Why Should you Optimize your Site for Mobile Devices?
The trend of using mobile devices to search for content online is
steadily on the rise, and gaining momentum. And tablets really seem to
be advancing the cause, since more and more people are buying and using
them. So how are these evolving trends
changing things, and how does it effect you as a website owner? The
focus is now centering more towards responsiveness and adaptability,
which means that more content needs to made and optimized for mobile devices.
What the numbers say?
In the last quarter of the year 2012, almost as much as 11% of the
internet users were using mobile devices, more than 6% of which came
from smartphones whereas less than 5% came from tablet devices. And
although tablet devices nowadays have a computational power comparable
to desktop devices (well, so do smartphones, but screen size matters a
lot here), users still want the content optimized and rendered
specifically for tablet devices. Hence, in a way, smartphones and
tablets can be treated in a similar way.
But what about now? According to a study,
from the first quarter of 2012 to now, mobile internet usage has gone
up by a staggering 26%, whereas tablet usage has grown by 19%, both very
impressive figures in themselves.
Desktop figures, however have taken a beating, with a decline of 6%.
This, considering the size of desktop users, is a large decrease. but
then again, who has the time to start up a computer everytime they need
to Google something, right?
What should you do?
These stats indicate that it is probably time to give more thought into
optimizing your website, and aligning it more towards mobile devices.
Here are a couple posts we have written that should help you out.
So, have you got any questions? Feel free to ask any in the comments
below. And leave your feedback to let us know how we're doing. Cheers :)
Filed Under:
Blogging tips,
SEOWhy Google Search is Faster than your own computer?
How Search Engines work?
To understand the answer to the question, you must first get a very
basic idea of how search engines actually work. At its core, a search
engine consists of a crawler and an indexer (let's leave the headache ranking pages for now, shall we?)
The crawler's job is to crawl the web, and I mean literally! It crawls
from one page to another through hyperlinks. That is why if you build a
new website, building links to it from other sites is a quicker way of
getting it noticed than submitting it to Google's index. The crawler
reaches into every accessible corner of a website (if it is linked from
another page).
Once the crawler has found a page, it is the indexer's job to index the
page's content. Indexing means processing and parsing the data on the
page, and then saving it in a statistical, more meaningful form,
something which the search engine can understand easily. This data is
saved on the search provider's web server.
So once a crawler finds a page, the indexer processes it and stores it
on a server. The search engine now has nothing more to do with the page
in question, unless it wants to re-crawl and re-index that page (in case
of updates. Google indexes webpages every second or every day,
depending upon the ranking of the website). Now, when a user requests a
query, the search engine doesn't actually search the web. It has
already done that! It simply searches from the index found on its own
servers, and returns relevant results.
What else?
So how is it still faster than your local hard drive? Well, Google isn't the best search engine for no reason! It employs some really efficient algorithms and data structures that help in the quick retrieval of data. Google also has huge 'farm' servers that have index data stored in them. And the computational powers of these machines is immense, nothing like your ordinary desktop microprocessor. So when all these factors add up, you really get a solution that's faster than your Personal Computer's hard drive.There is a way to speed up search for your hard drive too. Applying the same principle of indexing, we can find files and content much quicker. Windows XP, 7 and 8 have built-in drive managers that give you the option to defragment or index your hard drives. This will optimize your hard drives, and make search much quicker. Windows 7 and onwards has tried to implement this by default too, which is why you can write anything in the search menu search bar, and see results displaying instantaneously. This has been achieved via the Windows Search Index. Hence, indexing is the key to speeding up search results.
Did you enjoy this post? Please share your opinions in the comments below. And if in doubt, feel free to ask us questions. Cheers :)
Facebook New API for Monitoring comment Replies
Updates to the API
This update comments API now provides developers with different 'views'
of the comments on your page. There are three basic views; Top Level
Comments, Replies and Comment Streams. These views can be accessed by
the Graph API as well as through Facebook's FQL table.
Top Level comments - These are individual comments to the post
itself, and not replied to any comment. This view is called "top level".
The comments in this view might be ranked on the basis of their
quality, replies, and some other factors.
Replies - This view, called "replies" fetches replies to an individual comment of a post.
Comment Streams - "stream" will return all top level comments and their replies in a chronological order, so the top level comments here won't be ranked.
