All Posts, Web Development
What do you do if you accidentally put too much information on your website? If you use a content management system (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.) or have access to your website you can take down excess or unneeded information fairly easily. Pages can be removed and information can be hidden but what can you do if the information is already showing up in search results? Or cached results? Here is a quick and easy method for removing a page from Google Search Results pages:
Removing a Page from Google Search Results
1. Access your Google Account (if you don’t have one, sign up)
If you have a Google account, you should be able to log into the Google’s Webmasters section. After your website it set up, you can use some of the many tools Google offers. The tool you need to remove a page is called “removals.” Here is a link to the removals page: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals.
2. Get the URL of the page you want removed from search results (e.g. www.mycompany.com/aboutus.html)
URLs include pages, images, documents, etc. Basically anything on your server. If you can access the content through your website, Google can find it too.
3. Move and/or delete the page
The page cannot exist on the URL you are requesting to be removed from the Google Search.
4. Remove the URL
Fill out and submit a removal request, follow the instructions and wait. It may take a little while before the URLs are completely removed.
As you can see, Google has made this a relatively quick and painless process. However, if you want to have multiple pages you want removed from Google, it may take some time.
Web Design
Do you have difficulty getting visitors to come to your website?
The first thought that may go through your mind is that you’re not marketing enough, but you may be overlooking a common problem. Most people who do a search on Google.com don’t spend very much time deciding whether the website they clicked on is where they want to be. Typically, the decision to stay or go will happen within 7 seconds, which is commonly known as the 7 second rule. To ensure visitors are staying on your website after those first 7 seconds your website needs to have:
1. Easily accessible information
2. A user-friendy layout (clear and concise navigation)
3. An attractive design
Here are some examples of websites that DO NOT provide users with these three important design concepts:
Serene-Naturist.com
This website has so many design no-nos, I don’t even know where to begin! First off, all of the extra graphics, such as the butterflies, really distract you from what the website is really about. Secondly, the design does not look professional at all, giving it the impression that it was made by a 10 year old. You definitely don’t want that if you’re going to run a professional business. Also, the page loads very slowly because of the plethora of images and moving graphics that are completely unnecessary.
ChesterTourist.com
This website suffers from what I call “information overload.” The user doesn’t know where to click. There are just way too many links that are placed everywhere and not organized. This website would be a lot easier to navigate if the designer had grouped the links into categories and displayed them in one menu (e.g., a drop down menu).
Those were examples of BAD website design. Here are some examples of GOOD website design:
First Church of the Living God
This website is one of our own (created by the Design Theory team) and highlights some very good aspects of design. Unlike ChesterTourist.com, the navigation is very clear and concise. If you hover over the links on the navigation bar near the top you will see how much easier the website is to navigate with the links grouped into categories and displayed in a drop-down menu, which is what ChesterTourist.com should have done with their links. As you can see, the website is clearly about a church and the information (our services, media, events, etc.) is easily accessible and presented in an attractive, easy-to-read format.
Preston Dental Care
This is another website that we (the Design Theory team) have designed. Again, the navigation is very clear and concise, and easy-to-read. If you want to find out more about what services Preston Dental Care offers, the link for “Services” is right in front of you in large letters.
A very simple, easy-to-read layout is very important for getting more users to come to your website. I think the worst thing you can do is confuse the user. Your business may have the best product or service in the world, but if you don’t present it in a way that is easily accessible on your website, you will have a lot of trouble getting new customers.
Check out our design portfolio if you want to see more examples of GOOD designs 🙂
What about you? Have you seen any websites recently that you loved, or maybe some you wish you hadn’t seen?
Web Development
The Problem: I, like many others, manage WordPress sites that I monitor with Google Analytics–which is an awesome tool. Sometimes, however, I like to visit my site and see how content looks live. Because I do a bunch of work on the go, it isn’t always conducive to filter out all the different IP addresses, so sometimes my visits end up getting counted and throwing my statistics off. This could also work if you have multiple bloggers and don’t want their visits to get confused with the overall traffic of the site.
