Old City Web Services

Old City Web Services

  • Home
  • Services
    • Web Design and Development
    • Digital Marketing
    • Graphic Design
    • WordPress Training
    • Web Maintenance Services
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Contact

5 Differences Between DIY and Professional Websites

July 19, 2019 by anoadmin

The Five Differences Between DIY and Professional Websites

It isn’t a surprise that there is a challenge or two to face when taking on a DIY project. So when does the challenge outweigh the perks of saving money by doing it yourself? In this blog, we’ll run down the five differences between DIY and professional websites and let you decide whether they are a worthwhile investment. We’re sure you’ll agree that sticking with the professionals is the best route for success.

Image contains a man hammering a nail in wood.

Wait, what is a DIY website?

A DIY website is a website that individuals create themselves without the assistance of a professional; a few examples of site builders are Wix, Weebly, and Shopify. The characteristic that makes the sites so likeable is how easy they are to use. Their software incorporates the drag and drop method along with other similar methods that allow users to easily design their site. This eliminates the need to have a website built by professional developers and designers. But they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Note: DIY websites may be easy to use, but professional websites can be too. In fact, websites built on a WordPress platform are easy for the everday business owner to manage – just like they would on a DIY website.

1. You don’t own your site.

1. You don’t own your site.

Image contains a website with a "For Sale" sign on it.

After the launch of your professionaly built website, the website is then handed over to you. You are free to do what you’d like with it such as host it with the company you choose. In other words, you can choose where your website files reside. However, this isn’t the case with a DIY website builder because they have proprietary software. For example, think of your cable subscription. You aren’t allowed to keep your cable box, wires, and remote controller after you cancel a subscription. This is exactly the case with DIY websites. But instead of cable equipment, it’s the website files that you can’t keep. Essentially, they are loaning

you your website and while you pay for it you never truly own it.

If your DIY website builder goes out of business, changes its services and products, or if you decide you want to move your hosting to a different company, poof, your site is gone. Now you’ll have to start from scratch and the money you spent could have been better spent on a professional website.

Disclaimer: Whether you own your DIY site or not may vary from platform to platform.

Read the Terms of Use for Wix, Weebly, and Shopify.

2. They have limited capabilities.

2. They have limited capabilities.

Image contains a list of 5 tabs with the option to expand each tab.

Figure 1: An example of an accordion plugin.

Among the huge differences between DIY and professional websites is the fact that DIY websites have limited capabilities. While a professionally built website can do pretty much anything your heart desires, DIY websites are limited. While this contributes to their easy usability, it can also negatively impact experience people have on your website.
A DIY website may have common functions such as a contact form for clients or e-commerce capabilities for shoppers. However, they don’t have access to every functionality you may need. For example, many of them don’t permit the use of content plugins, such as the accordion plugin you’re reading from right now and that is shown in Figure 1. This accordion plugin is used to organize large amounts of content – especially when read on a smartphone. If your clients often view your website on their phones, you’ll want to have access to these types of plugins. Another example is blog posts, which you are also reading from right now. Many DIY websites builders only permit pages and not subpages, which are needed for blog posts. Since Google and other search engines consider this type of content important, not having blog post capabilities can negatively affect your SEO (search engine optimization).
3. You don’t get the expertise of a professional.

3. You don’t get the expertise of a professional.

Image contains a button that says "Help".

Perhaps the biggest setback is that you can’t consult a professional designer or developer when you build a website yourself. They come in handy when it comes to the user’s navigation experience on your website, adding your brand and colors, and adding functions specific to your company. While DIY website builders have customer support services, they are very limited and only cover software problems and not design issues. If functions or designs go awry, you’d have to find the solution on your own rather than relying on a team of professionals to fix the issue.

4. Many of them have hidden costs.

4.Image contains a man holding the inside of his pockets out. Many of them have hidden costs.

Image contains a man holding the inside of his pockets out.

While DIY websites like Wix, Weebly, and Shopify claim to have a standard monthly fee, there are a few stipulations. For example, you may be paying for your subscription and just got started working on designing your website. However, they may still require an additional cost when you go to launch the website. Furthermore, you’ll have to pay extra for unique themes and plugins if you don’t want to use their standard ones. So while many of these builders advertise a low starter cost, the cost can go way up once you start building the website. On the flip side, professional websites usually have a set price for an entire website design along with set monthly prices for hosting and maintenance updates.

5. Doing it by yourself eats up a lot of time.

5. Doing it by yourself eats up a lot of time.

GIF contains a man throwing his computer.

