Category: tech tips

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4

Posted on by Stephen

Do you need help upgrading to Google Analytics 4? Contact me.

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4 is necessary for most of us. Google will stop processing data through Universal Analytics (Google Analytics 3) and has been sending email reminders to anyone using UA to upgrade to Google Analytics 4. UA will be replaced by GA4 on July 1, 2023 (less than a month from now). The shock to many is that UA data does NOT import into the new GA4 system. You will only be able to access your old UA dashboard for about 6 months after July 1, 2023 and then some time after December 2023, your UA data will be deleted! I’m here to remind you, and you have options.

If you decide to do it yourself, here is “a how to” from a web designer. There are several ways to do this, I’m showing the approach that works for small businesses needing simple analytics to track their website traffic.

Exporting Universal Analytics

The good news is that you can export and backup data from Universal Analytics, but the bad news is you can’t import it into Google Analytics 4. All instructions are best applied while on a desktop.

  1. To export UA data, start in the main UA dashboard. Click on Behavior > Site Content > All Pages in the left column.
  2. Change the Data Range in the upper right and corner to fit your needs, I suggest selecting the current year to have data for that year, then repeat this procedure to create a report for each of the preceding years.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of this data and choose the amount of Rows you want in the report.
  4. Now choose Export in the upper right hand corner, and the type of export. I’ll suggest Google Sheets, Excel, or CSV because you can clean up and modify the spreadsheet.
  5. There is so much more you can do customizing reports, there are several experts on Google Analytics you can refer to. I like Loves Data.

GA4 Migration and Setup

If you are still using Universal Analytics in June, 2023, you have less than a month to migrate to Google Analytics 4. Universal Analytics stops collecting data July 1, 2023. When going to Google Analytics, while in Universal Analytics, you will see a count down to the time remaining that UA collects data. You will have the option of “Go to setup assistant“, accepting the auto install of GA4 by clicking the button, or choosing “no thanks“. Either choice is fine, but I get far more articles I’ve read saying it is better to set it up yourself, so choose “no thanks“. The biggest reason I can come up confirming why so many articles suggest setting it up yourself is the auto setup uses your old Universal Analytics tag (script) on your website which has been known to cause problems loosing or reading certain kinds of data. One may never notice the problems, but I’m taking the advice from the experts. You want to have a new GA4 tag (script) on your site. Even better, you want to use Google Tag Manager to implement your tracking tag.

Using the Set Up Assistant

There are two ways to set up GA4. First, lets do this using the GA4 Set Up Assistant. Start in Universal Analytics. You know you are in Universal Analytics when there are 3 columns (GA4 has two).

  • Click on GA4 set up assistant in the top middle column.
  • Click on the Get Started button to create a new GA4 property.
  • Uncheck the “enable data collection...” button so that you have a new (and better) tag on your website. Whether you keep or remove the old UA tag on your website has no importance because data collection stops July 1st, 2023.
  • Click “create and continue“.
  • Select install manually and copy your new GA4 Google Tag (script).
  • Place this tag in all of your pages on your website in the <head> similarly as you did for Universal Analytics. Now, or after July 1, 2023, you can remove your old UA tag on your website pages.
  • While still looking at the Tag code in Google Analytics, click the “confirm” button in the upper right hand corner.
  • Then, click “Go to your GA4 property“, this takes you to the GA4 area of Google Analytics.
  • Select “Data Streams”. If you just have a website, you will see your one website data stream.
  • This completes the GA4 set up process using the assistant.

GA4 Setup Using the Google Tag Manager

  • While in your GA4 property, select the “data streams” tab in the second column.
  • Select the data stream that was created for us.
  • Copy the “measurement id“.
  • Go to Google Tag Manager (essentially a different site)
  • Click on “Tags” on the left
  • You will probably see a Universal Analytics tag. Whether you do or not, you will be creating a new tag. Click on the “new tag” button on the top right.
  • Name it “GA4 Tag” or whatever you plan on tracking.
  • Select “Tag Configuration“.
  • Choose “GA4 configuration” as the tag type.
  • Paste the measurement id we copied from our data stream in Google Analytics.
  • Select “Triggering” and choose the “initialization – all pages” trigger. this will fire the tag on all the pages of our website (as long as the new GA4 script successfully embeds on the website).
  • Save the tag.
  • You can “Preview” the tag to make sure all pages are firing on the the website.
  • Click “Submit“.
  • Give your update a name and click “Publish” changes.

