Unleash the Power of Search Engine Optimization

Solutions by Design

In today's digital landscape, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business. With millions of websites vying for attention, search engine optimization (SEO) has emerged as a pivotal tool to enhance visibility and increase organic traffic. By implementing effective SEO strategies, businesses can rise above the noise and establish a competitive edge.

One of the primary goals of SEO is to improve your website's visibility on search engine result pages, like Google. When users search for keywords or phrases related to your business, you want your website to appear prominently. By optimizing your website's content, structure, and technical elements, you increase its chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

Higher rankings mean more visibility, and more visibility leads to increased organic traffic. Organic traffic refers to the visitors who land on your website through unpaid, natural search results. These users are actively searching for products, services, or information relevant to your business, making them highly valuable prospects. By leveraging Solutions by Design’s SEO techniques, you can attract a steady stream of targeted organic traffic, effectively reaching your desired audience and increasing the likelihood of converting them into customers.

When your website appears at the top of search engine results, it instills a sense of authority and trustworthiness in the eyes of users. Most people perceive top-ranking websites as reliable and reputable sources of information or solutions to their needs. By optimizing your website's content with high-quality and relevant information, search engines recognize your website as an authoritative source within your industry. Additionally, by implementing user-friendly navigation, mobile responsiveness, and fast page load times, you enhance the overall user experience, further reinforcing your credibility and trustworthiness.

A seamless and positive user experience is paramount for any business website. Our SEO techniques help optimize various elements that contribute to a great user experience, including website speed, mobile responsiveness, and easy navigation. These factors not only enhance user satisfaction but also reduce bounce rates and improve dwell time, leading to improved search rankings.

Additionally, SEO by Solutions by Design ensures that your website is structured in a way that search engines can easily crawl and understand its content. By organizing your website's pages, meta tags, headings, and URLs effectively, our team provides search engines with the necessary signals to index and rank your website accurately.

Implementing a robust SEO strategy gives you a significant advantage over your competitors. By optimizing your website and staying up to date with the latest SEO trends, Solutions by Design can help your website outperform your competition.

Furthermore, by conducting thorough keyword research and monitoring industry trends, we can help you identify new opportunities and target niche markets that your competitors might have overlooked. By consistently adapting and refining our SEO approach, we stay ahead of the curve to ensure your business remains visible and relevant.

Search engine optimization is a necessity for any business seeking online success. Contact Solutions by Design today to learn more about the SEO Packages we have to offer. And remember… Everything we do at Solutions by Design is custom designed and developed with your company in mind. Search Engine Optimization is not a “What works for one, works for all” sort of thing and we pride ourselves on No Canned Content…ever.

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.

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.

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Rank Before Your Competitors! Tips For Effective Local SEO

The majority of businesses provide goods or services locally, meaning their customer base is confined to a certain geographical area. For example, an orthodontist or a veterinarian provide their services to a city, county, or region where their client base is within easy driving distance.

So for these businesses, all of their SEO efforts should be tuned to providing local results. But what are some of the ways in which a business can effectively target the local market and get the highest possible rankings?

Optimize your “Google My Business” page

Some of our SEO clients prefer that we handle the setup and maintenance of their Google My Business page. This is Google’s portal for local businesses to provide important information such as location, hours, business category, etc. Having an optimized Google My Business page is essential for your local SEO efforts.

But by far, most of our SEO clients control their own Google My Business page. For those of you that do, here are some tips for properly maintaining your page:

• Add a business address that is consistent with local directories as well as your website 
• Select the correct category for your business 
• Add a local business phone number to your listing 
• Add a unique business description, and include links to your other social media pages 
• Add your business hours 
• Upload a high-resolution cover photo and profile image 
• Upload as many photos (and videos) as possible 

Ask your customers for reviews

Having positive reviews builds trust in your business and gives your customers confidence. It also helps a great deal in how your business is ranked locally with your competitors. There’s no such thing as too many positive reviews.

Some SEO clients offer incentives for customers to leave reviews, which can certainly be effective, but there are other ways in which you can encourage your customers. Remember, it is best to capture reviews as soon as possible from your customers because they are more likely to respond favorably to your request rather than six months down the road.

• A simple hand-out or email that lists various review sites, and asks them to choose one or more 
• A place on your website that captures their attention and provides links to the various review sites 
• An occasional posting on social media that asks customers to leave a review, along with links to top review sites 
• Train your staff to routinely ask your customers for reviews 

There are many more tips for local SEO. The important thing to remember is that you put in the time and effort for the best results. If you are interested in improving your local SEO rankings, now is the time to do it. Your competitors are. The longer you wait the harder it will be to catch up to them. Contact Solutions By Design today to get started, call 800-888-4084.

