Tag - Tools

The New MySpace… Do you care?

I just received A notification from MySpace on the relaunch. Do I care… so far, not really. MySpace was once a popular social media platform, especially among the younger crowd. While it still receives a ton of traffic, it’s nothing like it once was at it’s peak of popularity. I never personally had a MySpace page, and at the moment, I don’t intend to.

I say “at the moment” because there was a time when I thought Twitter was just plain stupid. A short blurb of text, how important can that be? I now understand Twitter as a key communication and marketing tool when used properly. Who am I to say that MySpace won’t make a comeback? Some will embrace the change, some will resist. Others, like me, will just wait it out and see what happens.


Presenting the new Myspace

Myspace | Myspace Video

December 4, 2010 By General , 5 Comments
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What To Do When Your Site Gets Dropped From Google

Do you have any domains that don’t seem to be indexed in Google?  Maybe they were at one time, but then for some reason they were dropped.  Maybe you have a site parked or a mini site with duplicate content.  Maybe you’re violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.  Perhaps you just purchased a name from some else and they were previously de-indexed for one reason or another.  It’s happened to me on more than one occasion.  But what can you do?

Step one is to review your site to see what may have caused this.  Usually, the reasons are obvious as outlined above.  Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to contact Google for reconsideration of your site.  This is done by submitting a Reconsideration Request form at Google.  But first, make sure you add and verify the site in your Google Webmaster Tools account.

When submitting the request, it’s important to be honest and provide evidence of the situation and corrections you have made to the site.  Let Google know if recently purchased the domain or if you have corrected issues, and include URLs where possible.  These forms are reviewed by a team of actually people that will check your submission.  Any dishonesty will get your request discarded.

I’ve heard reports of seeing improvements in a few days but in most cases it will be several weeks before you start to see improvements.  Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

October 28, 2010 By Domains, General , 4 Comments
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Create a Poll for Your Blog or Website in 30 Seconds

It’s well known by now that I’m a Google freak.  I like what they have done with things like Gmail, Voice, and I’m always looking for more.  I just discovered a pretty cool feature within Google Docs as I was updating a shared spreadsheet.  It’s something anyone can use and maybe of interest to blog writers and domain developers.  It allows you to create a poll for your website or blog. It’s simple to use and easily captures results.  You can use a plain version like I have here or you can add one of 95 themes to it.  Here’s what it looks like.

And here’s a sample of how the results look when you view them:

Poll Results

If you’re interested in how to set it up, here are the quick and easy steps.

1.  Select “Form” from the Google Docs “Create New” drop down menu.

Website Poll

2.  Next, fill out the questions and select the type of response you’ll allow.

Google Form

3.  Click “More Actions” and “Embed”.  Just paste the code on your site or blog and it’s that easy.

google poll

I haven’t done any polls on this blog in the past, but I can certainly see how useful this can be.  Not only on a blog, but any developed website could use this code to get a better view of the users.  Let me know how you use it if you choose to.

October 7, 2010 By Reviews, Tools, Web Design , , 4 Comments
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