112 or contact us today.

Sharing and re-posting this blog is encouraged. Please credit Old City Web Services when sharing.
Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information on Old City Web Services Blog.
Photo credits: Old City Web Services, WordPress

OldCity Web Services – Highlights of 2017

January 12, 2018 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Check out a few highlights from our year in 2017.
From website and print designs to new content services, SEO efforts, and pro bono projects – we’ve been busy!

Advertorials

Advertising and Content

In 2017 we implemented a new type of advertising on OldCity.com, called advertorials. We now offer a 300-word blog, made-to-order for our clients. Advertisers can use advertorials to spread the word on sales, services, general awareness and more. Our first client was the franchisee of the local chain, Dunkin’ Donuts. Check it out.

Content Writing

St. Augustine Historic Inns

In other content news, the St. Augustine Historic Inns requested we create intriguing blogs for their customers, which are then published on the bottom of their Home Page. The blogs vary in topic, but all pertain to things-to-do, holidays, and events in St. Augustine. Now, when potential customers navigate to the Inn’s website, they are greeted with material that is persuasive, making them more inclined to book a trip to exciting St. Augustine!

Print Design

Bluewater Adventure

Front and back of rack card designed for Bluewater Adventure.

Bluewater Adventure’s made a big move from the waters of South Carolina to the Old City that prompted them to redesign their rack card, which was no longer accurate. Our team decided the only way to fully capture their quality tours was by taking on the Intercoastal Waterway ourselves! We set up a Bluewater Adventure photo shoot and scored photos of the catamarans in action along with phenomenal photos of The Great Cross and Castillo de San Marcos. Now, on the front of the rack card is a proper representation of the sightseeing opportunities you have when sailing with Bluewater Adventure.

Magazine Advertisement Design

Gator Door East Inc.

Gator Door East used this advertisement for their big debut in St. Johns County Parade of Homes magazine! After learning they’d be a featured business, Gator Door sat down with our team to create an influential and compelling ad to catch the attention of shoppers! Don’t you just a-door this ad?

Business Card and Site Design

Jack Ward Fire

Jack Ward Fire, recently under new ownership, desired a brand with a haute look, reflecting their field of work. Working through fire and flames, we presented them with what is now their company’s business card. They were so pleased with the fire-hot cards, that our design team is currently working with them on a smokin’ hot site.

: Gator Door magazine ad for St. Johns County Parade of Homes.

: Jack Ward employee business cards.

E-commerce Solutions

Minorcan Datil

After facing multiple issues with X-Cart commerce solutions, Minorcan owner decided to upgrade to a more modern system, WordPress. Our development team knew that WordPress’s, user-friendly, Woo-commerce theme would satisfy her desire to add new products, edit old products, and raise her customer satisfactory level. Now, Minorcan can concentrate on managing customers and products without the hassle of learning how to navigate a difficult system.

Site and Logo Redesign

Rodbender Fishing Charters

The fishing charter industry in Northeast Florida can be compared to a shark tank, it’s a competitive field and standing out in the crowd can be difficult. After a consultation, it was clear to Chuck Stearns, owner, that Rodbender Fishing Charters needed a fresh logo and easy-to-navigate site. The design team created a few mockups and Chuck decided on this creative logo and simple site. Now, the Homepage of his site subtly answers frequently asked questions and has three call-to-action charter packages. As for the logo, if you can think of a better design, let minnow.

Site Design and Launch

R.V. Cooper Construction

R.V. Cooper Construction is a local construction company servicing St. Augustine and surrounding areas. Remarkably, since 1998, the company has relied on word of mouth to reach new clients; their quality workmanship and attentiveness in guiding customers was their business strategy. However, the competitive nature of the construction field prompted them to make their web presence concrete. Ricky Cooper, the owner, desired a platform that would showcase the construction process, to ease the customer experience. Our team raised the roof by creating Cooper’s beautiful new site; straightforward, simple and user-friendly.

: R.V. Cooper Construction’s Home Page.

: Hook, line, and sinker logo for Rodbender Fishing Charters.

