Social Media Marketing - Old City Web Services

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

October 25, 2019 by anoadmin

Do have good habbits when you’re a business on social media.

Social media has turned into a major marketing asset for small businesses, but that doesn’t mean that each business is getting the most out of it. In fact, businesses with bad social media habits may be losing more followers than they realize.

Examples of bad social media etiquette.

Imagine that you are scrolling through Instagram and notice the business profile for your doctor’s office. You go to their page to follow them but notice that many of their posts are written in slang and promote conflicting personal beliefs. Would you still choose to see this physician?

Or, imagine you’re on Facebook searching for a new seafood restaurant to try and you come across one named The Seafood Place. You check out a few of their posts and browse the photos of their entrees and think you’ve hit the jackpot. You then decide to read a few Facebook reviews. After reading the review in Figure 1, you may decide not to dine there.

So, what do these two examples have in common? They give clients and potential clients interesting insight into the beliefs of the company – and not in the positive way that a Mission Statement or About Us Page does.

In today’s day in age, typing a message over a social media platform is sometimes more meaningful than saying it in person. That’s why it’s so important to have the very best social media habits when you’re representing your business. It’s like the new saying goes, “Say it forget it, write it regret it.”

Image contains a screen shot of a bad review on Facebook.

Figure 1

Here are a few more tips for businesses on social media:

Use free content writing tools to format your posts to perfection and avoid mispellings or pixelated images.
Never ask too much of your followers. For example, if every post includes a task (“Go here”, “Click this link”, or “Tell us in the comments”) your followers will become exhausted.
Use the statistics provided by each social media platform to find out what time of day your followers are on it the most. Then, be sure to post during those times.
Prioritize your platforms. Put more energy into the platforms you get the most from.
Don’t post for everyone, instead post for your ideal customer.

Check out our Social Media Info Graphic

We hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. If your interesting in learning more about the do’s and don’ts for businesses on social media, download our infographic by clicking the button below.

Do’s and Don’ts >>>

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3 Reasons to Host Email At Your Domain

September 26, 2019 by anoadmin

What does it mean to host your email at your domain?

Hosting your email at your domain means that instead of an @Gmail or @yahoo address you have an email address with your domain in it. For example, if your domain is www.windowtreatments.com, your email address would look something like john@windowtreatments.com.

You may be asking, “Well, why is this so important?” The honest answer is that clients perceive businesses that host their email at their domain as more professional. Although it may seem like a small detail, the bigger picture makes this a worthwhile marketing investment for your company.

Image contains a graphic of a laptop sending several emails.

3 Reasons to Host Email At Your Domain

We can’t think of one single reason not to host your email at your domain. On the flip side, there are many pros to taking this step. Below we’ve broken down what we think are the three biggest motivators to host your email at your domain.

It’s an integral part of your branding.

Image contains two road signs that say "email marketing strategy".

Your email address is part of your brand because its a method of communication between you and customers. In today’s world, fewer people are making phone calls and more people are doing business online. So, if most business interactions happen online versus offline, businesses have to find a practical way to communicate with customers and email is the solution. Since your email address is often incorporated on your business cards, press releases, and website, it becomes a great opportunity to expose your business name and brand to customers.

Hot tip: If you’re interested in email marketing, having an email at your domain is twice as important for branding.

It’s more professional.

Image contains a woman saying "Welcome".

Businesses that host their email at their domain are more professional. Think of it like this: A business that answers their phone with nothing but “Hello,” will result in the caller questioning if they have the right number. On the flip side, when a business answers with “Hello, this is [business name here]. How can we help you?” the caller can assume that the business is somewhat organized and has some procedures in place. In the same respect, an email address that doesn’t have a business’ domain in it can seem unprofessional and cause confusion.

Clients won’t second guess you as a sender.

Image contains warning signs that say 'spam'.

Nowadays, people receive as many spam emails as they do legitimate ones. This means they won’t look twice at an @Gmail or @yahoo address – they’ll send your message right to the Spam Folder. However this is preventable when you host your email at your domain. In fact, it’s the best way to guarantee your message will be read by your sender and that they aren’t second-guessing who the message came from.

But those aren’t the only perks when you host email at your domain.

The reasons above are persuasive from a monetary standpoint. However, when you host your email and domain with us, there are also a few benefits for you:

You can host up to ten email addresses at your domain for free.
You have more control over your business’ email. If an employee leaves, you can have their emails forwarded to you or delete their address altogether.
You can set up an alias email address so that your main business address isn’t available to just anyone.
You have a direct line to contact us if something goes wrong.

