Check for 404s and 500s, before they ruin your SEO

Posted by multippt

Most new browsers have a habit - they will not announce error pages. That’s all as a side-effect of people wanting to have a custom “file not found” error message. While this is not a big problem, it’s always a good idea to check for such “page” errors that may affect your search engine optimization.

How search engines treat 404s

Search engines like Google have to deal with missing pages, and they identify such pages via that famous 404 error code (i.e. file not found). So, how does Google treat missing pages? It will remove missing pages from its index. Not a good thing if your “error page” turns out to be a working page that was wrongly producing the error.

This usually affects PHP scripts, and poorly made .htaccess files. So, if you are a person who uses plain HTML and don’t use anything server-related (which almost 80% of everyone is using), then you need not ever worry about this problem. Though, I’m not implying that everyone should downgrade from PHP to HTML, it’s just that PHP has that lovely ability to spoof error codes, hence the error messages.

Similarly, web-pages may spurt out a similar error - 403. This error means that the page is forbidden from being viewed, pretty common for files given the wrong permissions. Like 404, Google will not index such pages. Of course, think using error codes for stopping search engines (you got the robots.txt file for that) - they are meant to be used for… errors.

How search engines treat 50xs

Google is pretty lenient when it comes to error 50x. Error 50x messages indicate that there is something wrong with your hosting. If something goes wrong on the server-side, you get 50x. Google will still check on your site, but it will slow down on indexing your site (after all, a site with a malfunctioning server ain’t going to update much right?).

Why aren’t browsers showing the errors?

It’s a sad thing, but yes, web browsers will not indicate error codes to you (they are not meant to be “seen” anyway). So, if you have a main page that gives error 501, you will not know that it got that problem. In a bid to satisfy everyone’s desire for a customized error page, all browsers will display the page as “normal” regardless of the error given out (except for 30x errors which means redirection).

Detecting errors

Google webmaster has a nice way of telling you it can’t crawl/index something. Though, it has a crude way of telling you that. Fortunately, it’s just sufficient enough if you want to do a little check up on the page if it is really a missing page. Unfortunately, if it is a genuine missing page, you’ll have to go link-hunting for that broken link (not the scope of this article, but you can always use a sitemap generator to do that).

Why do errors ruin SEO

Errors are errors. People shouldn’t be seeing them at all. Similarly, you will not want search engines to face errors like that as well. An error is treated differently by all search engines, but the ultimate result is that the page producing an error will be given a “penalty”, well sort of. Most problematic pages are rarely indexed, let alone appearing in search results. Remember that nice Google bomb that featured a “page not found” page appearing for “Weapons of mass destruction”? Google has fixed that problem by simply removing error pages from the index.

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Ideally, your site should not have a single error response (unless the visitor deliberately stumbles into the unknown). If it does, fix it, otherwise you may have a few missing pages that will not appear in search engines.

Google dictates we listen, vice versa

Posted by multippt

Google has so much influence over the ordinary user that any action Google does will be almost immediately noticed. That’s because aside from being the most visited site of all time, Google has the ability to control what users see. Actions such as habits, news, and adding features will be certain to get a large population of Internet users to notice. After all, Google is the most visited.

Google as the dictator

Google has the ability to implement new standards that most people will have to accept, somehow or rather. Take the nofollow movement for example. Google has been widely encouraging webmasters to use nofollow for paid links (which by Google, is defined as any link that would not have been there if not for any sort of blatant compensation).

Don’t do what Google says, and there are some consequences that you certainly will not want to have. The possibility of a non-rule-abiding site being banned in itself is enough to get people to follow by its rules - because Google is so big, it’s near impossible to ignore Google entirely (even Yahoo acknoledges Google). Any sort of penalty that gives a disadvantage at Google will be disadvantageous to anyone.

We as the dictator

Google rose to popularity because of… popularity. The reason of its success is that Google made something people want. So, Google had traffic and major support. Being a website, Google is powered by the community and those who uses its services. Thus in return, it is willing to provide what the community wants, or at least do something about it. That’s a probable reason why Google happens to be one of the few commercial entities to interact with the community actively and listen to its needs.

Google gave its users a voice - be it a simple contact form, or a discussion group (called Google groups), or for that matter an entire blogging platform (known as Blogger). There are many ways to keep in contact with Google, although the more publicized ones are from conventional E-mails to a well-known celebrity in Google (Matt Cutts is one of the many). If some fellow(s) were to say something that catches Google’s attention, Google will be likely to take it into consideration.

Of course, Google doesn’t always listen (similarly for the converse) and still employs some unpopular decisions. But that is still in the best interests of everyone.

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So, what does this say? We are listening to Google, at the same time Google is listening to us.

An inside look at Wordpress 2.4.0

Posted by multippt

Wordpress 2.4 isn’t going to be released until weeks later (24th January), but it’s still fairly intact at its latest. Remember, this is taken from a development copy of Wordpress, and things change pretty fast when it comes with betas.

