tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37411927592569124562024-02-26T09:05:06.128+00:00Website ConsultancyDonkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-75938660621098492192014-07-24T10:00:00.001+01:002014-07-24T10:00:07.766+01:00AdWords Location Extensions & Google My Business<i>Extensions</i> in AdWords – particularly, IMO, <i>Locations</i>, are essential to improving the performance of the campaigns – they give your ads more real estate, they make it easier for mobile users to contact you and they’re free.<br />
<br />
Google Places have lately been superseded with Google <i>My Business</i> – it’s okay this is a Google thing, they like to change the name of a product, this then enables the company to have a public Google+ profile.<br />
<br />
If you use an AdWords MCC account then you have all your AdWords accounts under one umbrella – this makes it easy to keep your eye on all of your clients’ accounts without endlessly logging in to separate accounts.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Likewise you’ll most likely be an Administrator with your clients Google Analytics accounts – this is important when it comes to linking up the AdWords Extensions.<br />
<br />
Here I’ll only deal with the Extension <i>Locations</i>, because these been a little tricky of late – this was proved to me by a call to the AdWords team and they didn't know why certain <i>Locations</i> had been deleted within a campaign.<br />
<br />
So to set-up these <i>Locations</i> you need to firstly click on the Extension tab, then click on the red + Extension button, that’s this one:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1wMWXJri7OCw-ZZTkFHiKSd-NNol0MV_ZHW68dYOP9uzdpV_PTcKzUX7940oAs1WJHq4wsZWFb5Kdt1DZiJ0TN3uJP6S_zMwrK18LvFuXITjS4D36FoDpRRlSJ4TP7e6FT6ixUzCnrc/s1600/1st-article-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1wMWXJri7OCw-ZZTkFHiKSd-NNol0MV_ZHW68dYOP9uzdpV_PTcKzUX7940oAs1WJHq4wsZWFb5Kdt1DZiJ0TN3uJP6S_zMwrK18LvFuXITjS4D36FoDpRRlSJ4TP7e6FT6ixUzCnrc/s1600/1st-article-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
After clicking you should then get something like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3aoxP6gx1QS7ZBBVsCWHpExtfh5sI_LiZXhuZtuoYoO7SfO9gE2uc0FPrChEBi1p7BX4Y7YpyzWv-YJzu4SV0vU3pg87_6-qnR7_L_WIRb1ZOT3Bwk7NrR94yD-hLnDj9ycw6wjSzx8/s1600/2nd-article-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3aoxP6gx1QS7ZBBVsCWHpExtfh5sI_LiZXhuZtuoYoO7SfO9gE2uc0FPrChEBi1p7BX4Y7YpyzWv-YJzu4SV0vU3pg87_6-qnR7_L_WIRb1ZOT3Bwk7NrR94yD-hLnDj9ycw6wjSzx8/s1600/2nd-article-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Simply click the blue Done button; you’ll be taken back to AdWords and will see this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSq2Q-WsyvEVn6S6jLyo2d0uL2wzkDtXL2SCdBon0Nm1Ta0ArmjVFeEPcEkI0RN8qWDLqrI-LNIaUFT-GyfijvyU3T7kHTl7Hp8YKDMFNq6Gm0D056kl6lNfVwo7V-07zXDrxA3VUKSPk/s1600/3rd-article-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSq2Q-WsyvEVn6S6jLyo2d0uL2wzkDtXL2SCdBon0Nm1Ta0ArmjVFeEPcEkI0RN8qWDLqrI-LNIaUFT-GyfijvyU3T7kHTl7Hp8YKDMFNq6Gm0D056kl6lNfVwo7V-07zXDrxA3VUKSPk/s1600/3rd-article-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
You now need to do the same for the <i>campaign extension</i>, because all we've done so far is set-up an <i>account extension</i>.<br />
<br />
One thing to doubly ensure here is that your <i>My Business</i> page does <i>serve customers at the business address:</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzrHcx0RqehdpeLvFScj44ve5bjhcQG3hibxiiowLbYDExaGnF8MTZfb7zVv6RlO3QG9Qa1Rs5xMwgGAujI86u1NispfpOp47iey9VQvvO_ndLZKC8sCrmrDTUUJItvG_J0N_3Yr6614/s1600/5th-article-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzrHcx0RqehdpeLvFScj44ve5bjhcQG3hibxiiowLbYDExaGnF8MTZfb7zVv6RlO3QG9Qa1Rs5xMwgGAujI86u1NispfpOp47iey9VQvvO_ndLZKC8sCrmrDTUUJItvG_J0N_3Yr6614/s1600/5th-article-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
If it doesn't - forget it you can't use the <i style="font-weight: bold;">Locations extension</i>.<br />
<br />
Now because you may have quite a few Google <i>My Business</i> pages – you want to ensure Google associate the right campaign with the right <i>My Business</i> page, so you need to click on Filter to add the business name of the company, it’ll look like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7WZVVRpRJzDVYLa6gaNFCiKX-pGDAPGUYaI0yovjONPxYRIEcaF1acsjgIkGvcnSqtQQhPa7U5Jdl_DH2m-MbJgNaxhOcwJamJBJBR5i-WRbuzB2-XwZTocE_HHr7Wt3YU5ObTM3Mrk/s1600/4th-article-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7WZVVRpRJzDVYLa6gaNFCiKX-pGDAPGUYaI0yovjONPxYRIEcaF1acsjgIkGvcnSqtQQhPa7U5Jdl_DH2m-MbJgNaxhOcwJamJBJBR5i-WRbuzB2-XwZTocE_HHr7Wt3YU5ObTM3Mrk/s1600/4th-article-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Of course were I'm leaving blanks you will see your email account associated with your Google <i>My Business </i>and naturally the name of the business being associated – one really important thing here is to ensure you use the exact same name of the company’s <i>My Business</i> account, this is also really helpful if one of your clients has a multitude of <i>My Business</i> pages and a multitude of AdWord campaigns to run with each individual page.<br />
<br />
Okay, we've also got to do the same for <i>Ad group extension</i>; this is all pretty quickly done as drop down boxes mean it’s just a matter of clicks to add all the Ad groups you wish to include in the <i>Location</i>.<br />
<br />
Once the syncing process - Google states can take up to 24 hours, is completed keep a close eye on each campaign to ensure there have been no tiny errors which either hinder or simply stop the extension from working.<br />
<br />
That’s it…<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362509757680755854noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-59777720013343184602013-08-29T11:01:00.000+01:002013-10-18T18:11:11.167+01:00Google's Reconsideration Request - Webmaster ToolsThis was a pleasant surprise, I submitted a reconsideration request for one of my clients with Google Webmaster Tools and received a short list of suspect links that Google still believe are outside of their quality guidelines.<br />
<br />
I have to say post <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Panda" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Panda</a> has weeded out a lot of so called SEO practitioners who were really only link-builders; hey ho.<br />
<br />
So back to the reconsideration request, yes a disavow was also submitted at the same time and boy I thought I'd covered every base, but obviously not - they'd found links that Majestic SEO hadn't picked up or Google Webmaster Tools hadn't picked up - new link tool required... how many do I need?<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Here's the full message from Google:<br />
<br />
==========<br />
We received a reconsideration request from a site owner for http://www.xxxxxxxx.xxx/.<br />
We've reviewed the links to your site and we still believe that some of them are outside our quality guidelines .<br />
Sample URLs:<br />
http://www.articlelayout.com/Article/xxxxxx/xxxxxx.html<br />
http://articles.submityourarticle.com/xxxxxx<br />
http://www.sooperarticles.com/xxxxxx<br />
==========<br />
<br />
This information was invaluable because it allowed me to firstly find the suspect articles (providing their invaluable links;-(), then to discover that there wasn't only one account generating these articles but numerous, and naturally the same article was spread across many accounts; on one day alone the same article was <i>spun</i> to umpteen different site's all under different pseudonyms.<br />
<br />
So thanks Google, without this information I wouldn't have been able to track or pinpoint another swathe of culprits, but... why don't Google just disavow these links themselves - well they actually do and that's why so many sites went into free-fall, it would save a lot of speculation and presumed hypothesis amongst the optimisation community. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362509757680755854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-53633745706067684782013-06-28T11:24:00.002+01:002015-03-11T10:29:18.438+00:00Twitter Feed Broken - Retirement of API v1.0.Has your Twitter feed stopped working or putting it another way has it just vanished?<br />