Search Engine Optimization

Ranking Efforts

Search engine optimization (SEO), is imperative for every business to incorporate into their business plan. In 2017, our SEO team worked with nearly a dozen local businesses, developing key-terms and strategies to gain a higher ranking in their search engine results.

Multipurpose Online Designs

St. Joseph Academy

Old City Web Services also did a few pro-bono projects in 2017. One of our favorites was creating a series of 14 athletic-banners for St. Joseph Academy’s sports teams, the Flashes. It was important that the banners could be transferred and size-well whether they were added to newsletters, emails, print media, or their site. Our team sparked the Flashes interest with a lightning bolt and bold imagery. Go team!

Logo Design

The Ponce Hotel

Upon branching out from under the franchise, Magnuson Hotels, The Ponce Hotel needed a fresh look and logo. Our design team worked with the new interior designer at the Ponce on matching the color scheme used inside the hotel. In conclusion, they decided on the simple yet elegant logo.

Love what you see? Call us for a consultation.

Check out other work we've done for clients.

Two things clients can do to push security efforts is to never trust embedded URLs or unsolicited mail. This may seem obvious, but you wouldn’t believe the number of times a client is hacked because they thought they recognized the “From:” address in a spam mail. Also, be on guard for shady apps requesting unusual permission’s – especially mobile ones!

Mission Statement

Website Trends for 2018

January 2, 2018 by anoadmin

In 2017 several website trends caught traction which will remain popular throughout 2018. In the past year, we have noticed a major evolution in the design of small business sites. Cluttered pages, a lack of direction, and M.I.A. contact forms are a thing of the past. The message has been conveyed; business owners are realizing that strong photos, clear messages, and prompt customer service is what makes a positive user experience. A positive experience results in potential customers to stay on a site for longer. Therefore, websites are being designed with a specific goal to convey a clear message and make it as easy as possible for the user. More sites are sticking to a clean site format, incorporating a call to action (CTAs) and chatbots.

Clean Sites and Good Photo Quality

Old City Web Services designs a site that is clear and focused.

This is an example of a site that Old City Web Services redesigned not too long ago. Notice the simple color scheme, clear text, and simplicity of the site.Above all else, a clean and focused website is a top priority for businesses. A cluttered site can be distracting and push potential customers out of your cyber-door. Since sites only have a few seconds to grab the attention of a user, distracting elements like blurry photos, a mismatched color-scheme, and too short or too long of content, is damaging.

Call to Action (CTA)

St. Augustine Record CTA

In this CTA, the St. Augustine Record advertises a local attorneys office.The purpose of a CTA is to prompt the user to take a specific action while on your site. A CTA usually takes the form of a button, link, or pop-up and requests the user to “sign up”, make a purchase, download a coupon, or read more information.

Every site should have a CTA, especially e-commerce sites. They provide a direction for users, measure the success of a site, and let’s not forget they increase conversion. The proof is in the pudding. Nearly every large corporation site has several CTAs and small businesses are following suit in 2018.

CTA’s are for you if you have an e-commerce site, use email as a form of marketing, host events or sales, or provide coupons.

If you are interested in adding a CTA or expanding your current site into an ecommerce site, call us to schedule a free consultation.

Screenshot: Chat automation by thinkingchat.com. An example of what chat automation can look like for your business' site.

Chatbots

Customer service will be more complex than ever in 2018. In the past, customers with an inquiry resorted to dialing a number for a resolution, but in 2018 they will resort to clicking; chatbots are the key to high customer satisfaction.

Consumers are interested in what is most convenient for them and phone calls have become inconvenient. Since users often use the internet and social media pages, such as Facebook, to find information, connecting with them online is more important than ever. Consequently, chatbots are taking the place of phone calls. As you may have noticed on some Facebook Business Pages, it is no longer necessary to dial a number for an answer. Chatbots make it convenient to answer frequently asked questions such as the price of items, event times, locations, and the purchase of tickets. While large enterprises have a customer support person on the other side of their chat box to answer questions, small businesses may not have the manpower to answer individual questions. However, small businesses can rely on chat automation, which provides pre-written responses to FAQ. Chatbots is beneficial for more than just the consumer. In fact, small businesses profit as well because customers are satisfied and better customer data is collected.

