Skybox Creative Blog

The iPhone 4S, the most popular iPhone, has a voice recognition app called Siri. Siri lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back.

Some experts are predicting that Siri will kill local SEO. Why? By using Siri you are no longer searching through search results. Siri is searching through search results and calling companies on the top of the list. Of course, that is just speculation. How Siri processes information is an Apple secret. We can only assume though that Siri is picking the crème of the crop in search engine results. So how can you optimize for Siri? Being on local directories will improve your standing on the internet and for Siri. It’s no longer enough to simply set up profiles on Facebook and Twitter and be done with it. Instead, establish a profile on the following directories, review sites and encourage customers to rate your business there for maximum exposure.

• Google Places
• Yahoo Local
• Bing Local
• Yelp
• Grubhub
• Open Table
• Urbanspoon
• Foursquare
• Savings.com
• Retailmenot
• Judy’s Book
• Citysearch
• Superpages
• Yellow Pages

To determine which of these options are the best fit for your business, do a quick search to see which business sites in your geographic area and industry are ranking well in Google and create profiles on whichever of the following sites they’re using.

If you find this article valuable, please send to a friend or share on your favorite social network (which would be Facebook of course)! Thanks!!

Skybox Creative is a San Diego based Brand Consultancy with an emphasis on Web Design and SEO. Get in touch for a free quote on your next design project or search engine marketing campaign! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

Google makes over 500 changes to its search algorithm every year, keeping Search Engine Optimization pros and web marketers on their toes. It’s hard to stay on top of what the search engine is up to. Recent changes, though, have been much publicized. Local searching – finding San Diego-based businesses if you’re in San Diego, for example – has gained importance as people access the internet on mobile devices. But now, precision in internet searching – and so in search engine optimization – is showing up in new ways.

Fresh Content

We’ve always known that new, current content on your website is important in ranking high in Google’s search results. But now it may be even more important. First, search results will include more text from your website, not just headers and menu. This means the more relevant content you have on your home page, the more meaningful your search listing will be to users. Google also recently tweaked their algorithm to check for levels of freshness for each user query. This will be used in combination with detectors that can tell whether sites are official, and thereby yield more authoritative results – official sites will rank even high in their search ranking. So people can’t game the system by simply throwing up new copy. Users can also specify date ranges in their search, with Google yielding only results relevant to that date range. All of this means that if you’re a San Diego retailer, you might want to consider homepage updates or blogs to keep ranking high for local searchers.

Verbatim Search

Another interesting change at Google is the “verbatim” search choice. When users select this, Google won’t suggest spelling corrections or alternative “close” search categories.  Verbatim searchers will find results that match their spelling (correct or not), tense (past, present, etc), exact verb form (“run” or “running”), and number (singular or plural), while using all of their search terms. This means that if you REALLY know what your customer wants, and you REALLY know the way they talk about it, you’re at an advantage.

Search engine optimization is an ever-changing part of marketing and Google’s secrecy can make it even harder. But when they DO let out some clues about algorithm changes, it’s worth taking a look.

Skybox Creative is a San Diego based Branding Agency with an emphasis on Web Design and SEO. Get in touch for a free quote on your next design project or search engine marketing campaign! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

To web developers, Google can be intimidating – its algorithm daunting. One of the tough things about staying on top of SEO is that the standards by which websites are rated seems to change with every tiny behind-the-scenes tweak to the search engine. But a recently leaked training document for Google’s team of human URL raters offers a peek into how the search engine rates websites. (Don’t bother Googling that doc, that juicy little number’s already been removed from most sites.)

The rating scale goes from “Vital” (singular, specific sites, a celebrity’s site, for example), to “Useful” (helpful to most users), “Relevant” (helpful to many users), “Slightly Relevant”(not very helpful to most users, but not irrelevant to web search query), and “Off-Topic or Useless” (helpful to very few or no users).

According to Search Engine Watch, that scoured the document for rating clues, what Google’s really paying attention to comes down to just a few important points that web developers and designers need to keep in mind. But they’re also really intuitive – much like Google search itself. The search engine’s human evaluators look at the how useful a page is – how well a web page addresses the real desire (intent) of the user. They also look at the website’s interpretation of the search query – and how well the landing page addresses the query.

Other criteria include location, language, and whether the language of the video content – if the page uses video – matches the query language and landing page content.

One particularly interesting point is that, yes, current, timely content is important. But what these human evaluators look for is whether timeliness of content is necessary for the content. So, sites that follow trends should have timely information, but sites about historical sites, might not have to.