<br />
Mine did, but as you can see over there on the left of the Blog it’s up and running again.<br />
<br />
The reason the Twitter feed stopped working is because Twitter retired the Twitter API v1.0. For a bespoke website like <a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/" target="_blank">Website Consultancy</a> and Blogspot Blog (like this one) it’s really easy to fix because you can firstly visit here:<br />
<a name='more'></a><a href="https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/18458" rel="nofollow">https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/18458</a><br />
<br />
To read all about why Twitter have updated the feed, then visit this link:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://dev.twitter.com/docs/embedded-timelines#customization" rel="nofollow">https://dev.twitter.com/docs/embedded-timelines#customization</a><br />
<br />
Which gives you all the details you need on how to customize the feed – because we don’t all want a light or dark feed, we also all have different sized spaces on our Blogs or websites where we want the feed to live; so after a little reading I soon had my 320 X 200 transparent feed up and running.<br />
<br />
But what to do if you’ve a Wordpress website or Blog, I’ve looked at this plugin:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/rotatingtweets/" rel="nofollow">http://wordpress.org/plugins/rotatingtweets/</a><br />
<br />
Which looks like it works – but really I’d like some feedback on this.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362509757680755854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-1927056258694733772013-02-13T15:52:00.000+00:002013-02-14T18:23:35.606+00:003 SEO Headaches SolvedThere are many SEO headaches which I come across on a daily basis, I won't list them all here as I've also a job to do, so where do I start:<br />
<br />
<h3>
1. Products Pages with 2 URLs</h3>
Having product pages with '2' different URLs is really quite regular and Magento sites, or should I say developers who don't understand the intricacies of Magento sites, haven't helped the issue, for example these two pages contain the exact same content - Google would most likely call this <i>duplicate content</i>:<br />
<br />
http://www.yourwebsite.com/widgets/large-widgets/blue/<br />
<br />
and<br />
<br />
http://www.yourwebsite.com/large-widgets/blue/<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Ideally the site would only render one of these pages, for example:<br />
<br />
http://www.yourwebsite.com/large-widgets/blue/<br />
<br />
Alas we don't live in an ideal world, but fortunately for us Google has a solution, it's the <i>canonical link</i>; how does it work, simple, just add the following link to the <i>head </i>of (the above) each pages code:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphturoT33NQs-YZbotkCElTTX2NNWRTZ4l4_XEORerbc8DLGFUezofRRkeZVEc2d80pYT3NHR8cs002v4OmWZSsTI7zxbVqQYB2b75MWVQsFhfcO8ZqxKtT6OqV90ylQWjDt0Ss_lQShi/s1600/Canonical.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphturoT33NQs-YZbotkCElTTX2NNWRTZ4l4_XEORerbc8DLGFUezofRRkeZVEc2d80pYT3NHR8cs002v4OmWZSsTI7zxbVqQYB2b75MWVQsFhfcO8ZqxKtT6OqV90ylQWjDt0Ss_lQShi/s1600/Canonical.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Done - that'll keep the duplicate penalty at bay.<br />
<br />
<h3>
2. Rel NEXT and PREV Tags</h3>
When a type of product is within a category within a website which has more than '1' page, we are once again in the realms of <i>duplicate content</i>, why? Because the pages are most likely database driven they will generate the same page title and page heading 'h1' for all the paginated pages, so if a website has a '100' different categories and each category has '100' different pages - that means there are a lot of duplicated pages.<br />
<br />
Once again Google has the answer and that is to use the <i>rel="next" </i>and <i>"prev" </i>tags, here's an example run-through of code that needs to be added to the head of each respective page, in this case I’ve used <i>Large Widgets</i> as the category:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2iUGHT6m-i2ykZ_qCWKGsq-sB5ZWEQFihZl7S_NkQUxMUOuTNIlpdkGlI9A7-6xC1wD0ed2lCXtPtnn43irNyZfhTACQiJ47D5Ax4RrMqE59eP8UI7mfRGvawy5JJYrPcWGJkdTQgcGK/s1600/Next+&+Prev.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2iUGHT6m-i2ykZ_qCWKGsq-sB5ZWEQFihZl7S_NkQUxMUOuTNIlpdkGlI9A7-6xC1wD0ed2lCXtPtnn43irNyZfhTACQiJ47D5Ax4RrMqE59eP8UI7mfRGvawy5JJYrPcWGJkdTQgcGK/s1600/Next+&+Prev.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
There are '3' important factors to remember here: <br />
<ul>
<li>All pages contain rel="canonical".<br />The first page only contains rel="next" and no rel="prev" markup.<br />Pages two to the second-to-last page should be doubly-linked with both rel="next" and rel="prev" markup.<br />The last page only contains markup for rel="prev", not rel="next". </li>
</ul>
<br />
Done - lovely clean and organised pagination. <br />
<br />
<h3>
3. Site Re-Launch Matching URLs</h3>
Speak to any developer when it comes to either the redesign of a website or a simple re-launch and they'll say don't worry we're keeping the URLs the same so there's no reason to implement any redirects.<br />
<br />
Site gets launched and <i>bang</i> Google is discovering <i>404 error</i> pages all over the place, and I know in Webmaster Tools Google state:<br />
<br />
"Generally, 404s don't harm your site's performance in search, but you can use them to help improve the user experience."<br />
<br />
Hey, in my opinion Google wouldn't report them if they didn't have an issue with them - it's a little like moving house and forgetting to tell anyone your new address.<br />
<br />
What's the best solution, well and this is a big thank you to <a href="http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Screaming Frog</a> you need to have all the old (original) site's URLs and add them to a CSV file, then add all the new (re-launched) site's URLs to this same file - sort and then eliminate all the duplicate URLs and then run it through Screaming Frog's <i>Mode </i>then <i>List </i>(this will download your CSV file).<br />
<br />
What's left or displayed will be the 404 error pages, export these and then fix them.<br />
<br />
Done - site's as good as new.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-45694124467161936462012-10-31T13:41:00.002+00:002015-04-08T09:37:46.671+01:00Google Disavow – Looks Like it Could Work<div style="text-align: justify;">
I received the first notification 4 months ago in Google Webmaster Tools regarding a clients website and it’s <i>unnatural inbound links</i>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5hxOu2ZJ1ftcwybnAlb9F-RNjYyXsnsLKj4iUNl_U7bBiCTVPi6i9LRvPZZSgWmZ6ajmbGGp3aaRz4U9_DXcG4ordxptzreG0nf6ORuVqAILWG-DD5SUewpFu2WV372zf_1YoGjFQo8U/s1600/unnanural-inbound-links.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5hxOu2ZJ1ftcwybnAlb9F-RNjYyXsnsLKj4iUNl_U7bBiCTVPi6i9LRvPZZSgWmZ6ajmbGGp3aaRz4U9_DXcG4ordxptzreG0nf6ORuVqAILWG-DD5SUewpFu2WV372zf_1YoGjFQo8U/s1600/unnanural-inbound-links.jpg" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<br />
Now, I was pretty well up-to-speed with these notifications because there was a lot a talk at the time of Google sending them out, so I wasn't too worried. But being diligent I checked the site's Google WMT account and yes there was a site sending a vast amount of poor quality links to it, in fact there were a couple of other sites in the same vein.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
How did they these links come about - I didn't know; it could have been the site owners previous SEO company carrying out the <i>same ol'</i> link-building strategies which stopped working - how long ago?, or it could have been a competitor, didn't matter really as they were there listed under <i>links to your site</i>.<br />
<br />
So I firstly contacted these websites asking them politely if they would remove the links from their website - you guessed it not a peep in return.<br />
<br />
My next course of action was to submit a <i>reconsideration request</i> with Google, informing them that I was aware of such links, had contacted the site owners and so on and so forth.<br />
<br />
