SODO DOJO / GREEN DESIGN

We’re excited about the launch of our latest project for Seattle real estate agent Scott Waterman. Scott came to us through a referral looking for quick turnaround on a project that required a fair amount of innovation. The world of real estate websites is comprised largely of standardized templates from the dawn of Web design, so we had a lot of room to improve. What we came up with (we think) was great innovation on a website that required function far and above form. The site (at www.arboretumhouse.com) uses an open source script to magnify and click through the gallery images, as well as Flash components to highlight some of the best photographs of the home. Finally, the site runs on 100% solar powered Web servers, available through our very own green Web hosting plans. (E-mail us at greenhosting@sodocreative.com for more info.) Check it out and let us know what you think!

Hello loyal SODO DOJO readers. You may have heard of T. Boone Pickens’ Picken’s Plan (from his ads on CNN for example). We encourage anyone interested in an environmental change from the current reliance on oil to read into this program. SODO Creative started from 2 creative individuals who had a conscience and wanted to create their business with as little environmental impact as possible. That is why from the get-go our site uses only 100% solar powered servers (a service we can also provide for your company/organization) while donating to offset the carbon emissions made by our business. We wanted to try and keep things as “green” as possible and believe we are a part of something that will be the new standard for business. In addition, we offer consulting for businesses that want to be environmentally conscience. Give us a call or drop us a line if you are interested in our services, we would love to hear from you and spread the “green” vibe.

The new version of Firefox (3) came out on Tuesday, it is awesome. For people who are still using IE or Safari it is time to switch over. The new version has way better security. The Malware feature warns the user of sites known to install viruses, spyware, etc. so all the PC users are safe. Check it out, it has a ton of new features and is by far the best browser out there now. And best of all it is free!

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Alas, Earth Day is here. Hoorah! Have you seen our home page today?

We might also recommend our green Web services page if you’re considering any print or Web design…we be eco-friendly! So what do we all do now? (Are your thumbs twiddling? Are you twittering? We are!) For starters, you can check out sites to help you get involved…

Check out events in Seattle here or find an event in your own home town.

But beyond all the happy joy of Earth Day, I thought I’d point out something interesting…a turn of the tides, as it were. That is to say, I’ve got some dirt on Google! Yes, we love Google…but looking at the search results for “earth day” in both Live and Google, it’s quite apparent that Live is doing a much better job with this query. What’s up with that? You’ll see what I mean when you compare this to this. The first query is Google’s…why in the world does an entry for “The Day the Earth Stood Still” from Wikipedia come up as the 5th result for “Earth Day”? In the humble dialect of Yoda, “Sense, this does not make.”

Live’s results on the other hand are not all that bad. I get a pretty dense set of information all pertaining specifically to Earth Day. That’s Rock and Roll! What does this mean though?

Well, for as much as we can gather, it’s apparent that Live is placing some pretty heavy emphasis on <title> tags whereas Google is continuing to rely more (perhaps) on linking to define context and relevance. Either that or Live has done some amazing programmatic changes to surface these results today. We’ll be checking and comparing these same results the day after Earth Day to see what we get. Should be interesting! Anyway, we we wish you a fantastic Earth Day and hope you get all “earthified” from today forward…all the cool kids are doing it (like us)!

That’s right…SODO Creative is live at Budakai and rocking our new blog. The SODO DOJO blog will be a place for our clients and anyone interested in the work we’re doing to check in…on the work we’re doing. Cool, eh? (Yes, we speak Canadian, too.)

So what happens next? Well, you stay tuned…click on one of the RSS buttons to subscribe, or bookmark our page so you can come back again soon and check in on things. Note: This blog isn’t going to be another, “Hey look at us!” diatribe…think along the lines of BoingBoing or MyOpenBar. We’d like to actually offer you something with every post…interesting facts, an amusing picture, or perhaps, just perhaps, a little humor. (We could all use a good laugh every now and again, right?)

For today, let’s just start with this: The daily Google Zeitgeist. An amalgamation (wow that’s a long word to type) of the most popular search phrases happening on Google. Right now. Useless? Cool? We find it interesting to look at the patterns not only in what people are searching for but in how they’re actually searching for it. Do you look at how people are searching for your site? What terms they’re using? Do you know how to use these to your advantage in SEO and PPC campaigns?