Most importantly, a DIY website is time-consuming whereas having a professional build it is not. The truth of the matter is that regardless of how easy-to-use these builders are, websites are complicated. Rearranging, uploading, and designing your own website takes more hours of your valuable time than people realize. If something is to go wrong, you’ll spend even more time trying to fix the problem or getting in touch with customer support.

Think of it like this, a car mechanic can complete a simple task like changing the brakes on a car in an hour or two. However, it may take someone who isn’t a mechanic twice as long. This is because this person doesn’t have the experience, knowledge, or correct tools to make this an easy task. We understand that your expertise and valuable time is needed to do what you do best.

So are DIY websites worth the work?

Just like you wouldn’t want a DIY logo, a DIY website isn’t in your best interest. Sure, they are easy to use; the fact that you don’t need the skills of a developer is appealing to many people. However, this luxury is a double-edged sword – and has five major pitfalls. In fact, if you aren’t convinced yet, we’ve got more proof for you. Check out our blog where we compare WordPress (an open-source CMS) and Squarespace, another DIY website.

Websites are confusing and that’s why we’re to help. If you already feel in over your head from this DIY website talk, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re a web firm that delivers and are glad to take the worries of your website off your shoulders.

If you are convinced that DIY websites aren’t worth the hassle, contact us today to talk about getting your professional website built.

Call us at 904-867-4112 to schedule an appointment or contact us by clicking the button below.

Let’s Get Started on Your Professional Website

Mission Statement

The 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.

Please share and re-post this blog.  Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on Old City Web Services Blog.

Filed Under: Content Management System, Web Development, Website Design

Website Terms to Know

October 4, 2018 by anoadmin

Most businesses hire a web firm to navigate the enigma that is the web world. From registering your domain to ensuring responsiveness, web firms take care of the nuances of your website. However, it’s important that the information they give you is translated correctly. To help you understand your web firm better, we've created a list of frequently used terms in the web world.

Website Terms

CMS (Content Management System) - A CMS is software that is used to manage your website content for your website.  It may allow multiple people to manage a website's content and is usually internet based. One example is WordPress.

Development - This is the act of programming or coding that creates features and functions so that a design concept can be built into a website.

Development Site - An alias website with a different domain than that of the actual website. While a site is being built or undergoing a redesign, a development site is used. The purpose of a development site is to have a private space to build a website.

Design - The overall appearance of a website including colors, fonts, images, spacing, and style.

Domain Name - A domain is the name of your website and where users can access your site on the internet.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address) - An IP address is a unique set of numbers that are separated by periods. Each series of numbers identifies the computer or server that a website is hosted on; think of it as the street address of where your website resides.

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

Plugins - Plugins are functions that you add to your website such as a calendar, a reservation bar, a scheduling bar, or to convert to an eCommerce site.

Responsive - Responsiveness is a website's capability to adapt to different devices. Design and functionalities of a responsive website stay intact whether the website is being viewed on a desktop, smartphone, or tablet.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - SEO is the act of using techniques, strategies, and content to help a website appear at the top of the SERP (search engine results page) allowing the maximum number of people to visit your website. Google is an example of a search engine.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) - An SSL certificate is a technology that encrypts information between the web server and a browser; it is an extra level of security for your website that protects you and visitors. Read about Google's part in promoting SSL certificates.

Themes - A theme is the underlying functionality of a website.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - A URL is the address of a web page; each web page has a different URL. URLs, links, and web addresses are interchangeable words. An example of a URL is https://oldcitywebservices.com/services/.

User Interface - The user interface is how users navigate a website after landing on a web page. This includes menus, the layout of the text, contact forms, buttons and more. A designer and developer must consider and optimize the user interface to make the user experience as friendly as possible.

Web Host - A web host is a business that provides the servers where your website files are located so that they can be accessed through the Internet.

WordPress - WordPress is an open source CMS that we encourage clients to build their websites on. WordPress offers over 45,000 quality plugins, exceeding offers from Drupal or Joomla (which are rivalry CMS').


Tip for Success – Research, examine and execute.

Old City Web Services

This list of terms may have opened your eyes to areas that your website is lacking in. But, if you’re website is lacking several characteristics, you may be asking yourself “Where do I start?” and “What can I afford?” The best thing to do is research, examine and execute.

Research your website needs.

  • The first step is to determine what your website is lacking. You can research this by using materials like this blog of defined terms, calling Old City Web Services, or reading material online.

Examine your choices and budget.

