Coffee, Cake and erm Optimisation

SEO & Copywriting Course in Preston

2011-03-24T18:14:00.003Z

We are very proud to be doing an SEO & Copywriting course in partnership with Creative Lancashire on the 31st of March in Preston, along with follow up 1 to 1 surgeries on the 7th of April.

To find out more on the course we are doing please visit our website - SEO Course on 31st March. And for more information on the courses Creative Lancashire are doing (as well as ours), visit their events page on their website - Creative Lancashire Events.

Look forward to seeing you all there, will be great fun and large numbers already confirmed, so hurry for your free places.

SEO & Copywriting Course in Leyland

2011-03-24T17:41:00.006Z

We are proud to be providing an SEO & Copywriting course in Leyland in partnership with BVG on the 25th of March @ 9.30am.

For more information on this course & our upcoming courses please visit our next seminars page on our main website.

We will also be posting information on upcoming courses on our Twitter account, so why not follow us and see what is coming up.

Look forward to seeing you at one of our future courses.

Blog is back and alive

2011-03-24T17:22:00.003Z

We have been a little slacking on updating out own Blog recently (well for quite a while actually). Far too busy on clients' work and our own Blog became a little neglected, so we apologise to our followers and are going to set this straight.

We will be posting a couple of Blogs about our upcoming seminars in the Blackpool, Preston & Leyland areas next, and then back to keeping our Blog updated with all things SEO, Copywriting, Search Engines & Internet.

Windows is 25 Years Old

2010-11-16T16:58:00.004Z

On November 20th, 2010, Windows will officially turn 25 years old. However, like us I bet you cannot remember it even being launched. This is mainly down to the fact that at that time in 1985, Apple and DOS were Kings.

Windows version 1.0 was Microsoft's graphical rival to Apple's IBM graphical front end and was used as the front end to its own DOS system.

How far we have come and advanced since - considering now that Windows is basically the be all and end all system for PCs, with over 90% of the desktop market. With Windows XP being the most used version at the moment and Windows 7 selling over 240 million licences in little more than 1 year.

For more information on Windows turning 25, please check out this article on PC Advisor.

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T10:02:00.008Z

Google UK pays tribute to the heroes past and present with an icon of the Poppy on its home page.

Here at XP Web Services we too remember those who have fallen and those who survived, along with the ones still keeping us safe and our democracy alive. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

Thank you.

For anyone wishing to make a donation to the British Legion.

Ask's Search Engine Has Been Retired

2010-11-10T15:30:00.003Z

Ask.com has now officially shut down its search engine. Instead opting to focus on its own question and answer service - which they went back to in July of 2010. See our previous blog post about that here.

Instead they are going to be using either Google's or Bing's search results and dedicating their staff and engineers to the Question & Answer service.
According to New York Times the website will be re-branded as "Ask.com - What's Your Question?".

A move which sees Ask join the multitude of websites and search engines offering the question and answer service, of which Google has seen fantastic results for - and who will no doubt keep the crown of the best search provider. But where will Ask.com fit in? Only time will tell we guess.

Since its creation in 1996, Ask has employed hundreds of engineers and staff members across America & China, however with the recent downturn over there, they have had to lay off many members of staff and this new move sees them having to consolidate staff into its Bay Area HQ. This will mean staff and engineers across America and China having to relocate to the Californian HQ office.

Thanks to the New York Times for the original information in this blog post.

Google Doodle - 115th Birthday of The X Ray

2010-11-08T08:59:00.008Z

Today's Google Doodle celebrates the 115th birthday of the X Ray, originally discovered by scientists around 1875 but actually credited to Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895. This discovery & accreditation actually earned Wilhelm the Physics Nobel Prize in 1901 & of course changed science, medicine & physics for the rest of mankind.

Read more on this on the Guardian's website.

Google Doodle - Dizzy Gillespie's 93rd Birthday

2010-10-21T11:51:00.005+01:00

The most recent Google Doodle is to celebrate what would have been Dizzy Gillespie's 93rd birthday.

Google has added the following Doodle on its homepage as a tribute to the late, great Jazz musician - who unfortunately died in 1993 from pancreatic cancer.

A great tribute to a great musician.

Google TV - Available with Logitech Box

2010-10-09T17:27:00.003+01:00

Revue set top box from Logitech, has become the first device to bring Google TV to TV sets.

Revue comes with Google TV software and has been hailed as the first device of its type and is all set to revolutionise the way the internet and TV works. See our other articles on Google TV.

Google TV was first announced back in May 2010 along with partners Sony, Intel and of course Logitech. Google TV will allow people access to a huge range of content from videos and pictures to games and email (pretty much everything most people want or need).
One of the beauties of Google TV is the ability to search the internet through your TV for programmes from the internet, computer, digital recording boxes and obviously the TV. This could return listings from various existing (and new) TV channels and YouTube.

