Social Media 2 - Old City Web Services

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.

How Social Media & A Blog Correlate With SEO

August 16, 2016 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Why Your Business Needs Social Media & A Blog

Social media, Blogs and SEO compliment each other in online marketing. Posting current social media and a blog entries will help search engines recognize your website as relevant. Social media is a great outlet for driving traffic to your website, which helps boost your SEO rank. Even if your social media presence doesn't lead to immediate direct sales, it is excellent for gaining those clicks to you website. This traffic will help boost your SEO rank.

Social Media & SEO

Whenever someone shares your website or your post on social media, this is link building. Link building shows search engines that your website is relevant and interesting. This is why it's important to keep your social media current with a new post at least once a week. By posting once a week, you are giving users the opportunity to share your content more. The more content of yours that is shared, the higher your ranking will be. Google uses Twitter to discover new content; for example: what's trending. Google loves Google+. Even though Google+ might not be the biggest platform of social media, it can improve your SEO. If you just have a Google+ profile and post on it once a month, it definitely helps. An overlap of social media and SEO is an effective strategy; by using social media in the right way, you will reap a lot of benefits.

Blog & SEO

The purpose of having a blog for your business is to get more traffic to your website. We learned earlier this month how more traffic to your website helps your SEO. Creating a blog for your business would be another way to improve your link building. Having a blog allows you to push out fresh content about your business without having to update your website. Search engines like fresh content because it shows that you present the latest information to your clients. Having a blog also helps with being able to present your search term keywords in your website. Blogs also allow you to use your keywords naturally. Having your keywords presented naturally in your blog will not only help your search engine ranking, but it will also help you keep that ranking longer. If you are looking for that extra push with your SEO, consider a blog.

Need to jump way ahead of your competition on Search Engines? Sign up to have your SEO done by Old City Web Services! Contact us today to get started!

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.

Social Media: Why Photos & Videos?

July 5, 2016 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Using Photos on Social Media for your Business

Example of using images as a post for Facebook

Over the years Social Media has shifted to Visual Social Media. This means photos have increased in popularity for social media. This shift happened because our society is drawn to visual content. Photos help your customers relate to your business post and they tell a story. Users are more likely to engage and follow businesses that post more photos or videos. For example, photos on Facebook tend to generate 53% more likes on a post than without photos. What does this mean for you business's social media? It means using images on social networking platforms gets those clients engaged!

Overall, photos help break up content overload. Showing your clients rather than telling is what will get you customers interested in your social network. Pictures are worth a thousand words. For example, if you want to introduce a new product, take a picture of it and share it on your social media. Did you hire a new team member or redecorate your office space? Share it! Showing will leave a bigger impact on them as well as others that are following your clients posts will see your new product, team member, etc. All in all, images make connections and social media is all about networking.

You don't have to be an expert. Don't be afraid - get creative with your visual content use your smart phone, camera, or clip art online.

Here are some ideas to consider using.

[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]

Example of using an image of Facebook.

Add words to a picture by either providing a contest for your customers, a daily tip or just add a quote.
Draw a cartoon then take a picture of it.
Make a graph.
Make a video of either the daily life at the office or how you make a certain product.
Use a GIF (animations) you found.
Take a picture of your product and have customers give their opinion. EX: Does this shirt look better in blue or in red? or What should our daily special be today?
Example of using an image on Twitter

Need to see some more examples? Check out our Facebook and Twitter for more examples of using photos and videos in post.

If your business doesn't have any quality images or time to take images, we can help. Contact us today to set up a photo shoot for your business.

Picking the Right Platform for Your Business

June 22, 2016 by anoadmin

With so many social media platforms out there how do decide on which one is best for your business. The guide below should help with some of the confusion you might have as a business owner. Let’s take a look at all the different platforms and how they interact with people.

Facebook- Is an open environment where you have the freedom to share and connect. You can upload images, message friends, write post, create events, and share other people’s post. Having a business on Facebook you receive a business profile where you can make a post, create events and post things about your business. You also have an “About” section and some nice tools to view how well you are doing on Facebook with your customers. Facebook is for making engaging post so your customers will get involved by liking, commenting or sharing.

Twitter- Is an environment where you can make quick short status post. Twitter only allows you to write something that is 140 characters, able to add hashtags and pictures. You can also “retweet” or like someone’s tweet. Instead of friends, like Facebook, you have followers who are able to see all your tweets.

Instagram- This platform you can only upload images, comment or like others images. On Instagram you can only use the app version, it does not allow you to use it on a desktop. This platform you have followers, like Twitter.

Pinterest- Allows users to visually share, and discover new interests by posting (known as 'pinning') images or videos to their own or others' boards and browsing what other users have pinned. This site is very popular with women.

LinkedIn- Is a network you can connect with other professionals. You create a personal profile and list all the place you have worked and connect with other people in varies professions. It’s kind of like a big resume connector. This platform’s focus is on the person and their professional experience rather than your business.

