New Digital Brochure System - Solutions By Design

2.2 features new organization of our digital brochure library. The new interface allows each user to organize their brochures in subcategories. Each of our over 75 professionally written brochure include Care Instructions, Procedures, Nutrition Information, Insurance Information and event brochures on Rx Food Products from Purina and soon Royal Canin.

Calorie Counter Widget Launched

A new feature on Montage Displays has officially launched. The new Calorie Counter Widget for veterinarian hospitals is officially here.

We have added several new widgets to Montage for Vets, including the new RER Calorie Counter. This new dynamic widget allows client, doctors or staff to select the species...dog or cat then slide the scale to the desired weight then select the pets lifestyle.  The algorithm will calculate the rested energy requirements for that pet. We also feature a “client managed” pet food recommendation with email and text ability.

A New Technology: Fresno County Fair and Solutions By Design

Fresno County Fair Historical Museum utilized our Montage Displays and Interface to educate attendees on the history of the Central Valley.

The Fresno County Fair is just one more client utilizing the expertise of Solutions By Design in adding technology to their exhibit experience. Our Interactive Montage Boards present an on-demand presentation of inspirational Fresno individuals and businesses. Each is presented graphically with corresponding text and audio in English, Spanish and Hmong.

Another Fresno local organization to utilize Montage is the Fresno County Armenian Cultural Center. Fresno County Fair kicked off an Armenian cultural display located on the second floor of the museum. Two Montage Boards provide on-demand access to individuals of Armenian descent along with a biographical presentation.

Montage News: Customize your Montage Display

Our new back-end management system ANDI allows each of our users to design their own display.

Each can activate the widgets that they desire and place them where they prefer.

Color of tabs, hearts, backgrounds and placeholders can all be specified to make each Montage System unique.

Increase Your Reach By Using Facebook Groups to Grow Your Community

Did you know Facebook recently launched “Groups” for business pages to use? This enables your business to create your own unique communities and feeds. If you’re confused how this will benefit you, we’re here to let you know this is a positive thing for your business. This update allows braces a new way to boost engagement and counter the decline in organic reach which all Facebook page users have experienced the past few years.

Over a billion people use Facebook Groups, and over 100 million people worldwide see “Groups” as a major part of their experience and use on Facebook.

What are “Groups”?

Facebook Groups are a place to connect with other users with similar interests and they are becoming increasingly important for brands and businesses aiming to encourage their own community.

How to create a Facebook Group

Creating a Facebook Group is very easy. Here are the most important steps:

1. Choose your Facebook Group name and privacy setting

2. Fill out your Facebook Group’s info

3. Write a description to tell people what the group is about in more details.

4. Add (up to five) tags to help people find your group.

5. Add your location if you are a local Group.

6. Customize your URL.

Facebook Groups offer built-in analytics making it easy for you to track the insights of your community. You can set up your group as public or private, post documents, create polls, start a group chat, and all members’ receive notifications about new posts to the group. This is why it’s great for businesses looking for a way to tap into their organic reach. For more information about Facebook Groups and how they can add value to your business, contact Solutions by Design.

Google is Killing Off Instant Search

Introduced in 2010, Google’s “Instant Search” feature was touted as “the future of search”, allowing users to save precious seconds by loading results dynamically as they typed. It also became a source of amusement as Google struggled to eliminate results from “search spammers” who used bots to force humorous results that people saw when they typed. Google was able to overcome that and other issues, and Instant Search became a hit with users.

Google has recently announced that it is getting rid of Instant Search. The reason? It’s because most of us now use mobile devices to search, and since Instant Search was never introduced on mobile, Google wants to keep a unified search experience across all platforms. With mobile voice assistants becoming more popular, Google just doesn’t see the need to keep maintaining its Instant Search feature.

No longer will you be able to go to Google on your desktop PC and type in something like this and get instant results:

Some users may miss this feature because it does save time and eliminates spelling errors, but the future is mobile. At Solutions By Design, we can help you help you reach your goals and increase your search engine optimization. Visit our website or give us a call for more information. 800-888-4084.

