Why West County Net Loves WordPress
In this article, we’ll explore why WordPress has become the go-to for companies and web developers worldwide, including the savvy web devs at West County Net.
Is Email Marketing Still Effective?
If you’re looking to shake up your marketing channels, including email marketing is an easy, cost-effective, direct marketing channel that, done right, won’t let you down now, or in the foreseeable future.
How Google Has Improved Their Local Search Algorithm
Google Completes Biggest Algorithm Update to Local Search in 6 Years Google is constantly making updates to their various search algorithms that affect your business’s search engine visibility. Late last year, Google rolled out another major update, in fact the biggest algorithm update to local search since 2016. This latest update drastically improves results on […]
Why Your Business Should Utilize Google Posts
SEO Content Social Sharing on the Internet’s Most Popular Search Engine Any business with a website should already understand the importance of visibility on search engines like Google. Furthermore, as a business owner with some understanding of SEO, you know that having a Google Business Profile is critical to reaching and engaging potential customers. After […]
Local Search Content Creation As A Part of Your SEO Strategy
SEO Driven Content Creation for Your Local Business What is content? The answer to “What is content” is not a satisfying one. According to Joan Damico of G+, content is defined broadly as “any communication in any medium that serves a purpose, whether it be to influence, educate, inform, warn, express one’s self or spark […]
Understanding Search Intent in 2022
Attracting new customers is tough, especially on the internet. Run a search on Google or Bing and you’re sure to find hundreds of blog posts and how-tos selling fancy platforms guaranteed to grow your customer base. And in fact, if you were to read one of these blog posts, you might actually discover that you’ve […]
Best Web Design Trends Over Time: 2002 vs 2022
Why It’s Important to Stay Ahead of Web Design Advancements A lot has changed since the initial internet boom of the 1990s. The internet is bigger, faster, and constantly evolving. The same can be said of web design trends. We all understand that with time comes change. And with change comes reflection. And this principle […]
Google Page Experience Comes to Desktop
We finally have a timeline for Google Page Experience on desktop! Google announced the update at I/O 2021, but never gave an official release date. That all changed in the new year. Rollout for Google’s page experience ranking tool begins February 2022 and will be complete by the end of March 2022. Google Page Experience […]
Audience Targeting: Remarketing vs Prospecting
A target audience is a group identified as the focus of your marketing campaign. A well tailored audience makes advertising easier and more effective because you have an idea of who you’re marketing to. Furthermore, by understanding the “who”, you can refine how you’re marketing to these groups to make even more impactful campaigns. In […]
What Factors Affect SEO
22 SEO Factors to Pay Attention to in 2022 On-Page SEO Website structure When it comes to search engine optimization, website organization is a huge factor in creating a strong SEO foundation. This is important not only for search engine crawlers (AKA spiders), but also human users. In order for your content and your website […]
Black Friday Marketing
How to Plan and Execute Your End of Year Sale Marketing It’s that time of year again. Around the world, companies are rolling out their Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday sales events earlier than ever. Arguably one of the biggest sales seasons of the year, end of the year sales can make or break […]
6 Tips For Staying Productive While Working Remotely
If your team needs help staying connected, WCN is available to set up remote working stations — we even have some tips for working from home!
Digital Marketing During Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Your customers and clients are going to be online now, more than ever. Will your existing digital marketing strategy work for or against you during this time?
Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2019
What are the Best Days and Times for Social Media Posting? Social media: it is something businesses everywhere can’t ignore any longer. Did you know — it has been reported that 75% of consumers bought a product because they saw it on a social network? If you are one of the many businesses that has […]
Google Duplex is Next-Level AI: What Does it Mean for the Future of Digital Marketing?
