Why Great Website Design Matters

Solutions by Design

Your website is often the first interaction potential customers have with your business. Within seconds, visitors form an opinion about your brand based on what they see and experience online. That's why exceptional website design is no longer a luxury…it's a necessity.

At Solutions by Design, we understand that a website is much more than an online brochure. It's a powerful business tool that can attract visitors, build trust, and convert prospects into loyal customers. Clean layouts, compelling visuals, intuitive navigation, and professional branding create an immediate positive impression.

A well-designed website communicates credibility, attention to detail, and a commitment to customer experience within moments of a visitor arriving on your site. However, beautiful design is only part of the equation. Effective website design focuses on creating a seamless user experience that helps visitors find information quickly and easily.

Clear navigation, logical content organization, and strategically placed calls-to-action guide users through your website and encourage engagement. Whether visitors are looking for products, services, educational content, or contact information, a well-structured website makes the journey effortless. The easier it is for users to interact with your site, the more likely they are to stay longer and take action.

With a significant percentage of web traffic coming from smartphones and tablets, mobile-friendly design is critical. Today's users expect websites to function flawlessly regardless of the device they're using. Responsive website design ensures that content automatically adapts to different screen sizes, providing an optimal experience on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. Not only does this improve user satisfaction, but it also helps boost search engine rankings, as mobile usability remains an important factor in SEO performance.

Visitors expect websites to load quickly. Even a delay of a few seconds can cause users to abandon a site and seek information elsewhere. Fast-loading websites create a smoother user experience and improve visitor retention. Additionally, search engines favor websites that perform efficiently, making speed optimization a key component of a successful digital strategy. From optimized images to streamlined code, every aspect of website performance contributes to overall effectiveness.

Modern design elements, consistent branding, high-quality imagery, and clear messaging reassure visitors that they are engaging with a reputable organization. A polished website demonstrates that your business values quality and is committed to delivering a positive experience.

The most successful websites do more than provide information…they create experiences. Interactive elements, engaging visuals, compelling videos, and thoughtfully crafted content encourage visitors to explore and connect with your brand.

At Solutions by Design, we specialize in creating dynamic digital experiences that combine innovative design, engaging content, and user-focused functionality. Whether you're launching a new website or enhancing an existing one, our team can help you build an online presence that captures attention and delivers results.

As digital experiences continue to evolve, businesses must prioritize website design as a key component of their overall marketing strategy. An effective website attracts visitors, enhances user engagement, strengthens brand credibility, and supports long-term business growth.

Your website is often your most valuable digital asset. Contact Solutions by Design today to make sure your website is working as hard as you are.

 

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.

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Google’s New Mobile Index Split | How It Will Effect Your SEO

Due to the fact that the majority of searches are now conducted on mobile devices, Google has decided to split their index into mobile-specific and desktop-specific versions.

What is the Google index? Every day, Google’s search engine “bots” crawl through websites and index the contents so that results can be presented to searchers. Until now there has been one unified index for both desktop and mobile searches, so no matter what device you were searching from, the results would be basically the same.

Google’s plan is to provide results optimized for mobile users, and they will be updating and focusing on the mobile index to a greater degree than the desktop index. When a search is conducted from a desktop computer, Google will present results from the desktop index. Alternately, when a search is conducted on a mobile device, Google will present results from the mobile index.

Effect on Websites
If a website is responsive, very little will change. The main criteria will be the speed of the website. If the website is slow to load then it will suffer in the rankings compared to faster sites.

• This will be especially important going forward with new websites we build, and the designers and developers will need to be aware of these issues:
• All sites will need to be run through Google’s website speed tester prior to launch. If the site scores lower than 90 out of 100, adjustments will need to be made following Google’s suggestions.
• Images and other design elements will need to be optimized to enhance the speed of the site. These design considerations will need to be made during the initial concept phase to avoid any potential speed issues.
• Scripts and other files necessary to the site will need to be “minified” and placed in the optimal load order. Google has good documentation on this and it should be followed by the developers. In addition, no supporting files should be loaded from external sites wherever possible. This includes jQuery base files and jQuery app files. Wherever possible, font files should be loaded locally.

For SEO clients who already have responsive sites, the same issues above will apply and some modifications will need to be made.

For those clients with separate mobile sites there will be more issues to consider. The main issue will be content. Since most mobile sites contain only an abbreviated portion of the content of the main website, the reduction in content (because Google is now keeping a separate mobile index) will definitely affect the site’s rankings.

To correct this, the same content that exists on the desktop version of the site will need to be present in the mobile version. This ensures that Google will have enough content to index in order to rank the site effectively. Obviously, this presents challenges when it comes to showing interactive content (Choose Your Look, Terms, etc), and a solid development plan will need to be in place to address these challenges.