Marketing Solutions For Top Veterinary Practices

After more than 30 years of specializing in the Orthodontic market, Solutions By Design is excited to enter into the veterinary field. In 2016 we partnered with some of the top local veterinarians to create a product that would be useful and beneficial to veterinarians in the exam room and the reception area. Not only was our goal to create a useful and necessary tool for doctors and staff, but our trusted veterinarian consultants wanted a product that would educate their clients and enhance their visit. As a result, our current versions of Montage Interactive were born. 

Montage Interactive comes in many different hardware configurations, and the software is made up of custom widgets that can be tailored to your practice needs. Through various widgets, Montage Interactive can be used in clinical case presentations (which can then be printed or emailed), as a patient education tool, to advertise products and promotions, for entertainment, and as a marketing and social media hub.

In addition to Montage Interactive, Solutions By Design can also help your practice with other veterinary marketing needs. We specialize in custom responsive website design, SEO, and social media. Technology is always evolving and it is important that your website reflects those changes as well. When choosing a veterinarian, pet owners will go through a process of gathering information such as asking for recommendations and stopping in for pre-appointment visits. If a pet owner is looking online for a veterinarian in your area and not finding your practice through an online search or not finding the information they are looking for, then your website is not serving its purpose. Since most potential leads are generated from online searches, you want to be sure that your practice is listed first in search results. This is where SEO and strategic social media marketing come into play. Social media and SEO are in a tactical relationship with each other. How so? They are both strategies that focus on creating an appealing identity that will increase visitors. Having a strong plan for each of these will benefit the other. 

As technology evolves, so should your website and marketing techniques. Researching SEO techniques and trying to keep up with the ever-changing trends of social media can be an overwhelming task that most hospital staff don’t have time for; however, no marketing need is too large or small for our highly trained and experienced staff. At Solutions By Design, we can help you help you reach your goals and increase your search engine optimization. Visit our website or give us a call for more information. 800-888-4084.

Myths & Facts About SEO

Every day businesses across the country are flooded with telemarketing calls from various website and SEO companies. You’ve probably received a few of these calls in the recent past. Almost all of them claim to have discovered “serious issues” with your website that “affects SEO and rankings.” Of course, they will be happy to email over their report and if you sign up with them they will “fix” these "serious" issues.

The reports they send to you often appear troubling. “Issues” are dramatically described and highlighted, leading you to believe that your current SEO efforts, if you have any, are not working properly or inefficient. If you have an SEO company on retainer, you will begin to question their methods and expertise; and your doubts are what these companies are counting on.

If you look closely at these reports, many of them contain “issues” that are simply SEO myths that have persisted for a long time. Many of the “issues” have absolutely NO EFFECT on rankings, or at one time used to be factors but are no longer regarded as important. We will explain a few of these myths below in order to educate you on the tactics employed by less-than-reputable companies.

Myth: Your site must be submitted to hundreds of search engines and directory listings to get noticed.
Fact: Search engines will always find your website if at least one other website links to it. Submitting your website to “hundreds” of online directories and search engines is a waste of time, and in some cases, may hurt your rankings if your site is linked from questionable sources.

Myth: Having META tags will help your rankings.
Fact: The vast majority of search engines ignore META keyword, description, author, and robots tags, for obvious reasons. These tags have been abused in the past by webmasters looking to “game the system.” Search engines have ignored them for years.

Myth: You must have hundreds of “inbound links” to rank high.
Fact: Search engines place more importance on the quality of the inbound links rather than the quantity. Having a few inbound links from highly recognized and respected sources are much better than having numerous links from low-quality sources.

Myth: Your site must have a high "PageRank" in order to rank higher in the search results.
Fact: PageRank is just one factor Google uses in figuring out how to rank pages. A site with a low PageRank will show up higher in the search results if Google thinks it's more relevant.

Myth: Proper SEO will give your site permanent top rankings.
Fact: There is no such thing as permanent rankings. Search engine algorithms change all the time and rankings fluctuate as a result. New websites are constantly appearing, challenging the existing websites for rankings. Even the smallest tweak to the contents of your website may have a dramatic effect on rankings. As we’ve seen all too clearly here at Solutions by Design, customer reviews have a serious impact on local rankings.

Myth: You must have your targeted keywords in the IMG ALT tag and a link’s Title tag.
Fact: Like the META tags, these have been greatly abused in the past and search engines largely ignore them. It’s best just to place an exact description of the image or link into these tags to help the search engines identify them.

