Announcements from Google I/O

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At Google’s annual conference for software developers, Google announced several new services and enhancements to its existing services. Here are a few of the highlights:

Google Maps

Google Maps has gotten a huge upgrade and is adopting a new method for how people use maps. Google Maps will be creating a map that is unique to each consumer, based on their input. It will take info from your recent search history, your reviews and places you save. The more you use the maps, the more accurate it gets. The look of Google Maps has completely changed. The map is full screen now, with thumbnails along the bottom and a small search widget in the upper left of the screen. Results are displayed as points of interest on the map. It will also accent places reviewed by your friends, and those that are rated highly. You can select a place from your search by clicking on its name in the search widget results, or by clicking on a pin on the map. Click brings up an info card with the pertinent details of the place, such as address, phone number and hours of operation. You will also be able to click an icon to get directions or a star to save the location for later. Google Maps now offers directions for cars, public transit, walking, biking and air.

All Access

All Access is Google’s new music service. It is a streaming service with a monthly fee of $9.99 that allows customers access to millions of songs and offers recommendations based on your music library. You can listen by going directly to songs you want, or you can listen to a radio station. A radio station allows you to adjust the playlist as you go by skipping songs, creating custom stations based on an artist, reordering the songs, and giving favorites a “thumbs up”. Users can also upload their own music collection from their computer. All Access syncs your music across all devices.

Voice Search

You can now ask questions verbally of Google Search in Google’s Chrome browser on your desktop or laptop computer and receive a spoken answer. You can follow up with a new question and Google Search will retain the context from your previous search. For example, if your original search is, “What is the weather in Phoenix?,” you can continue your search with the question, “How about in Tucson?” and Google Search will reply with the weather in Tucson.

These are some of the exciting new and enhanced offerings from Google. If you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve in the world of internet marketing, CyberDesign can help. For a free website evaluation contact us today.

The Case for Custom Web Design

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Custom web design is just that – custom!

It results in a unique web site. With a template, several web sites will have the same design as yours. A custom designed site will specifically reflect the look, feel and brand of your business. CyberDesign International ensures all of our customers have sites that are:

  • Well laid-out
  • Visually attractive
  • Centered on your organization’s call-to-action

Custom websites sell YOU!

Custom web sites are designed to highlight your company’s products and/or services. Templates are designed to sell themselves.

Our web design company uses a streamlined method to ensure that your website includes:

  • Your vision for your website
  • User-friendly navigation
  • Conversion elements
  • SEO-friendly elements

Our design process starts with a New Web Site Design Form in order to make your site express your business. We get your input on:

  • Color schemes
  • Logos
  • Photos and images
  • Layout

From your responses, our designers create a template for your approval. If the template doesn’t quite fit, we’ll make up to two rounds of modifications, free of charge.

Custom web sites are designed for your customers

Designers take into account what the end users will need to accomplish on your site and make it as easy as possible for them to do so. A template may cause confusion and frustration for your customers, making them give up before they complete their order.

CyberDesign will make sure your site is:

  • Visually appealing to visitors
  • Easy for visitors to navigate
  • Focused on the call-to-action
  • Attractive to search engines

Custom web sites are search engine friendly

If your customers can’t even find your web site, how will they use it? Custom sites have SEO (search engine optimization) worked into the background coding. Unless you or one of your employees knows coding, a template won’t have SEO coding.

At CyberDesign, our web graphic designers and developers can keep track of your website’s ranking in major search engines. CyberDesign’s web site designers use Google, Yahoo! and Bing webmaster tools and Google Analytics to monitor your website.

Custom web sites can include custom programming

Custom programming and ecommerce is something no web site template could touch.

CyberDesign web programmers will discuss any needs of your program, including technical specifications such as type of server, operating system, database and programming languages. We start our web programming process by gathering information about your programming needs.

Also, if you plan to conduct transactions through your website, you need an ecommerce system that is user friendly and secure. CyberDesign can provide you with online shopping cart software that will not only enhance your customers’ shopping experience but safeguard against online identity theft.

Make Sense Of SEO With New Search Engine

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If your company relies on driving new business via the internet then you know the value of being able to quickly and routinely gather statistics about how your online campaign is working. Analyzing that data on a weekly or monthly basis can be critical to the success of your website.

BigWebStats.com is a new website that can do just that for you. And the best part? It’s free.

By simply entering the URL of any website, the search engine instantly gives you everything from the number of past visitors and a forecast of how many to expect in the future to keyword rankings, domain information, competing sites and “Social Buzz”.

