When people think of Microsoft Excel, they often picture dull figures and charts and just generally lots and lots of data. All very useful stuff but not the most enthralling outside of a work environment.

Some people however, take a different approach. To them Excel can be anything and everything. It’s not just for business and numbers. It can be used to create innovative and original concepts, in all sorts of different ways.

Whatever you want to use Excel for, our Excel Training will give you all the knowledge you need to make the most of this powerful tool and it’s also worth reading this blog post on some hidden Excel tips and tricks.

So let’s take a look at some of the less traditional uses of Excel to give you an idea of what this software can really do.

Art in Excel

Excel can and has been used by artists as a platform to express their ideas and creativity. It may sound like an odd choice of medium but the flexibility and functionality Excel provides is surprisingly suited to artistic endeavour.

Take a look at these magnificent pieces by Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi:

And these Star Wars-themed works by Shukei are out of this world (excuse the pun):

Read the rest of "Creative Uses of Excel: From Nyan Cat to Pac-Man"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, News on May 20th, 2013| No Comments »

Fresh off the back of criticism from Reuters for failing to entice brands to the platform, Google+ has fought back at I/O 2013 with a completely overhauled social network.

The changes went live at the conference, meaning that everyone can already get their hands on the new features.

Those new features include:

1. A Slick New Look

2. Redesigned responsive stream (1-3 columns)

3. Automatic Hashtags

4. Revamped Photos

5. Hangouts

Since launching nearly two years ago, Google+ has done little to set itself apart as a social platform, instead borrowing the more successful features from other networks. This hasn’t been enough to entice people away from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – possibly because Google+ attempts to be all three at once.

By the end of 2012, Google claimed that they had 235 million active users (550 in total) but the general consensus is Google’s definition of ‘active’ differs somewhat to industry expectations. Many predict that if it wasn’t for Gmail, Android and the adoption of rel=author within the marketing industry (which you can learn about on our SEO courses) then Google+ would be something of a ghost town.

We’ve been testing Google+ out this morning to get used to the new features and the initial impression in the office is that Google has stepped up its game and finally done something to set it apart from other social networks. Let’s dive in…

1. Google+’s Slick New Look

The whole feel of the new design is that of a mobile app. It draws on its own iOS and Android app layouts, as well as those of other sites like Pinterest and, yes, Facebook.

Read the rest of "Google Grows Up – Google+’s Best New Features"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, Social Media on May 16th, 2013| No Comments »

Huge news coming from Adobe in the last week. After 10 years of service, it will be dropping its Creative Suite product entirely, in favour of pushing the Creative Cloud service that was introduced last year.

Here at Silicon Beach, we’ve already updated to Creative Cloud and so all our Adobe Courses, including our Photoshop Courses, will be completely up to date.

This is a massive shift in focus from Adobe, whose business model had until the release of Creative Cloud, followed the ‘traditional’ software licencing model. So what exactly does all this mean for consumers and what’s new?

What is Creative Cloud?

Last year Adobe released Creative Cloud which at first appeared to just be an alternative payment option for existing Adobe products, rather than an entire product in itself. As it has transpired, Creative Cloud will be the sole focus of Adobe from now on.

The next release in June will see them scrap the ubiquitous CS (Creative Suite) moniker that has been attached to Adobe programs since 2003 and instead each product will be branded as CC (Creative Cloud).

There will be no ‘full’ update system in place as their is currently (CS4 to CS5 to CS6 etc) but rather more frequent, less substantial updates each remaining under the CC brand.

Read the rest of "Adobe Drops Creative Suite to Focus on Creative Cloud"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in eBooks, Illustrator, InDesign, News, Photoshop, Print Design on May 13th, 2013| 1 Comment »

One of the most common reasons that small businesses attend our SEO Courses is that they’ve had a Google link penalty - manual or algorithm – which have become part and parcel of SEO since the Panda update first reared its head.

With the increase in penalties has come an increase in link removals, but it’s not always easy to know when to remove links, or even which links to remove. After all if you remove all your links then you’re not going to rank for anything at all!

We decided to clear up the confusion surrounding link removal by creating a downloadable guide to removing links. Simply work your way through the guide to decide if and when to remove bad links, and how to go about doing it.

Click the image below to download the full PDF:

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It’s important to remember that links are no longer the be all and end all of SEO anymore. Personalised results based on location, preferences and search history now mean that no searcher has the same results. This is even more true for mobile searches, which is why we’ve just launched our one-of-a-kind Mobile SEO course that focused specifically on the mobile side of search.

Have You Had a Manual Link Notification?

Check your Webmaster Tools account for unnatural link penalty notifications, which mean that Google have taken manual action against your site.