GA4 Wrap Up and Clean Up

  • Head back to Google Analytics in the GA4 property.
  • In the data stream, look at enhanced measurement. This area has options worth researching and apply to the data stream. For example, select the configuration icon (the gear) in enhanced measurements. Enable features that apply to your tracking needs.
  • Save your enhanced measurements.
  • Go back to the set up assistant, and look through the Property Settings. This is another area that you could research and choose the settings that you need.
  • There is also an area to set up your connection to Google Ads.
  • There are so many options for customization and set up of GA4, that I recommend going to someone like Loves Data for a GA4 checklist.

Cleaning up the setup of GA4

  • Head back to Universal Analytics.
  • In the GA4 Setup Assistant, deselect “automatically set up a basic GA4 property“.
  • Head forward to GA4. In order to get the alert to be removed saying the setup is not complete (0/7 marked complete), mark all the items in the setup assistant as complete. Click the arrow of an item and mark as complete. Once you have marked all items complete, update warnings will be removed.

Conclusions about the separate GA4 Property

As we’ve mentioned Google can set up a GA4 property automatically for you, but most of my research from data experts says not to. You do not want to connect your new GA4 property with your old Universal Analytics tag. Google may have already created a GA4 property for you and connected it to your old UA tag. You may want to remove it, and start fresh. But, if you just look at page views and basic information from your data, the automatic setup Google does is fine. Most important is to know that these two options exist and to choose the best option for you and your business.

7 Search Engine Optimization Tasks for Small Websites

Posted on by Stephen

My current web design client Eleanor Bell, PhD came to me recently asking if I did Search Engine Optimization. Eleanor is a life coach specializing in internal family Systems and Hakomi. Eleanor mentioned that her site was not appearing when searching for her main coaching approach – internal family systems.

For large companies, SEO is a tedious, highly complex discipline, but sole proprietor and small business websites just need about 10 completed tasks to get 90% of their SEO goals accomplished. Depending on your business type these 10 tasks are slightly different. For example, if you your personality is a big part of your service, having a video bio of you is important. Eleanor has not done this yet, and we are in discussion, about creating one. Other businesses may not need a video.

Here are those 7 tasks:

  • Great content containing your relevant keywords. While writing the content for you pages or blog, think of what people are searching for in relation to your services. In Eleanor’s case, she knows people are searching for internal family systems therapy. The content she writes should highlight that keyword term in the titles and paragraphs of her pages and blog. How do you know what people are searching related to your business? Simply type in Google’s search bar and wait for suggestions. These suggestions will also be the most highly searched terms. Take it one step further by using Google Trends and research the volume these terms are being searched. For your most important keyword phrases, make a page or blog entry dedicated to that keyword phrase.
  • Have external sites link to your site using your relevant keywords. Link internally from page to page those important keywords. It’s easy to link out to external websites and think that helps your SEO, but it does not, because Google and other search engines know that can be misused. Instead, find colleagues with similar businesses as you to write about you, and link to you. Even though I do not do coaching, it is still a big plus for Eleanor’s business for me to link to her using her most important coaching term internal family systems therapy. Although, this too short not be overdone, because the all knowing search engines may see this as artificially manipulated. Less effective, but still a good supplemental strategy is to link from one page to another within your site. In the case of Eleanor’s site, she may mention Hakomi on the home page. To link Hakomi to an internal page that talks more about Hakomi helps the reader better understand the term, and slightly improves SEO.
  • Link these Google services to your site. You need to have a site map cataloged in the Google search engines. To best do that, if you don’t have a gmail email, get one. This is your easiest gateway to signing up with Google Console. Next create your Google Analytics account and put the provided code in to your website to track visitors. Finally, create a Google My Business account, and create a profile. This will be yet another way for people to find your website. There are many tutorials on how to do these three tasks.
  • Take out an ad in print or online. In the beginning of having a website for your new business, you are not getting much traffic, if any. Traffic to your site boosts your SEO. To give the visits to your site a little kick, try taking an ad out on Google, or your social media platform of choice, or newspaper or magazine relevant to your business or location.
  • Create a bio video. Creating a video is essentially is a pitch for you and your business. For many businesses, people like to see how you look and hear how you talk. Especially, if you are a big part of the service. Even though this article has been referencing many Google products, I’m not an affiliate of any. These free Google products simply help you with your business, not just SEO. From my research, Google rewards your business with good search results when you use YouTube and link it to your site. So, to complete the video making process, start a YouTube Channel, and upload the video to that channel. Who knows, you may like doing it so much, you might start creating others.
  • Start a blog to encourage dynamic content. I was skeptical of this tactic because I was often judging the short term effects. But, for my clients like CBT Westport, their blog has increased their visitors 5 fold! They consistently wrote an article twice a month. In two years, their 20 visits a day went up to 100 a day! I only recommend starting a blog if you like to write. Those my clients who did not like to write, may have started a blog, but they didn’t follow through and consistently write.
  • Write custom title tags, page urls, and image alt tags. Title tags are what you see when you hover over the browser tab for your site. Your page urls are the few words that follow the forward slash after your domain name. And, your image alt tags are the descriptions of your images for accessibility. These is the one time you are entering content that most people will not notice, but the search engines do. Especially your title tags. Make sure those do not just say “home” or “about”. They should contain those crucial keywords that people are searching.

