It's Time to Upgrade Your Website

Solutions By Design

With the amount of time being spent on the internet these days, business owners are realizing the importance of being online. Without a website, your business could be missing out on opportunities and potential customers.

A website is a dynamic communication channel with many options and features. At Solutions by Design, our goal is to create excellent websites that are unique and functional. Our custom websites are developed in-house and without the use of templates, therefore it is easy and efficient to complete all phases on time and within budget.  And that is precisely why The Central California Veterinary Medical Association came to us to develop their new website.

With their mission to support local Veterinarians’ pursuit of excellence by providing continuing education to facilitate a strong veterinary community, the Central California Veterinary Medical Association was in desperate need of a new website.

Communication with current and future members, keeping in touch with members regarding upcoming events as well as providing a portal for membership payments were all priorities in the design of this new website…and our team delivered.

Excellent design that engages the user is always our primary objective when designing a website. Our team of designers and programmers work together in creating a unique experience for each of our clients. Be sure to visit https://www.ccvma.net to see just how great this new website is. And then visit our website to learn more about our website development process.

 

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.

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.

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.