3 days later they sent me the same message, in my naivety I thought someone might have read my previous <i>reconsideration request</i>, so I sent them a new request with even more info and 12 days later they sent me a <i>site violates Google's quality guidelines</i>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTngaPjVJeqKXQhqVQn4lbeNMelnQs3Wp58yv_9zDAV6cBfOS_lN8NFfhyz702uNokGOo9hBX-06g34xRVNpWCeLUBsIIH_jv-aGW6XEHeSaZADH4qbbDtt6TfvdmjU3KJqthYW1lV_y7/s1600/violates-googles-guidelines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTngaPjVJeqKXQhqVQn4lbeNMelnQs3Wp58yv_9zDAV6cBfOS_lN8NFfhyz702uNokGOo9hBX-06g34xRVNpWCeLUBsIIH_jv-aGW6XEHeSaZADH4qbbDtt6TfvdmjU3KJqthYW1lV_y7/s1600/violates-googles-guidelines.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
This was the start of a continuous dialogue between my self and Google which went on for 4 months, including 6 of the above violation messages, I kept sending requests to the nefarious sites asking them to remove the offending links using more and more sugary language - no luck, and also no luck with Google.<br />
<br />
The site was suffering, there's no doubt about that, and if it wasn't that they an incredibly strong Google Places/Plus listing, then it could have gone into free-fall - by the way this sort of shows that <i>Organic Search </i>& <i>Places/Google+</i> are totally separate.<br />
<br />
So back to the title of the the post <i>Google's Disavow</i>, same name as Bing's - this must be a first, the day the disavow came out I was in like a flash with my request, I requested that all 3 domains should be disavowed - the very next afternoon I received a <i>manual spam action <b>revoked</b></i> notification:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img alt="manual spam action revoked" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdRC44yh6rz5uYohBaGEpSE-qAhUfwHEXaiON4HrAObJ0xz5dPNZvhRG4GY7x00XACSNaJETalSi09cc_tdNtsTX2vHyMp5ztmB8tJG3c80nLQiGomj29xQT2U5VIA08Kpv24bo9sFVyHP/s1600/manual-spam-action-revoked.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
This was naturally good news, but the proof will be in the pudding and I will keep a constant eye to see if there is a marked improvement in the site's organic search rankings.<br />
<br />
This is a hot topic and was discussed at this years (2012) <a href="http://www.distilled.net/events/searchlove-london/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">London Search Love</a> by Will Critchlow & Richard Baxter. I personally think, if it's used properly, this could be a great tool, because many a <a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/seo-consultants/" target="_blank">SEO practitioners</a> inherit poor quality site's - hey that's why we get them, and there are devious competitors out there too.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Update to Post</h3>
I've carried out '2' sets of keyword ranking reports (didn't want to jump the gun) for this client since I used the <i>disavow tool</i>, the first set - one month ago, were phenomenal with every key-phrase that I checked leaping back and better to the site's ranking previous to the initial <i>unnatural inbound link</i>s<i> </i>message from Google.<br />
<br />
This month's reports were so good they not only reiterated last month's reports but also confirmed to me that the tool works; don't get me wrong I didn't go crazy with the disavow tool, I only disavowed the links which were definitely the culprits. So the talk in the SEO world about using with care are correct, but from this example and therefore my experience - if you think you've rubbish links (no matter how many) and Google have pointed this out to you - get them disavowed now.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-16714090087713919602012-07-26T17:12:00.000+01:002012-08-07T15:42:47.993+01:00Redirect PDF With '%20' Using .htaccessI'm so glad I sorted the re-directing of PDF files with '%20' in them and using the .htaccess file.<br />
<br />
It seems a common occurrence that when PDF files are created the file name uses spaces, just like you'd save a <i>word</i> document on your computer, but the difference being a word document very seldom gets used as a document on a website, whereas a PDF does.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Why is this a problem, well it isn't until the PDF (when it is beoing used on a website) URL gets renamed and you need to redirect it to its new URL; i.e. someone has eventually seen (within the company) that the PDF isn't using normal URL directives, meaning the URL probably contains capital letters and spaces, similar to this:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">/downloads/How%20to%20Change%20URLS.pdf</span></i><br />
<br />
As you can see we've plenty of '%20' within the URL, this is the correct procedure for accommodating the spaces in a URL, fine - well not really because if you were to redirect this URL in the .htaccess file using:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">redirect 301 /downloads/How%20to%20Change%20URLS.pdf</span></i><br />
<br />
Well, you'd get a 500 server error and your website will go down. How do you then redirect this type of URL without any hiccups?<br />
<br />
Easy.<br />
<br />
Wrap the URL to be redirected in "" that's quotes, so for example:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">redirect 301 "/downloads/How%20to%20Change%20URLS.pdf"</span></i><br />
<br />
To make that totally clear and lets say the new destination is:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.mywebsite.com/how-to-change-urls.pdf</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The line of code in the .htaccess file would be:</span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">redirect 301 "/downloads/How%20to%20Change%20URLS.pdf" </span><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.mywebsite.com/how-to-change-urls.pdf</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Done. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-49250762641922200752012-05-11T18:02:00.000+01:002015-04-08T09:35:45.452+01:00DIV Order OptimisationImagine you’re a search engine spider and you're crawling through another webpage: your first stop is the website’s logo, then the menu and if it’s a behemoth of a website then there's going to be a pretty big menu to trawl through, then if you’re unlucky you’ll have a carousel of images - and you’ve still not reached the most important unique information yet!<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Mainly the heading of the page, i.e. what that page is specifically about and then the content of the page to follow the heading - which should describe in more detail what that page is actually about.<br />
<br />
This is run-of-the-mill stuff for search engine spiders, but really it shouldn’t be, because you can alter the positioning of the DIV tags from:<br />
<br />
Navigation | Header | Content<br />
<br />
to:<br />
<br />
Header | Content | Navigation<br />
<br />
DIV order optimisation (this is a simplification) can definitely help in the optimising (<a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/seo-consultants/" target="_blank">SEO</a>) of a website, naturally the DIV order won't do this all on its own, but as part of the mix that improves the indexing of a website.<br />
<br />
And if you’re not convinced of this, ask yourself why all the pages on your website aren’t indexed; yes you can use the:<br />
<br />
'rel="next" | rel="prev" | rel="canonical"<br />
<br />
And this like DIV order optimisation is part of the SEO mix; which to sum up is basically the more you can do to improve the life of the search engine spiders visiting your, particularly e-commerce, website, the better performance from it you should expect and better performance usually means an increase in sales - which a lot of SEO practitioners seem to forget that this is what the website's there for in the first place.<br />
<br />
At least that's my argument...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-42966417339693595072012-04-26T18:05:00.000+01:002012-04-26T18:05:30.725+01:00AdWords 'PPC' ExtensionsAdWords ‘PPC’ Extensions<br /><br />Next time you’re analysing your AdWords PPC campaign, take a look at the AdWord Extensions.<br /><br />These Extensions include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Location Extensions</li>