At I/O 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated the newest and most futuristic capability of Google Assistant: the ability to make phone calls on your behalf. An awestruck crowd watched as Pinchai played a conversation between Google Assistant and a hair salon in which the assistant successfully schedules a 10 am appointment for its client. […]
Why Mobile Friendly Web Design is Crucial in 2018
In the past, Mobile-Friendly Web Design simply meant a website should shrink down to fit the dimensions of a smaller screen, i.e. smartphones & tablets. A website would look and operate on a mobile device exactly as it would on its desktop counterpart, just not as conveniently. This lack of mobile sophistication often resulted in […]
4 Digital Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business Online in 2018
1. Content Marketing & Content Development First, know that content creation isn’t going anywhere and remains among the top priorities in digital marketing. For a business or brand, content marketing’s objective is to ultimately drive interest and leads in the product or service but the focus of the content created must be of benefit to […]
5 Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Happy Small Business Week! West County Net is proud to be a small business dedicated to helping other businesses throughout Sonoma County find success online. In the spirit of Small Business Week, we wanted to offer some suggestions for improving your business’ online presence and ensuring your online house is strong. 1. Make Sure Your […]
Be The Change
We recently celebrated our fearless leader, Paloma Sky Patiño, earning her spot among the ranks of the North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 for 2017. Read the full article on Paloma and this honor on North Bay Business Journal. At West County, we pride ourselves on being a team of dreamers, thinkers, and creatives […]
To Cloud or Not to Cloud
For the past few years, the term “The Cloud” has become a huge selling point in the IT business. Everywhere you look you will see an advertisement for going to “The Cloud”. Whether it’s simply storing data in the cloud or running your ERP software in the cloud, we here at West County Net get […]
Why is Conversion-Centered Design Important?
Why does your business need to design its website around conversion? The internet provides endless options, so you better stand out—and quick.
What’s Your 2016 Business Resolution?
With Google’s mobile-focused algorithm change and mobile searches increasing, mobile responsive website design can’t be ignored in 2016.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is the end result of years of optimization and integration in online business listings by Google over the lifetime of several of their products, namely Google Places and Google+ Pages.
Google to Change Ranking Algorithm to Favor Mobile-Friendly Sites
Sites that are designed with mobile users in mind are about to find themselves ahead of the curve.
Why not to have your Website built by a Directory Publisher
You don’t have to look very hard to find horror stories about Yellow Pages / Yellow Book / Hibu.
One Firm or Two for IT and Web Dev/Design?
It’s not often that you find a web development company that’s also an IT support company or vice versa. West County Net happens to be both, and many of our clients take advantage of that fact.
Holiday E-Commerce & Online Marketing
More and more people buy goods and services online every year. With the holiday shopping season here once again, your business should be ready for e-commerce!
Key to Cloud Hosting Security: Patching and Updating
The internet is open to anyone at anytime from anywhere in the world (for the most part). Is your business protected in the cloud?
Inbound Marketing & Small Business
This is a good example of the kind of advertising that nobody wants to see. Depending on how deep you’ve delved into the rabbit hole that is online marketing strategy, “inbound marketing” may be an unfamiliar term. Rest assured, inbound marketing isn’t false hype for “the next big thing,” nor is it some snake oil […]
West County: E-Commerce in Santa Rosa
West County Net is a web development, online marketing, and IT support company that’s been helping businesses build and launch e-commerce websites for years.
Why is Responsive Design Important?
Responsive Design: an approach to designing and programming a website wherein, depending on the size of the screen on which it is being displayed, content on the site is scaled, rearranged, and/or transformed in the interest of making it as easily viewable and accessible as possible. In other words, your website works good on phones […]
Implementing a Cloud Service
Cloud computing is quickly becoming the standard for cost-effective web hosting, data backup, and information technology services. Businesses of all sizes (including giants like Netflix) use some form of cloud service for their integral day-to-day operations. When you consider the money that businesses can save by avoiding purchasing their own servers, it’s no wonder there […]
SEO History 101
Search engine optimization has been a violently shifting landscape since its inception in the mid 90s. On the one hand, you have SEO companies and their clients, who want to rank as high as possible so more people see their websites in search results. On the other hand, you have search engines (like the giant, […]
Websites Designed for Success
WordPress was originally developed as a platform for bloggers to self-publish their blogs. Because its goal was to be accessible for as many people as possible, it is exceedingly easy to use. There’s no need to contact your webmaster if you want to update content on your site—your website is yours to change whenever you want. With WordPress’ simple and intuitive interface, it’s as easy as logging into the site’s backend and making the change.
Password Security & Best Password Practices
The recent credit card information breach at Target has a lot of people thinking about big business security issues again. What kind of information do the businesses we trust so much have and how easy is it exactly to access by some anonymous hacker? The problem that the Target credit card breach highlights is that—no […]