I’m currently working on a natural listing keyword campaign with Network Solutions and had to fix a number of Canonical errors. To track down the offending pages I ended up using a free program called Xenu. Since the web site I’m optimizing has over 1000 pages I needed to find a way of doing this more efficiently than hitting each page 1 at a time.

Download Xenu For Free Here

How To Use Xenu

What is a Canonical Error?

Once I ran Xenu I realized that the site I am optimizing had 100’s of Canonical errors on the web site we’re promoting. A Canonical error is the creation of duplicate content due to the way web server software handles variations on URL’s. See the example below.

http://www.yourwebsite.com < - Correct
http://yourwebsite.com <- Canonical error

Since we’re gearing up for a major campaign it’s imperative to eliminate what web site errors we can. Since these errors will be indexed on all the major search engines it’s in your best interest to fix what errors you can so your users don’t wind up on a broken page.

Both links above will usually take you to the correct page, but some search engines will punish you for duplicate content. In order to not get dropped it’s a good idea to remove these issues when you can.

What Is A Natural Listing?

There are 2 types of listings for the search engines. PPC (Pay Per Click) and Natural. A natural listing is a listing on a search engine that you don’t pay for. It is thought, and I to believe, that natural listings pay off better than PPC efforts. Statistically more people click on natural listings than on paid ones. I know it’s certainly the case for me.

Solve Canonical Errors With Your Htacess File

“An htaccess file is a simple ASCII file, such as you would create through a text editor like NotePad or SimpleText. Many people seem to have some confusion over the naming convention for the file, so let me get that out of the way.”

-From JavaScriptKit

Your .htaccess file tells the server how to process pages. To tell the server how to interpret your web page paste the code below into your htaccess file. .htaccess files must be uploaded in ASCII mode, not BINARY.

-WebProWorld

This stirp of code rewrites the offending URL and eliminates the problem. To double check yoru site simply run Xenu again and check for errors. I went from around 1000 to just under 20 by adding this simple strip of code.

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Photoshop blending options give your images and text some extra impact. Drop shadows, gradients, outlines, bevels and more will give your graphics that professional look you are striving for. Below I’ll be explaining the, “Blending Options”, Pallet in Photoshop.

First off to get to the, “Blending Options”, pallet right click on the layer you wish to apply effects to. You’ll get a list of options. Blending options is the second in that list.

Drop Shadow

Yep you guessed it…the drop shadow option adds a shadow to your image or text. This effect makes your images jump off the page and give them the illusion of depth. I use this effect all the time in conjunction with, “stroke”, when making images for my site.

Inner Shadow

Again this effect lives up to it’s name inner shadow also helps give your text a realer 3dimensional quality.

Outer Glow

Outer glow has many different applications. By adjusting the spread and opacity you can create a nice haloed effect that works well for putting behind cut out images giving them more impact. If you keep the size of the glow small you can make your text or images larger and more pronounced.

Inner Glow

Normally you wouldn’t use all these effects together as your project would get far too busy, but for the sake of this tutorial you will at least get the idea of what each option can do. I like to use the inner glow sparingly mostly on text to give my graphics more impact.

Bevel And Emboss

This effect is by far way to over-used by Photoshop newbies. The, “Bevel and Emboss”, option gives your graphics a sense of roundedness. Used sparingly this effect can be quite elegant, but like I said before is the downfall of many new designers. Play with the opacity and light angle to get the effect that is right for you.

Color Overlay

The color overlay is an option I use the least, but can be handy on occasion especially when working with shapes. Color overlay will replace your shape with what ever color you choose while maintaining other blending effects.

Gradient Overlay

This is a neat looking effect. It applies well to text, but will work with images as well. Gradients can be altered by toggling through the colors and slider at the bottom.

Pattern Overlay

This is one I personally don’t use that often, but can produce some interesting effects. Photoshop has some prefabbed patterns you can use or if you feel so inclined you can import your own through the pattern manager arrow on the side of the pattern box.

Stroke

I use this one all the time. With the, “Stroke”, option you can put a defined line around any image or text. This is the other option I use when building graphics for my site. It provides a defined edge around your content.

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So you have a folder with 100 images in it that need to be resized and have a watermark added. Doing this one at a time would take you all day, but with the use of Actions in Photoshop this repetitive task is as simple as editing one image with just a few extra steps.

Let’s Get Started.

1. Open your actions pallet. If you don’t see it in your window tabs go to Window > Actions

2. Click the, “Create New Actions”, tab. (It’s the one at the bottom that looks like a post it note.) Name your action something that makes sense to you. If you’re resizing images call it something like resize.

3. Once you’ve created your action and named it hit the round record button at the bottom. You’ll know it’s recording your action when it turns red.

4. Apply what ever effects you wish to your images. You will see them recorded in the Actions pallet as you finish with your selections.

5. When you’ve finished adding effects, resizing, adding text, etc to your project hit the stop button at the bottom of the Actions pallet.

How To Batch Process Your Images

6. Go to File > Automate > Batch

7. When the box below will pops up select your action from the drop down list at the top.

8. Choose the folder you wish to batch from the source option.

9. Select the folder where you want these new images to go. Hit ok and go get some coffee. Depending on the size and difficulty of your action these images should be batched in no time.

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I recently had a couple projects where I had little to no access to back end management…that is I had no ability to create or alter databases on said domains. So I had to hunt down some scripts that could run without sql or cgi access. The following is a list of easy to configure scripts that did the job.