3...2...1...Launch!

April has been an amazing month for Solution by Design’s website clients. We have had several of our website clients finalize their websites and are now live! Solutions by Design would like to congratulate the following clients on their recent live websites.

These beautifully custom crafted websites created by our SBD team show detailed skill, knowledge, and professionalism of each practice. Check them out now!

1. Dr.Rupali Wadhwa : Morristown Orthodontics – New Responsive Website, Social Media Program and bLink Patient Reminders
2. Dr.Jeremy Albert: Albert Family Ortho – New Responsive Website
3. Dr.Alex Cranford: Cranford Orthodontics – Responsive Website Upgrade and bLink Patient Reminders
4. Dr.Eric Sacks: Sacks Orthodontics - Mobile Website Re-Design
5. Dr.David Kemp: Kemp Orthodontics – New Responsive Website, Social Media Program and bLink Patient Reminders

Our team is proud to call you all clients. It was a pleasure working closely with you during this process to provide you with a truly amazing website. Solutions by Design features custom website development. No templates and no canned content. Each site is developed based upon the attributes of the individual practice and its markets.

Our clients choose Solutions by Design for the creation of their website after evaluating their other options and realize that we are the only company that truly offers a unique combination of design, marketing, programming, SEO, social media and clinical knowledge necessary to create effective and functional websites. We are the total solution and offer several levels of website development based upon your needs and budget. Give us a call to now at 800-888-4084 and ask us about our newest promotions.

The Secret To Higher Invisalign Rankings

Before Invisalign made a concerted effort to advertise nationally through television and online advertising, orthodontic practice websites usually maintained high rankings in Invisalign searches by simply having one or two pages of Invisalign content. But that’s not the case anymore.

Now that more people are aware of what Invisalign is and how it works, and because more people than ever are searching for information and providers, those websites with minimal Invisalign information are seeing drastic decreases in rankings in the search results. So what’s the solution?

If you conduct a search for “Invisalign in (your city)” you will begin to notice one key difference between those at the top of the rankings and those at the bottom. Clicking on the top websites will present you with far more Invisalign information, including pages with videos, testimonials, and other information. This is a great example of Google’s focus on relevance.

Google has decided, and rightly so, that someone looking for information on Invisalign will want as much information as possible in one location. Given the choice between one page of general information or multiple pages with videos and other resources, which one would you choose?

If you are serious about increasing your Invisalign rankings, now is the time to add more Invisalign content to your website. Your competitors are. The longer you wait the harder it will be to catch up to them. Contact Solutions By Design today to get started, call 800-888-4084.

SBD Office Closed For The Holidays

 

Our office will be closed for a holiday break. We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding.

Our holiday office hours are:

December 24 - January 1

Closed

We will resume regular office hours on January 4, 2016. Happy Holidays from all of us at Solutions By Design.

What Yahoo Directory Retirement Means For Your Reviewer

Long before Google was a notable source, several internet users browsed the web by the Yahoo Directory. Yahoo Directory wasn’t a search engine but more of an online database of websites selected by Yahoo and presented to the browsers as an organized list.  These lists were sorted by multiple topics from shopping, to education, and resources. You could navigate through the topics by clicking one which would then display the websites on the individual lists under the particular topic.

As the years have passed, and the internet and Yahoo have evolved, several users have found the system to be confusing and overpopulated by spam-like link sellers. This growing reputation made the decision to put the Yahoo Directory to rest a little bit easier. Yahoo stated the decision by explaining, “While we are still committed to connecting users with the information they’re passionate about, our business has evolved…we will retire the Yahoo Directory.”

Following Yahoo’s statement began the transition of Yahoo Directory to Aabaco Small Business, which is a service company that moves to get small business on their service plan instead of helping consumers find their business online.

For our clients with Reviewer, we will be updating the product to reflect changes within the Yahoo system. Since Yahoo now shows Yelp reviews instead of its own user-submitted reviews, we will no longer be encouraging your clients to leave reviews on Yahoo.

Additionally, Yahoo has entered into a partnership with Microsoft and now gets its search results from Bing. This is important for our SEO clients as now there are essentially only two major search engines that we optimize for.

For more information regarding our Search Engine Optimization services please contact us today at 1-800-888-4084 .