<li>Call Extensions</li>
<li>Sitelinks Extensions</li>
<li>Product Extensions</li>
<li>Social Extensions</li>
</ul>
<br />
You may be a little daunted at first in implementing them on your PPC campaigns, but from the research I’ve been carrying out and seeing the results of this research it’s definitely something you should be looking at using.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />Yes it may be a little Google biased because the location extensions are only activated by having a Google Places account for the relevant website; sitelinks extensions are likewise activated by the sitelinks your website has garnered through Google’s appraisal of your website; product extensions can only be included if you have an active and optimised Google Merchant centre account for your website – this is your Google Shopping feed; social extensions, well you’re starting to get the gist of it – this is Google+ and yes your website needs to be linked to a Google+ account for this snippet to be added and finally call extensions are only added if the telephone number is the same telephone number in the website’s Google Places account.<br /><br />Okay that was a pretty quick run through.<br /><br />But the question to be answered is: how will this help a PPC campaign, well, when you see an AdWords ad now in Google SERPs, with extensions activated, you will start to see:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>more advertising real estate</li>
<li>a picture to accompany your ad</li>
<li>a telephone number someone using a iPhone, smartphone, &c can instantly call you on</li>
</ul>
<br />
But the most important factor is, and I think this is the way Google is going with this and I dare say down the line may make compulsory, by having these extensions you are reassuring the potential customer who is visiting your website that you are a reputable business with a genuine location, phone number and most of all Google accepts your website as a legitimate partner.<br /><br />Go on give it a try, if you don’t like it you can always turn it off again…<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-76558519485200054042012-03-13T11:20:00.000+00:002012-03-22T08:44:41.637+00:00Crawl Errors in Foreign Language - Webmaster ToolsInteresting view in Google Webmaster Tools this morning, '<i>crawl errors</i>' are reading in different languages, first German:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEceQbtUAZrhySXkFiaZBUhcBf3htfOaPSog9It4HNqDWWYe-b4KYyetMAHpwfTYQwyq_M5yB2D6kN96Nyir5TfLkgjdAOiO7XpUuFustUH0ha9Ba-h0H0AlTbBlF1Cr1tjhbVhkrMUyqe/s1600/german.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEceQbtUAZrhySXkFiaZBUhcBf3htfOaPSog9It4HNqDWWYe-b4KYyetMAHpwfTYQwyq_M5yB2D6kN96Nyir5TfLkgjdAOiO7XpUuFustUH0ha9Ba-h0H0AlTbBlF1Cr1tjhbVhkrMUyqe/s1600/german.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Followed with French:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53Awmeacoza9Cx_we8yvvt2o6jf-VaSHptDI9Fxpyh3Aeds3B-oOY9YFMn6MrqmTjU3j9tVr4kwpZAS6OsIhN4tb9EKo5EkihjbgAQRCvnKhwz0LfAXV20gUtg2yV4u19Nwsiv_0x7d_T/s1600/french.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53Awmeacoza9Cx_we8yvvt2o6jf-VaSHptDI9Fxpyh3Aeds3B-oOY9YFMn6MrqmTjU3j9tVr4kwpZAS6OsIhN4tb9EKo5EkihjbgAQRCvnKhwz0LfAXV20gUtg2yV4u19Nwsiv_0x7d_T/s1600/french.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Then a little Spanish:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuzT5zn_gYfvlnJHWYc6Ry_6sRmKbEEf1fGoi0aPSE9AqeQlBF7g0Xrkf72ZqSGIRK7GUFyO4HcVIhr1UPWfwUDG2XaVAK4AE3ZCRYpw0mdEEWC6skci4c7qUqiCOv8TgAKOyFfI5uGIW/s1600/spanish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuzT5zn_gYfvlnJHWYc6Ry_6sRmKbEEf1fGoi0aPSE9AqeQlBF7g0Xrkf72ZqSGIRK7GUFyO4HcVIhr1UPWfwUDG2XaVAK4AE3ZCRYpw0mdEEWC6skci4c7qUqiCOv8TgAKOyFfI5uGIW/s1600/spanish.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
There was some (I believe) Slovenian, but no English.<br />
<br />
This isn't the real problem the problem was that there were no links through to the relevant errors, with Google's new layout, which I believe has gone down well, you have to navigate firstly to <i>diagnostics</i>, then <i>crawl errors</i> to see what the errors actually are - fine for a dab-hand, but have some sympathy for new users.<br />
<br />
Ah ha here's the (I still believe) Slovenian version:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLGR2A8OoqzoVE1lkl_r1NaN2dLKGXxMNjSmPLgWWrzoWM_Lvvy6IBDcJimyDAURsM3UyBTgWfue0kuEGAGpSPXeYLKwhkHkJc57xYMWb7Nch6z9xafandDY1EMdMhVHw9C-DNCb_ztk3/s1600/slovenian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLGR2A8OoqzoVE1lkl_r1NaN2dLKGXxMNjSmPLgWWrzoWM_Lvvy6IBDcJimyDAURsM3UyBTgWfue0kuEGAGpSPXeYLKwhkHkJc57xYMWb7Nch6z9xafandDY1EMdMhVHw9C-DNCb_ztk3/s1600/slovenian.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
And finally English:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpWiBwENO4GZTf6c7PYUA5d3heD8nXglixgWm7ir0m8-B6wDUuGbkaTBRpChMY4cmd005z7TVRuJTTJzKnTXSsRH8_zvZoIHLlSVZ1HNyV3_C9INbqlhekMwawt9Dg6zk5yo8dfUWm8Yb/s1600/english.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpWiBwENO4GZTf6c7PYUA5d3heD8nXglixgWm7ir0m8-B6wDUuGbkaTBRpChMY4cmd005z7TVRuJTTJzKnTXSsRH8_zvZoIHLlSVZ1HNyV3_C9INbqlhekMwawt9Dg6zk5yo8dfUWm8Yb/s1600/english.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
But alas still no links - well at least there was one fix.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-70456771646970421462012-01-04T11:36:00.001+00:002012-01-04T11:37:35.455+00:00PriceGong & Google ChromePriceGong in Google Chrome is this fair?<br />
<br />
You've selected a website to purchase a product, in this case a DVD, then at the bottom right of your screen a pop-up appears offering the same product, probably cheaper, from Amazon, The Hut, Computer-Active Direct, Spend It, &c - this is PriceGong, an add on from Google Chrome:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxnMfQi8LJ_xIFzBiSMGlkSvLWSgi_9Uc6KPoOG5DX0rac_w0J6i70buYkZSb-t_6Nt77w4DnDTYUsiElqa46-Ww6byX-Qrjz1nU2bY_MEuot2lq2D_rnn40r0Rr2HNt5a0JRHpPdtA5e/s1600/price-gong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pricegong and google chrome" border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxnMfQi8LJ_xIFzBiSMGlkSvLWSgi_9Uc6KPoOG5DX0rac_w0J6i70buYkZSb-t_6Nt77w4DnDTYUsiElqa46-Ww6byX-Qrjz1nU2bY_MEuot2lq2D_rnn40r0Rr2HNt5a0JRHpPdtA5e/s320/price-gong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Is this fair? How much do Amazon, The Hut, Computer-Active Direct, Spend It, &c pay Google for this PriceGong ? Isn't this slightly unethical?<br />
<br />
This is definitely an extra dimension for <i>usability</i> experts.<br />
<br />
But at present I think this encroachment is a little too far, yes everyone wants a bargain, and these sites definitely offer this, but aren't the goal posts being stretched a little too far for small businesses who are trying desperately to compete with these behemoths of websites.<br />
<br />
Maybe Google should start to allow websites to play fair, but with this new PriceGong pop-up it looks like it just isn't going to happen.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-5275933843859233372011-12-23T12:32:00.000+00:002011-12-23T12:32:52.840+00:00Contact Us – Website ‘Call to Action’When you visit an ecommerce website the 'call to action' that guides you to make your purchase is pretty simple, it's usually a lovely big button that says 'BUY':<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyJqaA8l3fZkFJULkYqe5H5WVMw_F_M4mErYct9vafnjXvpAdLUaQRyEclMNuIzO_QT48DC9YH_a-adrg28bk4twOSfic9VDBytIn8HHChpATI91waAVewXEvz1VNsDsN3qz0W9iYQAX0/s1600/buy-now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="buy now button" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyJqaA8l3fZkFJULkYqe5H5WVMw_F_M4mErYct9vafnjXvpAdLUaQRyEclMNuIzO_QT48DC9YH_a-adrg28bk4twOSfic9VDBytIn8HHChpATI91waAVewXEvz1VNsDsN3qz0W9iYQAX0/s320/buy-now.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So why, when you visit an information based website, or for example, an accommodation website this 'call to action' button is missing?<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