Do you like the new changes? You can read the Facebook Developers Blog for more information, or check out the documentation for this API for detailed instructions. You can also ask us questions in the comments below. Stay tuned :)
Filed Under:
Facebook tricks,
News Replies - This view, called "replies" fetches replies to an individual comment of a post.
Comment Streams - "stream" will return all top level comments and their replies in a chronological order, so the top level comments here won't be ranked.
FQL Commands
You can get data using both FQL ad Graph API. If you're using existing API, you need to keep in mind that the 'comments' column in the 'stream' FQL table has been depreciated. Instead, use 'comment_info' field to fetch data from 'can_comments' and 'comment_count' fields. Here are the FQL queries for the three views.Top Level comments
SELECT id, fromid, time, text, likes
FROM comment
WHERE object_id={object_id} AND parent_id='0'
Replies
SELECT id, fromid, time, text, likes
FROM comment
WHERE parent_id={comment_id}
Comment streams
SELECT id, fromid, time, text, likes(almost exactly the same as Top level Comments query, but ordered by time, and no check for parent_id being 0;
FROM comment
WHERE object_id={object_id}
ORDER BY time
Missing out on something?
If you're wondering why you don't see threaded comments on your Facebook Fan Page, then that's because Threaded comments have only been enabled for popular pages with a lot of fans (1,000+). If you're not quite there yet, then don't worry. This option will be turned on by default for all pages by June 10.Do you like the new changes? You can read the Facebook Developers Blog for more information, or check out the documentation for this API for detailed instructions. You can also ask us questions in the comments below. Stay tuned :)
Brand New Google Analytics Features for better Real Time Reporting
Real-time events
Real-time event reporting will let you see the top events as they occur,
which you can then filter as well based on event categories.
Furthermore, you can see whether particular segments of your visitors
trigger different events.
Click on the Real-time section in Google Analytics, and then click on Events
to get this feature. You can click on any event category to see Event
actions and labels for that category. You can also add filters, which
will then be saved. And you can use these filters to see events that a
particular segment of visitors trigger, for example, events triggered by
traffic coming from social media etc.
Breakdown of real-time traffic by user agent
Google Analytics will now show your traffic broken down based on user
agents. In the right now section, you can see your current traffic, and
its breakdown based on whether the users are using Mobile, Desktop, or
Tablet devices. Clicking on any segment will display detailed analytics.
Realtime vs overall data
You can view your overall pageviews and compare them with segments of
visitors in real time. For example, you can compare your total traffic
with your mobile traffic after a particular post on social media to see
how well do social media users who are on mobile devices pick up your
content.
Shortcuts
Last, but not least, you can now set up shortcuts for your real-time
segment filters. Once you look at your data through a particular filter,
you can save it, so you won't have to create that filter again and
again. And you can easily access all your shortcuts from the navigation
menu on the left side.
Like these new features? Do share your experiences and opinions with us
in the comments section below. And if in confusion, feel free to ask.
Peace :)
Filed Under:
Google,
News Upgrade To Mobile App Analytics with Google Analytics
Measuring the success of a mobile app is crucial for any mobile app developer. If you are an Android
or iOS app developer, you must be using some kind of analytics program
to help you determine how your apps are received. Have you considered
using Google's Mobile App Analytics for that purpose? You might already be familiar with Google Analytics,
or at least you may have an idea of the vast repository of features it
brings to the competition. With the Mobile App Analytics, you can get
all the rich functionality you get with Google Analytics. And now,
Google has upgraded the Mobile App Analytics, so you get even more features now!
What's new?
The Mobile App Analytics has been redesigned especially for app
developers and marketers who need to access information about their app.
The Android and iOS analytics SDKs have been rebuilt from scratch to be
more lightweight and efficient, and provide a good experience to
developers, while keeping it easy to understand and use.
Change history
When you have multiple users
for an analytics account, it can become confusing when people are
making changes to that account, changes such as account info, profiles,
properties, filters etc. You can't seem to figure out who changed what.
Google has now included a new feature, the Change History. This feature
will show you a summary of all such important changes made to your
account over the past 6 months - plenty of time to track activity.