  • What is the biggest piece missing from your website? If your website is missing several things, you'll have to decide what's most critical to its success. This is a great question for us, just give us a shout! We can lead you in the right direction based on your unique needs.

Execute the process.

  • This is the easiest step! Inform us of your final decision and we'll get the ball rolling! Remember to relax - the tough part is over and now you can lean on the trustworthy shoulders of your web firm team.

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.

Filed Under: Content Management System, Design, Web

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

CMS WordPressed benefits

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?

WordPress Theme
Theme: News/ Blogs/ Content Functionality
WordPress Theme
Theme: ECommerce Functionality
WordPress Theme
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.

Backend of WordPress
WordPress
Backend of Joomla
Joomla
Backend of Drupal
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

Filed Under: Community, Content Management System, mobile-responsive website, Tips For Success Tagged With: CMS, Drupal, Joomla, Open Source, Plug-Ins, Themes, User-Friendly, WordPress

How to Prevent Getting Hacked

May 19, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Adobe Spark (6)

 

Let's face it. A lot of our lives take place online these days. We can send a quick email instead of going to the post office. We can do our banking via our phone. We can build an online presence for our businesses people see before they ever set foot in our brick and mortar stores. While our dependence on technology isn't showing any signs of slowing down, it's important to stay safe online.

One of the biggest safety concerns with technology is protection against hackers and viruses. Everyone online is susceptible to safety threats. So, how can you prevent these threats and protect yourself?

Change your passwords regularly

  • Efficient and carefully constructed passwords help protect your accounts and private information. It's important to change your password at least every 90 days. It might seem inconvenient but could pay off big time.
  • Other important things to remember:
    • Use different password for each of your accounts
    • Make sure password has a variation of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols
    • Make your password lengthy. The more intricate the password, the more difficult it is to guess.
    • Keep passwords stored in a safe place.
  • For more information on password safety, read our blog: Are Your Passwords Safe?

Make sure your computer is protected

Security software is vital to the protection of your computer and the programs run on it. Not installing the proper security software is the equivalent of leaving your door unlocked. It leaves you vulnerable to thieves getting in and stealing what's important to you.

When the proper antivirus and antimalware software isn't installed, you become susceptible. Hackers create viruses and malware for different reasons. Through viruses, hackers have the ability to take control of your computer, steal information, and cripple your computer or network of computers. Malware tracks your actions such as what passwords you type, what credit card numbers you use and other sensitive information.

Just as it is important to have the right software, it's just as important to make sure that software is as up to date as possible.

Perform routine updates on your website

Like we stated in our last blog, Why Updating Your Site Matters, content management systems, such as WordPress, regularly send out updates. It is vital to your website's security that you keep up with these updates. Although your host’s servers may have tight security, a website that is behind on updates becomes vulnerable to security threats. It makes you more susceptible to hackers and viruses.

A big target of hackers is websites, such as e-commerce sites, that contain sensitive information such as credit card numbers. A website using old software has a much higher risk of being hacked.

Practical Tips to Protect Yourself

  • Be cautious if you receive emails from people you don't recognize
  • Don't click links in suspicious emails
  • Be cautious of emails that ask for sensitive information (personal information, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.). Reputable companies will never ask for that type of information via an email.
  • Don't store passwords or sensitive information on your computer. In the chance that your computer is hacked, this puts you at risk for having your information used against you.
  • When using public WiFi, don't allow file-sharing. A hacker can implant bad software on your computer through this avenue
  • Make sure your email and website are hosted on secure servers

How We Can Help

Our clients' safety is a top priority at Old City Web Services. We offer website and email hosting on our own secure servers for a minimal hosting fee that includes customer service. Our staff is always available if something goes wrong. We also perform website maintenance to protect against safety threats. If our customers ever do have a security issue, our staff is just a phone call away. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we can keep you and your business safe.

 

Filed Under: Content Management System, Cyber Security, Domains and Hosting

Updating Your Website – More Important Than You Might Think

May 12, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

As a business owner, you know that your website is important, but how often do you update your website? We're not just talking about making sure you have new photos and fresh content. We're talking about website updates for the back end of your website. While updates may seem like a hassle or just another thing taking time away from important projects, they're actually important and vital to the functionality and protection of your site.

Updates of any kind can seem like a hassle and waste of time when you could be doing other things. So, often times, we put updates off until later...and later...and later. We've all been there. A notification pops up on our computer or phone saying it needs to update to a new version of the software, and we think, "This software seems to work just fine." We ignore the notifications or click "Remind me later." But our devices and websites don't remind us just for fun. Technology companies don't come up with updates unless they're important.