Myth: It’s important for your rankings to update your home page frequently.
Fact: Unless your home page is a blog with daily posts, static content containing your targeted keywords is just fine. There are plenty of “stale” sites with top rankings.

Myth: H1 tags are a crucial part of SEO and rankings.
Fact: There is little correlation between H1 tags and rankings. H1 tags play an important role and should be used primarily for accessibility and usability, but they have little effect on rankings.

Myth: Your site must have a specific “keyword density” in order to rank high.
Fact: As long as your site contains your targeted keywords in an easy-to-read and engaging format, search engines will be able to identify and index it. Trying to achieve an arbitrary keyword density percentage is both a waste of time and a pain for your customers to read.

There are many more myths that SEO companies still try to peddle in order to get your business, and it’s important for you to do your research and consult with people you trust before signing on with them. If they try to make the case for one of these SEO myths then they are not the company for you. If you have any questions or concerns about a company that is contacting you about these myths, feel free to give Solutions by Design a call and ask for our SEO department. Call 800-888-4084.

Implement User-Generated Content Into Your Content Strategy

With the ever-changing algorithms of the digital world, it’s important for your social media strategy to include content that meets the needs of your SEO as well as engages with your consumer. We understand not everyone has a generous budget to put towards boosting posts or pay for ads on Facebook, but with the organic reach declining it’s time to add fuel to the fire. One way to do this is by implementing UGC, user-generated content, into your content strategy.

What is User-Generated Content? UGC is short for user-generated content; this is any form of digital content created by consumers and shared publicly online.

Sharing your brand’s story through UGC will give your content strategy more authenticity and it will be more engaging for your followers. Here are just a few more reasons you need to start implementing UGC:

INCREASES YOUR MARKETING TEAM
Consumers are creating content and posting it online; use it and source it.

OFFERS ADDITIONAL CONTENT
Everyone struggles with creating social media content, so leverage UGC to add variety to your content strategy and change it up.

SAVES TIME & MONEY
With UGC, you won’t have to spend money on hiring photographers or using stock photos.

IT’S MORE TRUSTWORTHY
This content is coming from friends or strangers within the community, making it more authentic, real and believable.

IT’S MORE ENGAGING
UGC drives 6.9X higher news feed engagement on than brand-generated content.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are popular social platforms that operate almost entirely on user-generated content. Be sure to start asking your consumers for UGC by putting a call to action on marketing materials, using hashtags, or promoting UGC with contests and giveaways. Once you do this, find the UGC by searching the hashtag or location and get permission from the user to share it. Repurpose this content on your website, social media, ads, blogs, etc.

UGC is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your brand and increase engagement and loyalty with consumers. Reference these tips and you should be able to revive your social media content strategy and reach.

Do you need help with your social media marketing? Contact Solutions by Design and ask about our social media services. Visit our website or call 800-888-4084.

More On Montage

What is Montage Pro?

Solutions by Design has created a powerful interactive digital bulletin board that is flexible for any business. We’ve taken the sleek look of modern technology and paired it with our specialization in software and programming to create the ultimate digital communications solution. Equipped with a touch screen, custom widgets, photo booth, whiteboard, and more, our Montage board delivers relevant information and technology to your internal audience at your location.

What are widgets?

Our Montage software interface is comprised of Widgets; an application that enables a user to perform a function, similar to an app on a smartphone. Each widget is designed by Solutions by Design for specific vertical markets, our most popular being orthodontics, veterinary, and home building markets. Though we specialize in these fields, we do have several other business markets we work with and can customize widgets for any area of business. 

Take a look at some of the widgets available to our Montage users by visiting the Montage page of our website. Click here to view that page now.

Exam Room Features Of Montage

Our veterinary clients utilize the Montage wall mount hardware for their exam rooms. This interface is more streamlined for case presentation; fundamentally the same functionality as the reception area version, however, the look and layout is different. The exam room version includes our amazing interactive whiteboard, featuring clinical illustrations and a 3D animation library. With some management software applications, you can actually import patient radiographs, diagram and email each as desired.