With its easy-to-read layout, BigWebStats also gives a brief summary of the company (years in business, industry, popularity, etc.) and takes that information to give the website a rating based on a 5-star system (for example, Facebook got 4.5 out of 5 stars).

The “Social Buzz” tab reports on all of the social media associated with the website, recent posts (Tweets, Facebook Likes, etc.), and feedback on what kind of impact this marketing is having.

What’s most impressive about the vast amount of information that a search provides, is the advice and suggestions the creators of BigWebStats have provided. This would be similar to paying a large firm to do an assessment of the overall health of your website and an analysis of whether or not your online campaign is paying off. These results can be very valuable, with regards to SEO.

Check out some of their other “Website Optimization” features and data:

  • View basic SEO statistics about the website and get advice on what can be improved.
  • The “Security” tab not only gives the IP address and location of the website’s origins, but also reports on whether it’s offering safe browsing or not.
  • The Traffic Estimations give you a ranking of how the website is trending in terms of daily visitors and Pageviews.
  • Real-time feedback about whether or not you should add and optimize your XML sitemap.
  • Valuable information about the site’s traffic ranking by region, country and the world.
  • A list of “Competitor Sites” so you can compare which websites are getting the best results and ranking.
  • View newly updated ratings real-time to determine if any recent changes you’ve made have actually been helping or hurting.

There’s a wealth of additional data, in-depth analysis, feedback and handy tools which can help you manage (or at least make informed decisions) about the SEO of your company’s website. What you decide to do with that information is another story.

By continuing to follow CyberDesign’s blog, we will keep you educated and informed with the Internet and the programs that it offers.  For more information, you can call (623) 414-4444 or visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

Getting Organized with Google Spreadsheets

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Getting Organized with Google SpreadsheetsGoogle Spreadsheets is easy to use yet has heady capabilities.  Most home or even business users don’t need all the capabilities that are built into Google Spreadsheets.  These spreadsheets can help you make an impression and get the job done.  For instance, Google Spreadsheets can help if you need to:

-          Add a bundle of numbers or create a family budget

-          “Number crunch” mountains of data with colleagues

-          Create a few clever charts and graphs for an upcoming business proposal

-          Create a spreadsheet with fiendishly complex formulas

-          Make a spreadsheet available online to impress a client with your digital acumen

Like all spreadsheets, Google’s online version is a grid.  Each rectangle in the grid is called a cell.  The cells are organized horizontally in rows and vertically in columns.  Google Spreadsheets provides a huge number of cells, rows, and columns – so many that you’re unlikely to need them all.  For instance:

Rows:  They are numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on.

Columns:  They are lettered A, B, C, and so on.  When the spreadsheet runs out of letters in the alphabet, it doubles up the letters and starts using AA, AB, AC, and so on; then BA, BB, BC, and so on.

            Cells:  They are identified by the intersection of row and column.  This is called the cell address.  For instance, cell D8 is located at the intersection of column D and row 8.

In contrast to other Google Apps, Google Spreadsheets wants to start autosaving immediately so that you don’t lose any important data.  A pop-up message appears in the lower-right corner of the screen just a few moments after you create a new spreadsheet.  Click the Start Autosaving link; a dialog box appears in which you can name your spreadsheet.  If you decide later that you need to rename a file, you can do that from the Docs File menu.

This is just scratching the surface of Google Spreadsheets and what they can do for you.  By continuing to follow CyberDesign’s blog, we will keep you educated and informed with the Internet and the programs that it offers.  For more information, you can call (623) 414-4444 or visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

Protecting Your Kids from the Dangers of the Internet

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Protecting Your Kids from the Dangers of the InternetBefore you even consider the positive aspects of Cyber-world, you need to protect your child against three of its primary dangers:  predators, gambling sites, and Internet addiction.  There aren’t any up sides to these features of Cyberworld; they’re pretty much all negative.  So let’s see what you can do to keep your child safe.

With the increased popularity of wireless connections (technology that allows Internet access without any actual wires or cables) and with the growing affordability of laptops, many kids can pretty much carry their Internet hookup with them.  At this point, in our opinion, computer location doesn’t really matter very much as far as your child’s safety is concerned.  Here are a few things you can follow:

1.       Don’t leave your child alone at the computer for extended periods of time.  No matter where you put the computer, your child shouldn’t feel isolated with it, any more than he or she should be left alone for hours in from of the television.  If your child wants a quiet, private place to do homework or write e-mails, fine-but pop your head into the bedroom or rec room every thirty to sixty minutes, just to say hello.