Ready to get started?

Hosting your email at your domain is inexpensive and one of the easiest steps to gaining the trust of your customers. If you’re ready to take the way your business communicates to the next level, we can help. Call us at 904-867-4112 or fill out our form by clicking the button below and selecting “Web/Email Hosting”. One of our team members will contact you to help get you started.

Press for Success

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.

Free Social Media Tips

May 31, 2018 by anoadmin

These social media tips are key to keeping your social media strategy stress-free.

In 2018, everyone from your ideal customer to family members are on social media. We all do it a little differently, but when it comes down to it, these social media tips will save you time and keep you relevant. Ditch the filter apps, Excel spreadsheets, Photoshop and Word documents and get organized with these tools.

First, create an editorial calendar.

An editorial calendar is essentially a calendar of current and future productions (blogs, photos, memes, or forms). They usually mimic that of a calendar year, so that your content will align with major holidays and days that are important for your business! Since content is one of the biggest factors to a good SEO strategy, many businesses find that this shortcut makes organizing and creating content super easy.

Check out this list of free editorial calendar templates by Curata.

Next, use free photo stock sites to find images.

image-free-photo-stock-photos

Images from a free photo stock site.So, you’ve finished organizing your editorial calendar and are ready to create compelling blogs and posts for social media! But, you have no images. Instead of paying for photography or going out and taking photos yourself, save time and use one of the dozens of free photo stock sites. Nearly every image from this list of free photo stock sites is professional and crisp! While some of what you present on social media needs to be authentic and true to your brand, using free photos every once in a while will save you time.

Produce the posts of your dreams on Canva.

Create blog cover photos, cards, collages, invitations, and social media posts with Canva.

Often, when businesses are producing posts for social media they are using too basic of a software like Microsoft Paint or too sophisticated of a software like Adobe Photoshop. The two software’s are at opposite ends of a wide spectrum; while it’s difficult to create compelling images with the limited capabilities of Paint, Photoshop has way more functions than what is needed for an average social media post. Meet in the middle of that spectrum with Canva; a simple graphic-design tool.

HootSuite: Our favorite social media shortcut.

Among small business tool's is HootSuite, a social media management and scheduling platform. It is no coincidence that we often refer to it as one of our favorite social media shortcuts. Scheduling posts saves time and ensures that your post's content is always relevant. When you stop scheduling your posts day-by-day, you get a better idea of what your long-term goals are and can easily prepare your holiday campaigns, special events, promotions, and other content that matters. Users can schedule up to 30 posts for three social media platforms when they use the free version of HootSuite.

Link Your Way To The Top

Steve here from Old City with another hot SEO tip! One of the cornerstones of a strong web presence is something called your "Back Link Profile". Whats a backlink you say? Its any site other than your own that links to your site. This is one of the most important factors to search engines when ranking your site. They borrowed this method from academia which ranks academic papers based on the number of times they are referenced in other academic papers. So think about this when your working with other businesses or anyone that has a site - any chance you get to add your link to another site could be a great opportunity for you to increase your ranking power!

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 – manage 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.

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.

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Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information on Old City Web Services Blog.
Photo credits: Old City Web Services, Twitter

Marketing When Just Starting Out

April 21, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

So, you've started a great business. It's something you've worked hard on and can't wait to share with the world. This is where marketing comes in handy. Marketing is how you get the attention of your target audience, how you build a following, and how you make that audience listen to what you're saying and interact with you.

Strategic marketing can truly make or break the success of your business. A common mistake among first-time business owners is that they spend a lot of time and money on building their business, website, and brand, and then wait for people to find them. You could have the most innovative business in your industry, but without proper marketing, you could be hard to find.

Think of it this way: If someone doesn't know what they're looking for, how will they find you? How can someone find something they've never heard of?

It's your job to spread the word about your business and get people to know who you are.

How do you do that? Check out our list of 7 ways to start effectively marketing your business:

Define your audience

When marketing any business, it's vital to know your target audience. When thinking about who your target audience is, it helps to include factors like age group, location, and disposable income. Once you narrow down who your audience is, it will help you to figure out other things such as reasonable costs of your products and services. A 21-year-old college student is going to have different budgeting priorities than a middle-aged father of three. Not only are they in different life stages, but their priorities and what they are willing to spend will also be different.

