News – Clix

VIDEO TUTORIAL: Double exposure effect in Photoshop

Clix — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 15:15:18 +0000

Double Exposure Effect Video Tutorial

There is a very popular trend of creating double exposure effects for web, motion, and print graphics.

How to Create the Double Exposure Effect

The process is actually quite simple and I created a short video to show a simple and basic way to create this effect.

You will need 3 things for this tutorial…

Photoshop (obviously)
A portrait photo
A landscape photo

The Final Double Exposure Effect Result

This is my first video tutorial but if I get a decent feedback, I will be shoot some more. I hope you enjoy the video and thank you for watching.

Meet Michael

Some of Michael’s work

The post VIDEO TUTORIAL: Double exposure effect in Photoshop appeared first on Clix.

Google Reduces Local Pack From 7 Results to 3

Clix — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 19:41:32 +0000

In one of the most significant updates to their local search results this year, Google recently reduced the “pack” of local businesses appearing at the top of results from seven to three.

Taking away four spots may not sound like a big deal, but with local results on highly specific search queries only becoming more important, this may have a big impact for businesses who used to make the cut.

What’s changed?

Besides moving from seven results in the pack to just three, the results no longer link to the Google My Business page or Google+ page. Google has clearly been re-evaluating Google+ and its role in search over the last year or so, therefore a development like this was expected by some.

Mobile and desktop views of search have remained fairly similar despite the change. One thing to note is that mobile results have a call option by tapping a listing to expand it.

Finally, users still have an option to expand the “pack” to see more results—three is simply the default.

Which businesses appear in the “pack”?

As always, which businesses appear for certain keywords and which don’t is a complex secret. However, we can see certain clues that influence positioning, such as geographical proximity, website rankings outside of the “pack,” and even reviews, among others. This just goes to show that a properly optimized website and local listings are only becoming more important to organic search.

So…what now?

As you might imagine, businesses which no longer appear at the top of local search results are not going to be happy about this change. Reduced visibility of even one spot in search results can mean the difference between getting a phone call or losing one to your competitor. If a business has banked on their local search result visibility in the past, then now is the time to reevaluate their SEO or inbound marketing strategy.

Have any questions about this update? Click below to contact Clix today.

The post Google Reduces Local Pack From 7 Results to 3 appeared first on Clix.

Is Google Becoming An Online Market Place?

Clix — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 15:12:46 +0000

Topics like this pull at my heart strings.

On one hand, I like Google because they have provided small companies amazing opportunities and tools to succeed through marketing themselves on the internet. Google does this by providing entrepreneurs and startups cheap infrastructure and applications such as Google Drive and Gmail. Google has additionally provided, My Business Profiles, Adwords Campaigns, and organic search engine results that allow for new ideas and companies to be found as soon as the enter the market.

On the other hand, I don’t like Google because they are a mega corporation that owns nearly all of our digital footprints and buys killer robot corporations like Boston Dynamics. (While this is funny, I’m not sure it fits with the tone of the post. It’s ultimately up to you, but I tend to avoid anything that isn’t specifically relevant to my topic. It’s funny, but that could also detract from the overall points…idk its up to you)

I digress…

The internet and search engines have provided users with the ability to instantly cross compare prices on similar products. This has resulted in a sort of commoditization of many products and services, especially hotel rooms and airline flights. The digital travel marketplace as a whole is a global arena where millions of buyers search for travel services at rock bottom prices. This means, buyers are comparing hotel rooms with little or no differentiation between them, and this forces hotel and airline companies to compete almost exclusively on price. This “rush to the bottom” is what I am calling the commoditization of the travel industry.

(The reality of the situation is that most people who are shopping for hotels and flights make their choices based on price are looking to rent a box with a lock and a shower – not an award winning Bed & Breakfast vacation getaway.)

Here is my point.

Where there are systems of data and money to be made, Google is waiting. Just as they’ve done with maps, video, stock quotes, and more… Google is now showing signs that even hotel reservations will be able to be booked without ever leaving a Google-owned property.

Recently Tnooz.com published an article explaining how Google’s hotel finder prompted them to book the hotel from the SERP using their Google Wallet settings. (Notice the label “You are booking with Hotel Rouge on Google”)

Let’s Get This Straight

They completely cut out every middleman.