After all considerations of keywords, inlinks and bots, it’s nice to get a glimpse of the human side, isn’t it?

Skybox Creative is a San Diego based Branding Agency with an emphasis on Web Design and SEO. Get in touch for a free quote on your next design project or search engine marketing campaign! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

Understanding SEO can be quite a task, and making it work is even more challenging. We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 best free SEO tools to help you understand your site, how it ranks against competitors, and the power of keywords, anchor text and back links. Watch this quick video and start crafting a strategy to boost your rankings on search engines!

SEO Tool #1 Google Keyword Tool
www.adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Research is key, this step requires a bit of time, but it’s worth it’s weight in gold. Provided by Google, this tool allows you to research your industry keywords to learn about local and global traffic statistics.

Now, what does your site look like to search engines in terms of SEO?

SEO Tool #2 SEO Website Grader
www.websitegrader.com

SEO Tool #3 SEO Blog Grader
blog.grader.com

SEO Tool #4 Check Backlinks & Anchor Text
www.bluebacklinks.com

SEO Tool #5 Search Engine Spider Simulator
www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php

SEO Tool #6 Alexa Ranking (Worldwide Rank, Search Analytics, Audience Stats, Etc.)
www.alexa.com

SEO Tool #7 SEO Book – Free SEO Tools (These SEO tools can be used for ongoing website analysis and stats.)
www.tools.seobook.com

Next, it’s a good idea to asses what your competition looks like. (You can use the tools above as well as the tools below for this purpose)

SEO Tool #8 Spy on Your Competitors (Learn About Competitor Keywords & AdWords)
www.spyfu.com

SEO Tool #9 Search Engine & Directory Submission Tool
www.ubl.org

Once your ready to move forward with an SEO strategy, these tools will hep you with search engine & directory submission as well as PR article distribution.

SEO Tool #10 Press Release Article Distribution
www.prnewswire.com

Knowledge is only half the battle! Once you understand the status of your current site and have a better understanding of what you need to do, it’s time to hire experts to handle the workload so you can get back to business.

Overwhelmed with information? We’re here to help. Contact us today for a free SEO quote.info@skyboxseo.com or call 619.865.8881

Should we thank the Android? Is it mobile device users searching for local restaurants and repair shops who are making the web so, well, local? Perform a Google search today and the first results will be marked on a Google map. These are local businesses and Google finds them using their Google Place pages. For example, even a search for Skybox Creative, returns a Google map of San Diego and our address. When did the web get so local?

Google search is getting more and more localized. And what does this mean for Search Engine Optimization? Aside from the general SEO rules about having updated, fresh and relevant content and using carefully selected keywords and terms, what else can you do to boost your company’s ranking in local search?

Local Directories

Local directories can be a great asset in your SEO strategy. Bing Local, Yahoo Local, and Yelp are great places to start listing your business to get it recognized in the local market – and boost your page ranking in Google. There are a lot of specialized local directories, as well, that often rank high for the kind of keywords you’d like to be found for. These are often organized around industries – legal, web design, dentistry — and you can search by region, for example, web design in San Diego, and find listings.

The best way to determine how you can boost your ranking in search results is to search keywords you think customers would use to find you and see what directories appear on the first page of Google results. Then make sure you’re listed in those directories. Many listings are free, but you might want to think about paying to be listed in the top-ranked – and most relevant – local directories.

Skybox Creative's Google Place Marker

Google Places

Google Place pages are another essential for SEO. Basically, you create your little marker on the Google map. This is the page that pops up most frequently on mobile devices.

Some of these pages are automatically created by local directories, so search your business to see if you’re already listed. If you are not the creator of the marker, you can contact Google to get a PIN number so that you can maximize the reach of Google Places. You’ll want to link the address to your primary website, instead of a directory listing and fill out your place page with your logo, keyword-rich copy, and even photos and video. You can also select relevant categories for your company, to make sure you’re included in a broad category of searches.

On the ever-changing landscape of SEO, it’s important to remember where you come from. After all, with the trend for searching local, that’s where your customers will find you!