So, why is updating your website so important?

Security

Adobe Spark(151)We cannot stress enough how important updating is for your website's security.

"With WordPress in particular, the majority of minor-version updates are to fix various security issues that have been discovered," said Jordan Hazen, technical system administrator at Old City Web Services. "WordPress can be configured to keep its core software updated automatically, and it's a good idea to have this enabled."

If you are looking to get your WordPress to update automatically, go to your Easy Updates Manager in WordPress and enable that setting. If you would like, WordPress can also send emails when a new update is available. To set up that service, go to WordPress settings and enable your Updates Notifier. It is important to note that if you do an automatic update, your site can break. If we do your site update and it breaks, we are there to fix it for you right when it happens.

Although your host's servers may have tight security, a website that is behind on updates becomes vulnerable to security threats. It makes you more susceptible to hackers and viruses. A big target of hackers is websites, such as e-commerce sites, that contain sensitive information such as credit card numbers. A website using old software has a much higher risk of being hacked. An old plugin might have stored credit card numbers in plain English while a new version would encrypt the numbers for safety. If your site got hacked, you could be subject to legal action from those whose credit cards were stolen. They could state that you did not store their information properly. So, not only is your site at risk but also the wellbeing of your company.

New Features

With new updates come new features. This is a good reminder that website updates really are there to help you and work in your favor, and they're an incentive to update to see what new cool features are available to make your work and website better overall. Each update comes out with new features unique to the update. One of the most recent updates is WordPress 4.7 which was released at the end of 2016 and presented a new default WordPress theme for 2017.

Here's a video introducing the new update:

The new features include immersive featured images, video headers, and subtle animations. The update was mainly focused on business websites. Some of the more technical features include the ability to edit shortcuts icons, the ability to add pages in your menu, the ability to add live custom CSS, and more.

Better performance

Adobe Spark(150)When you update your website, you will notice that your site's performance will improve overall. Updates often improve plugins, themes, and WordPress in general. WordPress releases updates when they know they can help things run more efficiently, so you're always working with the best tools. Think of it as car maintenance. If you have a car part that is older, it might be wearing down and not working as well as it once could. Once you put a new part in your car, you'll notice the difference in performance. Just as it is important to maintain your car along the way, it's important to make updates to your website along the way for optimum functionality.

 

Bug Fixes

Adobe Spark(149)

 

Nothing is perfect and no website is ever done. WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, not because they did everything perfectly the first time they released the program but because they are constantly working to improve their product.  A common reason for updates is fixing something that was not working to its potential previously. These updates will also help with the functionality and speed of your website.

 

 

How we can help

Adobe Spark(149)As you can see, updating your website is crucial to its security and performance. It's important to maintain the best website you can for your business. We know that as a business owner, your to-do list is neverending. This is why we offer services to update clients' websites for them. Working with our knowledgeable team takes the guesswork out of the process and assures you that you are taking the best steps to protect and enhance your website.

If you are interested in our services, contact us to set up a free consultation and let us show you how we can help!

Filed Under: Content Management System, Cyber Security, eCommerce

4 Reasons To Hire A Graphic Designer

February 21, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Adobe Spark(51)

DIY - you hear it all the time. Whether it's on home improvement shows or starting up a business or even building a website. When you have your own business, money is a top priority, so it can make sense to go the "do it yourself" route. The more work you can do yourself saves you money and, in turn, makes you a bigger profit, right? Well, not always.

While cutting corners and being frugal are admirable endeavors, there are some scenarios in which hiring a professional will save you from a major headache down the road. One of the scenarios when it's best to leave it to the professionals is when doing graphic design for your business.

Why Should You Hire A Graphic Designer?

Time is of the essence

As a business owner, you know that time has value. While your mind is going in a million directions trying to run your business, it can be hard to give any one area 100 percent of your undivided attention. A lot of business owners who are crafty try to design their logo or website themselves. But what ends up happening is you spend your whole day running your business and then try to work on it a little in your very rare spare time. Running your business is obviously what takes precedence and makes it easy to put your branding on the back burner. Your logo, website, and graphics represent who you are. This is how your business makes its first impression. A graphic designer does this for a living. This is their area of expertise. They have the time to give your project all of their energy to make it the best that it can be. The way your business comes across online can positively or negatively impact your potential customers' view of you.