The Tools:
- A text editor. I use Notepad ++, but you can use whatever you like.
- Your Google Analytics Code
- Access to your WordPress theme
The Solution:
The solution is fairly simple, though it does require two minor adjustments on the part of the user.
First off, it will require that you login as an administrator prior to viewing your live site. This might take a little bit of getting used to, but what I’ve found is helpful is updating any bookmarks on my browser to go directly to the login page–just as a helpful reminder.
Also, some WordPress themes may allow you to insert Google Analytics code via their option panel. While this might be helpful in most cases, this particular workaround will not function correctly without further editing of the theme.
For starters, I recommend first creating a backup copy of your site files. Though this process should not mess with anything else, it helps to have a backup copy handy, just in case of something weird. Also, it might help to edit your theme offline and then upload it, so while I know that WordPress does have a feature to edit code, I prefer to test offline prior to uploading.
Open header.php and locate the </head> tag. Found it? Great! Now, right above it we’re going to add the following lines:
< ?php global $user_ID; if (!current_user_can('administrator')){?>
< ?php } ?>
What this does:
- Sets the $user_ID variable to global. This allows us to use the built in user functions.
- The script then checks to see if the user is not an administrator using the “current_user_can” function.
Right now, this code doesn’t alter anything. That’s about to change! Copy your Google Analytics code and plug it in between right after the first ?>
What you have now (depending on your Google Analytics code) should look something like:
< ?php global $user_ID; if (!current_user_can('administrator')){?>
<script type="text/javascript" src=" http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js "></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "UA-xxxxxx-x"
urchinTracker();
</script>
<?php } ?>
</head>
This should eliminate any logged in administrative users from showing up on Google Analytics as the script will only run if the user is not an administrator!
Alternatively, you can check if the user is logged in, and run it only if the user is not logged in. This is done by replacing if (!current_user_can('administrator')) with if (!$user_ID). (In case you hadn’t guessed, in PHP ! means “not”.)
Let me know, as always, if this works out for you, or if ! how I can help.
All Posts, Marketing
Our last 4 prospective client requests for websites all had questions about blogs. I personally was pleased because there seems to be a growing conscientious to how effective blogging is to not only your site’s SEO but to your business’s brand. There’s a few things I want to talk about like transparency, effectiveness, analytics, and search engine optimization. Now I know there are many blog platforms out there, but for me a self hosted WordPress site offers so many options and features and the learning curve is fantastic to pick up and go.
The Reach: Taking some time out each week to write a post or two can really help drive some numbers to your website. Mainly because WordPress and search engines get along really well, but also because blogging creates fresh new content on your website where a traditional website may only see new content once a quarter. Even what could be seen as a low-interest website like stamp collecting could achieve visits by the thousands each week based on what they talk about and how. Never limit your business products or services to just what you think may be a small target audience. This is the internet we’re talking about here, millions of people are on throughout the day and night. There’s bound to be hundreds of thousands who share your views and can appreciate your opinions and opposition to a subject matter.
Engage, Engage, Engage: Consider other blogger’s and sites that talk about what you do and comment on their posts. Not so much to try to drive away readers, but to bring up valid points that may have been missed, or a little bit of controversy. We all like drama, and some of the hottest posts aren’t in the original article but in the comments where readers go back and forth trying to one up each other or drive home a point. You’d also be surprised at all the places you post, and who may want to view your blog entries to see if you know what you yourself are talking about.
Crowd-sourcing and Feedback: Without full-out asking for it, blogging can be a way to get great customer feedback. Consider a competitor of yours recently launched a new product. At first it seems like a great idea and may be a great product to those that need it. But what if it has a major flaw or is missing something vital that one of your products has and your clients appreciate much more than your competitors? Well after writing a post about it comparing the two products, you can see how your visitor weigh in with their comments. Of course your post won’t be written in a way to seem like your bashing. We’re not trying to be e-thugs, but a tasteful comparison could lead to better R&D for your brand, even when there isn’t competition.
