Web Development - Old City Web Services

The Evolution of Websites

January 17, 2020 by anoadmin

The evolution of websites has featured significant advancements since the creation of the world wide web in 1989. In fact, every few years there are enormous technological changes in the way they look and how we use them. While comparing the look of old websites to websites today can be a fun walk down memory lane, it also sheds a light on how quickly websites can go from ‘on trend’ to outdated. While we hope this blog is interesting, we also hope it highlights how important it is to keep up with the Joneses (and your competitor) by redesigning your website every few years!

Evolution of Websites from 1990 to 2000:

Having been created in 1989, the world wide web was just starting out when our timeline begins in 1990. In fact, was 1991 when the first website would be created and today, it is hardly recognizable as it only had a single column of text.

Once websites became more popular, they would make leaps and jumps in appearances. In fact, two noteworthy advancements between 1990 and 2000 include the creation of table-based sites and a new software called Flash. While table-based sites were substantial because they made it possible to create websites with multiple columns, Flash was equally as unique because it gave websites the ability to have videos, music, and graphics with animation. Both advancements significantly changed the appearance of websites as well as promoted better user-experience and content organization.

Websites from the ’90s: OldCity.com (1998), Nascar.com (1996), CountryLiving.com (1997).

Fun facts during this time:

Splash pages became a fad among designers. A splash page was a page that users hit before hitting the main website; designers added logos and moving graphics or text to catch the eye of the user.
Background images, animated text, scrolling text, and GIFs became popular across websites.
Website page builders became available to anyone with an internet connection and allowed them to build their own websites. Examples of these programs include Angel Fire and GeoCities.

Evolution of Websites from 2000 to 2010:

In the early 2000s, a programming language called CSS (cascading style sheets) became a widely popular way to build websites. At this time, CSS was used in conjunction with HTML which is another popular programming language. While only using HTML mandated creators to code each individual element on a website, the combination of CSS and HTML allowed creators to define elements across a website. Instead of writing out an entire website, creators could write the code for elements once (title sizes, colors, header images, etc.) and have it mimicked across the website.

JavaScript is another programming language that became popular at this time and is useful in a completely different way. In fact, its biggest superpower is that it can add animation to a website that doesn’t need to be read by a secondary program. Up until this time, Flash was pretty much exclusively used to add animation to a website. However, animations built with Flash could only be read with the program Flash Player and not every computer had it.

CSS and JavaScript gave creators more wiggle room and layout capabilities. As a result, the world wide web was seeing more websites using animated buttons and call-to-actions to interact with users as well as websites with uniformity, sleeker layouts, and more organized content.

Websites from 2005: OldCity.com, Nascar.com, and CountryLiving.com.

Fun facts during this time:

In 2003, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 became the first web browser to support more than 99% of CSS websites with no glitches or loading errors.
In 2004, Facebook (formerly TheFacebook) launched for the first time.
The first version of Google’s popular website browser, Chrome, was created in 2008.

Evolution of Websites from 2010 to 2020:

Although internet access on a mobile phone was available prior to 2010, it was in the years after 2010 that mobile responsive design became a priority for websites. This resulted in progressively minimal websites. For example, instead of getting the attention of users with flashy designs, designers began to focus on layouts that were tall and skinny. This ideology helped the experience on a mobile phone be just as delightful as that on a desktop.

Furthermore, although it can be argued that websites have been optimized for search engines for decades, it wasn’t until the few years before 2010 that creators began to competitively add it to their marketing strategy. As a result, the content of a website became about SEO and therefore, design became about the layout of the content. This only further stressed the importance of a bare-minimum layout. Soon thereafter, more and more websites were redesigned to have reduced navigation of only the main areas of the website, images that shrink on smaller devices, as well as content that gets straight to the point of the website.

