This may help improve your website’s privacy and safeguard important information. However, it isn’t all positive. As you might expect, doing this can harm your SEO as you are intentionally giving out incorrect information to any search engine bots.

As such, each user needs to weigh the pros and cons of URL masking before deciding if it is right for their website. Naturally, there is no correct answer as it comes down to what your website is trying to achieve.

Today, I will cover what URL masking is, how to use it in WordPress, and if you should.

What Is URL Masking?

In simple terms, URL masking allows a site to load another page’s information while displaying a different page’s URL.

In less simple terms, URL masking is a form of redirection where the user is redirected to another page’s content, but the URL itself does not reflect this. It is perfect for displaying your URL no matter what page the user views.

Thus, it is typically used for marketing purposes when you want your main URL on full display, or when you want to hide the URL, the information is coming from.

For instance, some affiliate marketers will use URL masking to hide the fact the user is going through a specific affiliate agency or referral number.

There are several types of URL masking, so let’s cover them.

Domain Masking

Domain masking is a method in which a domain or subdomain directs users to another URL in an effort to hide the original URL or to simplify the URL being displayed by shortening it to make it more user-friendly.

You see this quite often as an Amazon affiliate or while using services such as Bitly.

JavaScript Redirection

A JavaScript redirection is a method that takes place when a user accesses a website, a JavaScript will be executed that redirects the user to another location while keeping the original URL visible in the browser.

Server-side Scripting

JavaScript is not the only option you can use. Developers can set up server-side scripts using PHP, ASP, and more to load a different page’s content when a URL is accessed without changing the displayed URL.

Proxy Masking

Proxy masking is a technique where a proxy server is used to fetch another page’s information to display on the original page without changing the URL address. The request is made the moment the user accesses the URL which prompts the proxy server to begin.

URL Rewriting

URL Rewriting works by editing the .htaccess file in WordPress to modify the URL structure. The goal is to assign a URL to the content from another page, that way the URL remains the same when viewing a different piece of content.

Frame Masking

Frame masking is a technique that utilizes an HTML frame (iframe) to display a different page’s content without changing the URL. It makes it seem like the content on the screen belongs to the URL being displayed.

Why Use URL Masking?

There are a lot of ways to achieve URL masking, but the big question is why a website would want to do this in the first place. There are several key reasons why to do this, but their importance relies heavily on the website itself.

Here are some of the major reasons why you may want to consider using URL masking in WordPress:

Improve Brand Recognition

One of the main uses of URL masking is to ensure that the user knows the content they are viewing is from your brand. One of the best ways to achieve this is by making sure that the URL includes your brand name.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes get lost as users explore a site and end up viewing very long URLs that make it difficult to determine where the content originates from. For example, consider your homepage URL which is usually https://www.YourDomain.com.

Then consider what happens when you go deeper into the website. The URL will might look something like this:

https://www.YourDomain.com/Category/WordPress-URL-Masking/aghebhqsdgyihedbn

Not only is this link not something someone would share on social media, but by the end of it, they are likely to forget your domain name. For this reason, URL masking is a popular marketing tactic when done in a way to minimize SEO damage.

Hides Affiliate Links

Many websites will use plugins that hide affiliate links from users to avoid making it obvious they are trying to make a commission on the sale. While I don’t recommend doing this, as it is a bit unethical, URL masking is another way of achieving the same result.

Essentially, when an affiliate link is followed, you should notice that the end of the URL usually contains the Affiliate ID. This is a long string of letters, symbols, and numbers that is a dead giveaway that it is an affiliate link.

Thus, by masking the URL, the Affiliate ID is no longer visible, and users may not realize it is an affiliated web address.

Again, I don’t recommend this because it is a grey area legally. In the United States, if you are making money from affiliate links, you are required to make it clear they are an affiliate link. Besides, in many cases, users are more likely to make a purchase if they know it helps the site.

The same logic applies to other tracking codes for analytical tools. Many sites will have link tracking that can capture how a user interacts with a page. Some sites try to hide this because they want the most organic experience from a user.

Again, hiding tracking information is not ethical, and some users will avoid sites that do this.