Visually…

Up front you cannot see anything different - that’s because Wordpress still uses the famous Kubrick theme and has not changed it. There are no visual changes on the front-end, but wait till you see the administration interface. This screenshot should say something:

Administration

The new control panel makes use of some pretty nice mix of colors, much vibrant compared to the old blue theme Wordpress administration interfaces have. In addition, some commonly used features - such as writing posts are now place right in front of you (well, for everyone’s convenience).

Name changes in administration panel

One small note of change in the administration panel is that the name for some tabs has been changed. Now instead of “presentation”, you see “design”, and “options” has now become “settings”. Sort of similar to the administration interace you see in Blogger.

Security Changes

When changing your password, you will now see a new thing called “password strength”. Not too unfamiliar right? This is the same sort of password length measurement thing that you see when you register a hotmail account. The longer the password the more “safer” it is. Though, length is just one factor. The password-strength checker also checks how easy the password is easy to guess (e.g. jumbled letters score higher than repeated ones in terms of strength). Well, at least it will convince more people to have longer and unique passwords.

Features?

While the changes at first glance may look pretty large, it’s actually quite small. Sadly, the development copy does not seem to have any big features added yet. Much of the changes are in the interface and usability. There are not many features added to this new version of Wordpress. Of course, as with any development version, it’s incomplete and not at full potential. Let’s hope to see some spanking nice features to go with the revamp in interface in the final release of Wordpress 2.4.

On a side note, there are (visual and coding) glitches which I would leave the development team to fix. At the moment, this release is pretty much in pieces - even the administration interface has quite a lot of touching up to do, but at least you get an idea of how Wordpress 2.4 is going to look like.

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Testing done courtesy of a friend who installed the development release on his site.

Internet Explorer, the next Netscape?

Posted by multippt

Being an Internet Explorer user, I must say Internet Explorer is certainly lacking in some stuff. Sure, it has satisfied the basics and beyond, but the new average is now all about being the top. Internet Explorer had the opportunity to be everyone’s favorite browser - in fact, almost everyone used Internet Explorer at one time. However, Microsoft blew it simply because it wasn’t keeping up. Internet Explorer is falling behind most web standards, and even features and stability. Why is that so? Firefox, Internet Explorer’s new competitor is simply better than it, even when both are at their latest revision, and it will remain that way unless Microsoft manages to pull off something.

Internet Explorer’s failure

Internet Explorer had the biggest support of Microsoft, which is still today’s software monopoly. Windows is a great starting platform for Internet Explorer. In fact, Microsoft wiped out Netscape because it bundled Internet Explorer in Windows, and supplied it at no cost. Internet Explorer is originally better than Netscape in numerous ways. That same trend is happening to Internet Explorer, except it is in Netscape’s place.

What Internet Explorer lacks is security and standard-compliance. At the latest revision, Internet Explorer still have problems pertaining to security, and also have problems with web standards. While speed is not an issue as both Firefox and Internet Explorer are running at the same pace (stop hullucinating that either are faster than the other), Firefox had the edge as it boasts things users want that are not present in Internet Explorer - such as stability and customizing.

This is similar to Netscape vs Internet Explorer, in almost every way.

Ironically, Firefox was Netscape

Currently, Netscape has almost died. Few are using it, even though new versions of Netscape are released every now and then. Soon after, the Netscape company founded the Mozilla foundation (the commercial entity of this foundation is known as Mozilla corporation), which developed Firefox. So, Netscape’s new reincarnation is Firefox itself. Pretty neat that even a downed browser can come back from its grave.

The second browser war

Internet Explorer having gone through the first browser war now has to face another one. Sadly, it is the first browser war that actually caused the second one. Apparently, Microsoft was too busy rejoicing at its victory that development on Internet Explorer has come down to a snail’s pace, until Firefox ate up over 10% of Internet Explorer’s share. Though, unlike the previous war, this war has elongated for several reasons. One of which is that Microsoft is doing something about it. Having released Internet Explorer 7 which fixed some issues with Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft had delayed its demise. In addition, introducing Windows Vista gave Internet Explorer 7 a little more popularity and adoption. However, it is way behind schedule if compared to Firefox.

Why Internet Explorer may not become the next netscape

Currently, Microsoft still have an opportunity to shoot back at Firefox, as it still has control over 50% of the browser share. If Microsoft were to do any of these, chances are Microsoft may be able to push up adoption of the browser.

Internet Explorer 8

Currently in the works and will not be released until some time later, this browser fixes almost everything people hate about Internet Explorer, making it near perfect. Though, adoption is one problem, guess which computers get to use it? Right, computers running the latest versions of Windows. Unless Microsoft still maintains that set of compatibility for (not-to-old) older versions of Windows, Internet Explorer will not be able to match up with Firefox’s widely available compatibility.

Still, by the time Internet Explorer 8 comes out, guess who would be leading…

Make Internet Explorer available to Linux and other places

Internet Explorer runs on Microsoft’s software. Microsoft has not made it for Linux, and is unlikely to do so. Hence, >80% of all Linux users will be using Firefox. Strangely, Microsoft seems mainly interested in getting Internet Explorer on propiertary platforms like Mac OSX (for a while though).