The technology behind chatbots is sophisticated but surprisingly inexpensive. Interested in knowing if chatbots are the way to the hearts of your customers? We can help you.

Mission Statement

5 Small Business Tools To Use In 2018

December 15, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

New Year’s Eve is a little over two weeks away, prompting small businesses to take a look at their business strategy. This year, make a New Year resolution for your business that is accomplishable and important! Commit to planning ahead with these small business tools.

Sale and Promotion Tools

In a city like St. Augustine, small businesses don’t necessarily need to create sales or promotions because of the large number of tourists, snowbirds, and travelers constantly passing through. However, who doesn't aim to enhance their business each year? Hypothesis: If a (small) business has few promotions and sales, then a customer will shop where there are more promotions and sales (corporation.)

Promotions and sales are important, but so are promoting your sales and promotions. Use these small business tools to plan your future promotions.

Use a Customer Information Sheet. Gathering customer information is crucial. Currently, email marketing is a huge part of many business strategies. In fact, here are 10 eye-opening statistics by Constant Contact to back that up. One shocking statistic is that 61 percent of consumers enjoy receiving promotional emails weekly. However, text messaging (SMS) marketing is becoming increasingly popular as well, because it is easy, fast, and reliable. Download and print our PDF file, Customer Information Sheet, located at the beginning of this paragraph. Place it by your register and have employees ask customers for their information.
Canva is a free graphic design tool that is used by professional designers and everyday people. They have numerous easy-to-use templates including a Sale Flyer template. Use Canva to create compelling flyers, coupons, and point of purchase material.

: Clothing Sale Template

: Real Estate Sale Template

: Art Sale Template

Social Media Tools

A few of St. Augustine’s small businesses have a strong social media presence like The St. Augustine Distillery, The Surf Station, The Hyppo, and Old City Web Services very own OldCity. Social media is a fickle thing, but the St. Augustine community is loyal to their small businesses. Therefore, with a little dedication and extra planning, you too can benefit from utilizing social media platforms.

HootSuite is a social media management tool. They offer a free plan which allows you to schedule up to 30 posts in advance and manage up to three social media accounts.
Trends Map is free and tells you what is trending on Twitter, in a specific area at that moment.
Google Trends will give you insight into what is trending in your area and nationwide. Type in your topic of choice, and Google will tell you how many times that phrase or word was entered into the search engine. Use the most popular search-terms in planning your social media posts. Google Trends is free to use.

Check out these unbelievable social media facts.

In the photo above, Google compares the search terms "Jacksonville" and "Orlando." Google scales the terms based on the highest amount of times they were ever searched. For example, if during Biketoberfest people searched the word Orlando more times than ever before, that is what the results for search term Orlando will be compared to.

Big Box Stores vs. Small Businesses

Luckily, St. Augustine’s community of residents and visitors are predominantly loyal to small businesses. However, with many more large companies moving into St. Augustine in 2018 and the years to come, will loyalty bring home the bacon? Let’s not find out.

A major difference between the marketing strategy of a large corporation and that of a small business is that corporations have entire teams dedicated to each segment of their business plan. Behind the scenes of a corporation are crews focused on enhancing sales and promotions and a social media strategy. But with the small business tools we share in this article, you won't need dozens of teams to beat out the large corporations.

Social media can scale businesses of all sizes. Therefore, it is important you put in effort towards learning how to manipulate your platforms for your business. Although each outlet has essentially the same purpose, different people (depending on their age, hobby, income, sex) use different platforms. Achieve a better social media presence by altering your strategy for each outlet.

Mission Statement

7 Site Characteristics to Ditch

November 26, 2017 by anoadmin

As a business owner creating and managing a website can be difficult. Your expertise is in your business and not graphic design. However, a compelling website is just as important as a business manager. With the Christmas approaching, you'll want to be sure that visitors are captivated by your site because they have a limited attention span.

While holiday shopping, or preparing their own businesses for the holidays, the chances are that your visitor has a lot on their mind already, just like you! To ease their navigation issues, it is important to eliminate pesky site characteristics.

