Custom Web Design
- WordPress
- Squarespace
- Wix
- Weebly
Web Development
- Full Stack: client-side and server-side framework
- jQuery and JavaScript
- CSS
- HTML5
- PHP
- MySQL
Graphic Design
- Branding
- Logos
- Website and Social Media Assets
- Animation
- Apparel and Print
- Brochures and Catalogs
- Posters, Postcards, and Business Cards
Advertising & Marketing
- Google Ads
- Managed more than $1 million in annual budgets
- Organic SEO
- Google Partner since 2014
- Paid Social
- Email Marketing
- Video Production
Like Bigfoot,
Sierra Blue is rarely seen or heard,
but we both leave indelible footprints.
New Websites
WordPress • Wix • Squarespace • Weebly
Design, development, content management, SEO, and managed hosting.
HTML, CSS, APIs, PHP, MySQL and JavaScript.
Graphic Design
Adobe CC 2024 pro, animation, motion graphics, and more.
Photography and Videos
FAA licensed drone pilots, aerial photography, drone photography, and more.
About Sierra Blue
Sierra Blue is a full-service creative agency based in East Sacramento, CA. With roots in Lake Tahoe and the San Francisco Bay Area, Sierra Blue is a small, agile, yet seasoned agency that competes with much larger agencies, but at a fraction of the cost.
Prior to the recent pandemic, Sierra Blue kept overhead low by operating from a home office, telecommuting, and using SAAS and cloud technologies. Also, with experience in the IT space, and “things Internet,” dating back to the ’90s, Sierra Blue’s knowledge of today’s technology is best characterized as incomparable.
Over the last 24 years, I have developed a robust array of digital skills ranging from web design, graphic design, coding, marketing, advertising, photography, videography, post-production, pre-production, networking, etc.
How did the name, Sierra Blue come about? In 2013, I completed a large marketing contract with Google and then decided to rebrand my web digital media agency.
I chose the name Sierra Blue out of reverenace for places like Bishop, Lone Pine, Independence, Bodie, Bridgeport, Homewood, Olympic Valley, Truckee – the places I learned to ski and fish alpine lakes and swift cold streams.
As I became a young man, I returned to the Sierra Nevada more and more. The Sierra Nevada holds a special place in my heart so it was an obvious choice for me.
About CT
My name is Ché, but in business, I’m known as “CT.” Below is my professional experience in a nutshell.
• 1997 – Freelance web designer.
• 2000 – Contract designer with the California Legislative Data Center.
• 2002 – Managed Sacvibe.com, the largest concerts and events website in Northern, California at this time.
• 2006 – Purchased Sacvibe, serving over 1 million pages monthly to a dedicated user-base of some 30,000 locals.
• 2006 – Luanched Webduty.com – a web and print design company.
• 2013 – Worked as a Google Specialist at the Google Winter Wonderlab.
• 2014 – Became a certified Google Partner.
A few notable projects.
Sacramento Zoo
Google for Nonprofits Ad Grant managment. Wrote and published online ads and provided monthly Analytics reports. Increased grant from $120,000 to $480,000 annually.
Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera
Complete branding and website overhual, designed new branded collateral marketing materials, and created the new logo.
Sacramento Superior YMCA
Produced radio commercial for summer swim program.
Branding, scripting, voice-over, social media campaign, and supporting creative print assets.
Crocker Art Museum
Google for Nonprofits Ad Grant managment. Worked closely with marketing staff to ensure upcoming events were properly marketed and advertised. Also increased their annual grant to $480,000.
California Legislative Counsel
Web design and graphics for leadership in the State Legislature. Worked without supervisorial oversight. This project launched my career as a professional webmaster.
Spread the word about your nonprofit’s mission, engage new supporters, fundraise in more ways online, more when you join Google for Nonprofits.
You walk into a casino. The pit boss hands you a box with $10,000 in chips and says, “This is our gift to you. You can only spend it here, and whatever you make, you keep. Whatever you don’t spend, comes back to the house, but I’ll give you another box with $10,000 in chips next month – for a year.”
This program consists of 2 primary parts: a $120k annual ad grant and Google’s powerful Workspace.
√ $120,000 annual in-kind donation for advertising.
√ Google Workspace (fomerly G Suite).
√ 100TBs secure storage.
√ 100 participants in video conferences.
√ Security admin controls.
