Dr. Lavonne K. Fore is one of Rome, Ga.’s most popular orthodontists. As tech geeks, we were impressed by her state-of-the-art practice on North Fourth Avenue. Did you know Fore Orthodontics uses a fingerprint sign-in system? Or that patients can play video games while they wait? It was clear after visiting Dr. Fore’s office that her website should be as fun and modern as she is.

The website we created for Dr. Fore is bright and cheerful, in shades of blue that complement the newly-updated Fore Orthodontics logo. The design focuses on letting prospective patients know why they should choose Fore Orthodontics, while also making it easy to find resources about orthodontic treatment. From the front page of the website, it’s easy to learn about Dr. Fore’s qualifications, see examples of common bite problems and read about treatment options for everyone from kids to adults.

After the design was complete, we optimized the site for search engines, so Dr. Fore will appear as high as possible in search results from sites such as Google and Bing.

But our work with Fore Orthodontics wasn’t limited just to forebraces.com. We also helped them launch a YouTube channel, where they have been busy adding videos of their patients talking about their braces. We customized the Fore Orthodontics YouTube page, got them started by uploading some videos and taught the staff how to add videos and optimize their tags and descriptions to be easily searchable. In the short time the page has been active, it has gotten nearly 2,000 video views.

The patient testimonial video on the Fore YouTube channel was created by SAI Digital, with music and title screens. We edited lots of footage of patient interviews to best highlight why patients should choose Fore Orthodontics.

On the other side of the social media realm, we created custom tabs on the Fore Orthodontics Facebook page. Dr. Fore and her staff were already active on Facebook, but they wanted to include information about the practice for those not familiar with them. Now, when non-fans visit Facebook.com/ForeOrthodontics, they see a custom page that explains the benefits of Dr. Fore’s practice, along with contact information and easy access to a map to the office. Other tabs we created include a before and after photo slideshow of several Fore Orthodontics patients, and pictures of the types of braces Fore Orthodontics offers. We also integrated their YouTube account, so new videos automatically display on their Facebook page.

Working with Dr. Fore and her staff was a real pleasure. They were excited about learning to update their new website, and enthusiastic about working with social media like Facebook and YouTube.

So if you’re looking for a great orthodontist with a passionate staff, visit ForeBraces.com. And tell ‘em SAI Digital sent ya.

When customers post comments on Consumer Affairs, whether good or bad, the comments remain on the site forever.  As we’ve said before, it’s best to respond positively to your customers’ negative comments, rather than sweep them under the rug. Dismissal can often be read as a form of admission and an unwillingness to change, even if that is not the case.

Consumer Affairs states specifically on their blog article addressing such SEO Scams:  ”since its founding in 1998, [Consumer Affairs has] had a policy of not removing complaints.  Companies have always been welcome to post responses but, once posted, complaints are there indefinitely.  We do not accept payments from companies seeking to have complaints removed; in other words, we don’t take bribes.”

SEO firms are unable to remove negative comments or complaints from the site. If your business has hired an SEO firm and they are  generating  ”fake” positive comments to bury the negative comments, it should be noted that such activity  is illegal, not to mention bad business practice.

Consumer Affairs and similar sites are pro-business and pro-consumer enterprises. They are a resource for consumers and businesses alike. Have a little faith in your customers to do more research, and don’t be afraid to put a positive spin on a negative comment with an apologetic or helpful reply. Your SEO firm should give you direction as to how best to reply to naysayers, but they should never tell you that they can get rid of the naysayers entirely.

Often, a sitemap is completely separate from the look and feel of a business website.  So, while the sitemap is a critical starting place to get you thinking about your web project, it doesn’t dictate that your site will be “boring”. On the flip side, a website that is graphically appealing or full of pizazz may still come off as a smoke and mirrors magic trick if the user does not know what information is available or how to find what they are looking for.

Visualization

A sitemap can be viewed in two ways:

1. A list format – this is like a table of contents in a book.

   Think text book:  the information is grouped by chapter and each chapter has a few subsections.  In the web world, we call the chapters ‘superpages” and the sections “subpages”.

2. A graphical map format – this is more like a mind map.

   Surprising, this can be dangerous. It looks great to present the end user with a visual map of your website, but during the planning phase of a website, it might become too easy to leave areas of your map too vague or to navigate a user through a series of pages without providing them a “map back” to main content.

Most important for anyone planning a website creation or redesign:  Not throughly planning out your website beforehand is an expensive disaster waiting to happen. Even when you are using great CMS technology.