As a web design company, we urge you to consult with us with any of your web design issues. If two of these items are applicable to your site, we insist you call.

1. The site is not responsive.

If a website is not responsive visitors will have trouble viewing and searching for information. Text and photos that are designed for a desktop site appear small and difficult to read on a smartphone. Or, worst-case scenario, smartphone visitors will have to scroll up and down AND left to right - this can be frustrating.

Responsiveness is not a new concept. For years users have browsed the web using devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. In fact, in November of 2016, mobile browsing surpassed desktop browsing.

2. Contact information is replaced with a form.

Did you experience an outage after hurricanes Matthew or Irma? If so, then you understand why it is irritating when a company doesn’t have their phone number and email address readily available on their website. Basically, it is only acceptable for Florida Power and Lights to hide their contact information from their customers.

Old City Web Services Contact Page is a good example to follow - it includes contact information and a contact form.

3. An irrelevant About Page.

As soon as a visitor lands on a site several things should be apparent to them, for example, the company mission. At this point, if there is any confusion on what services, products, or advice the company provides visitors will navigate to the About Page. If the About Page is still unclear and has a ton of script that doesn’t describe what the business is selling, providing, or producing the visitor will move on to the competitor's website.

An About page shouldn't be boring, but it should be informative.

4. Pages with too little text or too much text.

Website content should be balanced. If each page has a few sentences on it visitors won’t stick around long enough to get a full grasp of your product. In the same sense, visitors are unlikely to read an enormous block of text. Break up large blocks of text with headings and subheadings and combine pages that have only a few sentences of text.

5. Too many Popups.

Advertising and call to actions are important site characteristics and depending on the business, they are non-negotiable. However, if popups are stopping users from navigating to different pages or straight up pesky, chances are they will opt-out of a site faster then they opt-out of spam emails.

Site Characteristics

6. Information is hard to find.

Websites should not resemble mazes - but sometimes they do. Information for visitors needs to be plentiful and well-placed. Large blocks of content, missing details, or missing prices will only frustrate site users and lead them elsewhere. For example, if you are a historic inn or bed and breakfast then your website should include prices, amenities, and the location of your business. Focus on which aspects are most important for your potential customers and be sure to add it to the website.

7. It is messy.

Websites that are eyesores are less likely to engage visitors for long periods of time. Eyesores can include different font styles, mismatched color combinations, blurry or too many photos and random placement of photos. This may seem petty, but if a website is tacky chances are so is the product.

When in contact with your customers or the public, it is extremely important to provide quality customer service. A friendly, courteous disposition goes a long way. That includes answering the phone with a smile on your face; it can be heard in the tone of your voice. Put the shoe on the other foot and treat your customers the way you would want to be treated.

Mission Statement

6 Tips for A Unique About Page

November 12, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

About Page

A customer’s first impression of any company is the About Page. It is just as important as a first interview and needs to stand out in order to wow an audience It is a critical element of each website. Every About Page should include factors such as a description of the company's mission, the company’s history, and what makes it unique. However, to grab the attention of an audience use these methods below.

1. Speak to your customers.

Every About Page describes the company’s purpose, but not every page stands in the shoes of the customer. Further entice an audience by meeting their needs off the bat. To do this it's important to understand what solutions the company provides. A local pub might say, “if you are interested in trying numerous local craft beers and unique beers on tap, head to our pub”, versus “our pub offers numerous local craft beers along with unique beers on tap.”

Every audience is concerned with their own problems. The sooner their headaches are relieved, the easier it is to earn their trust.

2. Add creative media.

There are a few ways to make an About Page visually stand out and media is one of the top methods. Since most pages include a large text and a few photos, consider using videos, charts, and unique employee or customer photos to stand out. A short video (under three minutes), describing the company’s mission is unique and visually appealing. Photos of creative workspaces, holiday work parties, or employee pets are also attention-grabbing. Or, consider displaying a timeline of the company’s growth like Moz.com does on their About Page.

