The Importance of a Responsive Web Design

Solutions By Design

If your website is not a priority then you may be losing more potential customers than you realize. Potential customers may not even be seeing your business in the first place when they search for the service you provide online. Responsive Web Design (RWD) has become the standard in web designs, designed for a positive user-experience first when your website is being visited on a mobile phone, a tablet, a desktop or a Montage Board.

The reality is, the success of your website depends on how your potential customers will experience your website. There are various aspects and features a website must-have, regardless of what you are providing, all websites should have one thing in common, a responsive design.

What is RWD? 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. It is important that your website adjusts 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.

User Experience
Websites are constantly being visited by a variety of customers at any given time through various devices and screen sizes. Thinking of your consumer first, you can give the best possible user experience, turning them into actual customers. A mobile-friendly website is a byproduct of a responsive design, which gives your potential customers a better chance of exploring all that your website has to offer. Nothing is worse than having to spend time finding information across devices or information not being found at all.

For example, if a potential customer is searching for a certain type of information on your website, they may find it on a desktop at work. That same customer may return at a later time, searching for the same information on their mobile phone, only to not find it at all. Ensuring your website is consistent in design, information and user experience across all devices and screen sizes, you do not give customers a reason to abandon your site.

Future Proof Your Website
The digital world is always changing, and while trends come and go, there are digital features and practices that become the staple in web designs. In 2018 52.2% of all website traffic worldwide was generated by mobile phones. In our pockets, we have a wealth of information available to us through our devices, which means any information we want on a business or service is just a tap away.

The benefit a responsive website has is the best chance that your website will easily adapt to support new devices and screens, currently and in the future. As technology changes every day, and new devices are being released, a responsive website will be ready to adapt to those devices.

Search Engine Optimization
Responsive Web Designs are the standard and search engines such as Google, no doubt favor responsive websites when it comes to ranking for search engine optimization (SEO). If your users are not able to navigate your website, they will most likely not stick around and leave. Search engines recognize the ease of website navigation, helping rank your website higher than those with nonresponsive sites.

Page Loading Times is one of the main factors when it comes to SEO and rankings. Every website should be optimized to load as fast as possible and with a responsive design, your user's experience will be a more positive experience.

Bounce Rate is a ranking factor search engines such as Google pays attention to. The bounce rate is related to how much time someone spends on your site. How quickly do your visitors leave your website or return? Google pays attention to it all, using user behavior and determines rankings when it comes to entry and exit points for a website.

A responsive web design, elevates your business and its appearance greatly, allowing you to serve your customers first. Solutions by Design builds custom websites that are uniquely yours. Your website is an existential part of your business. We are one of the 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. Contact us today!

Why You Shouldn’t DIY your Website

Solutions By Design

Everything in 2020 is digitally-driven and branded. From food to transportation to connecting with friends, everything is within the reach of our pockets and instantly recognizable through branding. Websites are the extension to what we offer, whether it is a service, e-commerce or a small business, professionally designed websites are a standard in any industry.

Website aesthetics, branding, functionality, and the user's experience all contribute towards how your website is received. On the customer service end, a website can be the deciding factor whether a potential visitor turns into a customer. On the technical side, a poorly designed website can rank well below search engines, making it difficult for people to find your website in the first place. While there a different website design and hosting services, to fully obtain your website’s potential, here are reasons why you shouldn’t do your own website.

• Branding: If you have a brand identity, it is important that it becomes part of your website as well. Your website is an extension of your business. DIY your own website can cause a mismatch on your digital brand and cause inconsistencies in your website. Design consistency matters more than most people give credit. We offer a unique combination of design, marketing, programming, SEO, social media, and clinical knowledge necessary to create effective and functional websites.
  

• No Cookie Cutter Templates: One thing all website hostings and building software services offer is the same types of templates across the board. Your website will likely have the same design and navigation as your competitor. Our services offer custom website development. No templates and no "canned" content. If you are DIY-ing your own website, you run into the challenge of overly complex templates that have unnecessary content and navigation and the same cookie-cutter design as your competitor. All this contributes towards unnecessary functionalities, empty pages and a slow loading time which can all cause a negative search engine optimization and most importantly, a negative user experience. Our clients choose us for the creation of their custom website after evaluating their other options and realizing that we are one of the 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.
  