Google has recently announced partnerships with content distributors such as The New York Times, Amazon, HBO, NBA and many more. Currently only rolled out in the United States. Over here in the UK and Europe we will have to wait a little bit longer for this service.

Currently selling for about $300 in the States the Logitech device links the device to your PC via WiFi or the old Ethernet cable.
Complete with accessories such as a remote control (free), you can also purchase a high definition camera should you wish to - currently about $160. However there will be plenty more gadgets and devices coming along very quickly, you can be sure of that.

See our other Google TV posts for other relevant information and updates.

We would like to thank PC Advisor for the full original article.

Google Doodle - John Lennon's 70th Birthday

2010-10-09T17:15:00.002+01:00

Google's new doodle, celebrates what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.

Clicking the doodle will let you hear a snippet from John's infamous track, Imagine. The snippet is only just over 30 seconds, but a great way to celebrate this date in history. Whilst playing the snippet of Imagine you will see many animated images floating in and out of the smaller screen. Once finished Google then takes you to a Google search of 'John Lennon'.

Since being created some 12 years or so ago, Google has created over 900 Doodles to celebrate special events, birthdays and anniversaries from around the world. But this animated one is one of the best so far - seems Google & Google Doodles are getting more and more complicated and imaginative (sorry) since the first image of a Burning Man, 12 years back.

Yabba Dabba Doo - Google Doodle & The Flintstones

2010-09-30T09:25:00.002+01:00

Yabba Dabba Doo indeed, Google's latest doodle on Google.com & Google.co.uk highlights the fact that today is the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones.

50 years and still good to watch today. We love The Flintstones & Google of course.

Sony & Google TV - Not Far Away Now

2010-09-29T16:14:00.004+01:00

We posted a couple of blogs of the announcement that Google TV was coming soon. Well from what we have heard the world's first internet TV will be here about 12th of October 2010.

Sony have announced the their "Internet Television" will be 1 of the first home video products that has built-in support for Google TV. Allowing for Google search to be integrated with web based flash video, directly through your TV.

The announcement is expected to be made by Sony at a specially called media event on the 12th of October in New York City. The event will kick off with a special press conference from Sony, followed by demonstrations of the new Internet TV along with music from special musical guests (Sony recording artists obviously).

Prices and availability are still unknown at this time. However with Apple soon to be releasing their Apple TV Update - the timing for Google & Sony could not be better.

Our earlier articles on this subject:

Google TV - Coming To A Living Room Near You
Google TV - US Autumn Launch Announced

Bing Search Engine - Now Number 2 in USA

2010-09-29T10:58:00.004+01:00

Bing's search engine has recently overtaken Yahoo in the USA to become the 2nd most popular search engine. In August 2010, figures showed that Bing now has about 14% of the American search market, with Yahoo dropping slightly to just over 13%.

Obviously these figures are still miles away from the daddy that is Google, but it shows that people are now prepared to use other sources for their search habits. Google held steady with about 65% of the search market - still 4 times that of Bing.

So apart from Bing leap-frogging Yahoo, it seems it is still business as normal for Google and the way people search.

Since August 2009, Google still has about 65% - Bing now has 14% of the USA market and Yahoo drops from 16% to 13.1% - the other 8% or so is taken up by other search engines such as Ask.

Blackberry Playbook Tablet Enters the Arena

2010-09-28T12:45:00.005+01:00

Everyone knows Blackberry as the once leader in smart phones, that was before the iPhone came along and seriously challenged them to the crown. And now everyone seems to be offering a smart phone.
However for people who are serious about business on the go, the Blackberry cannot be beaten (yet), with most workers using a Blackberry of some shape or size.
Then Apple brought the iPhone out, closely followed by the iPad - the tablet pc that is seriously kicking butt. However Blackberry did not sit in the corner sucking its thumb, it is fighting back with a tablet pc aimed squarely at the workers in this world, not the players. The PlayBook.

Officially introduced to an eagerly waiting crowd at a recent developers' exhibition in San Francisco it is claimed the PlayBook was described as "the world's first professional tablet", incorporating flash, using Adobe's Flash software (something Apple's iPad does not support).

Unlike the iPad the PlayBook will not be tied into phone networks. Offering either a WiFi connection or through a wireless Bluetooth connection to a Blackberry. Something that will probably entice more business users as there is no tie in with other phone companies.

There are not many details about the PlayBook released just yet, but keep your eyes open over the coming weeks for more information on its release, facilities and of course - how much will it cost.

