Raleigh, NC · Serving clients worldwide
We build websites that grow your brand.
City of Oaks Marketing is a Raleigh, NC web design and development agency that designs and builds custom WordPress websites engineered for three things at once: speed, usability, and visibility, including search visibility in AI answers. No page-builder bloat, and no compromise between looking good and performing well.
What We Do
Everything your brand needs to win online.
One senior team handling strategy, design, development and marketing: no handoffs, no page builders, no templates. Just clean code and measurable results.
WordPress Development
Hand-coded, high-performing websites built for speed, security and scale. No bloated page builders, just clean, custom code that lasts.
SEO & AI Optimization
Technical and organic SEO plus AI search optimization: the work that gets you found by both search engines and the new generation of AI answers.
Marketing & Analytics
Conversion tracking that actually captures where leads come from, Google Ads and paid social run against real numbers, and reporting that tells you what to do next, not just what happened.
Web Design & Branding
Raleigh web design and brand identity from the same people who build the site: layouts designed around your content and your customers, then hand-coded to match, pixel for pixel.
AI Ready Website Architecture
Fast, scalable, and built to rank by design.
Most websites are good at one of these and weak on the rest. A site can look beautiful but load slowly. It can rank but frustrate the people who land on it. We treat all three as non-negotiable, because a site only drives business when it does all three together.
The Fastest Sites
We hand-code custom WordPress themes, no Elementor, no builder bloat, so your site loads in under a second and earns green Core Web Vitals scores. Speed isn’t a nice-to-have: it’s a ranking factor, a conversion factor, and the reason AI systems can read your content at all.
Easy to use (and edit)
Clean navigation, readable typography, and accessible markup mean more of the people who arrive actually convert. Every build is mobile-first and cleanly structured, so your team can easily make edits and additions without friction.
Built to rank
Semantic HTML, technical SEO, structured data, and answer-first content are baked into every site from the first line of code, not bolted on afterward. That’s what gets you found in Google and cited in AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Sites built to perform.
HOPPR
How we rebuilt Hoppr.ai from Squarespace to custom WordPress: performance from 42 to 94, SEO score from 77 to 100, and Core Web Vitals passing outright.
TBG Homes
Fidelity Bank
Timber Creek Distillery
Client Reviews
What it’s like to work with us.
A clear path from idea to impact.
No mystery, no guesswork. Every engagement follows the same proven track, and you always know exactly where things stand.
Strategy
We learn your business, audience and goals, then map the plan that gets you there.
Design
Wireframes, brand, and UX, all shaped around how your users behave.
Build
Clean, hand-coded development that loads fast and works flawlessly on every device.
Optimize
We don’t disappear at launch. We measure, refine, and grow as real traffic rolls in.
Not sure what your site needs?
Book a discovery call. We will look at your current site and tell you what to fix first, whether or not you hire us to fix it.
About Us
Why companies choose City of Oaks Marketing
We are a small, senior team in downtown Raleigh, founded in 2019 by Alison Iddings, who has been building websites since 1995. We have designed and built sites for Fidelity Bank, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, The Trust Company of North Carolina, Verdesian Life Science, Doxy.me, and Hoppr.ai. Clients stay with us because we deliver the rare combination of fast, usable, and high-ranking, and because we explain our decisions instead of hiding them.
- Custom code, not page builders: leaner, faster, and fully yours, with no builder lock-in.
- AI-ready from the start: structured data, llms.txt, and answer-first content so you’re visible in AI search, not just Google.
- Performance you can measure: green Core Web Vitals and sub-second load times as a baseline, not a bonus.
- Senior team, direct communication: you work with the people doing the work, and the person who quotes the project is the person who builds it.
We work with start-ups and established brands, in Raleigh and the Triangle and across the country, on web design, custom WordPress development, technical and local SEO, AI search optimization, and the marketing that runs on top of a site that works.
Questions, answered.
What sets City of Oaks Marketing apart from other agencies?
We build 100% custom WordPress themes from scratch — no templates, no page builders — which means faster, more secure, fully owned websites. Combined with a senior team, transparent communication, and data-driven strategy, that focus on quality is what makes us a trusted partner.
What industries does City of Oaks Marketing specialize in?
We have deep expertise in financial services, healthcare technology, data management & AI, real estate, agricultural technology, renewable energy, and SaaS/enterprise software. Our adaptable approach lets us build tailored strategies for businesses in regulated, high-trust industries.
How long has City of Oaks Marketing been in business?
City of Oaks Marketing was founded in 2019 by Alison Iddings, who has been building websites since 1995 and brings 30+ years of design and development experience — including leadership roles across multiple industry verticals at other companies. That depth is why we can work fluently with clients in fields like financial services, healthcare technology, and SaaS.
How do I book a discovery call?
Getting started is easy. Book a discovery call with this form and we will reach out promptly to find a convenient time. The call is free and no-pressure, and it ends with a clear recommendation, even if that recommendation is that we are not the right fit.
How much does a custom WordPress website cost?
A complete custom WordPress website typically ranges from $10,000 to $30,000. That figure covers the entire process end to end — discovery, planning, design, development, optimization, and launch — not just the build. The actual price varies based on design needs, custom features, project scale, and overall complexity. Despite a higher initial cost than pre-made templates, the long-term benefits — performance, scalability, and return on investment — make custom development the stronger value.
Is custom WordPress development suitable for small businesses?
Yes. Custom WordPress development can be tailored to the specific needs and budget of small businesses — you get a fast, professional, fully owned site without the limitations of templates.
Where is City of Oaks Marketing located, and do you work with clients outside Raleigh?
We’re based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a 100% USA-based team. While we’re proud to call Raleigh home, we serve clients across the United States and internationally, collaborating remotely with businesses worldwide.
Guides from the work, not the marketing department.
How to capture UTM parameters in WordPress forms, what a website actually costs, why AI search rewards fast sites, and what we learned rebuilding sites for banks, law firms and software companies. Written by the people who build the sites.
Ready for a site that's fast, easy to use, and ranks?
Tell us about your project and we’ll show you exactly how we’d approach it, no obligation, no hard sell. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you that too.
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