2.      Get good filters.  You can block pretty much any website or connection that you don’t want your child to access – and you should.  You should also remember that your child has a whole world of cyber-cafes, friends’ homes, and other “outside” computers at his or her disposal.  So like every other aspect of parenting, it’s ultimately a matter of values, communication, and trust.

3.      If you have to, monitor your child electronically.  You can get anything from a list of websites to a moment-by-moment replay of every minute your child spends on screen (this applies only to home computers and laptops that your family owns).

4.      Keep the lines of communication open.  Ask your children what they did online today.  Who sent them e-mails?  What new websites did they find?  Did they learn something new about how to track down an elusive fact or a cool product?  Listen to their tone of voice when they answer.  If your parental antennae go up, keep them talking – and keep listening.

At CyberDesign, not only do we assist with all your internet marketing needs, but we also like to keep our clients educated on various topics related to the internet.  For more information, you can call (623) 414-4444 or visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

Mac Computer Basics – Part Two

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Mac Computer Basics – Part TwoAfter you have the Mac OS X operating system up and running, you can run any additional programs, such as a word processor, a video game, a Web browser, or an e-mail program.  The number of programs you can load and run simultaneously is limited only by the amount of hard drive space and memory crammed inside your Mac.

To run a program from the Dock, just click the program icon that you want to run. The Dock contains icons that represent some (but not all) of the programs installed on your Mac.  When you turn on your Mac for the first time, you see that the Dock already includes a variety of programs that Apple thinks you might want to use right away.  However, you can always add or delete program icons for the Dock.

When using programs, you can use the Dock in several ways:

-           To gain one-click access to your favorite programs.

-          To see which programs are currently running.

-          To switch between different programs quickly.

-          To see which windows you have minimized.

-          To view a specific program window.

-          To hide all windows that belong to a specific program.

Knowing which programs are running is a big help, because now you can easily switch between each running program by simply clicking that program icon again.  So, if you want to switch to the iTunes program from the GarageBand program, you can just click the iTunes program icon.  This would immediately display the iTunes window and display the iTunes program name in the Application menu on the menu bar at the top of the screen.

The Dock identifies all running programs by displaying a dot underneath the icon of each running program.  The Application menu in the menu bar identifies the currently active program.  You can have multiple programs running, but you can have only one program that’s currently active.

You can add or delete program icons from the Dock so it contains only the programs you use most often, and you can arrange the icons on the Dock to suit yourself and make starting programs even easier.

Now that you have familiarized yourself with your Mac, it’s now time to grow your business online.  For more information on how to market yourself online, visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/internet-marketing.php.  CyberDesign will assist you with all of your internet marketing needs.

Mac Computer Basics – Part One

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Mac Computer Basics – Part OneJust by looking at your Mac, you can tell whether it’s an all-in-one design (iMac), a laptop (MacBook or MacBook Pro), or a “headless” unit that lacks a built-in screen (Mac Mini or Mac Pro).  However, looking at the outside of your Mac can’t tell you the parts used on the inside.  To identify the parts and capabilities of your Mac, follow these steps:

  1.  Click the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and choose About This Mac.  An About This Mac window will appear.
  2. Click More Info – A System Profiler window will appear.
  3. Click the Hardware option in the Contents category pane on the left to view a list of hardware items.  If the list of hardware items (such as Bluetooth, Memory, and USB) already appears under the Hardware category, skip this step.
  4. Click a hardware item such as Memory or Disc Burning.  The right pane of the System Profiler window displays the capabilities of your chosen hardware.  Don’t worry if the information displayed in the System Profiler window doesn’t make much sense to you right now.  The main idea here is to figure out a quick way to find out about the capabilities of your Mac.  Then you can pick through the technical details to find the parts that your understand and search the Internet to look up the details you don’t understand.
  5. When you’re done scouting out the contents of the System Profiler window, choose System Profiler-Quit System Profiler from the main menu to close the window.

If you’re going to look at anything in System Profiler window, check out Disc Burning and Graphics/Displays under the Hardware option:

-           Disc Burning tells you all about your DVD/CD-burning hardware, including general info about all the different types of CDs and DVDs that your Mac can read and write to, so you’ll know exactly which type to buy.

-          Graphics/Displays tells you whether your Mac has a separate graphics card, as seen in the VRAM category (Video RAM).  If you see the word shared in the VRAM category, your Mac doesn’t have a separate graphics card and shared the main memory, which means its graphics capabilities will usually be slower than a Mac that does have a separate graphics card.