3. Make your backstory relate-able.

Although every About Page should touch on the company's backstory, not each story is entertaining and sympathetic. If we’re being honest, most businesses don’t have an incredible startup story. Many business owners run into luck or money, have extra time or ambition, or the business is passed down from a family member.

Use the factor most unique and relate-able from a backstory and expand on it. For example, maybe you loved ice cream as a child and hence decided to open an ice cream shop. To sum it up, a relate-able story will win the sympathetic vote with an audience.

4. Speak in layman’s terms.

This may seem obvious but unfortunately many websites use terminology that is unfamiliar to their clientele. This applies to all businesses regardless of their products or services. The worst thing you can do on an About Page is to confuse potential customers. For example, words as simple as cataplana, (frying pan mainly used to cook shrimp), may be unfamiliar to some customers and might deter them from visiting a restaurant.

5. Include customer testimonials.

Customers largely rely on customer feedback from sites like Yelp and Google reviews when researching a company. Therefore, adding reviews to an About Page saves the customer a step and allows the business to monitor the reviews they have access to. Even if a company has received a few bad reviews, making the great reviews standout will reassure the audience’s nerves. Make sure the reviews are up to date.

6. Highlight products or services.

Do you offer a specific service or line of products? Your About Page is a great place to highlight what is available to your audience. This element on an About Page provides easy access to customers and depicts their relationship with a business. For example, the owner of a local bar, might highlight specific events regularly scheduled. Or maybe there are certain cocktails or food items that are unique to the restaurant. Brag about the business and highlight key products.

Other things to add

The list above is intended as a guide to make About Pages unique. They aren’t necessary but will help any business stand out. However, there are a few elements that each About Page needs to incorporate such as a mission, a backstory, and a method to contact your company.

The word responsive has many meanings, but in our industry, it is a word that is critical to your online presence. In fact, it is essential that we make it easy for our clients to use our sites regardless of the device they are using; a phone, tablet, pc, or laptop. Stay ahead of your competitor and make sure your site is responsive. Want more information on what all that means? We are a phone call away, email away, text away - we have the answers to your questions.

Use Social Media for your Holiday Campaign

October 24, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Holiday Social Media Campaign

Plan your Holiday Social Media Campaign for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.

Kick-start Your Holiday Social Media Campaign on Facebook

A Facebook event is the perfect way to spread the word about your campaign.

First, create an event for your Black Friday sale, Cyber Monday sale and Small Business Saturday. The event feature in Facebook provides every tool you need to spread accurate information to your audience; time, location, and description of the promotion. Whether you are a historic bed and breakfast or trendy boutique you should create a catchy title.

Holiday Social Media Campaign

Attract attention with a Facebook contest.

Get your Facebook page exposure by getting it more likes, views, and interaction with a Facebook contest. Although they don't necessarily enhance a social media campaign they do, in fact, reinforce your campaign efforts because they bring your company to the attention of the public.

Small businesses rarely participate in Facebook contests. However, contrary to popular belief, they are straightforward and easy to manage. Click here, to learn more about contests.

Follow-Up with Twitter

Hashtags

Promote your Facebook event on Twitter and decide which hashtags to use throughout your holiday social media campaign. It is important that hashtags stay the same during campaign tweets. Also, keep in mind, "tweets with one hashtag are 69% more likely to be retweeted than those with two" according to Taylor Webster, of Postcron.

Poll on Twitter

Polls are easy for followers to participate in and encourage engagement. But remember to gear your query towards your social media campaign. Example: "What will you buy your Uncle for Christmas? A) Our Rabbit foot, B) Our Custom Salt/Pepper shakers, C) Our Brand Steering wheel cover."

Mentions and Memes

Obviously, the mention of a fellow business doubles your audience because their followers see the tweet as well. But, don't overdo it and be sure it is a business you have a relationship with.

On the other hand, memes can't be overdone. In fact, you can take comfort in the fact your audience appreciates the entertainment - unless you are posting dozens of memes daily. Who makes up the majority of your clientele? Use that as a guideline for humor.

