4 Things Your Website Needs to Have

It's 2019 and people are searching for your business - through social media, Google and most importantly, the are landing on your website. Technology is ever-changing and if you have not updated your website in a few years, your business may be due for a digital redesign. You update your phone every few years, your website should also be updated.

Solutions by Design creates custom websites that are unique to each person. There are no templates we follow, which allows us to pay attention to every detail ensuring your website fits your needs and brand. We offer a unique combination of design, marketing, programming, SEO, social media, and clinical knowledge necessary to create an effective and functional website.

Here are 4 things your website needs to have to be effective.

1. Contact Information 

This might seem like a no brainer. Of course, your contact information should be included on your website. However, one misstep we often see on a website is, users, having to search for contact information. Your contact email, phone numbers, business hours and address should be included in your footer at every single page, or at the top right-hand corner. 

2. Blog

If you are not constantly updating your website, search engines such as Google, may not know if your website is active. A blog is a must for websites because it tells search engines your website is active and constantly being updated. This helps with organic SEO efforts as well. A blog is also great for showcasing your latest business news, behind the scenes, employee culture and anything related to your business.

3. SEO Strategy 

Customers can easily find your website if they know who you are. If people are searching “your company’s name” on Google - of course they will find you and your related content. The strategy behind SEO is optimizing your custom website to focus on keywords that are related to your services, that customers who may not know your business are searching for. For example, Solutions by Design wants to be found on Google and other search engines for “social media marketing fresno” rather than “Solutions by Design.” An effective SEO strategy goes much more in-depth on keywords, content for SEO, meta tags and descriptions and much more.

4. Responsive Design 

Solutions by Design builds custom websites that are uniquely yours. Responsive web design (RWD) is a design technique that adjusts a website to fit a wide variety of devices. A responsive website looks good no matter whether you're looking at it on a phone, tablet, or desktop. Your website must adjust to fit any device your customers may be on. Responsive sites have quickly become the single, most important external marketing tool available for your business. It is all about online communications that translate well across numerous platforms.

Your website is an existential part of your business. Our clients choose us for the creation of their custom website after evaluating their other options and realizing that we are one of few firms that truly offer a unique combination of design, marketing, programming, search engine optimization, and social media services necessary to create effective and leading-edge websites. 

5 Ways to Increase Organic Reach on Social Media

Social media is changing the way we view content, the way we check our phones and the way we view businesses. With social media algorithms constantly changing day to day, your content can find it tough to stand out from other content on search engines or social media platforms.

A lot of businesses/practices rely on organic reach on social media. Organic reach is how your social media posts perform without money behind them. Social media algorithms are always changing, with its most recent trend, organic reach is declining with social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram favoring advertising and posts with a budget behind it.

Early last year, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a change in how Facebook displays one's feed. “You’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,” Mark Zuckerberg said at the start of 2018. “And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard—it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”

This could mean that your posts may not be reaching as many people as before. However, there are ways you can ensure your target audience is being reached and that your content is being displayed and given preference. Here are 5 ways to increase your organic reach on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

1. Publish Quality Content 

It is no use to constantly publish content if there is no strategy behind your posts. It is also hurting your rankings if you are publishing too many posts at one time. Ensure your work is quality content that your audience will want to engage with - news links, photos, videos or questions. The more your audience engages with your social media, the more it gets pushed at the top.

2. Create Unique Content: 

Don’t just repost to every platform - instead, take the time to ensure your content is posted and captions are written specifically for each appropriate platform. Tailor each social media post to each platform. 

3. Share Content: 

Sharing content from others in your community or industry, will not only give you additional social media content but help increase your organic reach on social media. Whether it is a retweet, a user-generated post on Instagram or sharing blogs and articles, sharing content is beneficial for both you and your audience. 

4. Know the Algorithms 

Social media algorithms are what determines how and when content is displayed to you, and it is constantly changing. Each platform has its own social media algorithm. At Solutions By Design, our social media marketing services, keep track of social algorithms so you don’t have to, ensuring you are always ahead of the changes in digital marketing and social media. 

5. Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are becoming a big component of Instagram and can help businesses of any type grow their following and reach more people organically. If you are not using Instagram Stories, you are missing a big marketing opportunity. Launched in 2017, Instagram Stories allows you to tag locations, tag other users and use hashtags - all which make your story and profile discoverable by other methods.

Want to know how Solutions by Design can grow and impact your social media strategy? Solutions By Design can help you make professional and intelligent decisions that will be advantageous in setting the fate of your overall digital marketing efforts. Give us a call at 800-888-4084.

4 Instagram Tips for Orthodontists

To stand above the crowded noise of social media, you must have excellent content! Canned posts, status updates with no images, posting at random times are a big red flag that will get your content pushed behind, lost where few people will see it. Instagram now has more than 1 billion users. With more than 1 billion users on the popular social media platform, your target audience is most likely on the photo-sharing app. With filters, selfies and sponsored posts, you have to ask yourself, “is your orthodontic practice on Instagram?” If you are on Instagram, great! But are you utilizing the platform efficiently? 

Here are 4 Instagram tips to help you stand above your competitors in 2019!

1. Real Photos! 

As a practice, you are interacting with your patients every day and providing a wonderful service people prioritize and spend money on. If you are not capturing photos with your patients before, during and after treatment, then you are missing out on a big marketing opportunity. You should prioritize and take the time to take photos with your patients because it would create content for your website, social media, search engines and for people to see the amazing work you do. 

2. User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content is content that your patients share on their social media accounts. By simply posting their smile (and if they are satisfied a great review) they expand into their network and community. You benefit from this by getting a solid reference from your patient and of course content that you can repost and share on social media. Be sure to encourage UGC by telling your patients to tag you in their social media posts. 

3. Instagram Stories 

Launched in 2016, Instagram Stories quickly became a staple component on Instagram. If you are not using Instagram Stories, then you are missing out on an important marketing opportunity on Instagram. Instagram Stories are another great way to showcase information and reach a new network of an audience who may not be following you. You can do this by using hashtags and tag locations on the Stories. It is also a great way to showcase fun, behind the scenes of your business. 

4. Story Highlights

Story highlights was a feature launched in 2017! You now are utilizing Instagram Stories, fantastic! Now curate your stories and save them on your profile. This allows your stories to be saved and archived on your profile. A great way to utilize this as a practice is to put patient reviews, a smile gallery and an "About Us" - this way users searching for an orthodontist, will not miss all the information from you. 

Solutions By Design can help you make professional and intelligent decisions that will be advantageous in setting the fate of your overall digital marketing efforts. Never miss a fun holiday, by downloading our yearly calendar of fun holidays here. 

New Year, New Office

Happy New Year from Solutions by Design! Back in October, we moved into our new fantastic office space, that will allow Solutions by Design to work in a collaborative and open environment. Complex problems require diverse solutions and our team at Solutions By Design are skilled to help our clients accomplish their goals. From web design to social media marketing to our interactive display board - we maintain a unique balance of highly talented individuals, each specializing in his or her area of service. We love our new office space!