I suppose the thought here is that you have already looked around the website and viewed the 'contact us' page or 'booking page', but what if as a potential customer you haven't, you soon find yourself at the bottom of a page which is a dead end, not even a link to point you to something else useful!<br />
<br />
How difficult would it be to have either a big sign-post saying 'contact us':<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Vc7cpSF4r5MczgTYJaA8m5JtO1B46O7Tihc7e8i_QWWYoRA7im-wFGGcKCUVW__AM1HFKA5x_mZInAvLBdzMj1q9UdwOEkYo3xL9uQF3KDAjBPKn3HQV5WtMDLC4AeOnTYKz7dMqbO1T/s1600/coutact-us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="contact us button" border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Vc7cpSF4r5MczgTYJaA8m5JtO1B46O7Tihc7e8i_QWWYoRA7im-wFGGcKCUVW__AM1HFKA5x_mZInAvLBdzMj1q9UdwOEkYo3xL9uQF3KDAjBPKn3HQV5WtMDLC4AeOnTYKz7dMqbO1T/s320/contact-us.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Or a clearly defined button saying 'book now':<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-HTigsELhsSK86dhqS6G-SeMpq54roOC5Dl_JjgsiSThVUaCtRLdIFGiPZ7PgcgwTFsbXyXyf3oCbNhcyiOUQTuGOaX3g8MAE_AXZPt8nnFi_DqYyPBTzgmY8fN4Zj4_nHq_S_Y2ZS1Y/s1600/book-now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="book now button" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-HTigsELhsSK86dhqS6G-SeMpq54roOC5Dl_JjgsiSThVUaCtRLdIFGiPZ7PgcgwTFsbXyXyf3oCbNhcyiOUQTuGOaX3g8MAE_AXZPt8nnFi_DqYyPBTzgmY8fN4Zj4_nHq_S_Y2ZS1Y/s1600/book-now.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
So as a conclusion I would say don't leave these potential customers in limbo, take their hand and help them carry out the task they wanted to perform, I mean they are on your website, and that was tough getting them there in the first place.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-61869728664166073852011-10-13T09:59:00.004+01:002011-10-13T10:08:43.900+01:00Category for Google Keyword ToolFrom apparel to the most unique category, that's what Google's Keyword Tool now offers:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lS2SDD0L7cChBoCzwALU2yqXqUH2ikbLIKh3cqu3femzZGYZf1iV4sAOg7mT-ATq2N8BK7xq3ZCefnubVdzcdpZhhVt8hgaoaxaZLR2FDXYb3KUU-9mfJ73O3hFUX-6IW3K8qDtw-ZmV/s1600/google-keyword-tool.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 121px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lS2SDD0L7cChBoCzwALU2yqXqUH2ikbLIKh3cqu3femzZGYZf1iV4sAOg7mT-ATq2N8BK7xq3ZCefnubVdzcdpZhhVt8hgaoaxaZLR2FDXYb3KUU-9mfJ73O3hFUX-6IW3K8qDtw-ZmV/s400/google-keyword-tool.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662899270929736258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How beneficial is this for the SEO and PPC aficionado, well it basically cuts out a lot of the mix up and the huge list of irrelevant kewords that the tool used to generate.<br /><br />And just in case you never noticed before, and weren't adding 'sneakers' to your USA PPC for the UK word 'trainers' or were simply mixing up USA & UK keywords, now the tool also clearly depicts location.<br /><br />Good work Google<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-19775521141016204532011-09-26T15:29:00.012+01:002011-10-19T16:43:15.142+01:00Facebook Business Profile Visible to PublicThere are probably 2 reasons why your Facebook business page is not visible to the public; even though your using the correct business profile URL, e.g.<br />
<br />
http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-business/123456789...<br />
<br />
And it's frustrating, because you click on the link and get the log-in page:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7i63B8h3bjVNyDmi_ORKU2Iu8T9ZKUMtjhphl9R_fzU6GP9t67tQwFqZgNI9l_OF0KOwGQ5o4k2O3alUzRp_6w0Olx7oajCCIWm8_G0Zzahw_VBYFuJoYIvqLAtAau_ggmjGtwd3UUVjS/s1600/facebook-login.jpg"><img alt="facebook log-in page" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656678429813639778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7i63B8h3bjVNyDmi_ORKU2Iu8T9ZKUMtjhphl9R_fzU6GP9t67tQwFqZgNI9l_OF0KOwGQ5o4k2O3alUzRp_6w0Olx7oajCCIWm8_G0Zzahw_VBYFuJoYIvqLAtAau_ggmjGtwd3UUVjS/s400/facebook-login.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 207px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
But it is easily fixed.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
What you need to do is log-in to your Facebook account, then at the top right of your screen click on 'edit page':<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWBImPc_eBFRxjnfN8Nn-K7sJDwRflqaWEaELTsfA0emGxpKTRVjz_jm-wskOdzPYNK5WBhtll00O1AagkUigACQOarLUxPYXHWZBUeo0w04h-c3p3tdU4bGL0NWiCmq_BVejvYc2tU9S/s1600/edit-page.jpg"><img alt="facebook edit page link" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656679036520066898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWBImPc_eBFRxjnfN8Nn-K7sJDwRflqaWEaELTsfA0emGxpKTRVjz_jm-wskOdzPYNK5WBhtll00O1AagkUigACQOarLUxPYXHWZBUeo0w04h-c3p3tdU4bGL0NWiCmq_BVejvYc2tU9S/s400/edit-page.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 87px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 257px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Then from here you need to click on 'manage permissions:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEowGTNiBFiNDuB66DPVbUqqk2BKzLupWzlF1euUnQUsLGi5Ana-7UFPR-n2EcMPEpxJKrFfGB_ZJTjpWiYJSIcbuRcb4LhiYcr8rVw6yrld-f4jbhnhsHeIDUOUidGVuFIC-yYvsr1B1X/s1600/manage-permissions.jpg"><img alt="facebook manage permissions link" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656679549476895074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEowGTNiBFiNDuB66DPVbUqqk2BKzLupWzlF1euUnQUsLGi5Ana-7UFPR-n2EcMPEpxJKrFfGB_ZJTjpWiYJSIcbuRcb4LhiYcr8rVw6yrld-f4jbhnhsHeIDUOUidGVuFIC-yYvsr1B1X/s400/manage-permissions.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 237px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 199px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
From here at the top of the page you have a list of 'restrictions':<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxyNh5jqV9HStkqdihIyBawdzCj6jKFc2O0t2FRLuBaS63PFctdivpZbieq20o3TdoddrCyzclfGOKDiNuqWGmxZlDhdIbv7_nBsEMbbtz35q3Y0ChyphenhyphenHNS5fHevgqJKsk_RIoovi6v2cw/s1600/permissions.jpg"><img alt="facebook restrictions to users link" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656680113111372066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxyNh5jqV9HStkqdihIyBawdzCj6jKFc2O0t2FRLuBaS63PFctdivpZbieq20o3TdoddrCyzclfGOKDiNuqWGmxZlDhdIbv7_nBsEMbbtz35q3Y0ChyphenhyphenHNS5fHevgqJKsk_RIoovi6v2cw/s400/permissions.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 107px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
To ensure your Facebook page is visible to everyone whether signed in or not, just ensure that 'Country restrictions' is kept blank and that 'Age restrictions' is set to 'Anyone (+13).<br />
<br />
Click 'save', then log out of Facebook and test your link again - sorted your business page is now visible to all and sundry.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-79715813503770110592011-09-19T17:03:00.004+01:002011-10-19T16:45:56.555+01:00Website Domain Name Change - Think First!You want to change your website's domain name, why? Is it because you want one with your business' relevant keywords in it - simple or maybe not.<br />
<br />
You probably started out with a funky or quirky domain name, say:<br />
<br />
www.bobscoolstore.com<br />
<br />
But now a few years down the line you realise you want to actually generate some money through the website, its vanity role is over. So, your business is selling blue widgets, therefore you think the optimum domain name would be:<br />
<br />
www.bluewidgets.com<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
You find your lucky enough to acquire this new domain name, so it's plain sailing now.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately not, and it's not that an optimised domain name isn't any good anymore, it sure can be, no matter what Google's Matt Cutts says here '<a href="http://www.seobook.com/googles-matt-cutts-talks-down-keyword-domain-names">Matt Cutts Talks Down Keyword Domain Names</a>', an optimised domain name can benefit Google SERP ranking. No, the problem lies with the duration of the switch over; even if you carry out the domain name switch in Google Webmaster Tools, and then create the 301 redirects from old domain to new domain - this can all take 3 or more months for your site to get back to where it was in SERPs. I mean would you only open your store for 1/2 of the day for 3 month's hoping at the end of 3 months it'll double its takings - is this what you'd be expecting, here I tend to listen to Matt Cutts, because I doubt the switch-over will get you storming to the top of Google SERPs.<br />