Post on Instagram

Use Stories to entice shoppers during your campaign

Since your campaign information is out on Facebook and Twitter, use stories to grab the attention of your audience because it will further focus your audiences' attention. Whether your campaign is for a Black Friday sale, or Small Business Saturday shopping, Stories offer a sneak peek at the venue and goodies they have to look forward to.

Add a Poll

We talked about the 3 new social media updates to know about a few weeks ago and the Instagram poll feature, added to the Stories section, is one of those new updates. Every call-to-action method is just as important as the next. Therefore each available method should be utilized to maximize your campaign success and even though the poll is limited to a two-answer query, it is necessary.

Photo quality is key to a successful social media campaign

Instagram is essential to your holiday social media campaign, but it will do more harm than good if you do not share quality photos. Followers get a visual of your product that leaves a lasting impression. Therefore, if a photo is blurry or includes unkeen elements; dirt, holes, garbage, or random items, it is better to not post at all. Audiences understand that quality photos are taken of quality products. Consequently, it is a good idea to use appealing backdrops and props, sharp photography and a clear message when posting.

: Hotels and B&B’s

: Alcoholic Beverages

: Trinkets

: Clothing and Shoes

P.S. Unlike Twitter, Instagram users love hashtags so add as many as you'd like. Remember to keep them on topic with your campaign. Include the campaign hashtags you use on Twitter.

In conclusion, it is important to stay consistent while planning your holiday social media campaign. Therefore it is important to post frequently and stick with your theme! But, if you are having difficulties planning a campaign yourself, give us a call.

Shop local. Shop St. Augustine.

To support the shop local movement, we have created the Shop St. Augustine campaign. Whether you are a business owner or are shopping, eating, playing, or staying in St. Augustine, using #ShopStAugustine connects you with other businesses in town and helps show everyone that St. Augustine is open for business.

A slim and focused website beats a cluttered website every time. More is not always better. We have seen first-hand businesses make the mistake of including irrelevant information to their website. The website eventually loses its focus and ceases to be an effective marketing tool. You pay a lot of money in SEO and other marketing tools to get customers to your website - but there is little to no action from it. Remember you have a very brief window of opportunity to capture a customer. Your website’s visitor should immediately understand what your company does and how that benefits them. Failure to do this will simply result in the visitor going to your competitor. Take an honest look at your website. It may be time for a little de-cluttering and re-focusing. We can help!

Mission Statement

3 Social Media Updates to Know About

October 13, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Social media platforms are essential to most marketing strategies. These three social media updates on Twitter, Instagram, and Hootsuite will easily connect you with customers, help you obtain feedback, and spread product awareness.

Instagram Adds Poll Feature

On October 3rd, Instagram added new stickers in the Stories section of the app that enable you to poll followers. The polls are limited to a two-answer query. But, there is a catch, the polls expire with your Story which lasts 24 hours.

Twitter also has a polling feature that many businesses use to collect feedback and essentially create happy customers. Social media updates made to Instagram, can be used in the same way and will give you a better idea of where you stand when it comes to the relevancy of your product or business. For example, if you are a bakery you can ask something like, "Do you like red velvet cake?" Based on the answers of your followers, you'll know whether to make dozens of red velvet cupcakes, or just a few!

Social Media Updates to Hootsuite

On October 10th, Hootsuite increased the number of posts a free user can schedule from ten to thirty! This is a game changer for businesses who utilize the social media management tool. Instead of buying an expensive package, they have access to schedule more posts in advance.

Hootsuite is constantly making social media updates. With their newest addition you can send more bulk messages, plan more campaigns, and keep your social media sites more organized. Instead of creating compelling messages on a day to day basis, spend your spare time interacting with followers by re-tweeting, re-posting, and liking or sharing posts.

Hootsuite, Social Media Upgrades

Hootsuite now alerts you to how many posts you have scheduled and available.

Twitter Updates Character Count

On September 26th, Twitter announced that a small group of users are experimenting with a larger character count per tweet. The social media platform believes users will appreciate the extra text room. If this is true, you can expect the limit to double from the current 140 characters to 280 characters.

As a business owner using media sites like Twitter is imperative for staying relevant and interacting with your customers. An increased character count means there is no need for sacrificing grammar or the integrity of a post. Basically, this social media update will allow businesses to better promote products, convey messages, and add more hashtags!