Saving money up front could cost you later

There are many website builders and people offering low-cost logo design services out there. For many, this can seem like just the answer they've been looking for. Why pay more if you can get it done super cheap and easy, right? Well, this is a good time to remember the saying,"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Website builder sites make building a website look so simple you could do it in your sleep. With easy-to-navigate templates and simple, appealing design, you could have your site up in a day. But with this quick fix comes some downfalls to be aware of. With sites like Wix, you can't take your website with you. They own your domain. So, if you want to leave Wix later on, you're not taking your website with you. This essentially means starting over. As for your logo design, outsourcing to a low-cost designer could mean a smaller bill upfront but trouble later. That designer might be just turning out designs from templates with slight variations, meaning that your logo isn't truly unique. Original design has a much longer lifespan than something that was done halfheartedly which means fewer redesigns for you to worry about.

When you hire a designer, you're also hiring their experience

A seasoned designer might be able to come up with your logo after just one meeting. This doesn't mean that their services are worth any less because they did it quicker. That means that their years of experience have led them to the moment of creating your brand. Think about it. Designers create and hone their craft daily. Design is their life's work and passion. A good designer is constantly learning and trying new things. They are on top of the latest trends and know the do's and don'ts of the industry. Many people can use design programs, but it takes a professional to have the experience and knowledge to create something timeless and meaningful with them. When a designer creates your brand, they get to know your business and your target audience. They take your mission and vision and turn it into an icon people will recognize for years.

Your design will be as unique as you are

By going with templates and pre-made designs, you might find something close to what you're going for but you might not ever be able to truly express your business' vision. A designer can set you apart by custom-creating your look. Your website can be specific to your needs instead of you having to fit your business to a template. It is built from the ground up with you in mind the whole time. Yes, this takes time. But if you are building a custom house with specific measurements, wouldn't you rather it take more time to get exactly what you want than a quick job that leaves something to be desired? Designers can combine your vision with their knowledge to create something truly unique which will make you stand out from your competition.

At Old City Web Services, our mission is to help our clients be as successful as possible. We meet, discuss their current situation, and give suggestions as to help make their brand be the best it can be. We know deciding to build a website or revamp a logo is a big decision, so we stand with our clients every step of the way. We never try to give our clients more than they can handle - we give them what they need. When you decide to do business with us, you are not just a customer but part of our family. We promise to take care of you and give you a result you can be proud of. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you stand out!

Filed Under: Content Management System, Design, Website Design

What Your Website Says About You

February 14, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Adobe Spark(4)

You may think your business makes its first impression when people step foot through your door.

Think again.

Your website is your first impression

In the day of smartphones and ever-changing technology, people often form their opinion of you without even leaving their couch. Think about it - whenever you want to go out to eat, you pull out your phone or laptop and search your options.

How do you decide where to go?

Usually, the websites highest up on the list are more apt to get your attention. So you go to the potential restaurant's website. If it looks inviting and up-to-date, you're more willing to take it seriously as an option than if the website looks like it was built in 2007 and never updated, right? That's because your website is the face of your business. You may think that a website is just something you have to have as a business owner, but the truth is that an impressive website has the ability to build your customer base and make you stand out among the competition.

"Having a well-designed site is just as important as having a well-kept brick and mortar store."

- Bobby Jones, Art & Design Director at Old City Web Services

Up-to-date websites build consumer trust

When a customer visits your website, they equate the quality of your website with the quality of your products. Although you may provide excellent service and amazing products, if your website doesn't reflect it, you'll have a difficult time convincing prospective customers otherwise. For instance, if you run an e-commerce site and the check out page is out of date and difficult to navigate, how many online transactions do you think you would miss out on? Potential customers might not feel secure entering their card information. It is important to present a professional and efficient website so customers feel safe.

Modern websites help you compete with large companies

If you are a small, local business, you might think your only competition is other small businesses. But really, all businesses in your industry are your competition. If you run a local coffee shop,  you are not only competing with other small coffee shops and cafes but also large corporations who have nationwide and international followings. Customers will compare your service to theirs. What do they gain by going to you? Is it better service or quality? Maybe a better price? You may not have the same budget as a large corporation, but you can still create a website that can compete with them. If you present something modern and updated, potential customers will give you more attention and think of you as a more legitimate company.

So you need a new or updated site? Let us help.

We are in the business of helping businesses succeed. We are constantly developing, updating, and maintaining websites for our clients to ensure that their online presence is the best it can be. We offer free consultations which allow us to get to know you, your business, and how you would like to present your company online. Contact us today so we can help you stand out among the competition!

Filed Under: Content Management System, Design, Website Design

Old City Web Services Launches New Website!