Advertise in the right places

After you've distinguished who your audience is, think about their lifestyle and what will reach them.
How and where does your audience spend their time? Are they more prone to be watching tv, checking Instagram, or researching things online? Look at your competition - what are they doing successfully? How might you implement their techniques into your advertising strategy? Advertising is anything you do to get the public's attention for your business. It could be anything from social media or Google advertisements to rack cards, business cards, and signage. Keep in mind, it's best to spend money where you think you will get the best return on your investment.

Make sure your website is up-to-date with SEO

Having a website is essential for a business, but without proper Search Engine Optimization, a website might not reach its potential and could be detrimental to your business. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the action of using relevant keywords and phrases with a high search volume in the content of your website to optimize the traffic coming to your site. Proper SEO leads to higher rankings and maximized user traffic. A website with well-done SEO is one of the best spokespeople you can have for your business. It does all of the work of bringing in online traffic and customers, which leads to more revenue for you.

Use social media to your advantage

Social media is a great (and free) tool to get your business' name out there. 7-in-10 Americans have social media accounts, a huge increase from the just 5 percent of social media users in 2005. People use social media not only to connect with people they already know but also to connect with people, organizations, and brands that share their passions. When it comes to social media, each platform is unique and appeals to a different audience. Once you research and find which platforms work for you, create accounts and start posting! Hashtags are popular ways to connect with people who are interested in a certain topic. It also helps to follow influencers and businesses in your industry. For inspiration, check out our blog post on local businesses getting it right on social media.

Set up your Google listing

The Google My Business tool is a great way to get your name out there. When people search for you, all of your essential information will appear. It also shows how many reviews you have and allows people to view them. You can also see where people are coming from, how they found you, and how they're interacting with you. Another helpful feature is the ability to go into your Google account and see how many people called you, looked up directions to your place of business, or went to your website strictly from your Google listing. And on top of all that, it's free.

Encourage customers to leave online reviews of your business

Reviews matter. Why? Because no matter how many times you say how awesome your business is, it still means more coming from a consumer. People trust other people's experiences. That's why online reviews are so key. Think about it: If you are looking for an Italian restaurant in town and look up the reviews, are you more likely to go to a 1-star or a 4-star restaurant? Positive customer reviews build trust, and the more positive reviews you have, the better off you'll be.

Make use of email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective types of marketing you can do. Why? Because the inbox is where your customers are. People may check social media for entertainment, but they check email for important information. When people sign up to receive your emails, they're doing so because they want to hear from you and keep up with what's going on with your business. With emails, you can send your customers important information, highlight services or products, feature a new blog, and much more. Also, read our blog post on 6 Ways to Make Your Email Marketing More Effective.

How we can help

Successful marketing strategies are unique to each business. No two strategies will be completely the same. Starting from scratch can be an overwhelming process.

That's why we at Old City Web Services offer marketing and SEO services.

Our team can help with:

Finding your target audience
Determining where/how to advertise
Search Engine Optimization
Social media management
Setting up your Google listing
Email marketing management

From content creation to design to social media management, our team can help you create a strategy that will help you and succeed. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you stand out from the competition!

Avoiding Common Social Media Mistakes

April 3, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Social media is a great tool to promote your business and connect directly with your niche. It is an extension of your identity and is becoming an essential part of a business' online presence.

With competition among businesses at an all-time high, more and more business owners are seeing the importance of social media outlets and signing up for accounts. But all too often, even with a good amount of time and effort invested in posting content, some social media accounts still fall short. If your business is successful, your social media should automatically be, too, right? Not necessarily.

Here are 5 ways you could be missing the mark with your social media:

Using poor quality photos/videos

Social media is a highly visual platform, so it's important to make sure that the way you reach people visually is effective. People relate the quality of what you put on social media to the competency of your business as a whole. While quality photos and videos portray a sense of trust with your audience, subpar content could relay a feeling that your company isn't top-notch. So, take the time to invest your time into making sure what you're putting out there is worthy of your brand. Even if you're taking photos on your phone, there are some great editing apps out there to upgrade your images!