Improves Privacy Protection

Generally speaking, when you create a website and register it with WHOIS, your information becomes publicly available. While this isn’t a big deal in most cases, some users want to keep their personal information private.

Or at least as private as information can get in a public space.

Domain masking can hide sensitive information and replace it with a domain masking service. In many cases, you can use these services for free as it is a very common practice among site owners that value privacy.

That said, there are premium services that offer more in-depth protection, but that is a topic for another day.

Hide the Use of Subdomains

Many developers will utilize subdomains to create content for a specific topic. While this can help provide developers with more options, it can also make the user experience feel fragmented. URL masking is a solution to this problem.

Instead of leaving the site you are on, URL masking allows you to easily display information on the subdomain without actually leaving the main site. This allows you to get the benefits of using different tools on your subdomain without the URL mess it creates.

Just remember that subdomains are treated differently by search engines.

As such, their use can dilute the authority of your main site if used incorrectly. This can easily create duplicate content problems for the site, so stay vigilant and look at how Google is ranking your content in Search Console.

Problems with URL Masking

As I have pointed out already, there are some major drawbacks to using URL masking. As such, many sites will actually avoid using it entirely for some of these reasons, which isn’t a bad choice.

Here are some of the main problems sites will encounter when using URL Masking:

Confusing For Users

We’ve talked a lot about how URL masking can be beneficial for marketing, but the truth is that there is a much bigger problem that marketers face and that is shareability. Think about it, if the URL displayed is not the content they are viewing, how do they share it?

Well, simply put, they don’t. Users will often share the URL in their browser, which will lead to another location.

Obviously, this hurts any chance of the content a user is looking at from being shared on social media sites. However, sharing is only half of the problem. What if the user just wants to bookmark that page?

For instance, let’s say you own a cooking site, and the user is looking at a recipe they want to make tomorrow. Naturally, they bookmark the page so they can come back to it. The next day, when they use that bookmark, it doesn’t lead to the recipe.

This can create a frustrating user experience because the user will have trouble finding what they were previously looking at because the true URL was hidden from them. As such, this isn’t a great option for most sites.

URL Masking Damages SEO

Users are not the only ones negatively impacted by URL masking. Search engine bots also do not like being deceived by using a different URL for the content displayed. Each URL has its own authority and rank for the content being shown.

Naturally, when a single URL is displaying content from other pages, that disrupts how the authority is distributed.

However, the much bigger problem is that search engine bots will determine that the content is duplicate. After all, the content that is being displayed does have its own URL and a search engine bot will eventually find it.

Thus, when the content is detected twice, it is classified as duplicate content, which will hurt your rankings significantly.

However, these problems are the least of your concerns compared to this next one. Google can remove your site from appearing in searches if it thinks that you are trying to deceive users with the URL masking.

If this happens, there is no coming back from it. It is a death sentence, which is why most websites will avoid using URL masking.

URL Masking Can Damage Your Reputation

So, one thing I failed to mention in the benefits of URL masking is that it is a great way to scam your users. Obviously, this is not a positive thing, and over the years, sites that use URL masking have gotten a bad reputation.

As a result, users who can recognize URL masking often think the site is trying to scam them, which results in them not using it.

And once users start associating your site with scamming, regardless of whether it is true, your reputation will be permanently damaged. From the user’s perspective, you are deceiving them about the URL being displayed, thus you can make it look like an official page.

This is why URL masking is widely used by scam sites. They can create an official-looking URL and display real content from official pages and trick you at the last moment during a sign-up process where they steal your information.

How to Perform URL Masking in WordPress

I mentioned earlier all of the ways you can achieve URL masking. However, I’m not going to cover them all as most are a bit too difficult for users or are likely to cause problems for your site if done incorrectly.

Instead, I am going to cover two of the simpler ways to do this in WordPress. The first way is by editing the index.php file and the second is by editing the .htaccess file. It’s worth pointing out that a typo could mess up your website.

As such, I strongly recommend creating a backup of your site before following this tutorial. This will ensure you can restore your website if a mistake is made.

Method 1: Using the Content Mask Plugin

The Content Mask plugin is a simple way to mask content in WordPress. It is far easier than any other method and just requires entering the URL addresses into the plugin. It essentially embeds the content from another page on the page you want it to display.