Skybox Creative is a San Diego based Brand Consultancy with an emphasis on Web Design and SEO . Get in touch for a free quote on your next design project or search engine marketing campaign! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

San Diego may have beautiful beaches, great weather and a reputation for fun, but almost everybody here — just like almost anybody anywhere — is searching for something. A recent study on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) reports that outside of e-mail, the number-one activity people perform online is search. In fact, 72 percent of all Americans use the internet for search, with 60 percent doing it every day, primarily with Google, but also with Yahoo and Bing. If you think about your own online behavior, that’s probably not surprising. These behaviors are habitual, almost knee-jerk activities we perform as soon as we open our laptops or check our mobile phones. And with usage on mobile devices increasing — checking email on the commute home or looking for nearby restaurants — you can see that the findings make sense. So what does that mean for business?

SEO = Seriously Excellent Opportunity

This data means that Search Engine Optimization is as important as ever. And the good news is that the search engines want to help searchers — all of us, in San Diego and otherwise — find what we’re looking for. They are constantly updating their algorithms to root out sites that are simply trying to game the system and provide little real value. Which means that SEO can be less about percentage of keywords and tags and more about providing real content that customers want. For example, much was made of Google’s Panda update which helped users avoid “content farms” where content that was rich in SEO search terms but shallow on real information and could waylay users. Constantly changing to yield more valuable results, search engines are providing a perfect opportunity for businesses that want to provide substantive information to their customers online.

You can get a glimpse of this “only the real deal” strategy behind the algorithm adjustments at SEOmoz. They recently published a report that attempts to track all of Google’s algorithm changes since 2000. The approach is complex, but the objective is simple. Since almost everyone is looking for something, it’s just good customer service on the part of the search engines to help them find it. That’s something we can all understand.

And since we’re on the topic, we here at Skybox Creative have launched an SEO division serving our local San Diego clients as well as those from around the world.

Skybox Creative is a Brand Consultancy with an emphasis on Web Design and SEO. Get a free quote for your next project! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

Are you a designer looking for a fresh new approach to crafting websites or a business owner with a website? Web design is a dynamic field, and designers have to constantly be on the lookout for new trends on the horizon if they want to stay relevant. What users are captivated by now is a definite shift from what they were craving last year.  Let’s take a look at some of the hottest web design trends, and how they’ll improve the effectiveness of your site in the modern day web design market!

1. The rise of CSS3 and HTML5

CSS3 and HTML5 basically offer simpler ways of incorporating modern web elements into your designs. CSS level 3 supports stimulating elements like border effects, gradients, animations, media queries, multi-column layouts, and more. Development of CSS3 began years ago, but designers are just starting to see what a powerful tool it is for simplifying certain Photoshop-level tasks.

Now, Flash is still king when it comes to creating stunning design elements, but HTML5 is making a steady rise as well, as it offers some of the same tools and functionality of Flash, without Flash’s incompatibility and SEO interference issues.

2. Large Backdrops

Huge backgrounds = huge trend. Massive, high-res images, either illustrative or photographic, have recently been adding to visually striking online experiences. Of course, the background photo or artwork must be content appropriate, in order to grab your audience without disrupting the user experience. The key to creating an impacting design that incorporates this trendy element is to make sure the imagery is in harmony with the content, and doesn’t overpower it. Take a look at this stunning example.

3. Simple Color Schemes

Simplicity is always in when it comes to modern design, but the key to achieving it without ending up with lackluster designs is to go for daring colors like green or red. The use of shades of black, white or grey in a layout has been exhausted — it’s time to experiment with more inspiring color schemes, while limiting the palette to two or three colors to keep it tasteful. Collision Labs’ website features such a simple, yet powerful use of color.

4. Mobile Compatibility

2011 marks another year of continued technological change. Users need to experience not only more magnetizing online environments, but also formats that are still comfortable to use on smartphones, netbooks, and tablets. Expand your audience by keeping your websites touchscreen friendly — they can no longer rely on information from hovering or drop-down menus. Think outside of standard web browsing. For example, mobile technology makes people more receptive of unique browsing setups, such as horizontal scrolling. Lastly, if you want to keep your iPad and iPhone user audience intrigued, your design must be flexible enough to accommodate to both vertical and horizontal viewing orientations,

5. Depth!

With the increasing demand for all things 3D — movies, TV’s, even smartphones, it’s not surprising that users are developing a craving for more depth perception. Despite the inexistence of actual 3D Technology, a real sense of dimensionality can be achieved using blurred background layers, skillfully paired with shadowy, jumping-off-the-screen foreground elements. Visit this amazing 3D flash website.