Also, Google’s focus is moving increasingly toward their AMP (accelerated mobile pages) technology and soon will play a major role in rankings. It is highly recommended that we begin exploring this technology in order to stay in the game.

Effect on SEO Efforts
For existing responsive sites, the main thing to consider is optimizing the site for speed. This will involve a combination of work from the designers and the developers. The designers will need to develop routines for optimizing the images and graphical elements, and the developers will need to concentrate on optimizing the code and supporting files.

For new responsive sites, it will be important to follow the guidelines above during the entire development process.

In terms of additional time needed for SEO purposes, there should be no additional efforts other than a possible change to the monthly reporting. I’m still waiting to see if the SEO reporting software will change to accommodate the index split. But once the site is optimized for speed, monthly on-site SEO efforts should remain the same. For sites with separate mobile versions, a little additional time will be required in order to make sure the desktop and mobile versions are in sync, with attention being paid to the differences needed in order to affect rankings. The additional time needed will have little impact overall.

Conclusion
Unless more changes are revealed by Google, this announced change to Google’s index will have little impact in terms of monthly SEO work required. The primary consideration will be developing responsive sites for optimal speed, developing new techniques and requirements to achieve this, and exploring new technologies such as AMP. The burden will rest on the designers and developers to produce sites that meet Google’s optimization guidelines.

We #MannequinChallenge You

The latest internet craze is the Mannequin Challenge! The #MannequinChallenge involves a group of people to strike a pose while being filmed to hip hop artist Rae Sremmurd’s newly released song “Black Beatles” in the background.

The first viral video of the Mannequin Challenge surfaced in October 2016, and it's now trending all across the net. There are currently more than 56,000 posts with the hashtag #MannequinChallenge and the number rises every day. Now, it’s our turn!

Just a typical day at Solutions by design…#MannequinChallenge



The Mannequin Challenge is easy to create and fun to participate in! It’s so fun, we’re challenging YOU to create your own clip! It may seem a little odd, but trust us, it’s a powerful form of social media marketing and branding. Many brands have received amazing results while posting viral videos such as this, so join us and take on our challenge!

Tag Us! 

Don’t forget to tag us in your mannequin challenge videos! Use #SBDMadeMeDoIt so we can LIKE & SHARE your video!

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED OFFER! Save 40% With This Bundle Package

Oh What A Show

The 2016 AAO Annual Session was a success for the Solutions by Design booth! We traveled all the way from California to Orlando, Florida to showcase our wonderful products, services, and offer great promos that so many new and existing clients took advantage of. If you didn't have a chance to stop by our booth, don't worry, we are creating some wonderful post-show promos that will be coming out soon.

Check out this time-lapse video of our booth from the 2016 AAO Annual Session to see if you made the video cut!

Again, thank you for coming to the show! See you all next year in San Diego, California!

FAQ Of The Month: How Come My Camera Is Not Working?

Montage was developed to create the ultimate patient experience in the reception area of your office. You can organize, manage and display educational and informational content in one place and make it fun at the same time. We understand that technology isn’t always easy to use, so this month we decided to take one of your Frequently Asked Questions, and provide the answer for you below!

Question: How come my Camera is not working?

Answer:

1. Please check if the camera is plugged into the computer attached to the back of the Touchscreen board or try using a different USB Port. 
2. Next refresh the contents of the page that is currently running on the Montage board. When prompted make sure you are selecting “Allow” when it asks if you want to let www.andisolutions.com use your camera. The message should right above the content of Montage. If it does not please do not hesitate to give our office a call. 
3. If the problems persist, let us know and we can get this resolved for you.

If you have any further questions or concerns, our Technical Support can be reached @559.765.0638 or support@solutionsbydesign.com.

Look for us at The Forum 2016!

 



 

Look for Solutions By Design this week at The Forum 2016 in Ranco Palos Verdes, CA! Stop by booth #11 to learn more about our latest products such as Checkin4Charity.com, and learn more about our current promotions. We can't wait to see you there!

 

SBD New Product Launch - Checkin4Charity.com

Solutions By Design has created another solution to enhance your social media strategy.  Are you ready to connect with thousands of potential local customers each month?  Interested in expanding your brand online while making a difference in the world? Then you need this new innovative social media tool we’ve created, Checkin4Charity.com.

What is Checkin4Charity.com?

Checkin4charity.com is a very low cost and innovative social media tool that will greatly and instantly expand your social presence on the internet, while allowing your customers to help make a difference.  By providing digital signage in your office, blasters to your customer base, and information on your website….your patients will “Check-in” at your business and reach thousands…mostly local potential customers per month.

How does it work?