"...languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese you can convey about double the amount of information in one character as you can in many other languages, like English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French." - Aliza Rosen, Twitter Employee, Chart by Twitter

Businesses that use blogs or social media platforms to channel their audience should also utilize an editorial calendar. Editorial calendars allow you to organize your media strategy, manage projects, plan bulk campaigns, and stay relevant! A visual record of content is also very useful when comparing efforts that have been successful to those that have not. Don't know how to get started? No worries, we can help!

Our mission at Old City Web Services is to navigate the world of web design, web development, and advertising for our clients so they can focus on what they do best - running their business! Our business intentions go beyond the metrics of graphics, coding, and SEO. We run a personable home front service located on Florida's First Coast and consider our relationship with our clients as a partnership in their success. If you are looking to increase your business’ visibility give us a call at 904-867-4112 or contact us today.

Is Google Turning Into a Helicopter Parent?

October 1, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Terms you Need to Know

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol): how we send and receive information on the web. For example, by typing "fall activities in St. Augustine," in Google's search box, you are actually sending a command to a server. In return the server fetches the information.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): is the technology that allows information to be encrypted between the web server and browser. An SSL Certificate can vary in cost depending on the level of security needed. If you are in need of an SSL Certificate, contact Old City Web Services today

HTTPs (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure): is a secure way to send and receive information. The information you would normally get through HTTP is encrypted through HTTPs.

: Example of HTTPs URL (Secure)

: Example of HTTP URL (Not Secure)

Is Google Serious?

This past January, Google Chrome decided to become that uncool mom - who is so cautious that it is literally crippling. The number one search engine began marking websites that require sensitive information, like credit cards, social security numbers, and passwords, without the HTTPs in the URL as not-secure.

But, this crazy soccer mom, is only getting started. This October, they are taking security to the next level and will mark ANY website you interact with, that does not have HTTPs in the URL, as not-secure. So far they are defining interaction as, anything you enter into a text box, including search boxes. To promote a safer internet they are placing icons at the beginning of URLs.

: Secure

: More Info/ Not Secure

: Dangerous/ Not Secure

Will Google Standards Effect Your Business?

A secure website undoubtedly brings users comfort while they browse your site, but, it is not detrimental to your business plan. If you are requesting sensitive information, OCWS suggests you spend the few extra bucks and become SSL certified - to protect your clients and yourself from liability. The bummer is that adding SSL Certification to your website slows down the streaming of your page, because there is an extra step in place - which encrypts information. The good news is that it is possible to only certify certain pages or forms!

If you are interested in SSL certifying your website, or individual pages, OCWS works with GeoTrust, to provide certifications for our clients. Contact us today!

Rumor has it that Google's new standard will cause search results to place HTTPs sites above HTTP sites. We have not noticed this as yet. The reliability of information on your website at large, remains to be what will predominantly effect your SEO.

A tip for success:
Create A Newsletter
One simple way to stay in-touch with your customers is to create a newsletter. It can then be sent directly to your audiences' inbox wherever they are and they will know what's going with your business. Newsletters are also an awesome way to share current specials and events with your audience.

Sharing and re-posting this blog is encouraged. Please credit Old City Web Services when sharing.
Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information on Old City Web Services Blog.

Domain Name Importance

September 18, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

When it comes to your domain name, there are a few things that you need to know:

Who is your domain registered with (Tucows, Network Solutions, GoDaddy, etc..)
Who, if anyone, is managing it for you or are you responsible for it yourself
When is it due to expire/renew

By making sure that your domain is renewed in time, you are ensuring that your website remains active and that you'll keep receiving email at your domain name. By not keeping information current on your domain and failing to renew it in a timely manner, you run the risk of paying more to renew and occasionally you may even lose ownership of it altogether. We'd hate to see that happen.

When we manage your domain for you, not only will you receive several email renewal notifications, you'll also receive a phone call/calls from us until we make sure we have your authorization to renew.

If you are interested in having our team manage your domain, contact us today!

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