<br />
Naturally all this depends on the size and relevance of your website, if it's still an under-performer then go ahead and make the changes, but if its got a pretty good Google PageRank, well I'd pretty much leave it where it is, and concentrate on its usability, SEO and marketing to generate that increase in income you desire.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-67190397952831456442011-08-26T17:48:00.005+01:002011-10-19T16:46:26.271+01:00Blogspot to Custom Domain with LCN RegistrarYou want to transfer your Blogspot Blog, that's Google's free Blogging platform, to your own custom domain, and your website is hosted with the LCN registrar, that is:
<br />
<br />
http://BLOGNAME.blogspot.com
<br />
to
<br />
http://blog.websitedomainname.com
<br />
<br />
It's all a lot easier than I initially found.
<br />
<br />
I won't go into the ins-and-outs of why you want to make the change from Blogspot to custom domain because if you've got this far you've made the decision that you want to make the change.
<br />
<br />
Firstly I don't need to re-run through the whole procedure because here is a cracking page which explains <a href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/static.py?page=ts.cs&ts=1233381" target="_blank">How do I use a custom domain name for my blog?</a>
<br />
<br />
Once you've got past these two stages:
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
1. Host my blog on a URL that I already own.<br />
&
<br />
2. On a subdomain (foo.example.com).
<br />
<br />
We get to the nitty gritty, and this is where it differs with LCN registrar's and I reckon a few others as well. Where it reads:
<br />
<br />
"To get started, find the control panel on your domain registrar’s website. Locate your Domain Name System (DNS) settings, and find the field for "CNAME." Where it says <strong>Name</strong>, simply enter "www""
<br />
<br />
Well with LCN to transfer the Blogspot Blog you don't type in 'www', you type in 'blog' - it's that simple.
<br />
<br />
From there simply follow the instructions on the 'Blogger Help' page (above link). Your new Blog URL will then quickly look like this:
<br />
<br />
http://blog.yourdomainname.com<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-90157194750444524222011-06-30T09:13:00.006+01:002011-06-30T09:25:52.711+01:00Webmaster Tools +1 MetricsA nice new addition to Google's Webmaster Tools this morning is Google's +1 Metrics. These include a breakdown of:<br /><ul><li>Search Impact</li><li>Activity</li><li>Audience</li></ul>I believe for most website owners these pages will stay empty for quite some time. That isn't saying that the +1 won't be used, just that for a lot of smaller websites it won't be used.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see the integration of +1 into the web stats, especially seeing that Google is now going to integrate the +1 into AdWords PPC ads, you can read more on that here <a href="http://www.thesearchagents.com/2011/06/google-plus-one-for-ppc/" target="_blank">Google +1 for PPC</a>.<br /><br />I do have a slight gripe though, and that is Google have gone to all this trouble to add these new pages to Webmaster Tools, but still haven't done anything regarding the 'benchmark' reports, which I know a lot of SEOs sorely miss.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-17458922285159996942011-04-15T12:48:00.002+01:002015-04-08T09:35:08.119+01:00Website Usability and its ImportanceYou've got you're SEO (search engine optimisation) organised for your website, but your now finding your bounce-rate has increased and you're still not getting any extra customers or sales?<br />
<br />
You see SEO is exactly what it says it is: it is work carried out to improve the ranking of your site in the search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Ask, &c.<br />
<br />
To ensure you can convert your surge of new visitors into customers you now have to ensure you're website's usability is user friendly, website usability covers a plethora of metrics including:<br />
<br />
• Is the website easy to navigate: i.e. can visitors find what they want easily?<br />
• Does it use a layout that follows website protocol: i.e. logo top left corner, search box top right, navigation left-hand-side?<br />
• If there's a check out is it fluid: i.e. has it got the minimum amount of steps and are they clearly displayed?<br />
<br />
Website usability is just as important as SEO, it just doesn't seem to be quite so fashionable, yet it could be the making or breaking of your website.<br />
<br />
From Website Consultancy: ensuring your website's usability works hand in hand with your <a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/seo-consultants/">website's optimisation</a> to improve all around performance.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-45093776649520157042011-03-29T10:36:00.004+01:002015-03-11T10:28:37.775+00:00Google XML Image Sitemap – Hit & MissWhen and most likely if you get around to submitting a <span style="font-style: italic;">sitemap-image.xml</span> for your website, you’ll probably see lots of different versions of how to…<br />
<br />
The image sitemap is pretty similar to the standard <span style="font-style: italic;">sitemap.xml</span> that is: in its protocol as well as its mistakes. You see so many website owners think that simply running their site’s URL through a sitemap creating tool and submitting it will do the job, this is far from the truth, both <span style="font-weight: bold;">sitemaps need optimising</span> – but I’m not here to talk about standard sitemaps.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDyYuzilR84yuTEDD8NlFX-qkBxTE0PjrImYkKfg_cQEv9HYhQmNU4b2IhaK-ltPL9lWtG5IIw8QcE0_5OSfsPD6X-JJlmaCPll5ae50dKcLqpuEpV2hr7EEGcf9J_ehhL7hDi1wQgt_C/s1600/protocol.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDyYuzilR84yuTEDD8NlFX-qkBxTE0PjrImYkKfg_cQEv9HYhQmNU4b2IhaK-ltPL9lWtG5IIw8QcE0_5OSfsPD6X-JJlmaCPll5ae50dKcLqpuEpV2hr7EEGcf9J_ehhL7hDi1wQgt_C/s400/protocol.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589433752745658946" style="cursor: pointer; height: 37px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Above is the standard coding required for an image sitemap, that’s all pretty straight forward, all you need to do is insert this at the top of your notepad or whichever web editing document you prefer. Now we’ve got to insert the URL of the page:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXTEnSA_ZAjbzkkvYSCg-vC6V2pdVjlqSUp4cy0XFEZhMRrfLoeCYeGuvYCIEJjbrrKKE8yQUjTGszDaxhjyAuQ-y3lGdIQTF1bJVBpb4QRWjaTzqIApFDvKCMRLlFcNzIuBgwAF2tjFA/s1600/URL.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXTEnSA_ZAjbzkkvYSCg-vC6V2pdVjlqSUp4cy0XFEZhMRrfLoeCYeGuvYCIEJjbrrKKE8yQUjTGszDaxhjyAuQ-y3lGdIQTF1bJVBpb4QRWjaTzqIApFDvKCMRLlFcNzIuBgwAF2tjFA/s400/URL.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589433952431925346" style="cursor: pointer; height: 62px; width: 342px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Quite easy, add your URL, followed by the change frequency of the page and then the page’s priority – '1.0' will be for the homepage. Next we need to add the image location:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU4fREDQVE1bY5oPv45U7w4mAhS6qieTV84E10A6bbW6wmCjRzy5h-BEG7P-i5HJ8lpIRKFk03fYIW6MPnjFY2vDbjgmJupQgesV8k7fh47g6NibfnggU6FPqiBnjfQWnh-qiTnKXycN9/s1600/image-location.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU4fREDQVE1bY5oPv45U7w4mAhS6qieTV84E10A6bbW6wmCjRzy5h-BEG7P-i5HJ8lpIRKFk03fYIW6MPnjFY2vDbjgmJupQgesV8k7fh47g6NibfnggU6FPqiBnjfQWnh-qiTnKXycN9/s400/image-location.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589434136714561810" style="cursor: pointer; height: 93px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Simply add the location of the image from your website's root folder, then a clear title followed by a picture description – not forgetting to close the whole lot off at the end of the document.<br />