Users love a new and engaging experience, but from the business world they expect a few constants:

• An “About Us” page: This should always be near a top-level page if not a superpage. It can be named something more clever as long as users will understand that the page is about your company.
• At least one top-level superpage devoted to your company’s products or services.
• A “Contact Us” page: Many times, users only go to your website to get up-to-date contact information. Remember, younger people are much less likely to use a phone book. Make this easy: don’t put up walls around the information your readers are looking for.

A Conceptual Template

• Home
• About Us
  • Our History
  • Our Staff
• Our Services
  • Service A
  • Service B
  • Get A Quote
• Submit Your Order
• Latest News
• Contact Us

Search engines have become increasingly good at recognizing legitimate businesses verses imitators by viewing a website’s sitemap and analyzing the content of each page. A well-structured site means that when a user searches for your company name, or related products and services in your area in order to buy and submitting orders for a specific product, your website is more likely to rank highly.

In fact, depending on your market, your Homepage, About Us, and Contact Us might all be listed in a search engine result so that users have one-click access.

XML Sitemap and SEO

Sitemaps are crucial when planning a website, but they do not have to be set in stone. One important aspect of the technologies we use is the ability for our clients to grow their website. This means that as a company expands and adds a service or adds a second type of service or product,  corresponding pages can easily be added to the website and and the content modified appropriately:

• Home
• About Us
  • Our History
  • Our Staff
• Our Services
  • Service A
    • Type I
    • Type II
  • Service B
  • Service C
  • Get A Quote
• Submit Your Order
• Latest News
• Contact Us

If a site has been structured correctly, search engines will pick-up on the addition and re-index your site accordingly. One last important step in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the existence of a properly formatted .XML sitemap that lives off-menu in the root directory of your website hosting server.

Check out Steele Agency’s XML sitemap.

As you can see, its a complicated array of URL’s and priorities, where superpages are given top priority and blog posts are given lower priority, which tells search engines to list your Homepage, About Us, and Contact Us pages first in their search listings.

Because this is one thing all the major search engines agree upon, there is a standard protocol for generating and submitting these links, and thus a we can build functions into your website that automatically update and submit a properly formated XML sitemap.

Final Notes

• When building a sitemap, start with a structure that is unlikely to change, but that will allow room for growth.
• Do not get in the habit of changing top-level pages, as Search Engines will take note and assume your content is unreliable and rank your website – and thus your digital presence – poorly.
• The sitemap can contain sections, for example, adding a top-level page call Blog or Recent News is understood as meaning that articles will be posted and displayed in that section.
• Every user experiences your site differently. Some may like your menu navigation and the way it reflects the organization of your content; however some people may prefer a simple organized list posted somewhere off-menu, for example: View Our User-Friendly Sitemap

1. Do you need a blog? Check demographics. Find out if they blog or follow blogs. Check out your competitors – or better yet, your aspiring companies – and see how they are using engaging content and think about how you could piggyback or improve what is already out there.

2. Can you invest in a blog? Sure, the platform is free, but writers and graphic artists are not. Would having a blog mean hiring more people? Training the ones you have? Plus, there’s time. Can you afford the time spent maintaining a blog?

3. What’s the point of your blog? With a blog, you can introduce readers to your company: its culture, goals and quirks. For many companies, a blog gives a human face to an alien corporate culture. But the blog also serves to provide advice, direction, and information to your readers, setting you apart as the thought-leader in your industry, not just a company providing a product and/or a service.

4. What will PR do? Your blog should never be pure PR, but they do have a part. Experts suggest using PR as a legal consultant is case something goes awry. The last thing you want is propaganda.

5. Who will write? Consider the success of Dell. When they started blogging, 80 percent of comments were negative. Now, that number is 50. Why? Because Dell allowed all employees – let that word “all” sink in – to apologize to consumers on the blog, without the usual customer disservice. On the other hand, you do want quality control. Finding that balance may take time.

6. Can your writers blog? Anyone can blog – and we see the results. Even professional writers need a transition. Make sure your writers can keep it short and sweet, casual but professional.

7. What comments will you allow? Sure, you want a conversation, but foul language and spam can drive away readers. This rule doesn’t include all negative comments, however. Most conversations have disagreements.

8. Where can you promote the blog? Find out where your audience goes online, and follow. Facebook and Twitter are a safe bet, but explore other options as well. Use those spaces to talk up the blog – and link it. Or if you are making the leap from in-store, paper-based communication to more web-based strategies, find ways to link your “brick and morter” with your blossoming blog. Offer incentives for customers who reply or ask questions. Showcase your best blogs in the office or in the store so your employees and customers know what they are missing.

…And of course, give us a ring if you’d like a partner in addressing these questions and setting up a game plan that will suit your needs!