We have established relationships and committed donations to 12 charities, one per month.  Your customers see the “call to action” notifying them that for every Check-in at your business, we will make a donation to the charity of the month.  The provided digital display and your website give an up to date accumulative, by charity total donations by our program.  The digital display slides month to month showing your customers how they are helping to make a difference in the world when they check in at your business. Your patients see the total accumulative donations raised by ALL Checkin4charity.com participants worldwide.

For Montage Users, we will also provide a Banner Ad to build awareness and participation.

You can choose from 5 levels of participation.  Each is based upon the volume of participation by your customers.

Also, you will receive a monthly Certificate of Appreciation from Checkin4charity.com showing the results of donations generated by your customers check-ins.

Call 1-800-888-4084 TODAY!  (Website still in development)

Exciting Changes for SEO in 2016

The SEO industry is constantly changing, and one of the challenges for us is keeping up with this ever-changing landscape and, more importantly, continually adding value to our SEO services.

As we move into a new year, we are planning on implementing some exciting changes for our many SEO clients. First and foremost will be dynamic online reporting. Utilizing our popular ANDI client portal, your SEO reports will be available online for reviewing at any time, along with historical trends and other important information.

If you haven’t used the ANDI portal yet, you will find it powerful and easy. All of our products are at your fingertips, along with the latest news and information from Solutions by Design. Adding the SEO product will make it even more valuable for our clients.

There are even more changes in the works for SEO in 2016. Our commitment is to continually provide leading-edge SEO services, and when combined with our proven social media strategies it makes sense to go with a company that stays current with the changing online marketing landscape.

Shouldn’t your New Year’s resolutions include SEO and Social Media?

SBD Website Development - January 2016 News

All of our website clients received an e-mail discussing the addition of a SSL Certificate to your website for added security.  This is highly recommended for a variety of reasons. As discussed in the document that you received, not only is this necessary for Chrome but we fell will be a requirement by most browsers to add security to the sites visited.

If you didn’t catch the email on SSL security here is a short list of reasons why this is a critical piece to your site:

• Information submitted on the internet often pass through more than one computer before reaching its destination – SSL certificates encrypts communication broadcasted between users and webservers in case hackers are listening or collecting data (data mining) from the webpage traffic.


• Establishes trust with users accessing your webpage – so the public know you are who you say you are and transactions are protected.


• Authenticates your organization identity to public users via a Padlock image on the address bar in case someone else is spoofing with your IP address (trying to communicate information on your behalf).


• Encrypts webpage transactions so users who fill out forms or enter in their information through the website know it is encrypted. Any and all forms will now be secured.


• SEO…(search engines optimization) is enhanced with secure sites.

New Testimonial Page:

Many of our website clients utilize blink and or Montage.  Practice Reviewer is a great tool for enhanced SEO.  We are adding a new twist to those of you that use both of these products.  The new Testimonial feature allows your patients to take a photo with the Montage Board….then post a comment along with the photo to your website!  Before the Testimonial goes live…you will review each in ANDI, controlling all content before it goes live.

ScreenPlay January 2016 News

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ScreenPlay continues to gain market share as more and more users are finding and becoming comfortable with its power.  A new update is scheduled for release soon and will include a variety of new animations on appliances.

ScreenPlay Features:

Extensive Animation and Video Library
You can educate patients at the exam as they sit chair-side using our dynamic 3D animations. ScreenPlay has patient education videos ranges from 1.5 to 8 minutes in length, professionally produced and are regarded as the best in the business.

Malocclusion Specific
Features more than a thousand animations, all specific to patient age classification and malocclusion with problem and treatment options. Each step in the treatment process can be demonstrated the way you recommend treatment. An audio track describing the problem or treatment accompanies each animation.

Sending Presentations Home

At the end of your presentation, you can compile the entire presentation and burn it to a CD or Email it home to the patient. Each contains all of the information presented in the examination, including actual patient records, findings, policy and procedure forms, care and use forms, problem and treatment demonstration animations with audio tracks and patient education videos.

Languages

ScreenPlay has a multt-language interface providing voice-overs and captions for all the animations and education videos in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Protocol Management Center
With Protocols, you can create a favorite set of animations. It may be just a single animation like an RPE, or an entire string of animations and videos. This provides simple access for individual appliances or problems.

Digital Forms
ScreenPlay also includes a series of administrative as well as clinical forms for use in the consultation or throughout treatment as needed.

With this offer there are 3 maintenance packages for you to choose from.

For more information on ScreenPlay Pro and our new pricing please contact us at 1-800-888-4084

bLink January 2016 News

Ask your SBD representative how blink fits into your communications Eco-System! 

bLink 2.0 is in the works.

There is a lot of development going on here these days.  bLink 2.0 is a major undertaking that will add a significant amount of new features to its functionality.

The long awaited Newsletters and Survey feature will provide our users with the tools necessary to allow our users to send Newsletter to Existing/ Active Patients as well as all “Patients of Record”.