<br />
All seems pretty straight forward doesn’t it, but try getting all that lot automated for you – not easy. It helps if you’ve already appended titles to your images, but otherwise you could have quite a laborious job ahead of you.<br />
<br />
Now is it worth it, this is the hit, I’ve tried this on a few sites, primarily because they had no images appearing in Google image search, and I had excellent results, the first site now claims 1st and 2nd place in Google Image Search, the second site squeezed images on to an already crowded 1st page and a third site gained an image link on the 1st page of Google Search and Google Image Search.<br />
<br />
The miss, before optimizing the images within the image sitemap there wasn’t much improvement.<br />
<br />
So, with a little hard work you can <a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/">improve the ranking of your images in Google Search</a> by submitting a sitemap-image.xml, this is something I don’t mind, but will other SEOs out there enjoy...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-76429087372729788282011-03-25T16:32:00.004+00:002015-03-11T10:27:52.277+00:00Keywords - What are They?<span style="font-weight: bold;">What is Keyword Research</span><br />
Keyword research is the process you use to find the keywords and key-phrases that are relevant to your website and will enable it to rank well in the search engines. Meaning, these keywords or key-phrases are the ones that your potential customers will use to type into the search engines to find products and services that you supply.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Why is Keyword Research so Important</span><br />
<br />
Irrelevant to whether you’re a large company with a huge website or a small company with a niche website, without targeting the correct keywords and key-phrases you won’t get any visitors, or at least you won’t get many! This isn’t only relevant to natural ‘organic’ search; it’s also relevant to paid ‘PPC’ marketing. So if you’re not using carefully crafted keywords and key-phrases in you’re: Titles, Meta attributes headings and body – you’re likely to be short of visitors from the search engines.<br />
<br />
Website Consultancy: ensuring your <a href="https://www.website-consultancy.com/">website operates at its optimum</a> with website management, usability assessment, optimisation and paid advertising.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-69067048737231180932010-12-08T11:56:00.009+00:002011-02-18T09:09:03.206+00:00Add HTML Sitemap to Wordpress WebsiteI know, this is a Blogger Blog, but I'm going to give instructions on how to add an HTML sitemap to a Wordpress website.<br /><br />After scouring the web and nearly giving myself a headache I found a solution, so this will hopefully save others those near headaches.<br /><br />I'll ramble here a little to begin with, to make getting to the crux of the problem easier, but you're welcome to just leap to the formula below.<br /><br />You see, when you find the site that provides the code for a Wordpress HTML sitemap, it gives all the information, but not quite all the information on how to implement it - this was the frustrating part.<br /><br />So I was armed with the 'plugin' code and the 'shortcode' to activate the sitemap, but didn't really get the installation instructions of: "Add the shortcode to the page(s) of your choice". You see an HTML sitemap is a page alone, it shouldn't be added to specific pages, it should usually be on a page called: sitmap.php/htm/html &c.<br /><br />I wanted my sitemap to be linked from the footer of every page of the site.<br /><br />So to start with you'll need the 'plugin' code, which is courtesy of <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/html-sitemap/installation/">Angelo Mandato</a>; there's 3 options: you can download the zip code from <a href="http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/html-sitemap.1.1.1.zip">here</a>, or go to the installation page, where at the top right of the page there's a big red button, or use the instructions below, which I've stated as being easier.<br /><br />Being easier, I'd advise you to log-in to your Worpress Dashboard and click on 'Plugins' (left-hand menu), a little drop down menu reveals 'Add New' click here, on this page there's a search box, type in 'HTML Sitemap' and click on 'Search Plugins'. At the top of the list you'll see: 'HTML Page Sitemap', version '1.1.1' - click on install.<br /><br />Okay, 1st of 3 jobs completed.<br /><br />Now to create the interaction between the 'plugin' and the 'shortcode' which is [html-sitemap], you'll firstly need to click on 'Pages' (in the left-hand menu) of your Wordpress Dashboard, in the drop down menu you'll need to click on 'Add New', this will create the new sitemap page. Where it asks for 'title' enter 'Sitemap', in the 'content' box you need to add your 'shortcode', which is [html-sitemap], make sure you use square brackets. Now because you don't want this page in the main navigation, it is advisable to give it a parent, so in the 'Page Attributes' (right-hand menu), click on the 'no parent' drop down and put it under 'Other Info' or something similar, click on 'publish page'.<br /><br />Okay 2nd of 3 jobs done.<br /><br />Now we need to get the sitemap visible on every page of the site. Back to the Wordpress Dashboard, in the left-hand menu click on 'Appearance', the drop down menu offers the link 'Editor', click on this. In the right-hand menu of the new page all the 'Templates' are listed, go down till you find 'Footer' (footer.php), click on this and you'll see the content of your site's footer links. You will most likely have the following in the footer already:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvl958ZO2sx9p2XEnPuH0SOStAuRZHpyF8TCnsZeS5PcvDgLKpbw_Z5fAkBJVhjWD8Y5yTorYxwLQknOZSMQV9DIHF9NdCss55x_m3SqeqsQaHLgHkddx6SaZ8tSn8KU_0gryGYrPW4ah/s1600/Wordpress.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 20px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvl958ZO2sx9p2XEnPuH0SOStAuRZHpyF8TCnsZeS5PcvDgLKpbw_Z5fAkBJVhjWD8Y5yTorYxwLQknOZSMQV9DIHF9NdCss55x_m3SqeqsQaHLgHkddx6SaZ8tSn8KU_0gryGYrPW4ah/s400/Wordpress.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548615176616732162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Right after this add the following:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_S1I3yQUQYzm6QAdptRjMDONmjK9PmtdhgIZc1TqOrMTWrJUI2Z9WuyjRk4chABKPJQsN2jEgBbZLlAMfvg3EnYR9Hdv_hjl7Kov1OVRVKNK6CbQZPoCsupp5MyeKm1hZVu26KO4LPIc/s1600/Capture.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 23px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_S1I3yQUQYzm6QAdptRjMDONmjK9PmtdhgIZc1TqOrMTWrJUI2Z9WuyjRk4chABKPJQsN2jEgBbZLlAMfvg3EnYR9Hdv_hjl7Kov1OVRVKNK6CbQZPoCsupp5MyeKm1hZVu26KO4LPIc/s400/Capture.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574953865470411730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Naturally change the 'MYWEBSITE' to your own website and the .com to .de, .nl or .co.uk. Click on the blue button 'Update File'.<br /><br />That's it job 3 of 3 completed.<br /><br />Go to your website, press the 'F5' key, you may have to do this twice (that's computers for you), and in your footer you should now see your newly created link to your site's HTML sitemap, click on the link to test it, and you should find a nicely laid out sitemap indexing all your site's pages.<br /><br />Now naturally you may want the sitemap to be more detailed, for this I will reference you back to <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/html-sitemap/">Angelo's site</a>, where he explains this further, but for me I just needed a nice clear HTML sitemap and no further headaches.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-76451337196304305082010-11-25T15:12:00.004+00:002010-11-25T15:33:39.157+00:00XML Sitemap Submission for Google, Bing, Yahoo & AskWhen you want to ping your newly created XML sitemap to the various search engines, you don't always want to log-in to Google, Yahoo, Bing or Ask to do so, you may just want to let them know of your updated sitemap.xml at your easiest convenience.