√ Tech support by Google.
A few of notable nonprofits I’ve worked with include:
The Sacramento Public Library, the Crocker Art Museum, the B Street Theatre, The Sacramento Philharmonic, and the YMCA.
Google for Nonprofits official site.
Search Engine Optimization
Sierra Blue’s captain began working in the SEO space with Google in 2002. His website at the time, Sacvibe.com, ranked #1 for so many terms, large media companies courted him to purchase the domain including KCRA and The Sacramento Bee. Sierra Blue’s fees for SEO are based on the value of your desired ranking and the performance of upgraded SEO. For example, if your company
With the flooding of the Internet by Artificial Intelligence, (AI), it is imperative more today than ever for content managers and SEO professionals to stay informed about best practices, especially as published by the authority on the subject, Google.
Key takeaways from AI impacts to SEO.
- Content Generation and Optimization: AI-powered tools can generate and optimize content for better search engine rankings. Natural language processing (NLP) algorithms help understand search intent and create content that aligns with user queries. Additionally, AI can analyze existing content and suggest improvements to enhance SEO performance.
- Keyword Research: AI tools can analyze vast amounts of data to identify relevant keywords and phrases that are likely to improve search rankings. These tools use machine learning algorithms to understand search trends and user behavior, allowing SEO professionals to optimize content effectively.
- Personalization: AI algorithms personalize search results based on user behavior, preferences, and location. This means that SEO strategies need to adapt to these personalized search results to ensure visibility to target audiences.
- Voice Search Optimization: With the rise of voice search, AI plays a crucial role in optimizing content for voice queries. Voice search relies heavily on natural language understanding, and AI-powered algorithms help websites rank better for voice search queries by understanding and responding to natural language queries.
- Technical SEO: AI can streamline technical SEO tasks such as crawling, indexing, and site structure optimization. AI-powered tools can identify and fix issues that affect website performance and search rankings, such as broken links, duplicate content, and page load speed.
- Ranking Algorithms: Search engines like Google use AI algorithms to determine search rankings. These algorithms consider hundreds of factors to deliver the most relevant and useful results to users. SEO professionals need to understand how AI impacts search engine algorithms to develop effective optimization strategies.
- Predictive Analysis: AI can analyze historical data and predict future trends in search engine rankings and user behavior. This helps SEO professionals stay ahead of the curve by adjusting their strategies to anticipate changes in search algorithms and user preferences.
Overall, AI has transformed the way SEO is conducted by providing powerful tools and insights that help websites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more organic traffic.
Book a Zoom with me.
Real Reviews
Not copied and pasted. These live reviews populate via a dynamic application using an API tied directly to the Sierra Blue Facebook Page.
In My Words (the Blog)
Topics include Lake Tahoe, festivals, technology, SEO, Google, nonprofits, Sacramento, and anything remotely intresting and related to Sierra Blue.
The King of Search to Eliminate AI Generated Content from Results
Since Google's public debut in 1998, hacks have stayed busy trying to trick its search algorithm into gaining higher rankings in its Search Engine Results Pages aka SERP. (Read more about SERP: https://www.semrush.com/blog/serp/). The first "hacks," were elementary:...
Aerial Photography Continues to Remain in High Demand
The first known aerial photograph . . . [W]as taken in 1858 by French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix Tournachon, known as "Nadar". The modern aerial photography I'm writing about began on June 25, 2014, when the FAA granted the right to use drones in aerial...
Westlake, Sacramento Video
Aerial photography of Westlake, a planned community just minutes from the State Capitol and Sacramento International Airport.
47th Annual Historic Home Tour: East Sacramento
Sierra Blue's studio is located in East Sacramento, a neighborhood rich with architecural history. A few weeks ago, I came across a call for volunteers to help with the 47th Annual Home Tour which happens to be in East Sacramento this year.
A Quick Run Down History Lane: The Illustrious Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance
Calling the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance a boat show . . . would be akin to calling the World Series just a baseball game. The “Concours,” is the premier “Woody,” event in North America with a history rooted back to 1890 when wooden steamships transported timber for...
Interactive Map of North Tahoe
Lake Tahoe's Lodging Renaissance Sierra Blue presents a new interactive Google Map to help people figure out where they might want to stay when visiting North Lake Tahoe. The recent renaissance of sorts in the lodging property space around Lake Tahoe has been big...