Using photos that aren't yours

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Not only does it lack creativity, but it also isn't legal. Think about it: Taking someone's photo and calling it your own is the same thing as putting your name on an artist's painting. It's a form of stealing, it takes away legitimacy, and it also puts you at risk of being in hot water legally. So, be safe and create your own content. If someone has posted content on social media, there are safe ways to share. On Facebook, you have the option to "share" a post. On Twitter, you can "Retweet." On Instagram, there is a way to repost a photo giving credit to the original creator. For each outlet, it is best to read their rules for proper sharing.

Using the same message across all platforms

There are countless social media platforms out there, and they are all unique. Managing a company's social media presence can be a time-consuming task, so a common pitfall of social media managers is scheduling the same exact post to go out on every platform you use. While this saves time, it isn't effective in the long run. It's important to learn how each social media outlet works and treat it as the individual platform it is.

Posting at the wrong times/frequency

There's nothing more frustrating than putting time and effort into an awesome post and it get little to no traffic or interaction, right? When it comes to posting content, timing is everything, and the best times to post are unique to your audience. It's true that popular times people check their accounts are when they wake up, when they go to lunch, and in the afternoon or the end of the day. But other than that, it depends on who your audience is and their habits. A good way to learn your audience is to track the analytics of your posts. When do they interact and engage? When are they unresponsive? When you learn their patterns, you'll get an idea of the best times to put information out there. It's also just as important to know how often to post.

According to Buffer, you should post on:

Twitter - 3 times per day
Facebook - 2 times per day
LinkedIn - 1 time per day
Google+ - 3 times per day, at most
Pinterest - 5 times per day
Instagram - 1.5 times per day
Blog - 1-2 times per week

Not being relatable

Social media is all about connection. People crave community and relationships with others on social media. This applies to other people, businesses, nonprofits, bands, celebrities, etc. The cool thing about social media is that it gives people a look into the lives of others they wouldn't normally get to see. Social media followers crave authenticity. It's so important to show that your business has a personality. It gives your audience something to connect to and shows that you're more than a name, a logo, and the services you offer.

We know creating an effective social media presence takes work. That's why we offer social media marketing services. Contact us to see how we can increase your audience and online presence. And take a look at a previous blog post where we highlight local businesses using social media to their advantage.

Local Businesses Getting It Right on Social Media

March 24, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

There's no doubt that social media plays a big role in marketing of businesses of all sizes. Social media not only helps you reach those in your community but all around the world. It's a diverse tool which can have mass advantages if done properly.

For this blog, we thought we'd recognize some of the businesses within our community who are doing an amazing job at using social media to their advantage.

The Kookaburra

The Kookaburra, an Aussie-American espresso bar and pie shop, has been a St. Augustine staple since 2012. When you visit one of their now four locations, it's easy to tell that as a business they believe in creating an experience for their customers. They definitely have a knack for making everyone feel welcome, from first-time visitors to the regulars. Their business is thriving, and it's no wonder that they keep people coming back time and time again. But it's not just the impression they make in person that keeps them on the minds of their customers. They're also rock stars at the social media game.

Where you can find them: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat

What they're doing right:

They post quality photos daily. They promote their products in a way that is so enticing, you get the urge to hop on over and grab a hot latte or fresh donut.
They interact with their customers and make it a community experience.
They show behind-the-scenes pictures of the shops and introduce their staff.

Crave Food Truck

Crave Food Truck is a local food truck that has been dedicated to serving St. Augustinians the healthiest and freshest local ingredients since opening four years ago. You can often find locals at their beautiful outdoor downtown location or the beach location they share with The Kookaburra. Each day, they serve up fresh wraps, salads, smoothies, bowls, cookies, and much more. The mixture of healthy food and fun experience turns visitors into repeat customers.

Where you can find them: Facebook and Instagram

What they're doing right:

They share photos of their delicious, fresh food daily. They use social media to share specials, new meals, and food they want to feature that day.
They utilize Instagram stories to their advantage by giving their customers a constant behind-the-scenes glance at what really goes into keeping a food truck running. They also show the staff having a blast while serving the community.

Declaration & Co.

What started out in 2010 as a 700 sq. ft. shop selling gift items and wedding invitations has evolved into a 3500 sq. ft. space featuring the shop owner, Lara's, own brand. As you walk through the light and airy space known as The Marketplace, you'll see her designs on apparel, jewelry, cards, pins, candles, and much more. There's even a part of Declaration & Co. that acts as a unique candy shop. This is the perfect place to find the gift you've been looking for (for yourself or someone else).