OTHER FEATURES OF MONTAGE FOR THE EXAM ROOM

• Digital Brochure Dispenser: our treatment and informational sheets about pets can be printed and/or emailed. Each is branded with your business logo and contact information.

• 3D Animation Series: demonstrates how injuries occur and how treatment is provided.

• Educational Video Library: provides multimedia information on various topics ranging from ACL Surgery to Preparing for your New Puppy.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PROVIDED 

Interactive Touch Hardware is available as a wall mount, free-standing kiosk, and jumbo smartphone.  Questions about how Montage can benefit your office or regarding hardware? Call us at 800-888-4084 and let us recommend the optimum configuration and size for your needs. 

Support Those Who Serve | May Charity Of The Month

This month our Check-in 4 Charity members are supporting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is an amazing non-profit Check-in 4 Charity has had the privilege to benefit before. The mission of Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is to serve the United States military personnel wounded or injured in service to our nation, and their families. 100% of donations to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund go directly to their programs and no portion of contributions is deducted for administrative costs.

Beginning in the year 200, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes fund is a leader in supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. The Fund has provided nearly $200 million for families of military personnel lost in service, and for wounded military personnel too.

Explore their site here to understand more and find out how you can get more involved with this amazing charity. Interested in becoming a Check-in 4 Charity member? Visit our website or give us a call at 800-888-4084 and sign up today.

The Future Is Voice Search

A Burger King commercial caused a bit of controversy recently, not for anything racy or disturbing, but for being too invasive. The 15-second ad starts with a Burger King employee holding up the sandwich saying, “You’re watching a 15-second Burger King ad, which is unfortunately not enough time to explain all the fresh ingredients in the Whopper sandwich. But I’ve got an idea. OK, Google, what is the Whopper burger?”

If a viewer has the Google Home assistant or an Android phone with voice search enabled within listening range of the TV, that last phrase - “Hello Google, what is the Whopper burger?” - is intended to trigger the device to search for Whopper on Google and read out the finding from Wikipedia. Admittedly, it’s a clever marketing campaign and the first one to make use of what’s fast becoming a standard in many homes - the personal voice assistant.

Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Home assistants sold at a rapid pace last year, and this year the sales are expected to grow even more. With both assistants able to do everything from record notes to control lights and appliances by simply speaking to them, people are discovering the value in owning these assistants. And one of the biggest uses of these devices is the ability to search for information or businesses simply by speaking.

Moms can look up recipes and have the assistant read them back as she’s making dinner. Dads can ask the assistant for the nearest automotive store. The kids can ask about upcoming concerts or video game releases. The possibilities are endless - and convenient. All you do is simply speak.

And it’s not just these assistants that are becoming the go-to devices for voice search. Smartphones are now a big part of the voice search landscape. Voice search can be enabled on both Android and Apple smartphones, and Samsung is releasing their Bixby voice assistant with the new Galaxy S8 this month. Even Microsoft is entering the game with their Cortana voice assistant which can be enabled on computers and tablets.

What does this mean for your business? First of all, it’s important to have a solid SEO strategy in place that can capitalize on this emerging search arena. When people type a search phrase into their browsers, most of the time they use simple truncated phrases to save on typing. For example, if someone is searching for an orthodontist in Dallas they may simply enter, “orthodontists Dallas.” This is especially true on a mobile device where typing can be tedious.

But a voice search uses more natural language, and most people aren’t concerned about truncation. The same person searching for an orthodontist may say, “What is the closest orthodontist to Jefferson Elementary?”, or “What are the top five orthodontists nearest to my home?” Natural language searches like these open up new challenges for SEO.

Here at Solutions by Design, we are fully aware of this new future in search, and are positioning our SEO efforts to meet this new challenge. Part of our SEO strategy will be to make use of this new “natural language” search in our optimization efforts and guide our clients in understanding the implications and benefits. It’s an exciting transition in the world of search and we want our clients to be prepared.

Facebook Testing Improved Local Search Feature To Offer Users Business Suggestions

Our favorite social media network is at it again. Facebook is currently testing a new and improved local search feature that may take away from Foursquare, Yelp, and Google Maps. According to TechCrunch, Facebook has confirmed that users are able to catch recommendations of nearby places. This works by entering something like “nearby vet” or “orthodontist nearby” in the mobile or web search of Facebook. By doing this, users will receive a list of relevant businesses near their location, as well as their Facebook ratings, map, and friends who have liked or visited the place in query.