As such, this should realistically only take a few minutes to complete. That said, you will have to set this up for every post or page you want, thus, it could take more time if you are adding URL masking to a lot of content.

Start off by searching the plugin directory for Content Mask and install and activate the plugin.

With the plugin activated, go to the post or page where you want to mask the URL. Scroll down below the editor and you will find the Content Mask Settings section at the bottom. This is where all the magic happens.

You should see a big text box for the Content Mask URL. Enter the URL of the content you want to display on this post or page.

Next to this text box is a switch that is set to Disabled by default. Flip the switch to Enabled.

To the right of the text box, you can select what kind of masking method you want to use. The plugin provides three options. The first is to download the content directly. The second is to use an iframe (HTML). And the third is to use a redirection.

All three methods will achieve the same result. The only unique option is for the download method, which will ask you to choose a cache expiration time. Otherwise, the method you choose has no extra settings.

Below this, you will find a series of checkboxes that allow you to choose which user roles will not see the content masking. By default, they are all unselected. If you want a specific user role to not be able to view the masked content, simply check the box for their role.

Below this, you can also choose if you want to mask the content based on whether the user is logged in or out. Again, just check the box that suits your needs. Leave both unchecked if you do not want a condition.

Finally, at the bottom are two larger text boxes. This is where more experienced users can place header and footer scripts respectively. Unless you know what you are doing, you can ignore these.

Once you have configured everything, be sure to save the changes to the post or page to finalize it.

And that’s it. If you visit the page, you should see a different page’s content appear under the same URL. Just remember that if you selected any user roles, you should test out multiple views to make sure it is working correctly.

Simply repeat this on as many posts or pages as you want. If you are not a fan of using a plugin, the next method is for you.

Method 2: Editing the .htaccess File

This method is the manual approach to URL masking in WordPress. Realistically, there are several ways to pull this off, to keep things simple, let’s look at the easiest way to do this, editing the .htaccess file.

Once you are in the cPanel, locate the Files section and select the File Manager option.

Upon doing so, you should see a list of all of the files stored on your server. Start by selecting the public_html directory on the left side of the screen. This is where all of the files related to your WordPress install are located.

If you look through the files within the public_html directory, you should spot the .htaccess file. Right-click on the .htaccess file and select the edit option.

Important Note: It is possible that your website does not have a .htaccess file. Sometimes the file does not generate, so if you do not see this file you need to take a minute and generate it. This tutorial will help you do just that.

A small window will appear reminding you that something can go wrong, and as a precaution, you should create a backup of your website before making any changes. Click on the “Edit” button to proceed.

This will bring you to the file where you can edit it. Scroll down to the bottom of the .htaccess file and add the following lines of code:

RewriteEngine On 
RewriteRule ^displayedpath/?$ /filepath/original/ 

All you need to do is edit the second line and enter the file path for the content you want to be replaced and the file path for the content you want to appear. Since this is specific to your site, I can’t tell you the file path to use.

With a little trial and error, you should be able to get it working in a few minutes. The end result should be visiting that page and viewing another page’s content. If something does go wrong, use the backup to restore your site.

Are There Any Alternatives to URL Masking?

Absolutely! I said at the start that URL masking was a form of redirection, thus, the simplest alternative a site can use is to set up a URL redirection. While the URL will change once it’s accessed, the user is brought to the correct location.

And unlike URL masking, when done correctly, URL redirection does not negatively impact your SEO.

If you were thinking of using URL masking to hide your affiliate links or tracking codes in the URL, a better alternative is to use a URL shortening service. These services allow you to enter a URL, and then create a shorter version of that URL that is easier to share, such as what I mentioned earlier – Bitly.

WordPress is home to a lot of great plugins that can shorten your links for free, but there are paid services that you can try as well. In some cases, these services can create brand-specific URLs that are more effective than URL masking entirely.

If you were considering using URL masking to protect your privacy, there are other solutions. In most cases, your web host will offer some form of protection. Here at GreenGeeks, we offer ID Protect which you can add to your account for a small fee.

Essentially, anything you would use URL masking for can be achieved in a different way, and for the most part, that’s what sites choose to do. The risks associated with URL masking are too high to consider for most.