Search Engine Optimization is not a one size fits all discipline. But, if you start with these 7 tasks, with you do it, or hire someone, it will be the foundation for you getting successful search engine results.

The Single Page html5 Website With No Database

Posted on by Stephen

(Revised from March 9, 2017)

Schildbach Design One Page Scrolling Website Examples

In 2018, Schildbach Design is offering html5 one page websites for clients who want to simplify their life. This kind of website is for the client that hands their edits to the web designer and don’t edit their site much. The design is based on the design and development seen on my Home Page. Or, designs from the templates offered by html5up.net. Of course you can make it your own with your own personal colors, fonts, imagery. You will notice that their are several vertical and horizontal panels to this home page. You are allowed up to 10 panels (vertical and/or horizontal). This would be a great start to selling a project or a simple portfolio for a visual artist, designer, photographer, musician, or other creative. Just contact us through our contact form and mention “The html5 (no database) website”. Let’s work together on your single page website!

No Database Means No Hackers, No Plugin Updates, & No Headaches

Schildbach Design specializes in building WordPress websites. But, we have noticed that some small businesses and individuals are too busy to update their site, and come to us for content changes. If you don’t ever log in to your own site, and you ask your web designer to change content for you, you don’t need a CMS like WordPress, or a web builder like Squarespace. All you may need is an html5 website. Your site may need more than one page, but the main change toward simplicity is a website without a database. No more plugin updates, no more hackers, and no more headaches.

What I’m Hearing

If I could give any recommendation, no matter how much you think it doesn’t matter for your particular business, if you don’t have one by now, you need a website! Sure, I understand, some people really don’t want a website, and that is fine. But, for those of my colleagues who have small businesses or are individuals with creative projects, these are some of the following untruths I have heard:

“I don’t need a website because I get all of my work by word of mouth.”

Even if you get all of your work by word of mouth, you still need to show people your work or your credentials. Even when you have a loyal client they may want to see what you are working on outside of their project, and this will deepen your relationship with that client.

“Having a Facebook page is all I need.”

Don’t underestimate the value of branding or your business identity, people want to associate you with a particular look or feel. And, when you primarily use Facebook, you look like, well…Facebook. The same goes for LinkedIn, Instagram or any other social media.

“Funnels and landing pages are replacing websites.”

My response to this is an ethical one: If all you care about is making money and nothing else, then yes, funnels and landing pages, pound for pound, are more effective. But, for those of use who have a passion for our work, and value the substance behind our businesses, funnels and landing pages are the pushers on the street, while websites welcome customers in to your door.

“I can’t afford a website, or don’t have the time to build a website on my own.”

You don’t have to start out with a 100 page website. In fact with how little time people have to read these days, a small business or project should not have more than 10 pages, excluding the pages on their blog. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the prospects of the work and cost of a new website, try a single page website.

Thank you to Alvaro Trigo for developing fullpage.js, the core behind my single page websites and scrolling home pages. Without your generosity, I would not have been able to offer this service at such an affordable rate.

 

Secure Your WordPress Website with SSL

Posted on by Stephen

In 2017 hacking is on the rise, and most browsers are requiring website owners to add an SSL certificate to their site if the site has a database. This includes all CMSs, which includes WordPress sites. You may have noticed that if your site is still “http” you either see an insecure lock icon or text that reads, “Not Secure” in the upper left hand corner of your browser. This is obviously bad for a number of reasons in addition to your site not being secure. Your web visitors are going to not trust being on your site and now Google and other search engines may even dock your SEO.