At the moment Facebook is declining to share any further details on this addition, or how long this testing has been in progress. It is possible that some users are able to utilize this function, while others are slowly gaining access or don’t have it at all.

In regards to how Facebook determines which results to provide to the user, that answer is currently uncertain. It has been noted that the order of which locations are shown first is not determined by the number of reviews, rating, or proximity to your current location.

We will continue to keep you informed on this new Facebook feature as it unfolds. In the meantime, connect with Solutions by Design on social media to stay updated on social media news and more.

Proximity Is Now A Top Ranking Factor In Local Search

Many of our SEO clients have heard us tell them that when it comes to local searches it’s all about location and relevance. This subject usually arises when a client calls or emails because their business isn’t showing up in the “local pack” search results. (The “local pack” is the portion near the top of the search results that shows a map with up to three local businesses). They often wonder why a new business with no reviews is showing up on the map and listings and they aren’t.

The local pack has generated a lot of discussion recently as SEO experts try to figure out how Google arrives at their results. It doesn’t appear to be based on reviews since some of the listings won’t show any. It also doesn’t appear to be the age of the business. After careful analysis, it now appears that proximity is the top factor in this determination. Since more people now search on their mobile phones than on computers, Google places more importance on providing them with relevant, location-based results.

Let’s say that you’re out shopping and it’s getting close to noon. You’re hungry and in the mood for Mexican food, so you do a quick search on your phone for “Mexican restaurants”. The results you get will show the local pack with a map and up to three listings. You’ll notice that they are the closest Mexican restaurants based on your current location. In the meantime, your spouse is on the other side of town and uses their phone to search for Mexican restaurants. Their local pack results will show the restaurants closest to them.

What does this mean for your business? It can be a bit frustrating to know that someone across town is searching for a business and your competitors are showing up instead of you. Your business may be listed on the first page, below the local pack, but many people will naturally gravitate towards the local pack before scanning the page for more results. No amount of SEO work will force your business to show up in the local pack regardless of where the searcher is located.

Although Google includes a link in the local pack for “more results”, that’s little consolation to a business that’s hoping their SEO efforts are paying off. They may be at the very top of the organic listings, right below the local pack, but they want to get noticed right away. Unfortunately, in a mobile-centric environment, it’s all about proximity now, and it looks like it will be that way for at least the near future.

Easy Way To Get Google Reviews

Google reviews are extremely important for businesses nowadays because of consumer influence. Businesses know they need to be accumulating as many positive reviews as possible for various business marketing reasons, though many don't know how to do so or where to start. As Google is constantly changing, it’s important for us at Solutions by Design to keep our clients ahead of the game and educated on how Google reviews work, as well as conquering the task of getting more reviews from current and past patients.

Where to start?

The first thing you need to do is a Google search with your business name in the search box. As long as you’ve already claimed your "Google My Business" page(s) and you’re easily found in that kind of a search, you’ll see the Google Maps and "Google My Business" page appear to the right of the screen. Once you get here, click on the map and you will be taken directly to your “Google My Business” public page. This page is where your patients will go to write a review. Persons leaving the review must have a Google account and must be signed in to do so.

The question we hear is how do you get your patients through this journey of finding your "Google My Business" page easily? We suggest you simplify the search for the patient by linking your Google place page on your website or email the link in an e-blast. To do this, find the "embed map code" and provide it to the person designated to update your website, or use the short link for an e-blast or hyperlink on your website.

How do you find the link?

1. Find your Google place page.
2. Click the menu option.
3. Click share or embed map. 
4. A pop-up to share the link will appear, click the short URL and use this for e-blasts or hyperlink on your website.
5. To embed map on your website, click “Embed Map” and provide this code to the designated person. 

We suggest you add this to your website to help increase the number of Google reviews on your "Google My Business" page. If you are a Solutions by Design social media client, talk to your social media manager about this update as it is included in your monthly subscription if it is not already done. If you are not a social media client, give us a call to add have your maps code embedded to your website. All Google Maps website updates starting at $150.