Multi-currency support
Now, you can track transaction metrics such as total revenue,
shipping/handling costs, tax etc in multiple currencies within a single
interface. Google has added this support in eCommerce for a multitude of
currencies. And you can convert all those currencies into one currency
of your preference. This makes things really easy for brands with a
diverse international fan base, since everything can be managed from one
place.
Tag Assistant
This is a Google Chrome extension designed by engineers at Google. It
aims at simplifying the task of troubleshooting tag installs, and helps
find problems. Tag Assistant will highlight warnings and errors, and
will give you useful suggestions on Google's most widely adopted tags
such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and so on. This extension
will alert you of tags installed on a page you are currently on, and
will also tell you whether there are any problems with the
implementation of those tags.
Are you excited about these latest features? Leave your interesting responses in the comments section below :)
Filed Under:
Google,
News Now Access the Webmasters Academy in Over 40 Languages
When you really want to achieve something,
then the limit of your knowledge no longer becomes a hindrance. This
has held true for a lot of webmasters, who are self-taught, and rely on
their ambition to learn
and implement new things that they consider useful. But whether you are
a beginner, or a seasoned veteran, there's always room for some
improvement - for learning something new. That is why Google set up a Webmaster's
Academy to teach everyone from a total newbie to an advanced user on
how to better understand Google, and how to perform better in search
results. This Academy was set up last year, but was only available in the English language up until now. Now though, thanks to Google, the Webmaster Academy has gone international, with support for more than 40 languages!
The purpose of establishing this Academy was to educate and guide
webmasters into creating websites that perform well in search results.
For any blogger, this can serve as the ultimate guide or
a complete roadmap that webmasters and bloggers can follow towards
success, since the ultimate goal is getting the best performance in
search results. So if you haven't still heard of the Webmaster Academy,
then you should start off with it immediately.
What it has to offer?
The Webmaster Academy is a fully-fledged academy in the sense that it covers a huge scope of topics, vertically as well as horizontally.
There are various sections in the interface for different type of users.
These include Beginners, Advanced users, and Small business owners.
Each section has a checklist where you can place a check-box next to
each resource that you complete, and you will see your overall progress
at the top. These steps are organized in a logical pattern, so you can
move from one to the next in a sequential manner.
Once you're done with one section, you can move on to the next. It's a
really well organized resource that you can master within no time at
all. And now, it is available in a wider ranger of languages. Google
says that the Academy is available in over 20 languages, but that number
is actually 43, including English.
So what do you want to learn today? Head over to the Webmaster Academy,
and start your training as a webmaster from Google itself! You'll be the
master of your game in no time at all! All the best :)
Filed Under:
Google,
SEO
How To tell Google to Remove your Content or Site from Google Services?
Google, as you might well know has a wide, vertical range of products
and services served along the main course that is Google Search. Such
services include Google Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Google Advisor, Google Plus Local Search,
and so on. Sometimes, some of the content on your site also gets
included in these services if relevant. But in some cases, you might not
want your content to appear on such products and services. Now you can
ask Google not to include your content in search results through your Robots
file, but that doesn't really solve the problem does it? It'll take
your content off Google entirely. So how to exclude your content from
the extra Google services only? Well, Google has now given you a
solution in the form of an Opt-out Tool, where you can choose your content to be not included in such products and services.
How to Opt-Out?
Before we talk about the background behind this initiative, let me first
tell you how you (publishers) can opt out of these five select Google
services, namely Google Shopping, Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google Advisor, and Google Plus Local `Search.
This tool can be found within Google Webmaster Tools. Follow this link to the Opt-Out Tool, and choose a website you want to use this tool for. You must be logged into Google Webmaster Tools to access this tool.
Remember! This tool is only available for domain level sites. Sub-domain
websites (such as example.blogspot.com) won't get this option. You will
need your own domain (example.com) to access this option.
After selecting a site, and clicking on the Opt Out button will result
in the removal of your site's contents from the aforementioned Google
Services. However, this won't result in the immediate deletion of the
records Google has of your site. That won't happen until another thirty
days, giving you ample time to re-think your decision, and roll back the
changes if necessary.
Notice that as yet, you can only opt out of all of the five services, or no services at all. An all-or-nothing approach, if you will. You can selectively choose a single service.