If you are still struggling with understanding or even with setting up a Social Media for your business, we are here to help. Get in contact today to get started!

Practical Social Media Tips

January 27, 2016 by anoadmin

Social Media can be both fun and good for business. It is a place to be a little more casual, and to let your clients - current and potential - learn a little more about you. There are things you need to know before you get started on social media though, to make sure that you make the most of the time you are spending on it, and to make the most of your customers' time.

Spend time on your profile – Don’t just open a social media account and go. Everything your business does is sending a message to your current and potential clients. Make sure your logo and branding are consistent, your message is consistent, and that you put thought into thoroughly setting up the details of each social media account.

Be useful - You want your account to speak to people. By investing yourself in new, significant content and linking to both your content and the content of other businesses in your niche that will be relevant to followers, you can expand your social media reach and establish a reputation.

Be restrained – Don’t post anything and everything that you see or hear about. If you post too often, you will become background noise instead of a relevant voice. Consider what you post and how often you post.

Add visuals – Photography and graphics attract attention, draw interest, and increase likelihood of your content being shared. Creating great visual content to go with your postings will do well for helping your social media presence as you establish yourself.

Interact/respond – If people are commenting and sharing your content, respond to them. Answer questions. Thank them for sharing your content. The more you establish yourself as a friendly, non-competitive member of the social media community, you will be treated and responded to as such and the relationships you build as a result will benefit everyone.

Promoting Your Website Part III: Social Media

August 19, 2015 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

In Part I of our series about promoting your website, we discussed the importance of SEO. In part II, we looked at branding. Today, in Part III we are going to look at how to use Social Media to promote your website.

Social media is a great outlet for driving traffic to your website and promoting your small business. Even if your social media presence doesn't lead to immediate direct sales, it is excellent for getting your name and brand out there to make it more familiar to potential consumers. Name and brand recognition are a huge part of promoting your business website, as we discussed last week.

Here are some tips for making the most of social media for promoting your website:

Diversify Your Social Media Presence: in addition to Twitter & Facebook, add an account with Pinterest, Instagram, or LinkedIn to give your business a more broad reach. Not only will you have a different audience, but these other channels will give you new opportunities to share things you might not on other Social Media outlets.

Connect Your Social Media Pages to your Website & Vice Versa: Make it easy for your website visitors to find your social media pages so they can follow them, and make it easy for people on social media to find your website from your social media account.

OldCity.com Website links to social media with buttons:

OldCity.com Facebook Page links to website:

Linking back and forth between website and social media accounts will drive traffic to both.

Build Relationships: The most important and fulfilling aspect of social media pages for your small business is to build relationships. Your social media pages are places for you to engage with your customers in a way you couldn't or wouldn't otherwise. Your social media profile makes you more of a person and less of a business entity - when you engage in conversation, answer questions, and offer services. Use this opportunity on social media to engage customers and drive them to your website for increased business.

At Old City Web Services, one of the services we offer is helping you to set up social media profiles to boost your business. Contact us at 829-2772 or email us today and let us help you get started on social media or improve your current social media presence.

Next week, we'll look at Promoting Your Website: Email. Be sure to check back!

Customer Retention Part III: Recognize Your Customers

July 8, 2015 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago, we looked at Customer Retention: Building Your Business Community to Build Your Business and we ended with the importance of using social media to add value for your community base. Last week we talked about Customer Retention Part II: Use Social Media for Word of Mouth Marketing. Today, in part three we are discussing Customer Retention through recognizing your customers.

Not only is it important to build your customer base and to get those happy customers talking about your business, but it's very important to make sure that you are recognizing and appreciating your customers for being loyal to your business.

It's a competitive marketplace, keeping and building a loyal customer base is vital to maintaining and growing your business.

Customer appreciation programs are often used to expand these relationships and make a customer a loyal one. If designed properly, customer appreciation can result in positive customer reviews spread through word of mouth and social media sites, as we discussed last week.

One of the most important factors in customer loyalty leading to great reviews is providing quality service and products. Programs that reward loyal customers to show appreciation are also required.

Some ideas for showing your appreciation for customers in your efforts to retain them:

Provide a free gift or service to long-term loyal customers
Recognize customers on social media for their brand loyalty. Truly, often, just saying "thank you" and meaning it goes a long way.
Check in with customers who have given you their contact information. Make sure they continue to be happy and see if there is anything else your business can do to meet their needs.
Setup a loyalty program that includes a freebie or special after a certain amount of purchases

All of these are easy to do from a customer service standpoint and can be incorporated into your online presence well.

Promote your special for long-term customers on social media. Post on your website that you have a loyalty program, use social media to thank the people who have made your business what it is today.

Next Week's Installment Customer Retention Part IV: Share Your Knowledge will focus on how sharing your expertise with your customers will keep them coming back. Be sure to check back and see how to continue building your customer base and retaining customers.