Is URL Masking Right for You?

We have talked extensively about the pros and cons related to URL masking. The truth is that there are some compelling reasons to use it, but for the vast majority of sites, the cons outweigh the pros.

As such, each site needs to make this decision for themselves. However, if you choose to implement URL masking, the above demonstration should help you set it up in a matter of minutes.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful in setting up URL masking in WordPress.

Why do you want to set up URL masking in WordPress? Were you aware of the risks of using link masking?

The post URL Masking: What It Is & How It Works appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

But what does .io mean, and why has it become so popular?

This article will delve into the origins and meaning of the .io TLD, highlight its unique advantages, and explore the scenarios where it might be the perfect choice—or not. Ultimately, let’s determine when it is the right fit for your website needs.

What are TLDs (Top-Level Domains)?

A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of a web address that comes after the final dot. For example, in ‘google.com’, the .com is the TLD. TLDs are important for finding and organizing websites on the internet.

There are different types of TLDs. Generic TLDs like .com, .org, and .net can be used by anyone. Country-code TLDs like .uk for the United Kingdom and .de for Germany are only for specific countries. Each type serves a unique purpose.

As of 2021, there are more than 1,500 TLDs in the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) root database, showing the wide variety of options available. The .io domain extension, in particular, is becoming popular in the tech industry.

As of March 2023, there were 1,089,147 registered .io domains, with a 32% year-over-year growth. In fact, the .io domain has become increasingly popular, particularly among tech startups, developers, and gaming companies.

TLDs help organize the internet and show the purpose or location of a website. So, what does .io mean and can you use it for your website?

Overview of .io

The .io domain extension is a unique top-level domain initially assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). However, because the region has no significant population and permanent residents, its use quickly expanded beyond its original purpose.

This TLD  is now adopted by a broader audience, specifically in the tech industry. Over time, it became more than just a regional domain, evolving into a global brand symbol.

It’s now widely used by tech startups and innovative companies. One reason for this is its association with “input/output” (I/O) in computer science. Its technical connotation aligns well with the goals of many modern tech companies.

Despite its association with the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), it is widely used for its tech-savvy appeal, representing input/output in computing.

Benefits of Using .io Domain Extension

Availability

One of the main advantages of using a .io domain is its higher availability compared to traditional domains like .com. You’re more likely to find a desirable and memorable name that suits your brand without needing awkward modifications or hyphens. Many .io domains are still open for registration.

The .io domain is used by only 0.4% of all websites. This lower usage means there’s less competition for names, making it easier to secure a unique and relevant domain for your site.

SEO Considerations

Google treats .io domains as generic top-level domains (gTLDs), meaning they aren’t tied to any specific country. This is good for SEO because it allows .io websites to show up in search results worldwide.

Using a .io domain can help your site reach a global audience and boost your SEO efforts. It’s a viable option for businesses looking to optimize their presence on search engines.

Global Appeal

The .io domain enjoys universal recognition beyond the British Indian Ocean Territory. It is used by tech companies and startups worldwide, which contributes to its broad appeal. 

This makes .io suitable for businesses targeting a global audience, as it is not tied to a specific country and is perceived as a modern and innovative choice​​.

Short and Easy to Remember

The .io domain is appealing because it is short and simple. Its brevity makes it easy to remember and allows for creative and catchy domain names. This can significantly help with branding for a business or project.

In today’s fast-paced world, having a concise and easily recognizable domain name is important. It helps establish an online presence quickly and effectively.

Additionally, a short and memorable domain name can make your brand stand out. It ensures that visitors remember your site and find it easily, which is crucial for maintaining a strong online identity.

When to Use a .io Domain

If you’re in the Tech Industry

Using a .io domain is very popular among tech startups and companies because it fits with industry norms and trends. The term IO itself stands for “Input/Output,” which immediately signals that you are part of the tech world. This makes it a great branding choice that is cost-effective but highly impactful.

Having a .io domain also helps connect a startup with a community of other tech founders. It shows pride in being part of the tech startup scene. Many founders choose .io for this reason, especially when their preferred .com domain is not available.