This month we are pushing out a new feature that will allow you to automatically send a “Request for Review” email. This specific email can be synced to any appointment “type”.  Based upon the appointment types designated in your PMS.  The same functionality applies here as it does to your Montage Board Reviewer functionality. Reviews once completed and submitted go to ANDI.  Once ion ANDI you can accept them and respond with a request to post.  From there your patients can post reviews about your practice to popular review sites such as Yelp and Google Reviews.

Create your Own Email Types:

This new feature will allow you to add and delete any of the email opportunities in bLink.  Want to add an email specific to “How are you Feeling” to be sent right after the bonding appointment? Want to add an SBD video on how to deal with any possible pain…you can set up your emails with your own message with your designated attachments.

Here is a list of the most requested features for bLink 2.0

1. Newsletter


2. Message Center communication linked up to Doctor/Patient emails


3. Text Message being able to confirm


4. Mass Email fixes, additional features, and improvements


5. Combining/consolidating multiple appointment reminders that go out within a single day


6. Notification settings automatically update when emails/cell numbers are change within clients Management Software


7. bLink fixing RP and P link as long as it is correct from client Management Software


8. Control over which reminders go out (reminders by appointment types)

 

Other bLink news includes:

We added the Automated Reviewer email to blink

We also enhanced the Reviewer feature in Montage so the “Review that the patient wrote goes into the email that asks them to post; it can also be ported to the website.

ALL OF THESE AND MUCH, MUCH MORE ARE INCLUDED IN THE NEW 2.0 UPGRADE CURRENTLY IN THE WORK.

Montage January 2016 News

Montage 3.0 was released and looks great!  We have a variety of additional features that will be released in packets as 3.1-3.2 and 3.3.

3.0 added a lot of great features.  If you want to convert to 3.0…it is simple and it is free.  Simply log into your ANDI account and under the Settings tab select Layout.  A list of “versions” will appear. You will see a template demonstrating the look of each version.

3.1 which is in the works is truly amazing!

Here is a preview of what is in development for 3.1:

Cosmetic features:

Although 3.0 looks really cool…especially on our new iPhone looking Kiosk…we were not happy with the way that each widget enlarged…they were lacking pizazz.  We went back to the drawing board on this function and now…they have pizazz.  Instead of filling the center of the screen right to left with a blue background, each has a fun motion and retains its shape and color background.  They are smaller when enlarged and look a lot more balanced.



Each of the widgets now have motion in them while in their inactive mode.  This adds more interest and instantly alerts any patient of the fact that the display is interactive.

The Main Menu with multiple screens will allow users to select any and all widgets from the main screen.  Look at the list of widgets in development here and you will see a ton of new features.



 

Additional Widgets:

Utilize Sling Box technology to stream your cable TV connection onto the Montage board. This feature connection onto the Montage board. This feature expands at a touch and can be set to enlarge if the board is unattended for more than “X” minutes.





 

 

3.2  is in the final stages of development.  Now testimonials and reviews can go to the Website, Montage Board and to Review sites automatically.



 



Also new on 3.2

Introducing the new Montage Examiner, offering special features:

• Whiteboard Feature with X-ray import and icon import


• Brochure Feature


• Videos feature

For more information on Montage click here or call 1-800-888-4084 TODAY! 

 

The last days of Internet Explorer 8, 9, & 10

Microsoft will end support for older versions of Internet Explorer on January 12, 2016. The versions included to end are 8, 9, and 10.  This leaves Internet Explorer 11 as the last version of the browser supported by Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. All users of the older browser versions will be notified at the time of launch to upgrade to a recent browser.

What does this mean?

This means if you don’t have the Internet Explorer 11 version, you better update it now.  Those running the older versions will no longer receive security updates or technical support from Microsoft.  According to Microsoft, “Security updates patch vulnerabilities that may be exploited by malware, helping to keep users and their data safer.”  It’s important for Internet Explorer users to upgrade and stay current to help protect their computers.

What are the risks of running older versions of Internet Explorer after January 12, 2016?

Microsoft has alerted users of 3 risks they can be exposed to if they run older versions after the final date: security, compliance, and lack of ISV support.

Security Risks: Some security risks of running older browser versions include harmful viruses, malicious software that can take your business data, and spyware.

Compliance: Businesses with governing obligations such as HIPAA should follow up to ensure they are able to satisfy the legal requirements while using unsupported software.

Lack of ISV Support (independent software vendor): Several software vendors, such as Office365, use the latest web programs and are created to function properly and best on the latest browsers available.

If you’re still using an older version of Internet Explorer, it’s time to update it now to 11 to prevent complications in the future. If you are ready to take the steps to update now, please see the guidelines on TechNet.