<br /><br />Therefore, here are 4 simple URL commands that will do the job for you, copy and paste the URLs into your 'notepad' or whatever editing device you use and change the 'EXAMPLE' for your own website's sitemap address, not forgetting to alter the '.com.' if you've a 'co.uk' site &c.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BING</span><br />http://rpc.weblogs.com/pingSiteForm?name=InfraBlog&url=http://www.EXAMPLE.com/sitemap.xml<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ASK</span><br />http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http://www.EXAMPLE.com/sitemap.xml<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">YAHOO!</span><br />http://search.yahooapis.com/SiteExplorerService/V1/updateNotification?appid=YahooDemo&url=http://www.EXAMPLE.com/sitemap.xml<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GOOGLE</span><br />http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ping?sitemap=http://www.EXAMPLE.com/sitemap.xml<br /><br />Keeping a copy of the saved sheet means, every time you update your website's sitemap you only have to revisit and copy and paste 4 times or if you're really brave paste it into a Word document and launch them from there - it works!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-88084657115528726092010-09-08T12:17:00.003+01:002010-09-08T12:40:40.304+01:00I Can't Create Similar AdWords ReportsI signed into AdWords to use the <span style="font-style: italic;">create similar reports</span> for my clients <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">PPC</span> campaigns, now these usually take a couple of minutes to generate - not last week, thanks to more tinkering from Google.<br /><br />I'm not against change, and I know that anything on the web will be continually updated, but hey, Google have my email and they're happy enough to send me other useful AdWords stuff, so why couldn't they have forewarned me of this change?<br /><br />Instead, my campaign and account level reports took-up unnecessary time as I trawled the web and read nonsensical forums, before I was totally clear on where to <span style="font-style: italic;">create similar reports</span>. Only they won't be similar, because now, every month, it seems I'm going to have to reproduce them from scratch.<br /><br />Yes the AdWords link to this page:<br /><br /><a href="https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=177116">Where Can I Find My Reports</a><br /><br />Does help, but it's the inconvenience of changing something that worked really well, for something you've got to dig through AdWords for each month to generate.<br /><br />But on a better note for Google - have you seen the new <a href="http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmasters/">Bing Webmaster Tools</a>.<br /><br />It's not that Google can do no wrong, it's the stupidity of their competition that let's them do almost what they want, which is awful for us users because they can make annoying changes to AdWords reports and the like and we basically have to tow -the-line because there is no better alternative.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-50886486940523058962010-08-11T08:57:00.004+01:002010-08-11T09:10:05.855+01:00Gmail Breaks Blank Canvas Add-on AgainSign in to your Gmail account this morning and find that none of your email signature profiles work.<br /><br />The great work carried out by the <a href="http://blankcanvasweb.com/pages/id_15/n_getting_started/">Blank Canvas</a> add-on, is stopped in one sweep by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gmail's</span> update this morning with its 'create mail' now being a button and not a link. Really why can't we chose which release of Gmail we use. I've been really happy with the set-up as it was and then this comes in causing a monstrous amount of work for many people.<br /><br />Hopefully the clever guys at Blank Canvas can solve the problem and let us get back to emailing without having to jump through loops.<br /><br />And maybe in the future, before new releases are brought in, there could be a little consultation with clients as to what they want.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-40044408281374952732010-07-07T14:15:00.002+01:002010-07-07T14:26:39.629+01:00Registrars 301 RedirectYou own two website domains and they’re both registered with the same registrar, for example:<br /><br />mywebsite.co.uk<br />mywebsite.com<br /><br />But you only want one of the domains to render, for example:<br /><br />mywebsite.com<br /><br />Simple you think, I'll use the web forwarding that my registrar provides; you carry this out, and hey presto it works - you type in 'mywebsite.co.uk' press return and you're redirected instantaneously to 'mywebsite.com'.<br /><br />But it's not as simple as all that, because you see, most registrars don't use a search engine friendly 301 permanent redirect, no they use the not so friendly 302 temporary redirect; you can easily check yours by carrying out a 'server header check' at:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.seoconsultants.com/tools/headers#Results" rel="nofollow">SEO Consultants</a><br /><br />What’s you're options to implement a search engine friendly 301 redirect?<br /><br />Go to the 'root folder' of your website, open up the .htaccess file and add a little 301 rewrite, for example:<br /><br />RewriteEngine On<br /><br />RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?mywebsite\.co.uk [NC]<br />RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)$<br />RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mywebsite.com/$1?%1 [R=301]<br /><br />You can read a little more about redirects here: <a href="http://tartandonkeyboots.blogspot.com/2009/08/redirect-using-friendly-301.html">redirects using search engine friendly 301</a>.<br /><br />But, before carrying out any changes to your root folder, make precautions and save the original file first and remember this is for 'php' sites – things are different with 'asp' and naturally I can't accept any liability ;-)<br /><br />A better way of course, would be for the domain registrars to change their web forwarding from a 302 temporary to a Google friendly 301 permanent.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741192759256912456.post-26232995065566595342010-06-23T09:26:00.001+01:002015-03-11T10:34:34.071+00:00Link-building & WebsitesGoogle published on 21st June 2010:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2010/06/quality-links-to-your-site.html">Quality links to your site</a><br />
<br />
So who has the time to link to a website, and why would you want to link to a website?<br />
<br />
I'm pretty altruistic when it comes to linking and I don't slot in a no-follow attribute either, but, the site I'm linking to has to have quality content - so far this is exactly what Google say in their article about quality content, but I'm not sure if the nature of the web is altruistic on the whole. Yes between friends sharing stuff on Facebook and Twitter, but what if you've a pretty mundane business, it's going to be mighty difficult to get links from other sites no matter how much humour you try to conjure up on your site.<br />
<br />
Every day as a SEO/ SEM you get requests for reciprocal links, but we know they're rubbish. Google tells us some Directories are good others bad - yes you've got to be a little naive to believe that by spending £20 on 350 links you'll suddenly reach the dizzy heights of a #1 spot in Google search, but carrying out the link building manually - is it any better, probably not as the Google bot never goes past the 1st page of most directory categories.<br />
<br />
So is it also a little of naive Google to believe we live in this ideal world where people will literally rate sites (by adding a link), positively if they've had a good experience or with 'page speed' coming in, won't they just realise if a visitor hasn't the patience to wait 10 seconds (<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/response-times.html">Website Response Times</a> - Jacob Nielsen, there goes my altruism again) surely they haven't the time to (in most cases) go back to their site and add a link!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://blog.website-consultancy.com/">Website Consultancy</a></div>Donkeybootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457855205479389781noreply@blogger.com0