6. Parallax Scrolling

As mentioned above, creating a sense of depth in a website design is extremely visually pleasing and trendy. A super-hot web design trend that can help make this happen is Parallax scrolling. Some might recognize this effect from its use in old school video games, but now it’s a popular way of amplifying websites to their ultimate three-dimensional potential. A parallax scroll can be achieved through either CSS or JavaScript methods: layers are used to give the illusion of a 3D space. You have to see the Parallax effect at work for yourself to comprehend the unique user experience — check out Old Pulteney’s website featuring Parallax scrolling.

7. Typography

Each year we see shifts in typography trends. Primarily, it’s the growth of font-replacement technology (Cufon, Font Squirrel, or Fontdeck, for example), paired with a bigger, more daring aesthetic, that characterizes the most current typographic tendencies. The influence of traditional print design in the realm of web design is a hot trend as well. More and more websites are typographically driven — the key is to focus on relaying your message, in a highly legible way, through words and images.

8. QR codes

QR, or Quick Response codes are popping up everywhere! They’re on business cards, signs, buses, magazines, and anything else that an owner of a camera-equipped mobile device might need more info about. When users take a photo of the unique barcode with their camera phones, the websites associated with that code will be called up. Featuring this code on your website, your print material, or as your avatar would be a handy way of providing site visitors with a shortcut to your mobile site.

9. Social Media

Social media is a huge marketing tool, but in what way can web design cater to this? Visually, you can incorporate eye-catching social media icons, or even feature live twitter feeds,  as many websites now are, to create a sense of intimacy. For businesses, though, the rise of social media demands changes in strategy, more than design aesthetic — it’s absolutely crucial in this era to rely on a separate social media site. This is simply because it’s so much more likely to get people to discover you through Facebook or Twitter than your own separate domain.

Skybox Creative is a brand consultancy with an emphasis on web development and technology solutions. Get in touch today! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

The web is constantly evolving — although it’s undeniable that it improves the quality of our experiences on the ‘net, it also makes businesses scramble to keep their web techniques relevant and effective. There are some companies that haven’t even implemented Web 2.0 properties (which, little do they know, is really hurting them)– and there is already talk of yet another upgrade in store for the World Wide Web: Web 3.0.
This leads to the question: What is Web 3.0 going to be like? …And while we’re at it, what exactly is 2.0, anyway?

Here’s an abridged version of some World Wide Web evolutionary history. What’s known now as Web 1.0 was solely an information portal — users were merely passive speculators of others’ text-based websites. What 1.0 lacked in terms of context and interaction, Web 2.0 tackled with its qualities as a collaborative user platform. More interactive and social than 1.0, it provided speedy, more efficient information-finding tools. What is believed to be keeping 2.0 from being the ultimate user experience is exactly what Web 3.0 intends to take on.

Personalization, portability, interoperability — these sum up the projected Web 3.0 experience.  The new semantic web will mean smarter search engines that will understand who you are, what you’ve been up to, and where you’d like to be. Social networking will syndicate and intensify, as every detail of your online interactions will be recorded into a personal digital lifestream. In the realm of entertainment, personalized content channels will be available through any device.

Other than the hype of a more convenient, useful web, why do we care about the changes that Web 3.0 could bring? First of all, website design could become even more relevant to SEO — consideration of the type of devices visitors would be using to view your site would be critical in its layout and design. Of course, the basics of SEO will still be important, if not exponentially more so, since a semantic web will actually understand the meaning of the data your website puts out, or receives back in the form of feedback or reviews.

It looks like Web 3.0 is going to be quite a dynamic comfortable experience – I think we could all appreciate Starbucks coupons automatically presented to our iPhones before reaching the cashier, or personalized restaurant suggestions that always hit the spot, on-the-go. Basically, the web is on its way to becoming more intuitive than ever…and it sounds like fun.

Skybox Creative is a brand consultancy with an emphasis on web development and technology solutions. Get in touch today! info@skyboxcreative.com or call us at 619.381.3825

Any web designer, blogger or business owner should strive to understand how to employ SEO tools and tactics – for example, defining your keyword combinations and building a solid linking structure can drastically affect Google’s perception of your website’s quality. Yet, the most popular search engine on the Web has now handed us a huge new factor to consider: Google has revealed a change in its search algorithm, aimed to support high-quality websites over those that have less merit.

Read Google’s official announcement regarding the update

The effect of the algorithm change could have companies scrambling to tweak their online marketing strategies – nearly 12% of its queries will be noticeably impacted. Could this major change direct traffic away from your business’s web presence in the cyber world? Let’s take a closer look at the changes made and what kind of websites are affected.