From some sites, Google picks up more than just their raw content. It also gathers things like review data from the web, and associates it with product or place listings. Not all publishers would want Google to collect such data, and deliver it in its own way, such as summarizing it, and so on.
Notice that as yet, you can only opt out of all of the five services, or no services at all. An all-or-nothing approach, if you will. You can selectively choose a single service.
Why would you want to get your contents excluded?
Interestingly, not all of these listed services are free. Some require you to pay in order to get your content listed in them. So what exactly is the use of this tool, and why would people want to use it?From some sites, Google picks up more than just their raw content. It also gathers things like review data from the web, and associates it with product or place listings. Not all publishers would want Google to collect such data, and deliver it in its own way, such as summarizing it, and so on.
Previously, if such publishers wanted Google to not collect such data,
then the only option they had was to opt-out of Google altogether, and
that includes Google Search as well. And as you might know, Google
enjoys more than 66% of the search engine market share. So opting out
completely would mean that publishers would lose more than two-thirds of
their organic search traffic. So clearly, such an option is out of the
question for most publishers.
Google took this initiative in response to its agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over anti-trust charges. Publishers were worried about Google's policies, since they didn't want to get de-indexed from search. Yet at the same time, their appearance in other products wasn't acceptable either. So the FTC won this battle for such publishers.
Have you got any question? Feel free to ask in our comments section below. Here's to hoping Google will orient itself towards publishers better in matters like these in the near future :)
Filed Under:
Google,
News Google took this initiative in response to its agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over anti-trust charges. Publishers were worried about Google's policies, since they didn't want to get de-indexed from search. Yet at the same time, their appearance in other products wasn't acceptable either. So the FTC won this battle for such publishers.
Google will give websites the ability to “opt out” of display on Google vertical properties. Under the same commitment, Google also has promised to provide all websites the option to keep their content out of Google’s vertical search offerings, while still having them appear in Google’s general, or “organic,” web search results.So as it appears, by applying its all-or-nothing policy with its services, Google is trying to merely satisfy the FTC, without actually considering the Publishers' concerns. But at least it's a start. Further enhancements might be on their way.
Have you got any question? Feel free to ask in our comments section below. Here's to hoping Google will orient itself towards publishers better in matters like these in the near future :)
Publishers can now review Ads Landing Pages in AdSense
Google AdSense empowers you with a host of options and features with
which you can keep your ad-marketing campaign going smoothly. You have
an Ad Review Center, where you get various controls that help with the management of ads on your site. Among other features (see a list of latest AdSense features here),
you get the luxury of finding and reviewing quickly and efficiently,
hence saving you a lot of time. But that's something we all already knew
about. However, Google has very recently introduced a new feature
in their Ad Review Center. Previously where you could only review ads
themselves, now you can also review the landing pages they lead to.
How would this help?
Some of you might be saying 'meh, big deal' at this point. But if you've
guessed the implications, then I'd like to congratulate you on your wit
:D. Anyhow, this feature will help publishers align their website
(content and ads) towards the users (we all know how big an issue user-friendliness is with Google).
Previously, you could only review ads, and see if they weren't
irrelevant, or not suited for your audience. Now, you can also review
the landing pages they lead to. This way, you can gauge your users'
reaction ahead of time, and make adequate adjustments. For example, if
you see a landing page that you think your users won't like, you can opt
out of that ad.
Examples of landing pages where users might not comfortable can be
irrelevant pages, cramped and spammy landing pages with a lot of ads or
calls to action, inconvenient pop-ups, difficult navigation, and so on.
As a general rule of thumb, if you don't like the page after clicking on
the ad, then your users won't like it either.
How to get this feature?
Log into your AdSense account, and click on the Allow and Block Ads
tab. Here, you can review individual ads. Hover over any ad, and you
will see a magnifying glass appear on its bottom-right corner. Click on
this to see the ad and the landing page it leads to. Easy as pie :)
Do note that this feature is currently available only to those accounts
which have their language preference set to English. Google, however, is
trying to add more language support. In the meantime, please feel free
to ask questions in our comments section if you have any confusion. Stay
tuned for more updates :)
P.S. Please try to keep your comments and questions as relevant as
possible. This ensures easier and faster replies to your individual
queries. Thank you for your cooperation :)
Filed Under:
Google AdSense,
News
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