The search engine landscape is constantly changing. New competitors enter the market. Exsiting ones update their websites. Even the search engines themselves change their ranking formulas from time to time. How do you keep up?

For some time we’ve offered Search Engine Ranking reports to our customers for a fee, but I’m pleased to announce that they are now free!

Every three months, our web clients can receive a report via email listing where they rank in the major Australian search engines for their selected keywords. As the old saying goes, “If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it!”

This service is part of our overall philosophy: your online success is our success, and we’ll do our best to help you achieve that.

Contact us if you’d like to know more.

Almost Anything Web & Graphic Design has just taken out a Queensland Multimedia Award for Best Logo Design - for the third year in a row.

After success in 2005 and 2006, our design for His N Hers Surf and Leisure’s new logo took out the Best Logo Design - Retail Award at a gala dinner in Cairns last month.

The judges’ comments: “Great simplicity and energy in the design. Sure to be a hit with the surf community.”

It’s rewarding to receive these accolades, knowing we were competing with many entries from across the state.

The following article is from the Morning Bulletin, Friday 23rd November 2007:

Your position in Google for any specified search never stays that way for too long. The landscape is constantly changing. Sometimes it’s new competitors, sometimes it’s old ones who have done something new, and sometimes it’s neither!

From time to time Google changes the formula they use, and the Sydney Morning Herald reports they have just done it again.

So don’t be too surprised to see your ranking change from time to time, in fact you can safely expect it to happen!

Contact us if any such changes concern you.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a woman in the US has been sued US$220,000 for sharing 24 songs through a file sharing service called Kazaa.

That’s a lot of money for 24 songs, which ever way you look at it. Whether you agree or disagree, it makes you think twice about what you do online!

The Lesson

We recently attended a conference in Sydney called Web Directions, and one of the points made was that people will use the web in a way that they see fit. Not necessarily how you or I would design it for them. The record companies here are doing their best to resist the change that the internet has brought, instead of adapting to it.

Is that something you can think about regarding your business?

If it’s you against the world (which is pretty much the case when you’re talking about the internet) you can’t really successfully fight it. Instead of saying, “we don’t want our website to work that way”, think about how your customers want it to work. And enable them to do it. Because whether you like it or not, they will find a way. Maybe via a competitor.

It might mean some changes, but you’ll reap the rewards on the long run.

In the words of the Borg, “resistance is futile”.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the digital smiley, or :-), turned 25 yesterday!

That’s an odd thing to “have a birthday”, but then again the internet can be an odd place at times!

Read the full story here.

You’ve probably noticed an influx in spam lately. Well, you’re not alone.

Spam has skyrocketed over the last month. The Sydney Morning Herald reports an increase of 12% - and other sources quote up to a 70% increase!

Whichever way you look at it - it’s a lot of extra spam around globally at the moment. Spam filters are having to deal with a huge volume of extra mail and consuming a high proportion of server resources in the process.

From th SMH:

Technology market analyst IDC estimated in April that of the nearly 97 billion emails expected to be sent around the world each day … 40 billion would be spam messages.

Nobody likes the extra spam - but if faced with a choice it’s better to let some through rather then potentially delete legitimate email.

According to the article in the SMH a virus is the main trigger for the increase, so once that’s under control hopefully our email volumes can return to normal.

In the meantime:

1. Keep your Anti-virus software up to date.
2. Don’t click links in emails from people you don’t know.
3. If the email is from someone you know, but still looks suspicious - confirm that it’s actually from who it says before opening anything.

We are seeking an experienced person who has the following skills to join our progressive team:

• Design (preferably using CorelDraw)
• Operation of wide format printer (Roland SP-540V)
• Vinyl letter and decal application
• Sign installation

You need to have:

• Customer service skills
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills
• An ability to work productively on your own
• An eye for detail
• Pride in your work

Confidentiality ensured.

Contact Yolinda on (07) 4926 7811.