Google Voice Improves - No More Lag

2010-09-16T15:48:00.004+01:00

Do you use a Blackberry or Android mobile phone? If so then you have probably used or are using Google Voice. No? Then now is the right time to start, as Google has made Google Voice much better for people who already use it on a regular basis.

What improvement? Well they have said they have got rid of 'lag'. We have all experienced 'lag' at some point in our lifetime with mobile phones. A lag was the time between pressing call and the phone actually deciding to make the call.
Well now according to Google they have finally eliminated this annoying 'lag'. OK it's not the end of the world waiting those few seconds, but you must admit you were not sure the phone call was in place.

So now when you use Google Voice on a mobile using the Android system or a Blackberry and you press call, the lag has now gone. Hurrah!

Google has fixed this by stopping calls going through to the Google Voice server, instead Google will be granting 'direct access numbers' for everyone you call. Simples.

If you are currently using a Blackberry like a lot of businesses then all you have to do is go to your Google Voice account on your mobile and hey presto. For Android users even easier. Just download the application from Android Market on your handset.

Thanks to Google Tutor for the information & update

Google Doodle - Celebrating Agatha Christie

2010-09-15T08:06:00.005+01:00

Google has a new logo today (also known as a Doodle), celebrating Agatha's Christie's 120th birthday.

You can't have helped notice over these past months Google changing its own logo, either to celebrate certain special occasions, birthdays or even some random logos and animations. A couple of stumped us, including the most recent one with the animated, spinning balls which closed in to make the Google doodle. Which turned out to be in recognition of Google's new Instant Search.

My personal favourite however is still the playable version of PAC-Man, shown back in May of 2010.

Like Agatha Christie, Google aims on being the top of its game & market for many years to come.

Google TV - US Autumn Launch Announced

2010-09-14T10:43:00.004+01:00

Google's TV service has recently been announced for the USA in Autumn this year and for several other countries sometime next year (2011).

Speaking at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Google's CEO Eric Schmidt is made mention that Google will shortly be planning to bring the web to TV sets in USA. His remarks confirmed to the industry that Google remains well and truly on track to deliver this service. Confirming remarks made at the Google I/O developer conference back in May 2010.

Google TV will give viewers the power of the search & online videos direct to their TV. So someone wanting to know when the next round of rugby games are to be played, they could simply to a normal search through their TV instead of having to fire up to computer.

In all likely hood Sony will be making the TVs, although at the time of writing this there are no confirmed prices or release dates. However 1 thing for certain is the operating system will be Google's Android system. A system that has proved to be very popular in mobile phones recently.

Looks like Google TV will be taking on Apple TV very soon. Interesting times ahead, but here in the UK I guess we will have to wait a little longer than the US.

Google Instant is Here !

2010-09-10T08:53:00.003+01:00

Google has rolled out its Instant Search to several countries including the UK and USA. This Google Instant search is supposed to speed up people's search results & bring back results based on their preferences. Obviously for this to work people have to be signed in to their Google account.

As you type you see results appearing in a list below the search box, for example type the letter A into your Google search box and a list of possible results are shown underneath the search box. Now here is the main issue - the list is showing the BIG brands. So in the UK you type in A and you see Argos, Amazon & Asda as the first 3 results (as if the BIG brands need any extra help)...

This could pose a problem for the smaller businesses out there, but hopefully not. We cannot see this changing the way people search as most people don't need to use Google to find the BIG brands.
So if you were looking for a new pair of rugby boots, you would generally type in rugby boots into Google.co.uk. When you have typed in rugby you will see rugby boots then appear in the options below. So currently this is only saving people time as they type - it is not going to make people change their minds as they search for items like this.

This will however be an interesting time for SEO companies such as ours, but hopefully this will aid us and not hinder us...

More information on this when we a) find out more & b) find the time to Blog !!!

New Search History Link on Google

2010-08-12T11:32:00.005+01:00

We have all done it, time and time again. You click or surf away from a web page or website that you have stumbled upon and then clicked so far away, or closed down your web browser that you can never find it again.

We've done it several times, but now there is no need to panic if you are using Google as your main search engine. Those clever bods over at Google have now designed and launched their new 'search history feature' - which will let you recover or revisit those lost websites or web pages.

All you need to do is sign in and click the history link near the bottom of the page, and voila your search history is appear. Note this only works on searches your have starred from your normal desktop search, or searches through your iPhone or Android phones.

You have to enable the search history in your Google account. Log in and go to Settings, then click Save Searches. Once done the history of the searches you have done when signed into your Google account will be there, from where-ever in the world you searched for. So as long as you are signed in from any computer in any office your search history will be logged and kept.

Clearing the history & also stopping the history logs is simply done through your account too.

This is a shortened version of the full article - original source by Google Mobile Blog.