• Responsive and Mobile Friendly: Millennials and Gen Z’ers are now becoming the top consumers, all discovering and purchasing products from their phones. It is essential to meet the customer where they’re at, and with multiple pieces of technology such as tablets, phones, laptops, and wearable technology, your website and content should function across all platforms, different browsers and screen sizes. A responsive website looks good no matter whether you're looking at it on a phone, tablet, or desktop. 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. If you DIY your website, you could miss a thorough quality assurance across all the multiple different browsers,  devices, and screen sizes, to ensure all content is being served no matter where a customer may discover your website.
  

• Easy Maintenance Your website is up and running, your business is growing, so what’s next? While you are busy running your day to day life, choosing Solutions by Design to manage your website will help keep your site up to date with the latest search engine optimization updates and be an extension of your marketing team.
  

While a DIY project is great for home improvements and renovations, when it comes to technology and websites, with the ever-changing technology, it is important to leave it to marketing experts.

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. 

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!

Google’s War Against Pop-Ups

Last month Google announced that they would begin penalizing websites that display content-blocking pop-ups. These are called “interstitial ads,” you can find these all over the Internet as you try to browse certain websites. This is how they work: you navigate to an article that you want to read and as you are just starting with the first paragraph, a pop-up appears that blocks the content. These pop-ups usually want you to sign up for their newsletter, purchase a subscription, or will display an advertisement for a product or service.

Sometimes it is hard to find the button to close the pop-up, and some even prevent you from closing the pop-up unless you click through the advertisement. These pop-ups are irritating and Google is making sure that websites with these types of ads don’t make it into their search results. Google’s focus is on the user's website experience, especially when it relates to mobile browsing, and this type of advertising interferes with that experience.

What does this mean for our clients? We have always advised against adding pop-up advertising for our clients and will continue to do so. There are much better and less annoying ways to get your message to your visitors. Now that Google will start penalizing websites that utilize pop-up advertising, you can’t afford to choose this option in the future.  

If you have a website with interstitial ads, contact Solutions by Design to discuss updating your site. We have a full in-house staff of graphic designers, web developers, programmers, and more, as well as specialize in custom websites.  Also, we don't use templates and have over 30 years of experience assisting clients all over the world with maintaining branding, web presence, and our clients have top rankings on Google. Call us today 800-888-4084.  

Important Reasons Why You May Need To Revamp Your Website

The internet is ever-changing so it’s important to remember your website must reflect those changes as well. Maintaining your website is essential to your business because most potential leads come from searching online for goods and services. Typically, the first impression potential customers of your business get will come from your website and other platforms your business is connected to online. Because of this, it’s imperative your website stays fresh with new content and design trends. What worked for you in the past may not work for you in the future, especially as the audience to your site changes and web developments continue to occur. So when is a good time to update the look, feel, and operation of your website?

Keep reading to learn some important reasons you may need to revamp your website with redesigning and functional modifications.

Maintenance
Just like everything else, your website may need repairs once in a while. Unlike a car, however, you may not be aware of when something breaks on your site. Having a trusted team to help you with website repairs will make your life a lot easier as most of your staff members in-house don’t have expertise on browsers and servers that operate your site. Sometimes what may seem to be a minor change may actually result in a major web redesign. Regularly revamping your website will keep your business updated with the latest technology changes and leave your customers with a flawless website experience.

Results
You might have a breathtaking website with amazing functionality and gorgeous graphics, but if you’re not getting the results you want it may be time to redesign your site. One major purpose of a website is to build a customer base, so if you’re unhappy with the analytics of that, redesigning may help. Updating and redesigning things such as the call to action, too much text, or the tone of voice can help you achieve your goal results.

It’s Not Responsive
Out of our clients at Solutions by Design, over 50% of their website visitors browse from a mobile device, that’s why we make sure our website clients have responsive websites. Responsive websites are crafted to provide an easy experience and website navigation to users on a wide range of devices and browsers. Also, another important factor is Google algorithms give preference to responsive websites. If you want to keep your rankings up or increase them, you need to have a responsive site. Responsive sites must be built from the ground up, you can’t convert these, but you’ll likely see a return on your investment once you update from a non-responsive.