Search Engines: I wonder when we’ll stop calling them search engines and just refer to Google instead. Google’s algorithms are still quite unknown, but what is known is how well an unknown website can pop-up as a number 1 or 3 organic result for a subject matter. Regardless of what the site looks like, and more so on how relevant the content is to the string of keywords used in a user’s search. With a static HTML site, you’d have to embed keywords, a page description, and some meta-tags to your page’s code. Not to mention the on-page keyword usage and image ALT tags you’d have to remember to include. With WordPress all of that is mostly taken into consideration. When adding an image to a post you easily have the options to put captions and alternate text messages for your images and graphics. You have a categories and tags box to check off and type in your keywords and associated post categories. It all really makes for an effortless optimization.
Overall Effectiveness: If you’re a small business who thinks that no one out there is interested in reading about what you have to say, let me tell you that you’re wrong. Even for the stamp collector, there is plenty to say that people are looking for. Imagine if you were the only blog out there talking about the history of some stamps, or hidden facts about some designs for stamps, or maybe even ways to save money on postage that most people wouldn’t know. I’m not a stamp collector but show me how to save money on postage and I’ll be all over it, and share it with my friends who may share it with their friends. One because its easy to read and share both on computers and mobile devices, and Two because it offers an audience I normally wouldn’t be able to reach on my own through traditional marketing. When I first started blogging late last year, I posted once a month (maybe) and I had traffic to my blog at about 25-50 people a month. Now I have a team of 2 other (3 soon) bloggers and we each post a different subject article once a week. In the past 30 days we’ve had almost 1500 visits (Google Analytics).
I hope that this clears some uncertainty on why you should get blogging NOW! For those of you that already do, add your pointers in the comments below. We can all learn something to be more effective!
Social Media
If you haven’t heard by now, Google is making a shift toward a more transparent user experience with their applications. Much like how Facebook has cookies that keep an eye on where you go on the internet, Google is looking to read and capture your online data too. I shouldn’t say it like they haven’t been already, more like Google is being a bit more open about how they’re going to use your user data across their applications and online experience.
Lets start off with what exactly Google says about the information it collects from your system:
Cookies – When you visit Google, we send one or more cookies to your computer or other device. We use cookies to improve the quality of our service, including for storing user preferences, improving search results and ad selection, and tracking user trends, such as how people search. Google also uses cookies in its advertising services to help advertisers and publishers serve and manage ads across the web and on Google services.
Information you provide – When you sign up for a Google Account, we ask you for personal information. We may combine the information you submit under your account with information from other Google services or third parties in order to provide you with a better experience and to improve the quality of our services. For certain services, we may give you the opportunity to opt out of combining such information. You can use the Google Dashboard to learn more about the information associated with your Account. If you are using Google services in conjunction with your Google Apps Account, Google provides such services in conjunction with or on behalf of your domain administrator. Your administrator will have access to your account information including your email. Consult your domain administrator’s privacy policy for more information.
What’s going to happen is Google is going to be a lot smarter in targeting you with ads that are way more relevant based on your browsing and search history. For example: Sending an email to a friend about some outfits you saw at H&M that were on sale will get you ads not just from H&M but other clothing companies. Or if you’re on another website (while technically still logged in to Google) and browsing some topics on politics, or web design, etc, Google will track that and show those ads to you while you’re in Gmail, Google Plus, Search, and any other place they decide to stick ads.
The privacy risk is that Google is getting to be that “all-knowing” platform. Knowing how many hours a day you spend online, what you shop for, what you type or email to friends and clients, what websites you visit most frequently. It’s like a marketers dream to have all this relevant information on a consumer. Though they may not be giving your full government name, it’s going to seem pretty personal as you start to take notice.
So what can you do? For starters disable cookies on your browsers. Your first line of defense is there. Though some websites will actually stop you from using their site when they notice your cookies are disabled. If that becomes too much of a hassle, consider using a separate browser whenever you’re using your Google applications. Then you’re general search and browsing history will be limited to separate browsers. Another tactic is to have your browser clean out your history and cookies after every session. These may all seem cumbersome and time-consuming and Google is betting on that and general lack of vigilance. The choice is yours.
