OMA Comp

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Americans with Disabilities Act Recommendations for Updating Your Website

OMA Comp American with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act was introduced in 1990 as a civil rights law to prohibit discrimination of citizens with disabilities. The evolution of this act now extends to the internet and for a good reason; accommodating your website for people with disabilities makes it easier to access and understand. Here are a few recommendations we have for updating your website around this idea.

What Is Web Accessibility?

Similar to how a wheelchair-bound individual finds it challenging to enter a building with stairs as the only means of entrance, websites can be difficult to interpret without specific components. Web accessibility is the general readability and interpretation quality for users with audible and visual impairments to be able to understand the information of the website. Government, Business, and Non-Profit organizations are all required by the ADA to maintain strict compliance across platforms, so what does this mean for your website?

Recommendations

Provide a text equivalent to important images and graphics. Screen readers can convey meaning without being obtrusive to the overall web experience. Documents should be made available in formats other than PDF. Although they look great, screen readers have a hard time deciphering PDF content; when uploading these documents – pair them with a plain-text version.

Check the font style and text color for readability. Low contrast against plain color and image backgrounds makes reading challenging and is unsightly in general. For multimedia, ensure captions and audio descriptions are made available for people with hearing problems. Descriptive audio also accommodates for users with low vision.

Use Descriptive HTML tags so online forms can be accurately used. This simple behind the scenes work makes a huge difference for people with disabilities. Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive list, rather these are common items we have observed that can be easily updated.

Why Should I Update

ADA compliance should be taken seriously. Once it is mandated, your website will need to be made compliant. ADA compliance for websites is beginning for banks and other financial institutions and then will be moving to medical and other businesses. Contact OMA Comp to learn more.

 

Google Trends: The Rise of Featured Snippets

OMA Comp Featured Snippets SEO

There are many things influencing SEO this year, but one of the biggest rising stars is the featured snippet. You have likely come across this search engine feature at least once or twice in the recent past. A snippet is a piece of content taken from a website that’s presented on the search results page.

Anatomy of a Featured Snippet

What makes a featured snippet different from results on a search page? They are reversed from the usual display format. A section of content is displayed at the top, sometimes with a related image. The page name and URL appears below.

Featured snippets are prominently displayed, so that they are easy for the internet user to see before delving into the search results. The idea is that the snippet appears when Google believes that it will provide a better answer based on the search text.

Why Are Featured Snippets Important?

Voice searching is on the rise, with one in five mobile queries utilizing voice. This has a direct impact on the featured snippet, which is often returned as a response to questions asked using voice search. A recent study conducted by Stone Temple Consulting included 1.4 million queries. Approximately 30% of those queries were shown a featured snippet. The trend has been moving steadily upward since at least December of 2014.

Optimizing Your Featured Snippet

The highest ranking pages tend to get more snippet results, so the better your SEO is, the higher your chances will be of getting featured. Multiple studies have revealed that long-tail keywords are more likely to produce a featured snippet. If you need help increasing your chances of getting featured on Google, contact OMA Comp today. We can help you get noticed with improved SEO strategies.

Google Releases an Update for the Chrome Browser

OMA Comp Google Chrome Security Update

Google releases both a security update and user enhancements for the Chrome Browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This newest version addresses some of the current vulnerabilities to help reduce the ability of intruders/hackers meaning harm. One of the major new enhancements for the user is receiving answers to your questions in the address bar without loading a website.

How to update?

  1. Click on the Menu in Chrome (three vertical dots)
  2. In the Drop Down Menu, hover over Help, then click on About Google Chrome
  3. Chrome should check for the an update and then prompt you to reload the browser
  4. You should then be on Chrome version 69.0.3497.81

 

Celebrating Labor Day

OMA Comp Labor Day 2018

It takes commitment to become Michigan’s premiere website and marketing agency. Our success stems from our skilled staff. We focus diligently on the well-being of our clients and do not want to forget to acknowledge the significant contributions and importance of our phenomenal staff.

Labor Day reminds us to honor the people who strengthen our nation and help it prosper. We would like to send a big thank you to our employees to all workers everywhere. Have a happy Labor Day weekend!

Does My Website Need an RSS Feed for SEO?

OMA Comp Websites RSS Feeds and SEO

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, is a type of web feed that provides updates to content. The feed consists of a text file that allows subscribers to see content for a period of time after its updated. Does having an RSS feed on your website boost your SEO?

Google Weighs In On RSS Feeds and SRP Ranking

When it comes to your search results page ranking, RSS feeds won’t help according to John Mueller, webmaster trends analyst at Google. A question appeared on his Twitter feed on April 10th, 2018 asking if RSS feeds help rank better in Google. John’s straightforward response was a simple “No.” The question was geared toward news websites, but the answer applies to all sites.

This isn’t new, but it is something that many website owners did not know in 2018. Mueller participated in a video hangout with blogger Jennifer Slegg back in 2015. He is quoted as stating “if you are looking for a ranking boost by having an RSS feed, that’s not going to happen.” He went on to explain that “there’s no direct ranking boost for the website itself.”

RSS Feeds and Search Engine Indexing

The RSS feed is considered a technical tool, so it is still beneficial to have on your site. It can assist with page crawling and indexing. That means new content could be indexed faster and more accurately with an RSS feed. While it doesn’t provide a direct boost to your search engine results page ranking, it can still help. If you have questions about SEO or RSS feeds, contact OMA Comp to learn more.

 

OMA Comp Websites

OMA Comp Germack website design

Competing in today’s markets requires an online presence. Design, construction and maintenance of websites takes more than effort but knowledge of the continuously changing industry. Currently, there has been changes implemented by the search engines on what they look for with your website for SEO (search engine optimization). The latest requirements in website design is mobile first.

Design Excellence

Your business’s website is a digital representation which often creates a first opinion for a potential consumer. An outdated, poorly designed website is now likened to a dismantled office façade. Our graphic design and web programming expertise helps us create a world-class online experience for restaurants, service providers, retail stores, engineering firms, medical practices, spas and more!

A beautiful website can help you win sales and reach new customers. If you pair your website with an online store, you will convert new visitors into paying customers much easier.

Speed and Reliability

OMA Comp builds incredibly fast websites that respond well across different browsers and devices. Page load time significantly effects how visitors and search engines interpret your website. Many people will even abandon a website if it loads too slowly. Our dedicated support provides excellent site up-time and will keep your e-mail functioning 24/7. By deploying advanced security measures, we ensure your critical information remains secure.

Cost Savings

Our website and e-mail hosting solutions are competitively priced. We are happy to explore a variety of term options to find the best partnership possible. Engaging a large audience online does not have to cost an arm and a leg. OMA Comp’s SEO techniques help place our websites high on search engines naturally.

If you need help with hosting, SEO or building your next professional website, give OMA Comp a call to learn how we help businesses achieve remarkable results.