Here is an excellent article for yourself, friends and family explaining the dangers of being addicted to your technology. There are also good suggestions of how to detox!
Google Analytics 4
Your Computer Lady regularly sends clients 2-5 reports from Google Analytics to show the traffic on their website. It is crucial information so you know what is happening on the site and what information your visitors find worthwhile. Marketing without measurement is not good marketing!
HEADS UP!!
Google has completely re-written Analytics. Yes, it is a whole new program with a totally different structure.
Today
- You can add the new version – Google Analytics 4 – to your site so that it starts gathering data.
- You can continue using the old version AKA Universal Analytics to gather data and run reports.
July 1, 2023
- Google will stop collecting data with the old version of Analytics.
- You will still be able to see your old data in the old version.
- Google will only collect new data with Google Analytics 4.
December 31, 2023
- Google will delete all data and the old version.
GOOD NEWS!!
We have 1.5 years to get ready for the changeover.
What Needs to Be Done
- Set up Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible to begin collecting data.
- Configure Analytics 4 to gather the data you like.
- Create the reports that you want to use in Analytics 4. Instead of having a limited number of reports to choose from in Universal Analytics, you will be able to create reports in Analytics 4. Better info for sure but more set up work.
Because Analytics 4 is totally different software there is going to be a learning curve.
YCL is already working on the process and learning Analytics 4 so that everyone will be properly set up well before July 2023. We will not wait until the last minute.
I’m bringing this to your attention now so that you will understand the notices you get from Google or news articles that you see. Don’t panic! Your Computer Lady has got your back! I’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available and as I experiment with the YCL website.
Internet Explorer Is Retired
As of June 15, 2002, IE is out of service.
If you try to open the program on your computer, you will get a message like this one:
You will still see the icon on your Start menu or taskbar. When you try to access it however, Microsoft Edge will open. In an upcoming Windows update, IE will completely disappear.
Good news! You can migrate your favorites, passwords and settings from IE to Edge. You may rarely find a website that will only work with IE – often older government or nonprofit sites. If you run across one of these sites, you can have Edge work in “IE Mode.”
Give Edge a Try
- Competitive speed as Edge is leaner software than IE.
- You can save text from a website in a Collection, not just bookmark pages.
- You can set up a “My Feed” starting page with news, videos or content you prefer.
- Simple privacy controls.
- You can use tabs on the left side of your screen instead of only across the top.
- “Immersive Reader” displays web pages in a cleaner, less distracting format.
- You can use Chrome extensions since there are so many of them already out there instead of waiting for an Edge extension.
- You can sync your Edge bookmarks, passwords, etc. to your phone whether Android or iOS.
How and When To Back Up Your Data
Simply put, the more important the data
the more often you should back up
the more back up copies you should have.
EXAMPLES:
Pictures of my daily Wordle results
Back up once a quarter
One copy on a thumb drive is enough.
QuickBooks back ups for my company
Back up every 2 times I close the program
Keep a copy on my external hard drive and a copy on Dropbox
Payroll records
Back up after each payroll period
Keep a copy on my external hard drive and a copy on Dropbox
Not only can your hard drive go bad, your external hard drive, thumb drive or DVD can also go bad. So important data needs to be backed up in multiple places. For years, when the standard back up method was to a DVD, I kept one copy in my office and another copy in the trunk of my car. I figured the office and the car wouldn’t be destroyed at the same time!!
Now with online options, it’s even easier.
Thumb Drive
Large thumb drives allow you to back up all of your files or a major project quickly. The process is manual which means you have to discipline yourself to do the back ups.
External Hard Drive
BBBS can assist you with purchasing and configuring an external hard drive that sits in your office and automatically backs up your entire hard drive. If the computer hard drive goes, you can download everything you need from the external hard drive.
Online Back Up Services
There are multiple options for you. BBBS can assist you in choosing the best service and help you configure the settings.
- One Drive is part of your Microsoft 365 account.
- Drive is part of your Google account.
- Dropbox is my favorite but there are many Software-As-A-Service (Saas) companies.
Pixel Tracking
Yesterday I went to a website to see what they offered in home meal deliveries. I didn’t set up an account. I didn’t request a quote. Just looked around the site.
15 minutes later there was an email from the company in my Inbox.
This was done with pixel tracking. While I was on the site, a piece of code gathered my information and added it to the company’s database.
Emails from Service Providers like Constant Contact and MailChimp use pixel tracking. That’s how they know who opened an email or clicked on a link in the email.
Facebook ads and Amazon.com use pixel tracking. Any search on Amazon will result in plenty of ads popping up on your browser offering the same or similar items.
So it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s helpful. But you should have control over who is gathering information.