Where you can find them: Facebook and Instagram

What they're doing right:

They utilize their account to showcase their own brand amongst other products they carry.
Their photos have a uniform look and theme. If you follow Declaration & Co.'s account, you start to recognize which pictures are theirs without having to look at their name. It's great to develop an identity on social media.
In between shop and merchandise photos, you'll find photos of the shop owner's family. This allows customers to get to know the people behind one of their favorite stores. This is a unique and useful way to promote small business and connect with the community.

What can we learn from these local businesses?

Social media takes effort. It's more than just setting up an account, posting here and there, and hoping people follow and interact with you.
These companies all post often and with intent.
They take the time to take quality photos.
They highlight their staff and behind-the-scenes moments.
They get personal and interact with the community.

Could your social media use an upgrade or makeover? We know social media can be time-consuming for any company. That's why we offer social media marketing services. Contact us today and we can create a marketing plan unique to your business.

How to Compete with Large Companies

February 28, 2017 by anoadmin

If you own a small business, you may think that your only competition is fellow small businesses. That couldn't be further from the truth. These days, there are so many options for consumers. This means customers can afford to be picky and shop around. Chances are, there are other businesses doing what you do within a short drive. Customers will most likely read reviews and check out your website or social media before stepping foot in your store.

If people are going to give you their business, they want to know that they're making the best choice. And with large corporations out there who obviously have a great marketing plan and national and international followings, this can be intimidating. But it doesn't have to be.

So, how do you stand out and prove you're their best choice?

Design and Branding

You don't have to have a multi-million dollar budget to make a big impact. It isn't about how much money you spend but how you spend it. It's about making your budget work for you and working with the right team to help guide you to success. Investing in a quality logo and clean website can put you on the same level as the sizeable companies you're competing with. When it comes to who to give their business to, first impressions could not matter more. A professional looking brand builds trust with a consumer. They make the correlation between quality of brand and quality of product or service. If your brand isn't quite up to the level of your competition, they might associate that feeling with what you have to offer.

Advertising

So, maybe you don't have a nationwide following - that's ok. Once again, it's not about how much money you spend but about where and how you spend it. Effective advertising is all about knowing who your target audience is and investing in ways that will get their attention. Are you a hotspot for tourists? Then it might be a great idea to place advertisements in city maps and hotel rack cards. Facebook advertising is also a handy tool that allows you to set your own budget, how long you'd like your ad to run, and the exact audience you'd like to target. There is no concrete way to advertise. It all depends on your business and your mission.

Social Media

Social media is one of the easiest ways to get on top of your game with your customers. While you can do paid advertising on social media, there are many ways to utilize the free services available to your advantage. Social media really allows you to be involved in your community, connect and build relationships. Anyone can advertise a business, but it takes effort to do it effectively. Today's consumers are focused on connections and authenticity.

Show some behind-the-scenes shots of what it takes to make your business run.
Introduce customers to your team members.
Do a customer appreciation spotlight.
Ask for your customer's input on products and services.

As a small business, you have the advantage of knowing your customers and being involved on a daily basis. Use that to your full advantage.

Involvement with community/target audience

One of the best ways to market your business in your community is to partner up with other businesses. If you have a chocolate shop, maybe pair up with a wine bar for a chocolate and wine tasting event. If you have a bakery, talk to local coffee shops to see if you can sell some of your baked goods at their shop and, in return, sell their coffee at your shop. Partnering with area businesses is a great way to get your name out there, network with other entrepreneurs, and have customers associate your name with other reputable companies. It's a win-win.

At Old City Web Services, our mission is to help our clients succeed and stand out. We offer comprehensive design and development services that allow our customers' businesses to live up to their full potential. Once we've helped build your brand, we offer marketing services as well. We can put together a unique marketing plan just for your business. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us show you how we can help your business succeed!

10 Ways to Establish Your Business

September 26, 2016 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Being a new business has its challenges, one of the biggest being establishing yourself in the community. A loyal client base and name recognition are vital to your success. Without the support of those around you, failure comes closer to becoming a reality than a fear. So, how do you make your startup stand out before it sinks?

Take advantage of free listings

This is a no brainer. Putting your company’s name out there as many ways as you can for free should be a top priority. Directory listings and community calendars are great resources for the community and an excellent way to get your name out there. This takes minimal time and effort and helps establish your business among other longstanding companies in the area.

Make sure you know your target market

Take a second to sit down and really think about who your target demographic is. Who are you marketing to and how are you doing so? Are they more likely to be on social media or flipping through the latest newspaper? Spending all the time and money in the world in marketing won't make a difference if your audience never sees it.

