Marina’s Academy Newsletter – June 2018

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A website has so many working parts, how can you see if they’re all doing their job?

In May we talked about judging websites and created a Website Report Card. But how does the world wide web judge your website? The internet has lots of tools we can use to measure how great your site is and what problems might exist. The nice part is that for every problem there is a solution.

Keep in mind that there are two entities you have to make happy: your site visitors and the search engines that help visitors find you in the first place. And by search engines I mean Google.

Google does not come out and say how they rank websites, but they give key guidance in their optimization overview:

“The key to creating a great website is to create the best possible experience for your audience with original and high quality content. If people find your site useful and unique, they may come back again or link to your content on their own websites. This can help attract more people to your site over time.”

Your visitors and Google also want your site to load fast, look good on a mobile device, and not be a spammy cesspool.

How does your author website measure up?

In this months edition of Marina’s Academy, I’ll introduce you to eight of my favorite website analysis tools. They are all free, mostly easy to run, and reasonably easy to understand.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Read on.

Go to Academy Resource page (Password: fowled)

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Have a question? Comment? Suggestion?

Email me at marina@marinareznor.com

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THIS MONTH’S HOW-TO: How To Test A Website

TOP 8 WEBSITE TESTING TOOLS

#8

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nibbler.silktie.com (FREE)

Nibbler is one of my favorite sites because of it’s comprehensive testing, easy to understand format, and ease of use. You only get three free reports but that’s enough. It gives you an overall score out of 10 and the subscores that contributed to it. It’s at number eight so it’s at the top of the list, but is the best online evaluation tool.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#7

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GTmetrix.com (FREE)

Not every internet visitor to your site has access to a super-fast internet connection. GTmetrix measures how fast and well your site loads and gives you recommendations for improving load times. Google bases much of it’s page rank on site speed, so this is an important metric to know.

#6

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https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/ (FREE)

Note: run this on a mobile phone. Will give you an overall impression of how fast your site loads on mobile devices, another key Google page rank metric. Easy to use, easy to understand, not so easy to fix.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#5

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https://smallseotools.com/website-seo-score-checker/ (FREE)

A very detailed look at how a search engine will look at your website. It gets technical, but has good suggestions and directly pinpoints weaknesses.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#4

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https://smallseotools.com/domain-authority-checker/ (FREE)

Returns a numeric MOZ value of 0-100 that Google depends on heavily to determine your page rank. Domain authority judges the overall integrity of a website, while Page Authority judges the potential ranking of a single webpage. Can take a while to run. Note: this test is very much the same as PageRank, which is now dead.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#3

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https://www.deadlinkchecker.com (FREE)

Google places a high value on links and will mark you down for broken links. This tools is easy to use and understand, and luckily makes it easy to fix.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#2

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https://www.responsinator.com/ (FREE)

Displays what your website looks like on several mobile phone mock-ups. An important visual double-check.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

#1

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Ask visitors what they remember about your site. (FREE)

The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. Brace yourself for honest answers and be ready to improve your site based on visitor feedback.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#a37a5b” scene_position=”center” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#ffffff” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-1-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ font_color=”#ffffff” column_shadow=”small_depth” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

LET’S GO SHOPPING!

Tom’s Guide is a reliable source for tested tech products and this article highlights several of our all-time favorites, like the Anker Power Core ($29.99 Amazon), and a few like the Amir 3-in-1 Camera Lens Kit ($13.99 Amazon) I want to see under my palm tree July 25th.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#a37a5b” scene_position=”center” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#ffffff” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-1-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ font_color=”#ffffff” column_shadow=”small_depth” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

CHECKING IN ON THAT GDPR ROLL-OUT

“Everyone is breaking the GDPR law right now”

“Confusion will continue to reign, and until someone actually gets burned, everyone is trying to fly as close to the sun as possible,” said a publishing executive. Digiday has a great article on how many websites still have default pre-ticked consent boxes, no ‘reject’ buttons, and are bombarding visitors with unnecessary and non-compliant emails.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#a37a5b” scene_position=”center” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#ffffff” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-1-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ font_color=”#ffffff” column_shadow=”small_depth” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

WASTE TIME LIKE A PROFESSIONAL WEB DEVELOPER

In times of stress and tension I turn to a website that covers the international news I care most about: royal jewels. Every day, TheCourtJeweller.com covers in meticulous detail the heirloom and modern jewels worn by today’s royalty and other lucky people. The comments are the best part – these people know their jewels.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#a37a5b” scene_position=”center” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#ffffff” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-1-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ font_color=”#ffffff” column_shadow=”small_depth” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

IN NEXT MONTH’S NEWSLETTER

Google has made it it’s mission to clean up the internet and they have been doing a very good job of it. They make their mission clear: in exchange for you providing original, high quality content that people find useful they will deliver those people to your website. Some call it making a bargain with the devil, other people call it good business practices. In July we will take the laptop to the hammock, pour a cold glass of iced-tea, and discuss what it takes to make Google love you. The best part is that this love is free.

We will also discuss the dreaded Google Penguin.

Have a particular question you’d like me to address? Drop me an email.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”3″ divider_color=”extra-color-3″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#ececec” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-2-percent” column_padding_position=”right” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1530190031993{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”]

My name is Marina Reznor, and I am a romance author by night and a web developer by day. I’ve been hanging around the internet for a long time, and enjoy sharing the information I come across*.

Have questions? Comments? Let’s be friends.

Email me here: Marina

Did a good friend forward you this email?
Click here: Join the Academy and receive it every month yourself.

*I am not paid to recommend or advertise any tool or service, and if I was I would clearly disclose the fact.

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