Here is another example. If you search for a hotel in Putney Vermont. Google returns the geographically relevant hotels, aggregates reviews from all over the internet, displays pricing and accommodation information, and then prompts the user to close the sale within their own digital property.

This is huge, and here’s why: Imagine for a moment you start searching through Google for items like Converse shoes, blue ray players, or a pair of sunglasses. Then, you start clicking on the products lsitings.

When you eventually find the cheapest price for your trusty black Chucks, you then check out via your Google Wallet right there in listing. Google takes a cut of the profit and the “online retailer” is now just a third party logistics provider and simply ships the product to you. Talk about some major vertical integration…

The post Is Google Becoming An Online Market Place? appeared first on Clix.

Google to Roll out New Mobile Algorithm Update April 21st

Clix — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:18:33 +0000

This month, Google will release one of the most significant updates to its algorithm in recent memory. This update will focus solely on how Google ranks websites in mobile search results, taking into consideration how mobile friendly a website is.

What is the update?

The update will start factoring in mobile friendliness as a ranking signal. This major change in Google’s algorithm will affect mobile searches in all languages across the world and could have a significant impact on all mobile search queries.

This update is set to launch on April 21, but keep in mind these updates don’t happen overnight. We may not see any sort of change for days, or even weeks.

Why mobile?

More and more people are using mobile devices to search and use the internet. An estimated 90% of American adults now own a smartphone and about half of all internet searches are now performed on a mobile device of some kind.

How will this update affect me?

This upcoming update should not affect your website’s positioning in search when users browse via their desktop. However, users browsing via their mobile device will see results that are more likely to be mobile friendly.

Google sees a site as mobile friendly if it is “configured properly and viewable on modern devices.” Basically, if the website is set up so that it is well laid-out and is easily functional when displayed on a mobile device, it is mobile friendly. Google is all about maintaining a good user experience for the sites that rank well in its search engine, regardless of what device a user is on.

Is my website mobile friendly?

Find out here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

If your site is mobile friendly, you have nothing to worry about.

If your site is not mobile friendly, contact us immediately.

To learn more about the new Google Mobile Algorithm Update visit this blog.

The post Google to Roll out New Mobile Algorithm Update April 21st appeared first on Clix.

Facebook Update Connected to a Decrease in Page Likes

Clix — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 14:00:22 +0000

Making Facebook Page Likes More Meaningful

Recently, Facebook made an update to ensure all data throughout the platform is consistent and up-to-date to make audience data more relevant and meaningful for Business pages. Facebook is removing all memorialized and voluntarily deactivated accounts from all Pages’ like counts, so be prepared to see a drop in Page likes.

There are two major benefits to removing these types of accounts: Business Results and Consistency.

Business Results
Removing inactive accounts from Business Page audience data will provide your business accurate insights on people who are following your Page and make it easier for businesses to find their targeted audience through tools on Facebook.

Consistency
Facebook was already filtering out likes and comments that were generate by deactivated accounts from individual Page posts, so this update ensures that the data continues to be consistent.
What To Expect
As you may have already noticed, some Business Pages will see a dip in the number of Page likes as a result of the recent update. It is important to remember that the likes that were removed represent those who were already inactive. Moving forward, any account that is memorialized or deactivated, the like will be removed the like count.

The post Facebook Update Connected to a Decrease in Page Likes appeared first on Clix.

Adios Google Helpouts

Clix — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:03:54 +0000

Prepare for another Google feature to disappear towards the end of April 2015. Although Google Helpouts are a benefit to users and the experts providing the advice, there was not enough traffic to warrant it and keep the feature alive.

The idea behind Google Helpouts was to leverage Google’s Identity tools, online video services and others to provide users a wide range of help and advice on various topics. There were hopes of this feature taking off in the medical community where patients could consult their doctor, nurses, and even veterinarians. Will the new health feature provide what Google Helpouts couldn’t for the medical industry?

The Helpouts Community has been a helpful resource to many users since 2013 but it’s time to say “so long”.

Check out the new Google health feature launching this month!

The post Adios Google Helpouts appeared first on Clix.

What colors are this (black & blue) dress?

Clix — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:11:06 +0000

Is the dress blue and black or is it gold and white?

Ahhhh, the newest debate between social network addicts has again spilled into mainstream media, at home, and around the water cooler. Apparently, quite a lot of people are seeing a white and gold dress. So why do we perceive color so differently from other people? Well, let’s first look at the science of how we see color.