Updates Internet Explorer much faster

Every update to Internet Explorer is quite major, and that’s because Microsoft loves to roll things up and send it straight to its customers. This is unlike Firefox which brings out small updates but at a higher frequency. Which is better? Big updates that come annually, or smaller updates that come monthly? Both are great, but when it comes with keeping up, smaller updates are better. After all, didn’t Microsoft win because it manages to pull off those updates in a short time during the first war?

Why watching the PageRank meter is addictive

Posted by multippt

Google PageRank is a big hit amongst webmasters. Despite its importance having downgraded over the years, it is still tempting to look at the PageRank meter in the Google toolbar (especially when the meter is just right in front of you).

Addictive PageRank

It’s a rating

Ratings always invoke competition. It’s a known rule. Google PageRank is a rating. While visible PageRank at times is found to not influence rankings much, people can’t get over watching the PageRank of their site. Why? It’s competition. A PageRank unit that is 1 up higher than competitors gives indefinate bragging rights (until competitors reach the same or better PageRanks) and a sense of “authority”, even if it makes little difference in search rankings.

In addition, it’s all about first impressions. Most people get the idea that a high enough rating exposed to almost all users using the Google toolbar is a nice way of enticing some users to stay. Well, the sad fact is that not many would look at PageRank when determining a stay in a site.

It’s because it’s Google

Having a site better than you in any possible ways imaginable rate you is certainly a major reason why PageRank is a much sort after rating. Google is authority. Authority controls what you think, and PageRank makes any site look as important or unimportant as Google wants.

A “side-effect” is that Google gets to make webmasters follow its guidelines. (Remember the last PageRank update in October that nuked the PageRank of numberous established sites?)

It is affected by what you do

PageRank seemingly increases with more stuff that you do (provided Google approves of it). So, PageRank is seen as an indicator to how much work you have put into your site. A higher PageRank is a sense of achievement to some, because it seems as though as you have done a ton of work just to get a increase in 1 or 2 units.

PageRank is difficult to score at

Some webmasters will do anything to get a higher than average PageRank (differs across opinion, but is approximately at above 4). Well, some. Getting a high PageRank is an incredible task, thanks to the exponential properties of PageRank which makes scoring lower PageRanks several times easier than higher ones.  Though, scoring on PageRank is not neccessary for a site to be “successful”.

It updates “once in every while”

Long updates make waiting for it to happen worthwhile. PageRank updates are getting more irratic, going from 1 month updates to 3 month updates to well, 4-6 month ones. During the moment of silence between updates, most webmasters see this as an opportunity to build up on their site for the next PageRank update to come (sort of like preparing a ritual to satisfy a god).

Stop looking at the PR meter

PageRank affects search rankings. But, PageRank is not the only one affecting rankings; there are tons of other factors that affect search rankings more than PageRank. The value of PageRank has downgraded compared to years ago, so most people will say PageRank is “overrated” anyway. Yes, PageRank is nice, but what’s the original idea of PageRank? Search rankings. What’s the original idea of search rankings? Traffic. So, focus more on traffic of your site than PageRank.

The end of 2007 marks the begining

Posted by multippt

This year went by real fast, and there were quite a bit of nice stuff going on in it. As a nice momento, I’ll like to list the best of Tevine in 2007, judging from its activity (based from traffic and other stuff).

The most popular posts (2007)

Google Toolbar Review #2
If 1 review was not enough, 2 reviews should do the trick. By far this review takes a bit of scrutinizing of the new Google toolbar. There were some nice titbits that probably most people who have tinkled with the toolbar would have found, but for those who have not tried the new toolbar yet, you can read this nice review.

Google, Yahoo,… what about Windows Live?
Nothing like discussing Microsoft’s remodeled search engine in comparison to the super-titans - Google and Yahoo.

Why Microsoft *could* have taken over the Internet
A poke at Microsoft’s monopoly and its capability of ruling over our sheltered haven.

Web standards see increasing adoption
Well, just a nice tip that more people are becoming more aware of web standards that have been around for the past decade. Sounds like good progress don’t you think?

Technorati is flawed
Ah, the ranking system we grew to love. Technorati may be accurate, but not accurate enough, well, because the votes/responses can be “manipulated” as well - accidental or intentional.

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Have a nice year ahead.

Wordpress 2.3.2

Posted by multippt

Wordpress 2.3.2 has been released and patches a security hole in Wordpress that may expose drafts and future posts in your site. Private posts are not affected. No biggy unless you do not want people to peep at what you are going to write tomorrow.

The second one might be a little bit more of concern, as it can expose your database structure (not much of a problem since almost all Wordpress installs use the same structure), and show some not-so-nice error messages on your blog.

While patching up this problem, the developers decided to give a nice little thing that you can customize Wordpress in: Error messages. The error message will show a customized page (taken from wp-content/db-error.php) if there is one, rather than a messy one which PHP generates.