June 15, 2016 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

website

WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT !

We are very excited to show off our new website here at Old City Web Services! Everything has been updated from images for the website, the "About" section to our portfolio. Not only is it responsive on any device, but it's also easier to navigate through our site. So go explore our new site, and click on everything! See what Old City Web Services can do for your business!

We recognize we have to update our website, Is it time to update yours?
Contact Us Today to Get Started!

Filed Under: Advertising, Content Management System, Content Marketing, General, Marketing, mobile-responsive website, News, Search Engine Optimization, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Special Message, Website Design

5 Mistakes Not to Make in WordPress

January 27, 2016 by anoadmin

helpBuilding a website isn't as easy as it looks. There are a lot of things that go into the background of a website, in addition to the design and layout and basic functions. Often, there are things that are overlooked if you don't go with an expert to build your website for you.

Making Life Difficult for Mobile Users: Having a website created today that isn’t mobile friendly is a surefire way to lose site visitors, along with Google Rank. It may sound easy enough, but it isn’t. Our expertise at Old City Web Services can have your current or new site functioning for mobile users quickly and seamlessly.

Not Using Google Analytics: You can’t possibly know how to drive content to your site or how your web site is performing without having stat tracking set up on your website. Google Analytics is an easy way to track and simple reports can be generated that will help you strategize website updates and changes. We can help you install Analytics and understand your reports. Call us today to get you started!

Ignoring WordPress Updates: Having an out of date version of WordPress can leave your website vulnerable. Updating your WordPress version isn’t a complicated task, but running a backup before you update can be. We can set you up on a plan to run updates and keep everything running smoothly on your site in the background on a quarterly basis. Contact us today to find out how to get started!

Not having a Contact Form: A contact form is easy to set up, and easy for visitors to use. Although you may have your email atypingddress on your site handy, that assumes that the visitor has an email client set up on their device to use it. It’s much more user-friendly to have a form that will send the email right to you after they fill it out. This also gives you a record of entries so you can look them up if you lose an email.

Ignoring SEO Settings: You won’t want to ignore the SEO settings for posts and pages. It is not enough to just install a plugin for SEO and then do nothing. You should still proactively update your meta settings among other things.

All of these are things that we can help with on your current site or help you avoid by creating your site for you. Contact us today to help you maximize your website’s potential.

Filed Under: Content Management System, Mobile Website, Website Design

What Does That Mean? Internet Terms Defined

May 27, 2015 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

You have your business that you know in and out. You understand everything there is to know about the services you offer and the products you stand by. You also know you need to market your business, and in today's world that means using the internet to reach customers. That is where we come in, but often you are left without knowing what WE are talking about. Here is a quick list of terms to help you understand more about what we do and how we use our expertise in this area to help your business.

Internet Terms You Need to Know:

URL: This is the address that a user types into the address bar to reach your website. Ex: http://www.oldcity.com

Browser: Examples are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. These are what platform you use to browse the internet and each is a little different, offering a unique experience for web visitors.

Landing Page: This is the page that a web user "lands" on when they arrive at your website. It's the place where you welcome a visitor to your website, share an overview of your business and provide your first impression to them about who and what you are as a company.

Content Management System: A content management system (CMS) is a back-end tool that allows publishing, editing and modifying content on a website. Using a CMS can make it easier to change the design of a site independent of the site's content or pages. A CMS doesn't require downloading software to your computer and can be used from anywhere with an internet connection, making it a user-friendly and streamlined way to manage your website.

Backlink: Links from other website pages to yours, used to increase a site's popularity with search engines and to get more people to visit your site. The quality of a backlink and its anchor text is factored into Google's algorithm when deciding how much importance to place on it and therefore where to place it in search engines.

Blog: a blog, short for weblog, is an online journal or diary and a very popular current method of sharing your thoughts with the world. It is also very popular as a marketing tool. An Example is http://oldcity.com/city-blog.php

Give us a call or email us today! Call us (904.829.2772) or e-mail us today!

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Management System, General

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »
See our work
Call us: 904-867-4112
old city web services footer logo

  • Home
  • Services
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap

We are Old City Web Services. We make it easy for small businesses to thrive online. Whether you need a professional website, help attracting more customers, or a fresh new look for your brand, we’ve got you covered. With over 20 years of experience, we specialize in simple, affordable solutions that work for businesses like yours. Let us handle the tech so you can focus on what you do best—running your business.

stjohns logo

© 2025. Old City Web Services. All Rights Reserved.