First line of defense – Turn off image downloading. (Instructions here.) The pixels are hidden in graphics. If you don’t download the graphics, you can’t get a pixel tracker. You can always choose to download graphics in an email from a safe source.
You can gain additional control by installing extensions in Gmail or other email softwares to block the tracking. I’ve installed PixelBlock in my Gmail. Another option is Ugly Mail. Each software is going to be a little different. Google “pixel trackers in Yahoo” or something similar to see how your provider handles them.
Working Securely While Working Remotely
“In today’s digital workplace, more organizations offer the option for remote work in an effort to cut overhead costs, reach talent in other geographical regions, and give employees a more flexible schedule. In fact, 74% of organizations believe that flexible working has become the “new normal”. Now, in light of the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), some organizations are even requiring remote work. “
Click here to read the full article.
COVID-19 Won’t Stop Us!
Kudos to the Phoenix Women’s Leadership Summit for fast, creative thinking. Instead of cancelling the conference, they switched to Live Streaming and On-Demand. They sweetened the offer with 12 monthly webinars and a pass to next year’s conference. Good marketing! Good community building!
Phoenix Women’s Leadership Summit
What Do You Base Your Decision To Open An Email On?
” 57% of email subscribers spend 10-60 minutes browsing marketing emails during the week. – ChoozOn
90% of email gets delivered to the intended recipient’s inbox, whereas only 2% of your Facebook fans see your posts in their News Feed. – Forrester Research
68% of Americans say they base their decision to open an email on the ‘From’ name. – Campaign Monitor
Across all editions, Outlook accounts for 56% of all desktop email opens and nearly 16% of total opens in any environment. – Campaign Monitor
Six in ten (61%) American workers who use the Internet say email is “very important” for doing their job. – Pew Research
Non-office-based workers to say the Internet, email, and cell phones have given them more flexibility in the hours they work (51% vs. 19%) but also that these tools have increased the amount of time spent working (47% vs.18%). – Pew Research”
Statistics from: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2016/01/70-email-marketing-stats-you-need-to-know/
How Many Websites are There Around the World?
“Consider that a big portion of the websites is not updated in a timely manner. This means that the actual number of active, working sites may be a much smaller fraction.”
Information found on https://www.millforbusiness.com/how-many-websites-are-there/
Google Changes
In 2015, Google announced that it was going to gradually implement steps to make the Internet more secure and user-friendly. That’s the good news for all of us.
The not-so-good-news for all of us business owners is that we have to make changes on our websites to fit the Google criteria.
What happens if you don’t?
If your site is not mobile-friendly, Google will give you negative points in their algorithm to keep you from ranking high in search results.
Yes, I said Google will punish you in all search rankings. StatCounter reports that Google has 92.19% of the search market.
If your site is not secure, Google will show a warning to all visitors advising them that your site is not secure. Then Google will give you negative points in their algorithm to keep you from ranking high in search results. Who wants to show up on page 193 of the search results?!
So… how do we meet their criteria and how fast can we do it!!
Criteria #1 – Your Website Must be Mobile-Friendly
Mobile-Friendly means your site re-sizes to fit a smartphone screen or a tablet or a 42” monitor. Another term for it is “responsive.”
If your site was built in the last 5+ years by Your Computer Lady, it is responsive. That’s all we’ve built for years. Not sure? Look at your site on your phone or tablet. A responsive site will re-format to be useable on a mobile device. Still not positive? Ask me.
on my new Moto X Droid SmartPhone
Home Page on my 17” monitor
If your site isn’t responsive, call me. Let’s figure out how to convert it. We need a plan!
If you have a WordPress site, we can probably add a new theme that is responsive to your site. It’s not the click of a button, but it is easier than a new site. If you have another type of site (GoDaddy’s Website Builder, SquareSpace, Weebly, etc.) we’ll have to carefully analyze your options.
Criteria #2 – SSL Certificate
In non-computer English, an SSL Certificate is issued by your hosting service to verify you have 256 bit encryption. It is a way to ensure that websites are handling personal data and sensitive information as carefully as technically possible.
Currently, Google will mark any site asking for password or credit card fields, as “Not Secure” if they don’t have an SSL Certificate. If the site has an SSL Certificate, you’ll see HTTPS: in the address field (the site URL).
Without an SSL certificate, you will see some type of message or icon like the info icon. Different browsers will do it differently.
Gradually since 2017, Google has been adding new situations where they will mark your site as Not Secure.
The most common situation – when you ask someone to opt in and share their email to receive your newsletter.
The next phase will be any website without an SSL certificate will show poorly in search results. Don’t wait until the last minute. Let’s do this now.
Want to know more?
Here are some key articles.
Google article explaining the why of the change and the time frames
Next Steps – October 2017 deadline