Robbie Williams to Switch on Blackpool Illuminations 2010

2010-08-07T12:19:00.004+01:00

So this is nothing to do with SEO or anywhere near, but it is quite exciting for Blackpool and Blackpool's Illuminations.

It has been confirmed that Robbie Williams will be switching on Blackpool's Illuminations in 2010, along with Alesha Dixon and Real Radio.

For the first time on record it looks like the illuminations switch on show will be a ticket only affair, more than likely because Robbie is switching on the lights, and he is a pretty big star.

Find out more about Robbie Williams switching on Blackpool's Illuminations in 2010 and everything you can expect at the show, times illuminations start and end - and what you can see. Follow the link below for more info...

Robbie Williams & Blackpool Illuminations 2010.

Google Waves Bye Bye to Google Wave

2010-08-05T13:24:00.005+01:00

Online Wall Street Journal has heard from its sources that Google is saying bye bye to Google Wave and closing the doors behind it.

Google Wave is closing down for the simple reason of lack of user interest. Google Wave was designed to change the way people communicated online, allowing people to share & edit documents online, in real time. A bit like Twitter, IM and Email all rolled into one, according to Online WSJ.

It's not all doom and gloom though, as the technology behind Wave will no doubt be used in other areas, applications and projects for the future. So things such as the drag and drop will still feature heavily across future Google projects and applications. After all Google is going nowhere.

This is a shortened version of the full article - original source by Online WSJ - please visit their site for more on this story.

Google's Q & A Blocked by China

2010-08-04T13:45:00.005+01:00

You cannot have helped notice the on-going battle with Google & China recently. Well now it seems like China has blocked the beta version of Google's Q & A for Chinese users.
The Q & A service was specifically designed for use by the Chinese market. As with other Q & A websites currently on the internet, it works by allowing users to post questions and links to other websites with relevant answers pops up.

So even though China had recently renewed its license with Google, their battle is far from over. The Q & A service was launched by Google's Hong Kong division a few weeks back.
It seems the main reason for China's blockade of the Q & A service may be down to the fact that China controls most of what it allows its citizens to see or hear. A lot of the questions raised were around China's political system, democracy and other controversial subjects such as 1989's Tiananmen Square uprising.

As well as blocking Google's Q & A service, China has also blocked services such as Picasa, YouTube & Blogger amongst others.

This is a shortened version of the full article - original source by digitaltrends.com - please visit their site for more on this story.

Linzi Cason Photography Exhibition

2010-07-31T09:31:00.002+01:00

Attended Linzi Cason's photography exhibition on Blackpool last night at the FYC building in Blackpool.
Linzi has gone solo, so to speak and has officially launched her own business - Linzi's Website - you can also check her work out on her slinky blog - Linzi's Blog

The event was attended by various people from Blackpool and the surrounding area, even though there was a torrential downpour outside.

Plenty of Liniz's photos on display (my own favourite being this one of the World Firework Championships).

Good luck to Linzi in her business venture, and thanks for the mini fish & chips...

15 Minutes of Fame With YouTube

2010-07-30T17:03:00.005+01:00

YouTube is obviously the first place people think of when they want to watch a brief video. Used to be videos of up to 10 minutes, however now YouTube are extending that - to 15 minutes per video (how long can you watch people falling over? Obviously not long enough...)

The new 15 minutes have also given YouTube an excuse to cash in on the fact nearly everyone on the planet wants to be famous in 1 way or another. Andy Warhol meets the 21st century.
Submit your video to YouTube with the tag 'yt15minutes' before the 4th of August to be in with a chance, of winning nothing but your 15 minutes of fame.

Have fun and let's see an extra 5 minutes of people falling over and doing daft things.

Ask.com - Going Back to Its Roots

2010-07-27T14:29:00.003+01:00

Ask.com has announced it is going back to its question and answer style search engine. In doing so it will involve search algorithms and also human help and assistance.

Ask.com announced this is an official blog, quoted as saying, "Today we've officially launched the public beta for the new Ask.com, which combines our proprietary answers technology (specifically tailored to extract questions and answers from the Web) with the human insight of the thriving Ask.com community drawn from our 87 million monthly uniques."

Recent times have seen the Ask.com website drop down to 4th in the search engine listings, behind that of Google, Bing and Yahoo. Ask.com are hoping going back to their roots and giving people answers to questions and related search results will see them get more of the market share of the search engines.

The final word going to Ask.com, "Ask.com is now uniquely able to offer the most comprehensive and convenient approach to getting answers, combining pages and people to help users find the answers to all questions - even questions for which no answer is published online."

Search Engine market share sees Google with 84.96% of the global search market, Yahoo with 6.24% and in third spot Bing with 3.39% of global searches.