The science of how our eyes view color

According to color deity supreme, Pantone…

“The human eye and brain together translate light into color. Light receptors within the eye transmit messages to the brain, which produces the familiar sensations of color.

Newton observed that color is not inherent in objects. Rather, the surface of an object reflects some colors and absorbs all the others. We perceive only the reflected colors.

Thus, red is not “in” an apple. The surface of the apple is reflecting the wavelengths we see as red and absorbing all the rest. An object appears white when it reflects all wavelengths and black when it absorbs them all.

Red, green and blue are the additive primary colors of the color spectrum. Combining balanced amounts of red, green and blue lights also produces pure white. By varying the amount of red, green and blue light, all of the colors in the visible spectrum can be produced.”

OK, so WTF does that even mean?

Basically, light, as we see it, is conducted of equal parts red, green, and blue. When this light hits an object, that object absorbs or reflects these three colors in various combinations. An object that absorbs all of these colors is black. This light color scheme, known in the industry as RGB, had found its way to the mainstream via color television—only to be refined through modern digital mediums like our computer monitors, tablets, more sophisticated HD TVs, and other devices.

This red, blue, and green color scheme, commonly called RGB in the industry, is actually different from printed materials like brochures, poster, and flyers. Anyone who has ever had the luxury to deal with a color printer will quickly tell you that we print in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black—or CMYK.

So back to the dress…

We see the colors we see because that is how how our brain is trained. It tells us that that the sky is blue, or that the grass is green. But sometimes our brains can be tricked.

Here again is the dress again in three variations (from wired.com). The left version is an altered white balance to white and gold, the middle image is the original, and the right version is altered to white balance black and blue.

Wired took it further by sampling color swatches from the picture of the dress. Here is their results…

While we can tell that the dress is obviously black and blue, there are elements to trick some people’s brains into believing that the dress is gold and white. This is mostly likely caused by the soft yellowish background or the bad lighting/camera flash (which again favors a yellow tint).

Did you know…

“About 8% of men and 1% of women have some form of color impairment. Most people with color deficiencies aren’t aware that the colors they perceive as identical appear different to other people. Most still perceive color, but certain colors are transmitted to the brain differently.

The most common impairment is red and green dichromatism which causes red and green to appear indistinguishable. Other impairments affect other color pairs. People with total color blindness are very rare.”

In conclusion

I think it is obvious that the dress is black & blue!

But what color do you see?

And for fun…

My favorite Power Rangers are the gold and white ones

My new favorite song by Kenny Wayne Shepard will now be “White on Gold”

Alice In Chains released and album in 2009 titled White Gives Way to Gold

Police officers will now be affectionately called “the boys in gold”

Outback Steakhouse is releasing a new dinner “The Gold & White Special”: a crappily cooked steak covered in blackening seasoning and bleu cheese.

Finally check out our new gold & white color scheme logo.

Meet Michael

The post What colors are this (black & blue) dress? appeared first on Clix.

Google To Roll Out New Health Feature

Clix — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 23:14:57 +0000

Recently Google began tuning into its search application to better answer users questions regarding the medical/health industry. From the common cold to a broken ankle, Google’s goal is to help answer your questions more efficiently.

It has been announced the Knowledge Graph will host the information and will be able to populate results for each topic directly without having to click on an actual link.

Google will show information such as common symptoms, whether or not it’s contagious, and more. Prem Ramaswami, product manager for Google’s search said, “Once you get the basic info from Google, you should find it easier to do more research on other sites around the web, or know what questions to ask your doctor.”

It’s important to remember that the purpose of this new feature is not to provide you with medical advice. Its intent is to pass along the basic information about common conditions.

For more information about the new health feature check out Google’s blog: A remedy for your health-related questions: health info in the Knowledge Graph

The post Google To Roll Out New Health Feature appeared first on Clix.

Simplify Analytics Tracking: Using Container Tags

Clix — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 21:42:50 +0000

A container tag is a wonderful thing. If you’ve ever been tasked with placing or managing more than one tracking tag (pixel) on a site, or have had to wait days/weeks/months for an IT manager to place a tag for you, then you’ll quickly see how container tags make your life easier.

Nowadays, there are so many aspects of your website and traffic to analyze in order to make educated decisions for your business. This typically requires use of many different applications that each require their own tag to be place on the site in order to start collecting data. These ongoing needs for placing, updating and removing tags is where container tags become such a useful and easy tool to make your life of managing tags easier.

