Marketing

Small Businesses Supporting Small Businesses

Announcement, Marketing, SMB, Web Design, Web Development / By John / May 4, 2026

National-Small-Business-Week image National Small Business Week - May 3 - 9, 2026 is about more than recognition—it’s about connection.

Small businesses don’t operate in isolation. They rely on their communities, their customers, and often, each other. When one business grows, it contributes to the strength of the entire local economy.

At WebWise Design & Marketing, we continually strive to be a part of that network. Our role is to support small businesses with the tools and strategies they need to succeed in today’s digital landscape.

But at the core of it all is something simple: understanding.

We live and understand the challenges.
We live and understand the objectives.
And we’re committed to helping small businesses move forward successfully.

When small businesses succeed, communities thrive.

SEO & AEO — Two Sides of the Same Coin

AEO, Marketing, SEO, Structured Data / By John / February 24, 2025

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) are both critical digital strategies for increasing online visibility and driving traffic. While they share common principles, they are distinct in their approach, objectives, and execution.

SEO is the first side of the coin. WebWise Design & Marketing started optimizing web pages to perform well in search results with our first client websites in October of 1995. According to sources (Gemini for one), the phrase "search engine optimization," or SEO likely came into use around 1997.

Search Engine Optimization then and now starts with well written “Title” attributes. Initially, WebWise Design & Marketing grew because of our SEO practices, knowledge, and our never-ending quest to learn how to have our client’s website pages rank well in SERPS (search engine results pages). We still offer and deliver that for our clients.

What is SEO:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) in a manner that motivates the search to click the link and view a web page relevant to the search intent. SEO techniques include:

On-Page SEO: Optimizing individual pages with relevant keywords, high-quality content, meta titles and descriptions, and strategic internal linking.
Technical SEO: Enhancing website speed, mobile friendliness, using structured data, and security.
Off-Page SEO: Leveraging social media, blog posts with shareable content, utilizing domain authority practices, and building backlinks from reputable sites.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the other side of the same coin. WebWise Design & Marketing understands the importance of using AEO. We are working with our current clients incorporating additional AEO tactics and enhancing the structures that are Inherent to all websites we develop. Of course, we are encouraging our new clients to embrace AEO as well.

What is AEO:

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is a newer concept that focuses on optimizing content for answer engines like Google's featured snippets, voice search assistants (such as Siri and Alexa), and new AI-driven search tools. The intent of AEO is to provide direct, concise, and authoritative answers to users' questions. AEO techniques include:

Optimizing for Featured Snippets: Structuring content in a way that makes it easy for search engines to pull direct answers.
Using Structured Data Markup: Implementing Schema Markup to help search engines understand the context of content.
Focusing on Conversational Queries: Creating content that aligns with natural language search and voice search trends. FAQ pages are great for this.

The primary goal of AEO is to feature your website content in search results as a direct answer, often without requiring users to click through to a website. Example: If they are looking for your phone number, don’t make them click to your “Contact Us” page.

So, you have “Two Sides of the Same Coin,” but there are similarities and differences.

Both require high-quality, relevant content.
Both prioritize user experience.
Both need technical optimization.
Both strive to increase visibility and traffic.
Both evolve continuously with algorithm changes.

SEO and AEO — Two Sides of the Same Coin To ensure your website content is discoverable across all modern platforms and devices, it's essential to leverage both.

To discus how Answer Engine Optimization - AEO can improve your website's visibility and ranking in SERPS, Call us today!

608-822-3750 or 800-281-9993

Email us at contact@webwisedesign.com

5 Reasons Your Business Needs a YouTube Channel

Marketing, Video, YouTube / By John / October 23, 2024

Having a Branded YouTube Channel for your business or organization offers a variety of benefits.

In addition to the five benefits listed in our video, here are three more:

Brand Awareness and Consistency
Cost-Effective Marketing
Targeted Audience Reach

Contact WebWise Design and Marketing today and let us help you leverage the power of YouTube!

Make an appointment today for your Free YouTube Channel Consultation!

Call us today! 608-822-3750 or 800-281-9993

Email us at social@webwisedesign.com

Are Your Emails to Gmail Accounts Bouncing?

Customer Service, ecommerce, Email, Google, Marketing, Tips / By John / August 30, 2023

If you send email to Gmail users, this information is extremely important! It is about getting your email delivered to Gmail users.

Don't think it is important? Consider this: In the United States, Gmail holds a 53% market share for email clients! (Source: TechReport)

While Google has not widely publicized it, they are bouncing legitimate emails regularly. With that in mind, I asked Bard, Google's AI application: "Does google bounce email if the sender account does not have a DKIM record?"

Bard's reply: "Yes, Google will bounce emails from sender accounts that do not have both SPF and DKIM records. This is because SPF and DKIM are two email authentication mechanisms that help to prevent email spoofing and fraud. Spoofing is when someone sends an email pretending to be from a different sender, such as a legitimate company or organization. Fraud is when someone uses email to scam or deceive people.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a DNS record that specifies which IP addresses are authorized to send email from a particular domain. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a cryptographic signature that is added to an email message to verify its authenticity.

When Google receives an email, it checks the SPF and DKIM records for the sender domain. If the email does not pass these checks, it will be bounced back to the sender."

So, NOW you must have a "SPF" and a "DKIM" record in your Domain DNS. If you do not have those records created, email sent to a Gmail account will likely not be delivered.

For many years when most Domain Registrars created a new domain registration, they automatically generated a SPF record, but not DKIM records. That remains true for nearly all domain registrars unless you purchase email services through them.

Ask your email provider if your domain has SPF and DKIM records in your DNS records. It takes time to create any DNS record, so expect to be billed by whoever creates the records for you.

If you are a WebWise Design & Marketing client, and need DNS records created, we will email you about them, and explain what you need to have done.

Custom Designed Advertising Materials

Announcement, Branding, Local, Marketing / By WebWise / February 21, 2022

WebWise Design - Graphic Design Services Rack Card — Rack Card - WebWise Design - Graphic Design Services

In this age of electronics and digital everything, there is still much to be said for physical reminders of your business or organization that people can see and touch. At WebWise Design & Marketing, we have been custom designing logos, business cards, brochures, and annual reports for our clients for over 25 years. Now, we are expanding the types of branding, marketing and advertising materials we offer as well as having the printing done for you.

Business cards are essential. They should be easy to read with your logo and current contact information. They should convey the overall image of your business and brand identity.
Brochures or rack cards that can be distributed via mail, the chamber of commerce, tourism office, or community center are track-proven options for promoting your business or organization.
Mugs and coasters with your logo sitting on desks or conference tables provide a constant visual reminder of your importance to your customers or clients.
Banners, posters and signs attract attention to or at your business location as you celebrate a grand opening, a new office, a special sale or other event.
Tote bags with your logo get noticed when your employees or clients carry them out in public.
Other advertising products. Whether you need a single sign for a one-time event or a full-scale branding campaign, let us know your objective and we’ll recommend the marketing materials that will help you achieve it.

Our graphic designers will work with you to create a new logo or upgrade your existing logo, and then design the marketing materials you need. Once the creative work is finished, we’ll have those items printed for you. Consider WebWise your one-stop shop for print advertising products!

“Design and Marketing” have always been part of our company name and now we are pleased to offer print product options for our everyone along with our well-known website development and online marketing strategies. Talk to us about designing and printing the right advertising and marketing materials for your business or organization.