This is the tip of the iceberg of what you need to know about your Mac.  At CyberDesign, we not only specialize in Internet Marketing, but we like to keep our customers information and educated on our exploding technology world.  For more information about our services that we provide, visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/web-design-services.php

Looking At the World through a Glass Lens

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Looking At the World through a Glass LensCyberDesign would like to showcase Goggle Glass lens.  This product has a small display on its frame that resembles eyeglasses and essentially is a hands-free device that displays information on the glass lens, which can interact with the Internet by voice commands.  With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, Goggle Glass will communicate with other gadgets and the web.

Scott Huffman, Google’s vice president of engineering for Search, has said “One thing that we’re really excited about and working hard on is transforming the way that people interact with Google.”  The uniqueness Google Glass has everyone talking.  The lens has a few different functions that it does.  Here are a few:

-          You say “take a picture” and it will take the picture for you.

-          It will record what you see hands-free.

-          It will share what you see – live.

-          Want directions? You will get directions right in front of you.

-          Need to send a message? Speak and it will send.

-          Ask whatever is on your mind and it will respond with an answer.

-          Need translation?  It will translate the voice.

Google Glass, which is still not available to the consumer (hopefully by late 2013), is one of the very first digital technologies that is capable of recording the world around you constantly.  At this time, there are only a selected few that are allowed to participate with this new technology.  For one, Diane von Furstenberg had the opportunity to use Google Glass during last year’s New York Fashion Week.  In Diane’s one words, she remarked, “I am so excited to introduce Glass to the fashion world and use this revolutionary technology to give everyone a unique perspective into fashion.”

CyberDesign not only showcases new technology, but we can create attractive, highly functional websites that are built according to your exact specifications.  For more information, you can visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

 

 

The Benefits for Local Merchants to Sell Products Online

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The Benefits for Local Merchants to Sell Products OnlineIn this day and age when everyone is living a busy lifestyle and have no time to go from store to store to find the best deal, more consumers now are focused on finding the best deal on the internet.  It has truly revolutionized the way we do our shopping and is ideal, not just for the busy people, but for any type of lifestyle.

Consumers now are willing to let the cheapest prices drive their purchasing decisions.  Because of this, most local businesses have to lower their prices to try and compete with online sites, which in the long run will bring local business sales down.  Michael Rubin, chief executive of Kynetic, stated this, “There will be a lot less retailers on this planet in another decade than there is today.”  With so many tools available online, it’s easy for consumers to track down the best prices. Here are a few advantages of shopping online:

1)       Convenience:  You have the advantage of shopping any hour of the day, no travel time and you don’t have to wait in long lines.

2)      Variety:  You have an amazing selection of several different brands from different sellers in one place.  You also have the option of purchasing products from all over the world.

3)      Better Prices:  Most of the products online come directly from the manufacturer, giving you cheap deals and better prices.

4)      Less Expense:  No need to spend money on gas, eating out, impulsive shopping etc.  Also, you will have the ability to view the online shops comparison and research of different products and prices.

5)      Send Gifts:  Shopping online makes it simple and ideal to send gifts to friends and family living in different areas.

At CyberDesign, aside from creating highly functional websites and maximizing your exposure online, we like to educate and inform our clients about new and innovative online technology to help you.  For more information, visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

 

Popularity of the Apple App Store

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Popularity of the Apple App StoreCyberDesign would like to showcase the popularity of the Apple App Store.  Apple was created by Steve Wozniak and the late Steve Jobs in 1976.  According to a poll, most American homes have more Apple products than married couples or children and about half of these households have at least one Apple product.  Apple has not slowed down, but instead, is continuing to rise in technology world.  Can we make a fair statement and say that Apple is popular?  Will the popularity ever end?

Apple apps are developed and maintained by Apple Inc.  These apps are available to the Apple consumer for free or for a minimal cost.  They can be downloaded to your mobile device, onto your computer or via iTunes.  The good quality, virus protection and the user friendly app programs make Apple’s operating system seamless.

Apple has had amazing success within the last 5 years and it can be attributed to expanding its production of other mobile electronic devices.  Along with the devices, the apps have become extremely popular.  Here is a list of some of the most popular apps of 2012:

-           Facebook

-          Twitter

-          YouTube

-          Stocks

-          Maps

-          Weather

And the list goes on and on.  Apple offers thousands of apps through iTunes and the App Store and is frequently creating and building new ones.  All of its innovative products has attracted tens of millions of consumers and will continue to do so.

At CyberDesign, we like to keep you informed on all the innovative technology that is created, as well as, assisting with all of your internet marketing needs.  We are an award-winning web design and development company that specializes in creating eye-catching websites that engage customers and get results for businesses and organizations of all kinds.  For more information, call 623-414-4444 or visit http://www.cyberdesign.com/contact-us.php.

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