What Are They? Container tags are a great solution more managing multiple tags on your website. Rather then placing several individual tags within the code of your website, you place a single container tag which then houses the multiple individual tags. You then manage the individual tags within the container tag’s interface. For example, one of the simplest (and free) container tags out there is Google Tag Manager.

Why Use Them? In short, efficiency. The container tag reduces clutter, redundant tags, and can speed up the tagging process.

Making Tag Management Simple
- Easier for you to add, remove or update individual tags on your website via the container tag interface
- Keeps your website code clean. You install one container tag in the code of your website rather then several individual tags
Speeds Up The Tag Implementation Process
- If tag placement is done by a third party, you can have the site manager place the single container tag on the site. Then at will, you can add, remove and adjust the individual tags via the container tag interface, giving YOU more control and reducing turnaround times for tag placement.

Container tags help make your digital marketing life easier. If you are looking for a good place to get started, check out Google Tag Manager, which is an extremely easy and free container tag option. GTM integrates with many third-party platforms, which makes tag integration and setup that much simpler.

The post Simplify Analytics Tracking: Using Container Tags appeared first on Clix.

Google on Guard

Clix — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 17:40:57 +0000

As the world’s largest search engine, Google has set itself up to be the world’s gatekeeper, coworker, study partner, navigator, and co-conspirator… That’s a lot of pressure! While Google seems to do a pretty good job at… its job…everyone is a critic and there is always room for improvement.

For example, you’d think the world’s phone book would do more to prevent people from looking up something like their local terrorist organization. As a matter of fact, if you were to enter “How can I join” into Google in the UK you would get autocomplete suggestions such as, “the police,” “the illuminati,” and “a union.” As late as Feb. 5, the fourth suggestion would have actually been suggested “ISIS”. Google was not taking any proactive measures to filter those searches. Google did however remove the search suggestion within a matter of minutes after the BBC came calling asking a bunch of questions.

On the other hand, sometimes Google stands up for itself and decides to keep its controversial content indexed. Critics of Google from all around the world are slowly inundating Google’s legal department with both formal and informal requests to remove indexed content. Google is actually on pace to receive nearly ten thousand content removal request by government agencies, lawyers, and judges in 2015.

You might also be interested in knowing that due to the staggering amount of request coming from a select few countries, Google publishes the number of removal requests and the number of times Google complied with those requests. Google’s FAQ states, “We disclose the number of requests we receive from copyright owners and governments to remove information from our services. We hope these steps toward greater transparency will help inform ongoing discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of content regulation online.”

One amusing example of Google’s compliance rates would be Japan’s. From July to December of 2013, Google complied with Japan’s government agencies and/or law enforcement only 8% of the time. Meaning, 92% of Japan’s requests were denied for reason of freedom of speech.

In the end, Google will never be able to make everyone happy. I for one am happy that Google seems to be acting on the side of liberty.

Below is a list of the most censored countries in the world (According to the number of content removal request filed with Google)

#1 – Brazil

There were 128 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 69 percent of these requests. A total of 397 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 66 executive requests were made for another 157 items to be removed, 26 percent of which Google complied with.

#2 – The United States

There were 117 court-ordered requests for a total of 3,851 items to be removed. Google complied with 40 percent of these requests.

In addition, 70 executive requests were made for 2,341 items to be taken down, 44 percent of which Google complied with.

#3 – Germany

There were 60 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 80 percent of these requests. A total of 1,304 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 43 executive requests were made for another 418 items to be removed, 72 percent of which Google complied with.

#4 – Argentina

There were 39 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 97 percent of these requests. A total of 247 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 7 executive requests were made for another 19 items to be removed, 86 percent of which Google complied with.

#5 – Turkey

There were 22 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 64 percent of these requests. A total of 104 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 23 executive requests were made for another 70 items to be removed, 48 percent of which Google complied with.

#6 – Italy

There were 20 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 70 percent of these requests. A total of 45 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 8 executive requests were made for another 51 items to be removed, 50 percent of which Google complied with.

#7 – Spain

There were 18 court-ordered requests for data to be removed. Google complied with 78 percent of these requests. A total of 24 items were requested for takedown via court order.

In addition, 25 executive requests were made for another 283 items to be removed, 8 percent of which Google complied with.

The post Google on Guard appeared first on Clix.