Schildbach Design offers a service where we will secure your site with an SSL certificate for $50 if it is a WordPress site, and $100 for any other CMS. With some research, you could also do this procedure yourself. If you have purchased a website maintenance package with Schildbach Design, I can apply the time it takes to do this procedure to the package. So, if you are seeing those security warning messages or icons, it’s time to switch to “https”. Contact me for more information.

How Do You Know If You Have The Right Web Designer For Your Project?

Posted on by Stephen

Small business owners looking for a web designer have the tricky task of choosing the right web designer for their project. Recently, I had someone come to me dissatisfied with their previous web designer and ask me to redo the website project they did not complete. The previous web designer might have been the right fit for particular kinds of projects, but was not the right web designer for this creative client’s website, from what I was told. This brought up an issue that unfortunately happens quite often—how do you know if you are hiring the right web designer for your project?

Because WordPress is so popular, I will be making many references to this content management system, but my descriptions could be applied to Squarespace or any small business website built in a CMS. I’m focusing on websites build in a CMS, because that is the most common kind of website small business owners need.

From my perspective and experience, I see generally 3 different kinds of web designers out there. Categorizing often has it’s limitations, but I believe that you can avoid some major headaches down the road with your web designer, if you know you have picked the right person for the job with the appropriate skill sets and work ethic. Keep in mind when I break these types down, it is understood that every web designer has a little bit of all 3 of these categories, but often clearly relies on one as their dominant character.

The “Techie” Web Designer

Shouldn’t all web designers be “Techies”? I’m talking REALLY techie. They are computer programmers at heart. They probably studied computer science in college. They are left brain dominant. They often enjoy the mental challenge of coding more than the actual product they are making. If you could understand what they were doing, you would see complex coding formulas that are clean and efficient. They usually can code in PHP, MySQL, Javascript, and other complex coding languages from scratch. They focus on what is going on under the hood of the website, while being less aware of the aesthetics of the site, and the business end of the site. They will use technologies that the client never sees such as SASS, Git, because this person wants their workflow clean and efficient.

The “Creative” Web Designer

A good “creative” web designer will not only make something beautiful to look at, they know how to make design that attracts customers, and gives you an online identity that matches your business’ character. They are artists or graphic designers at heart. They are right brain dominant. They probably majored in art or design in college. They are web designers because of the times we live in, they actually like being creative in many areas of their life. They will often focus more on the beauty of their designs at the expense of practicality of use, as long as that design is going to present something visually unique, causing the client to stand apart from the flock of homogenous templates out there. The downfall of a “creative” web designer is when their own personal style dominates the visual identity of the business or project they are working on. A good “creative” web designer learns some code because they know that to make good website designs, you need to know HTML, CSS, and jQuery. But, they often won’t dive deep into code that has to do with server side functions and complicated back end tasks.

The “I’m Running A Business” Web Designer

The “I’m running a business” web designer is going to be no nonsense. They will find the quickest way to get the job done. They are more like content managers than they are web designers. When it is a WordPress site, they will download WordPress themes and plugins for most every problem and feature. They are going to be looking at their bottom line which is: How can I get this job done as fast as possible with the least amount of work? They will often get your website done quickly, affordably, and to schedule, but if you ask for a customization, they will either say, “No”, or that will cost you disproportionately more, because they will have to outsource to a web developer. When a client is busy and just wants the job done, this kind of web designer is perfect. As long as both the client and the web designer mutually agree that we are not building a space station or painting a masterpiece, we are making a website so that we can get some content up and move on. A good “I’m running a business” web designer is going to know the benefits of making a website that makes your business “look good” and grow. So, even though they may not code, they may not have studied design, they know where to get the goods and tools that other people provide, other developers have coded, and other web designers have designed so that your website is solid and presents your identity well.

How To Interview Your Web Designer

Now that you know these 3 kinds of web designers, which one is right for you? That decision has to be made by you. But, I can provide an interview question list followed up with some tips that will help you first find out what kind of web designer they are, and then decide if they fit your project. Let’s assume the web designer is being truthful when they answer your questions.

You may want to ask:

Do you custom code some portions of your websites?

If you think you are going to have very specific needs, and the web designer says, “very little” or, “not at all” because they only work within a drag and drop builder like Squarespace or the Divi Theme in WordPress, you know you have an “I’m running a business” web designer. If they answer “Yes”, you either have a “Techie” web designer, or someone from any of the 3 categories who has learned the necessary coding skills.

