Small Business - Old City Web Services

Website Trends for 2018

January 2, 2018 by anoadmin

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

Clean Sites and Good Photo Quality

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

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

Call to Action (CTA)

St. Augustine Record CTA

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

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

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

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

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

Chatbots

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

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

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

Mission Statement

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, Thinkingchat.com, Rodbender Fishing Charters.

Is Google Turning Into a Helicopter Parent?

October 1, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Terms you Need to Know

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

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

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

: Example of HTTPs URL (Secure)

: Example of HTTP URL (Not Secure)

Is Google Serious?

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

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

: Secure

: More Info/ Not Secure

: Dangerous/ Not Secure

Will Google Standards Effect Your Business?

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

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

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

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

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

Landing Pages: A Business Owner’s Best Friend

August 2, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Chances are that you have more than one type of customer…which means that you must communicate with different customer groups in different ways. This necessity is easily accomplished by using targeted landing pages which automatically segments your marketing list for you. In other words, landing pages give your customer a chance to raise their hand to let you know exactly how and why they want you to market to them…and what they are in the market to buy right now or in the near future.

What’s a landing page?
Landing pages are highly- targeted, highly-focused web pages that are designed to let visitors know that they are in the right place and to ethically persuade your visitors to take a specific action. This action could be anything from signing up for a newsletter, registering for an event, downloading a white paper, as well as purchasing a product.

When properly designed, landing pages transform your website from “one of thousands of Google search results” into an interactive, engaging experience. The result being:

Trust from the visitor
Collection of visitor contact information
High quality leadspermission for ongoing marketing
Lower cost acquisition of new customers
And much more!

Basic Landing Page Elements
There are four basic elements that make a landing page, well… a landing page.

Identifying Headline: Visitors need to know that they are in the right place and that you have something they want.

Compelling Offer: if you want your visitors to gladly give you their contact information or their money then you need to offer something that gets their heart racing and their mind charged with anticipation.

Social Proof: Testimonials, quotes, number of newsletter subscribers, number of clients and more. McDonalds puts up signage that says “billions served” for a reason.

Easy to Fill Out Form: only gather the information that you absolutely need to deliver your compelling offer. Offering a free white paper or newsletter… then try asking for only an email or email and first name. The more work the visitor is asked to do then the less compliance you will have with your request.

Two Simple Questions:
What type of customer or client groups do you have?
Does your website market directly