There are several other factors as to why redesigning and routine maintenance to your website is significant. From outdated third-party tools to your competitors who keep up with the trends. Realizing that investing in your website regularly will keep your business modern, functional, and ideally it will appeal to visitors and turn them into new customers. Do you think your website may be in need of a redesign? Give us a call to set up a consultation. Call 800-888-4084.

The Death of Flash

There have been warnings from the major browser companies in the past couple of years regarding their decreasing support of Adobe Flash. Google and Firefox have both stated that it would eventually drop all support for Flash, and it looks like Google is making good on that promise.

This week Google announced that the new version of their Chrome browser, Chrome 53, which is set to be released next month will block Flash content by default. Users will still be prompted about enabling Flash support, but this is the first major step toward dropping support altogether. Firefox will soon follow with the same type of Flash blocking.

What does this mean for you as a customer? If you still have a Flash-based website, or if you have any Flash content on your website, your customers will be unable to view it. A Flash-based website is now a virtual dinosaur and it’s time to upgrade.

If you don’t have a Flash-based website, or any type of Flash content on your website, congratulations! This will have no impact on your online presence. If you’re still using Flash, it’s time to update it now to prevent complications in the future. If you are ready to take the steps to update now, call Solutions by Design at 800-888-4084.

Pokemon Go Social

The Pokemon Go phenomenon has taken off and is now a leading app since its launch on July 6th. Though many may look at Pokemon Go as just a game, others are looking to it as a huge marketing opportunity. In just a week, some businesses have decided to use the game to lure in new customers…so we want our clients to have a heads up on this and do the same!

Get your practice involved in Pokemon Go by learning how to play, and taking advantage of PokeStops and Lures. Doing so will result in creating brand awareness, engagement, and foot traffic to your practice.

What is a PokeStop?

PokeStops attract foot traffic without any effort. Pokestops are located on or near monuments, schools, museums and other historical buildings, and players flock to them like they’re giving away a million dollars every minute. So figuring out whether your practice is a PokeStop is the first thing you should do. If you haven’t already, download the Pokemon Go App (it’s free). Once you have it downloaded, open it up and check the map for a Blue Spinning Tower. If you see one on your screen without having to walk too far away from your practice, lucky you, you have a PokeStop! Now all you need to do is sit back, place Lure after Lure on your PokeStop, and watch all of the prospective new patients flock to your office.

While there are rumors of PokeStops being available for purchase in the future, as of today, there is no way to own or create your own Pokestop. However, if your practice happens to be located next to a PokeStop you need to be taking advantage of it now.

What is a Lure?

Lures increase the rate of Pokemon generation in the area around the PokeStop where they're placed for a half hour. Lures are completely affordable, for about $10 you can purchase enough Lures to have your PokeStop in pink sparkles for 7 hours. So for a little more than a dollar an hour, you can bring crowds of people to your practice when you place a lure.

If you want to take advantage and lure in new patients, Pokemon Go provides you the opportunity to do just that. Jump on the Pokemon Go bandwagon and get your practice name seen by your community when they become a part of the Pokemon Go phenomenon. Also, it’s important to know what to do with these prospective patients when you get them to your office. Set a goal of what you want in return and create a strategy to reach the goal. Confused on what to do with the prospects once you get them to your office? Ask us about our Pokemon Go Party Package!

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.

New Websites Launch

We’ve had an exciting start to the New Year for our SBD website clients. From January through February we have had 6 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!

http://www.carolinaorthopedo.com – Dr. Jesse Arbon (New Responsive Website)

http://www.coolsmilesorthodontics.com - Dr. Simjee (Upgrade from HTML to Responsive)

http://www.southbaybraces.org – Dr. Peter Sinclair (Upgrade from Flash to Responsive)

http://www.texasorthodonticspecialists.com – Dr. Chen (New Mobile Website)

http://www.appletreeortho.com - Dr. Timmeny & Dr. Polgrean (New Responsive Website)

http://www.webbbraces.com – Dr. Brian Webb (New Responsive Website)

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.

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.