Utilize social media

Let’s face it. Everyone is on social media these days, and as a business, it is becoming an essential way to reach consumers. Luckily for you, social media is a free and effective way to interact with customers from all over. Depending on what your business is and the age group of people you are trying to reach, you can choose the best social media platforms to reach them.

Start a blog

Think that you shouldn’t start a blog because you’ll run out of things to talk about? What if you are a very specialized business? Not a problem. A company blog is a useful platform to produce content related to your industry. Relevant content will promote you as trusted resource for your trade. Example: Say you run a gym or are a personal trainer. You don’t have to use your blog just to talk about your services. Use your platform to talk about health advice, innovative exercises, and client transformations, etc.

Implement SEO into your website

Search engine optimization is the action of making your website rank for search keywords and phrases that pertain to your website/business. It is important to have the keywords and phrases viewers are searching for installed properly on your website. If done correctly, more people will view your website which will result in an increase in business. Search engines rank your website based on common search terms, the age of your site information, site links, and the relevance of your content.

Create your Google Business listing

Listing your business on Google will make sure your business appears easily when people are searching for you on Google. You can add pictures, and people can leave reviews which add to your credibility.

Take advantage of customer testimonials

When a customer has a good experience with you, don’t be afraid to ask what they thought of your service. Testimonials are one of the best ways to build credibility with potential clients.

Send out emails

Putting customers on an email list is a great way to reach out to them long after they've left your website or store. This gives you the opportunity to tell them about the variety of services you offer, updates from your company, and news in your industry.

Get involved in the community

How do you expect the community to know who you are if you don’t try to get to know the people in it? The more people see your name associated with the community, the more they will come to know you as a local establishment. Sponsor or participate in community events. Donate or give discounts for first-time clients. Give clients an initiative for referring customers. Give back to the community. Serving others is not only great for your staff but is also a wonderful way to get to know the locals.

Network as much as possible

Getting involved with different organizations within the community is essential. Some of your biggest allies in the business world are fellow business owners. The Chamber of Commerce should be at the top of your list for business networking. The St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce’s mission states they are dedicated to improving the business environment in St. Johns County by focusing on Economic Development, Business Advocacy, Member Education, and Business Promotion. Service organizations such as United Way or Rotary are also excellent ways to get involved in the community.

How We Can Help

Here at Old City Web Services, we are dedicated to helping businesses thrive. Don’t know where to start? We offer many services that can help you out.

We can:

Perfect your marketing strategy to reach your target audience
Tune up or revamp your website
Write content for your company’s blog
Assist you with SEO and Google listings
Assist with print design and much more.

Go to our website, call us, or schedule a consultation with our team to see how we can help you get settled and succeed today.

Do You Know the Different Ways to Connect with People on Social Media?

July 26, 2016 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Connect with Fans, Followers or Friends?

With all the social media platforms out there it can be difficult to know all the ways to get your customers to connect to your business social media. Here are some guidelines to follow that might shed some light on all the confusion with connecting on social media.

Facebook-

On Facebook your potential customers will be able to see all of your post by "liking" the business page. When they hit the like button on the main profile page on the right upper hand side it will send you a notification to notify you about the new "like". Since someone has liked the business page they'll now be a fan meaning any future post you make on your business Facebook, the fan will be able to see on their timeline. They can also send you a message, comment on your post or share your post as well. Now if any one visits your business Facebook page they will also be able to see your post on your business profile as well, even if they are not a fan. Being a fan just means now they will get your updates and post on their timeline.

Here some hints to help you remember:

Facebook likes on profile = Fans
Fans= Followers who see your post on their timelines.
Clicking the like button on the business profile = Fan.

Twitter-

On Twitter customers can "follow" your Tweet which means they become a "follower" and will see all your tweets on their Twitter feed. They become a follower by going to your Twitter page and clicking the follow button on the right hand side. Once they have clicked the button you will be notified that someone is now "following" your Twitter page. Your follower now has the ability to retweet your tweets, like a tweet or even send you a message. If your client has not yet followed your Twitter page the only way they can see your tweets is by going to your business page or if some they already follow retweets your tweet.

Here are some helpful tips to remember:

Followers = Friends who can see all your tweets
Retweeting= sharing to other Twitter users
Hitting the follow button on profile = Follower.