This trend in retail is good news for brick and mortar store owners. People use their smartphone to research local businesses online before visiting the store to buy. If you own or manage a brick and mortar retail store this information is for you!
Your store’s website is your first impression. Research indicates that 92% of consumers who visit a website for the first time aren’t there to buy! They are there to conduct research.
Hey, everyone and thanks for joining me. This is Keegan Edwards and today, we’re just gonna answer the question of how to request indexing for a new page on your website in the new Google search console. In the old search console, that you’re probably familiar with. You log into your dash board. You go over to the left to crawl, fetch is Google and then, you have the ability to input the rest of the URL, fetch, or fetch and render and then, you’d have the opportunity to request indexing of that URL.
That process looks a little bit different. If you’re like me, you more probably recently upgraded to the new search console. The new search console just has a re-done content management system here to kind of lay out the reports and update the look and feel, to be a little bit cleaner. It doesn’t have the same language here, on the left hand side. It can be confusing to find where you would actually crawl and fetch the pages, like you are probably accustomed to in the old search console.
In order to do it in the new search console, you go and you select your whole URL and you can either paste it in up here, inspect URL, or you can go here on the left hand side to URL inspection and it will kind of highlight this tool for you. Paste in your URL, there. They’re retrieving data from the Google index. Then, you can see the information about your coverage, right here. You can see whether it’s mobile friendly, whether it’s been submitted to the index or not and whether the crawl was successful and whether it could fetch the page and whether or now it was submitted to the index.
This is where you’re going to put that in and then, you actually have the opportunity here to request indexing for the page, as well and then, get an update to see that it’s been submitted to the index, which is what I did with this page, just today. That’s how you do it in the new search console. It’s in a little bit different spot, but this is where, by inputting your whole URL, you have the opportunity to crawl the page, fetch it and then, request indexing. Thanks very much.
All right, so let me tell you a story. My wife and I just moved recently to a new apartment. As part of that move, I as a consumer, needed to find moving supplies to help complete my move. I needed boxes, I needed tape, I needed foam, I needed bubble wrap.
Okay, so you’re not showing up on Google right now, then there’s probably three main reasons for that.
Your website is terrifying your visitors because it says not secure, and Google Chrome started marking at not secured because tons of people’s data was being stolen. So we all know about what happened with Facebook, how he had to testify before Congress. We all know what happened with Equifax, how they lost all those customer’s social security numbers. And your website says not secure, which is literally going to drive your potential customers away from your business.
How do you fix that?
You need an SSL certificate which will change your website from http to https. That will get rid of that not secure sign and make sure that your website is secure and when customers submit sensitive information, that somebody can’t log in and steal it. We all have a responsibility, especially business owners to protect consumers information online. Make sure that your website says secure and make sure that you have an SSL certificate. Otherwise you’re terrifying your customers.
Cybersecurity is a buzzword you’ve probably heard. What does it actually mean for independent retailers?
There are two main implications of cyber security that independent retailers will need to be aware of. First, retailers need to have an SSL or Secure Certificate on their website. Second, retailers need to understand card not present transactions and the liability associated with these transactions. These are two main factors in ensuring a secure experience for your customers and reduced liability for your business.
Choosing a website platform for your business website is a big decision. But, what is a website platform?
A website platform can also be called a website builder. This is the set up that gives you a place to build and make changes to your website. In technical terms this is referred to as a CMS or Content Mangement System. Your website platform will allow you to login and set up a website.
There are many different types and styles of website platforms or website builders. For reference, one of the most popular website platforms is WordPress.
In this section, we’ll identify the major technical difference between two types of website builders. This difference has a major impact on the long term outlook of managing your store’s website. After you understand the two types of available platforms, this section will introduce important criteria to help you choose the right platform for your business. Let’s begin.
Choosing a domain name registrar is almost as important as choosing a domain name. The domain name registrar is the company that actually hosts your domain name. A domain name registrar you’ve likely heard of is GoDaddy.