The core of Google’s new algorithm is the use of temporal duration, data used to determine the quality of a webpage. In other words, search results will now be ranked by the length of time that a visitor spends on a particular website, before resorting back to the page of search results. Content used to be the determining factor for the order in which Google prioritized websites in the search results. However once companies understood the algorithm, useless sites began to cheat the system using duplicate content, high advertising-to-content ratios, or deviously embedded keywords. As a result of search engine manipulation, many high quality sites with less content were loosing their Google ranking. With Google’s new algorithm, websites that are more engaging in a visitor’s eyes will be recognized with a higher search results ranking.

Read a more in-depth study of who Google’s update affects

With that in mind, many SEO factors that previously influenced your website’s ranking still apply – the scope of your businesses social involvement (discussions, linking, sharing) is still an influence on the value of your site. However, now that content is no longer Google’s primary determinant of quality, website/business owners must realize that impactful web design is more crucial than ever – the focus has shifted to creating a pleasant user experience, in harmony with stimulating content.

So what can you do to make sure your business doesn’t go down under the new algorithm? Here are some secure ways to ensure that your website stays competent:

6 Tips to Keep Your Website High Quality:

1. Don’t forget that every page on your site factors into the equation – low quality individual pages could drag your whole domain down.
2. Don’t click the back button on your own site …and don’t tempt your visitors to click it either by presenting substandard content.
3. Avoid amateurish graphical errors. This means no clip art, no irrelevant artwork. Less is more.
4. Be professional, be trustworthy. Include an About Us page, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, etc. Build trust by displaying professional trade association logos.
5. Add sticky content: videos or engaging photos or audio can keep a user occupied longer.
6. Prove the user with a comfortable viewing experience — if you’re going to keep your ads, make sure they don’t interfere with the content. With the content, use fonts designed for online viewing (try Georgia, Trebuchet, or Verdana), and take the time to choose colors/sizes wisely.

What page of search are you on for your target keywords?

Remember, Google’s new algorithm is a machine that reasons with time and statistics, but what determines those numbers are human users. Learning more about SEO tools and seeking quality design is a surefire way to keep your website in the loop – Email us at info@skyboxcreative.com for more info and a FREE SEO website evaluation.

Skybox Creative, Inc. – Elevate your business with SEO-conscious brand + web design.

Top 10 Best SEO Tools for 2011

Sifting through the maze of SEO information can certainly be a challenge, Organic Search Engine Optimization can be a full time job for multiple people depending on your goals. Luckily there are simple ways to educate yourself through a variety of free SEO tools offered online. Below we have compiled a list of the 10 best SEO tools for 2011 to help you understand your site, research your competitors, keywords and create a strategy to dominate the search engines. Because of the natural evolution of technology, we will likely have to update this list before 2011 is over, but here it is.

Initially, we hesitated to publish this list because these resources are that valuable… but we like to share! So here goes:

First things first, you have to understand what your site looks like in the eyes of search engines from an SEO perspective.

SEO Tool #1

SEO Website Grader
www.websitegrader.com

SEO Tool #2

SEO Blog Grader
www.blog.grader.com

SEO Tool #3

Check Backlinks & Anchor Text
www.bluebacklinks.com

SEO Tool #4

Search Engine Spider Simulator
www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php

SEO Tool #5

Alexa Ranking (Worldwide Rank, Search Analytics, Audience Stats, Etc.)
www.alexa.com

SEO Tool #6

SEO Book – Free SEO Tools (These SEO Tools tools can be used for ongoing website analysis and stats.)
www.tools.seobook.com

Next, it’s time to asses what your competition looks like. (Use the tools above as well as the tool listed below for this purpose)

SEO Tool #7

Spy on Your Competitors (Learn Competitor Keywords & AdWords)
www.spyfu.com

Now it’s a good idea to set aside a good chuck of time for research. This elaborate tool provided by Google allows you to research your industry keywords to learn about local and global traffic stats.

SEO Tool #8

Google Keyword Tool
www.adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Once your ready to move forward with an SEO strategy, the tools below will hep you with search engine & directory submission as well as PR article distribution.

SEO Tool #9

Search Engine & Directory Submission Tool
www.ubl.org

SEO Tool #10

Press Release Article Distribution
www.prnewswire.com

Overwhelmed with information? We’re here to help. Contact us today for a free SEO quote. info@skyboxcreative.com

Skybox Creative, Inc. – Elevate your business with award-winning brand + web design.