If you haven’t set up Webmaster Tools then it’s essential you do; use this guide to setting up Webmaster Tools and make sure you set up email alerts so you don’t miss important messages. Read the rest of "Downloadable Link Removal Guide – When to Remove Links"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, SEO on May 7th, 2013| No Comments »

Skeuomorphism is, according to Wikipedia, “a physical ornament or design on an object made to resemble another material or technique.” It’s a somewhat controversial design technique that has been around for centuries.

In terms of web and mobile design, skeuomorphism is most commonly referred to in terms of icons or even apps and software which use representational design elements that possess little or no functionality. You can learn all about skeuomorphism on our InDesign Training.

An example of it would be the notepad on Apple iOS devices which has been designed to look like a traditional paper notepad. There’s no need for it to be designed like this, from a functionality perspective, but the way it looks makes its purpose easily identifiable. The skeuomorphic philosophy employed by Apple is a big part of their approach to making tech simple and ultra-user-friendly.

It’s not just Apple that uses this technique though; it has been in use in the tech industry for years, especially with regard to buttons and icons.

But is it a good thing? Should we really be using symbols that don’t mean anything  in terms of the app or software? Read the rest of "Classic Icon Designs – Time for a Change?"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in Mobile, News, Web Design on April 29th, 2013| 1 Comment »

Mobile search is big business. In fact, it’s set to overtake desktop search by the end of this year.

Whether it’s finding your nearest pub or finding out what’s on TV, mobile search is increasingly becoming a ubiquitous feature in our lives. It’s essential then for SEOs to work with mobile in mind, which requires added considerations.

Regardless of whether you opt for a mobile or responsive site, two of those considerations that do have an impact on your SEO efforts are the loading speed of the site and how easy it is to navigate, both of which we emphasise on our 1-day Mobile SEO Training.

These factors are essential as a means to providing the sort of quality experience your users expect. According to a Google Study, 81% of mobile searches are driven by speed and convenience. In that sense, if your site isn’t quick and easy for the user, then you’re not providing what they want and they’ll move on.

On the other hand, if the site is fast to load and simple to use, you’ll be keeping your users happy. And if your users are happy, you’re (generally) going to be keeping Google happy.

So what can you do to help speed up your site and improve the way users access it?

Make It Accessible

This first tip is less about the technical minutiae of your site than it is about good customer service.

Most devices these days have a touchscreen interface, so having a text-heavy site with tiny buttons that are suited to a mouse-click rather than a tap is probably not the best idea. This goes for responsive and mobile-only sites.

Read the rest of "3 Tips to Improve Your Site For Mobile"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in Mobile, News, SEO on April 17th, 2013| No Comments »

So BrightonSEO has come and gone. This year was the biggest event yet with events and talks running in a multitrack format. Kelvin Newman organised everything, as he has done in the past, so a big thank you goes to him.

Unfortunately, the multitrack format meant choosing between presentations and rooms so I decided to stick with the main hall for the day. Because I’m particularly hip and happening, I thought I’d keep a diary and note down all the cool stuff that happened throughout the day.

This is that diary (in case you didn’t work that out).

BrightonSEO is a great event for learning new things and keeping up-to-date with a constantly developing industry. Of course to be totally up-to-date, you need to know about how mobile search is affecting SEO efforts, in which case you need our brand new Mobile SEO Course.

So anyway, join me on my voyage of discovery through the wonderful world of BrightonSEO:

BrightonSEO 12/04/13

9:00 – Arrived at the Brighton Dome, lots of people already here. Park myself as close to the main hall doors as possible and read all the pre-emptive tweets circulating on the #BrightonSEO hashtag… because I’m that cool.

9:30 – Notice more and more people are positioning themselves close to the hall doors. Preparing to get sprinting when they open to get a front seat.

9:50 – Doors open, no need to sprint as it seems no one else is too bothered about being at the front. #amitookeen?

Read the rest of "My Brighton SEO 2013 Diary"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in Brighton, News, SEO on April 16th, 2013| No Comments »

Google has recently begun rolling out its proposed Google Places for Businesses update.

The new version will seek to implement a sleeker and easier-to-use design as well as better social integration with G+ and other Google products.

If you haven’t yet, as Eric Schmidt has said (although the meaning of his words has been disputed) verifying your business page is essential and only becomes more important with this update, something we emphasise on our SEO Course here at Silicon Beach.

It also clearly ties in with the growing importance placed on local and mobile search, something you’ll learn on our brand-new Mobile SEO Training Course.

So let’s see what’s new:

1/ New Design

The new look design fits with the branding of most other Google products and you can see it is clearly influenced by the Google + layout.

The intention is that it makes things both easier to use and better to look at.

Everything is geared towards simple and intuitive actions, with a widget to guide you through updating your page and a less cluttered layout.

The navigation bar is on the left (which makes sense considering Google’s other products) with tabs for managing listing information, AdWords Express ads, Offers and your Google+ Local page.

Read the rest of "3 Things You Need to Know About the Google Places Update"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, SEO on April 10th, 2013| No Comments »