A registrar allows you to search the database on their website for available domain names and select one for your business. Typically, a registrar will require you to pay a monthly or annual fee for your domain name. However, it’s not as simple as you might assume.
There are a number of privacy and security considerations to make before purchasing your domain. In addition, each registrar varies greatly in terms of hidden fees, customer service and technical capabilities. The goal of this section is to provide information you need upfront to make a well informed decision when you purchase and set up your new domain name.
As the owner of a domain your information will be public. That means that anyone can look up your domain and see who owns it.
Try it with your domain right now. Visit http://www.betterwhois.com then type your domain name into the search box. You’ll likely find your name, email address, physical address, your phone number, and the date your registration expires. If you don’t recognize the registration information, that means someone else owns your domain.
If you don’t want your information to be public, you’ll need to purchase Whois Privacy protection from your registrar. Research the fees and terms of privacy protection before purchasing your domain name.
Does Whois Privacy feel like a hidden fee? It’s not the only additional fee to consider.
Many domain name providers advertise a fee for domain name registration such as $9.99/year. However, they require a five year term of commitment to receive that price. The price per year if you aren’t willing to make a long term commitment.
Other possible fees include buying multiple TLDs, transferring domains between registrars, and additional hosting expenses.
Customer service is important. In order to set up your new website on your chosen domain you will need to do something called a DNS switch. This is the process of pointing your domain at your new website.
Other functions include editing the TTL, propagating a new site, editing A records or installing secure certificates. I don’t expect you to understand how to do all of these tasks. As a store owner, you shouldn’t need to know these things. However, you need to understand that these will be tasks you’ll likely need assistance with. Ensure that the vendor you choose for domain registration has quality customer support. When you get stuck, you’ll be thankful to have someone to talk to.
Not all registrars are created equal. In fact there is a wide variance. It is important to consider speed, price, ease of use, and third party integrations.
Without getting overly technical, understand that there is a “lookup” process that occurs when someone types a web address into a browser. We’ll cover the importance of load times later in this book, but it is important to have a domain name registrar that offers a speedy connection. Otherwise, you may set yourself up to have a slow loading website before you even start building the actual site.
Price will undoubtedly be a factor in choosing your domain. Why is there such a variance in price? Usually, there is a variance in speed, software, customer service, integrations and performance. Be sure to weight the specific factors associated with each registrar before using price as your determining factor. Not all domain registrars are equal.
How easy is it to use the back end software to manage your domain? Check out the content management system (CMS), before purchasing your domain if you can. Are things easy to find? Is it easy to navigate and set up everything?
Lastly, consider the integrations available. For example, GoDaddy may not be your first choice for other reasons, but they do have quality integrations with platforms where you’re likely to build your website. For instance, Shopify and GoDaddy have a tool called GoDaddy Connect which will allow you to automatically point your GoDaddy domain at your Shopify website simply by logging into GoDaddy through Shopify.
Be aware of signing up for overlapping services. This can be tricky. Registrars have all sorts of different models to help them earn a profit. Some services include web hosting along with domain registration. Other providers includes BetterWhois protection with registration. Be certain that you know exactly what services are included with your registration in order to avoid overpaying or paying for the same service with two different vendors.
There are hundreds of different vendors for domain registration. In this book, we won’t cover each registrar individually. We encourage you to research each registrar using the context provided in this chapter. However, we can provide a list of popular registrars to help narrow your search from the outset.
Choosing a domain registrar can be confusing. Take the time to research compare prices for services across multiple registrars. Use consumer reviews to research the registration businesses themselves as well. Of utmost importance, you want to feel comfortable with the company you choose to register your domain. This may mean you value certain features over others. Due diligence will ensure that you end up with the right company to host your store’s domain.
Source-
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-domain-name-registrar
Glossary
DNS Switch
Content Management System
Choosing a domain name for your business is one of the most important first decisions for your business. Before choosing a domain name let’s review a few things that are imprortant to consider.