If yes, what coding languages will you use for the project?

If they say, “HTML, CSS and jQuery”, you either have a “creative” web designer or an “I’m running a business” web designer. But, if they add to the list, Javascript, PHP and MySQL, or if they mention tools of the trade like Jekyll, Compass, or Bourbon, you have a “Techie” web designer.

If using WordPress, will you be downloading a theme, or will you be making your own theme?

If they answer, “they build their own theme”, that is a sign that this web designer is willing to customize the project for all of your needs. If your job is simple, you should be looking out for someone who says, “there already is a theme that will cover your needs.” If they answer “they are building their own content management system”, you better be concerned. This is a “Techie” web designer who needs to get his head out of the code and stop coding for his own enjoyment because there are plenty of CMS’s out there that work great.

Do you create your own designs before development or do you use a pre-existing template?

If the person answers, “they prototype their own designs”, you have a “creative” web designer on your hands who values aesthetics. If they say they only use templates, they are either a “Techie” web designer or an “I’m running a business” web designer. If you want a unique design, look for someone who prototypes their own designs in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

If using WordPress, do you make and implement your own plugins?

If the person says, “Yes”, they are a “Techie” web designer who sees opportunity to make functionality that is customized for your site. If they say, “No”, that is not necessarily bad, it just tells you that they will most liking not be trying to reinvent the wheel. But, it does say they might be skittish with coding.

If using WordPress, what is the AVERAGE amount of plugins you download for your sites (not counting plugins you may make yourself)?

If they say over 20, this is a web designer who does not liking doing their own work. They throw a plugin at any problem in place of coding something simpler and more customized for your needs. They are either an “I’m running a business” web designer who wants to do as little work as possible and relies heavily on other people’s work, or they a “creative” web designer who may not know how to code. Obviously, if this is a large site with many features, you may need a lot of plugins, but I’ve seen brochure sites with over 30 plugins, and that is simply not necessary.

If you went to college, what did you major in?

Your interpretation of the answer should be handled intuitively. If they say, “art”, clearly they are a “creative” web designer, and if they say, “computer science”, that is another no brainer. But, if they say, “biology”, that could mean anything. Maybe they could not make a living at biology and became an “I’m running a business” web designer to make easier money, or maybe they had a life event change that had them reinvent themselves with web design. Try to use your intuition, not cold hard judgmental conclusions.

What do you do for website security?

If the person starts off with “I use this plugin…” you have an “I’m running a business” web designer. If they say, “you should always have a hard to figure out password” or “recently all WordPress sites are required to be SSL secured”, this web designer is going to know that it does not take much to protect a website. You don’t have to throw over bloated plugins at security. Maybe one security plugin at most.

How do you address Search Engine Optimization?

If the person starts off with “I use the plugin Yoast” you have an I’m running a business” web designer. Yoast is great! It is one of my must have plugins on most every site. But again, instead of throwing a plugin at something. The web designer should be mentioning keyword research, having a blog, and using Google Analytics or Moz.

How do you address website load time?

If the person starts off with “I use this plugin…” Ok, I’m repeating myself. But, you get the idea. You should be hearing words from a “Techie” web designer who uses CDN‘s, optimizes their images for web, and writes clean code.

Reading Between The Lines

Obviously, there are many other kinds of web designers out there. And, each web designer is going to have a mix of the 3 categories mentioned above, as well as skills you can’t categorize. Ideally, you want to find someone or a team with a mix of these skills mentioned above. As the lead of Schildbach Design, I believe we have that mix. I may come from an art and design background, but I have learned several coding languages, and know the business end of making your site represent your business, and I know how a website sells your service or product. If you have made it to the end of this article and read between the lines, I do caution clients to be weary of the web designer who has only one of the 3 above approaches. Of the 3 kinds of web designers, I may be weary of the “I’m running a business” web designer the most, but when combined with a design sensibility and coding knowledge, they do have a set of skills that get the job done affordably for the quick turnaround site. Ideally, I would like to see more creative and idiosyncratic presentations on the web. People are so obsessed with usability and selling their products, that every website starts looking the same. But, I also understand that the client’s project dictate the kind of web design that is needed, a web designer’s job is usability, and a web designer needs to develop a site that best represents and promotes the client’s business.