Formmail.php

I’ve been using this script for a few years now as I some times find myself working on web sites where I have limited access to site back ends. Formmail.php is a php based mail form that does not require any sql or cgi to process. This is a great script if you’re running php on your site. It consists of 2 simple to configure files and can be up and running in a very short time. Within 15 minutes of tracking this one down I had my mailform live.

CuteNews 1.4.6

CuteNews is a super easy to use news management program. No SQL is needed as all information is stored in flat files. Comments, user management, archives search and many more features are included with this package. This is another one that takes very little time to set up, but has a broad range of options once configured.

Use of this script is free, but for $39.99 you can have the, “Content Management Powered by CuteNews”, link removed.

MyListUpdater

MyListUpdater is a handy little script you can use if you have 1 small area of your web site that you want to update content for. I’m currently using this script to easily update web seminar dates. Though originally developed for maintaining various types of online lists; MyListUpdater can be easily be configured into a text and image based web widget.

This script is written in php and javascript and does not require any database interaction to run.

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I tried logging in to Entrecard this morning and was declined. It said my email address was incorrect. So I shot them off an email before reading the following mail they sent to me. Imagine my surprise when I found out my Entrecard account was deleted.

Your account ‘Come On In The Web Is Fine’ on entrecard.com has been deleted. The administrator gave the following reason:

Please contact support@entrecard.com if you have any questions regarding this action.

Not a blog?? Not a blog????? People is this not a blog? Is this not a set of posts that’s been going on since 2005? Do you not have the ability to post comments and sign up for a membership? Is it not based on Wordpress blogging software???

I’m sure this is just a snafu, but in the mean time I’ve taken down my Entrecard badge. I really don’t understand why they would have deleted my account. I’m on the site every day and drop cards all the time.

Again I’m sure this is some kind of mistake. Maybe a problem behind the scenes. Dunno. Has this happened to anyone else?

Follw this discussion on Blog Catalog >>

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I had to add a new user to both Google AdWords and Google Analytics. Since this was the first time I’ve had to add anyone new to either account I decided to post some tutorials. This one I got from Google Analytics Help Center. I added my own pics for better understanding. If you need to add a new user to your Google analytics account click on the link below. Happy Googling!

How To Add People To Your Google AdWords Account In 3 Easy Steps

Google Analytics provides the ability to add any number of users to your account, and to grant varying levels of access to your reports. You may grant access to the reports of particular profiles when adding a new user, or modify access for existing users.

To grant access when adding a new user:

1. Click Access Manager (The Access Manager can be found at the bottom of your Account Settings page)
2. Click Add
3. Enter the user’s email address, last name, and first name. The email address must be a Google Account.
4. Select the Access type for this user: View reports only, or Account Administrator, which allows the user to edit account settings
5. Select the profiles to which this user should have access. Reports for profiles that are not selected will not be available to this user

6. Click Add to move these profiles into the Selected Website Profiles list
7. Click Finish to create the new user. They can now log in using their Google Account email address and password.

To modify access for an existing user:

1. Click Access Manager
2. Find the user in the Existing Access list and click Edit
3. From the Available Website Profiles, select the profiles to which this user should have access. Reports for profiles that are not selected will not be available to this user
4. Click Add to move these profiles into the Selected Website Profiles list
5. Click Save Changes to update this user’s access

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1. While logged into your Google AdWords account click on the, “My Account”, tab. Then click access.

2. Personalize an invitation for the new invitee. The person you are inviting to use AdWords must have a gmail account. Your email address and password will be your AdSense Login information. Sign up for a gmail account here.

3. Preview your invitation and send away. If the person youinvited does not have access make sure they first visit there gmail account and accept the invitation.

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I was bouncing around dropping some Entrecards this morning and ran into a few things that I absolutely hate to see on the web. New designers should be taught to avoid these practices in web design 101. I know I’m not alone here so any newbie bloggers out there please take heed to these, “what I consider”, horrible design flaws.

Music On A Page That Automatically Starts

This was as annoying back in the day when people would embed wavs into their cheesy pages as it is today. This is also a problem with many Myspace pages. I don’t want to listen to your music. I don’t like your music…well that’s not fair, but I would much rather have the option to listen to your music than have it thrust onto me. See my XSPF player link to the right. I like to share with my readers to, but I’m not forcing anyone to check out my superior musical tastes…(tongue in cheek)

Video Ads That Automatically Start

I’m afraid that these are becoming more and more popular. These are the tiny video ads that start once loaded without anyone clicking on them. If you have these on your page I will not come back to your site. I don’t feel I am alone here. So if you wanted to make some extra cash with some fancy looking video ads like this I think you’re doing more harm than good.

Full Page Pop Over Ads

I don’t know who decided this would scheme would work, but unfortunately these to are showing up more and more. I’ve noticed a couple today while bouncing from my Entrecard rss feed. These are those full page ads, usually white, with a, “skip this ad”, option at the top of the page. I’m more apt to skip your web site and never come back. These didn’t work when they were pop up ads and they don’t work now.

In Summation

I’m not opposed to web site ads. My site is monetized, but is what I consider un-intrusive or at least less intrusive. These are just in my opinion horrible design practices. I will immediately hit my back button or close my browser when you push media like this into my eyes and ears.

Again I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. There’s a reason why Tivo is so popular. No one wants to watch the commercials. What makes you think that I wont immediately leave your page when you try to push your commercials on me?

Some food for thought folks. PLEASE STOP.