OldCity.com (2012), Nascar.com (2015), and CountryLiving.com (2015)

Fun facts during this time:

In 2016, the number of people browsing the internet on a smartphone surpassed the number of people browsing the internet on a desktop.
The programs Facebook, Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have stopped supporting Flash Player because of its vulnerability.
There are 1,742,651,546 websites online as of January 15, 2020.

Don’t get left behind, get a redesign!

Websites are changing faster than ever and it’s only a matter of time until newer trends like mobile responsiveness are old news. Additionally, people can tell if your website looks a decade, or even a half a decade old. So, don’t get left behind! Instead, let us give your website a facelift with a redesign. After all, the number of consumers that shop, plan, and research on the internet is only rising.

Press the button below or call us at 904-867-4112 to get started on a redesign that will make your business shine.

Have a redesign in mind?

Sources: EZ Marketing, HubSpot, Neil Patel, Pew Research, Search Engine Journal

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.

Top 5 Website Myths Busted

August 6, 2019 by anoadmin

Website myths lead people to make wrong decisions for their website.

Like most myths, the misinformation spread in website myths can misguide a person into making wrong decisions. Now, we’ve all heard it before, “You shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet or see on TV.” Yet, we’re all guilty of doing this, especially when we aren’t experts on the topic. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’ve debunked the following five website myths so that you can make decisions for your website based on facts rather than myths.

Image contains a graphic chalkboard with text that reads "Myth or Fact?"

Image contains one dollar bills in a pile.

Website Myth 1: They sell themselves.

Unfortunately, this is simply untrue. While websites are critical for businesses to have, they can’t reach your ideal customers on their own. They need a strategic marketing strategy to accomplish that. Typically, enhancing a website with SEO and user-friendly design can help a website gain more traction. Furthermore, by distributing print materials like a rack card or business card that includes your website URL, your site will get more visibility. It also helps to push users to your site through social media and online ads.

Image contains a man hammering a nail in wood.

Website Myth 1: They sell themselves.

This isn’t entirely a myth. While “You can build your own website,” is a true statement, the following sentence is more accurate, “It is difficult to build your own website.” Although DIY website platforms are built for nonprofessionals, many users still face hardships. In fact, a DIY website can eat up hours of your valuable time simply by updating it. Additionally, they often have hidden costs as well as limited capabilities. In the end, the few pennies that you save aren’t always worth the challenges and wasted time.

Website Myth 3: You don’t need to budget for design, photography, or content.

Design, photography, and content are the main contributors to a successful website. In fact, even if you have an excellent SEO strategy that places you in the top results of a Google search, it’s likely that bad design, photography, and/or content will deter users from staying on your website for long. In addition to that, your website speaks volumes to how valuable your business is. Having professional photography and optimized content will keep users on your site longer instead of having them go to your competitor’s site.

Image contains a website with a price tag.

Website Myth 4: They are expensive.

This is a total myth! In fact, websites eventually pay for themselves. Think of a website as an employee that is always working for you and never goes home. Whether it’s before your business opens or after it closes, your website is there to answer your clients’ questions. Since you control the text and imagery content for your website, no misinformation is spread and your business’ message is always conveyed clearly.

Image contains a graphic of a man changing oil on a truck.

Website Myth 5: They don’t need ongoing maintenance.

Just as your website needs an SSL certificate for security reasons, it also always needs ongoing maintenance. Ongoing maintenance for a website includes regularly updating plugins, themes, and code to avoid hackers, glitches, and broken websites. For example, you wouldn’t ignore a recall notice for your vehicle because it could potentially cause damage to your car. This is exactly how you should look at ongoing maintenance; without it, your website has the potential to break and not function normally.

Have a myth you need debunked?

Think of us as your website myth busters. We uncomplicate the web world for you so that you can make the best decisions for your website. If you have a myth you need busted, we’d like to hear about it. We’ve heard it all before, so don’t hesitate to reach out with your questions and concerns. Call us at 904 829-2772 or contact us by clicking the button below.

We Want to Hear From You

Have a myth you need debunked?

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.