Use Cases in Various Sectors

SaaS (Software as a Service)

Many SaaS companies use .io to emphasize their tech-oriented solutions and innovative approach. Here are examples of SaaS websites that use the .io domain:

• Tyk (tyk.io) – Tyk is an open-source API gateway and management platform that offers tools for managing, monitoring, and securing APIs.
• Memberstack (memberstack.io) – A tool for adding user accounts and payments to Webflow sites without code.

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

AI startups use .io to highlight their focus on advanced technology and artificial intelligence developments. Below are some AI websites that use the io domain.

• TeleportHQ (teleporthq.io) – An AI-driven platform for building websites with visual editing.
• Seldon (seldon.io) – Delivers machine learning deployment solutions.
• Aira (aira.io) – An app that links individuals who are blind or have low vision to professional visual interpreters

Blockchain

Blockchain companies use .io to underscore their involvement in pioneering and disruptive technologies​.

• OpenSea.io: A large web3 marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFTs.
• ZenLedger (zenledger.io) – A blockchain accounting and tax software.
• Etherscan (etherscan.io) – A block explorer and analytics platform for Ethereum.
• Synthetix (synthetix.io) – Offers liquidity for unrestricted derivatives such as perpetual futures, options, parimutuel markets, and more across EVM chains

When Not to Use a .io Domain

Non-Tech Industries

For businesses outside the tech industry, using a .io domain can create confusion or misalign with the brand’s identity.

For example, a bakery or a law firm using a .io domain might not connect well with their audience since the .io extension is closely associated with technology and innovation. This can lead to a mismatch between the domain name and the industry norms and expectations of these businesses.

Additionally, customers might find it strange or misleading if a non-tech company uses a .io domain. This could affect the credibility and trustworthiness of the business in the eyes of potential clients who expect domain names to reflect the nature of the business.

Another important aspect to consider is that .io domains tend to be more expensive and less recognized than traditional domains like .com or .net. This might not be a worthwhile investment for non-tech businesses that do not benefit from the tech-savvy perception that .io domains offer. 

Local or Regional Businesses

For businesses targeting local or regional markets, using country-specific TLDs like .us, .uk, or .de is often more effective. These TLDs help build trust and relevance with local customers.

A domain that signifies a specific country can make customers feel more connected to the business. This is something a .io domain might not achieve as effectively.

Moreover, using a ccTLD can help businesses tailor their marketing efforts to the local audience. It allows for more precise targeting in advertising and search engine optimization.

This localized approach can drive more traffic and conversions from the target region, making the business more competitive in its local market.

Cost to Register a .io Domain

The popularity of .io domains among tech startups and companies has driven up their prices, with the registration cost varying depending on the registrar and specific offerings. 

For example, GreenGeeks offers .io domains for $49.95/year, with a renewal price of $49.95/year.

Registering Your Domain Name in GreenGeeks

Registering your .io domain with GreenGeeks is simple. First, if you are setting up a hosting account, you get one free domain name. Just click on any “Get Started” green button on the plan you want. You will then be guided through the hosting and domain registration process.

If you’re trying to register another domain, follow the steps below:

• Log in to your GreenGeeks account.
• Click on “Domains” in the left menu, then select “Register a Domain.”
• Enter the domain name you want and click “Domain Lookup” to check if it’s available.
• If the domain is available, you’ll see a confirmation message. Click “Go To Next Step.”
• If the domain isn’t available, try different variations or extensions like .net or .biz.
• Since you already have an account, you won’t need to provide additional information. Click “Go To Payment.”
• Fill out your payment details and click “Purchase Domain.”
• Your domain is now registered!

How to Transfer .io Domain to GreenGeeks

Transferring your .io domain to a new registrar like GreenGeeks can streamline your website management and billing by consolidating them into a single account.

The entire process of transferring is straightforward, but there are a few prerequisites:

• The domain must have been registered for at least 60 days, as domains are ineligible for transfer before this period.
• Avoid transferring a domain for 45 days after renewal due to an ICANN rule; doing so could void your renewal credit, requiring you to seek a refund from your previous registrar.
• If your domain is expiring within two weeks, renew it with your current registrar before initiating a transfer to avoid complications.

Starting a transfer before the domain expires is possible, but the domain will enter a pending transfer state and become unavailable until the transfer is complete and the new registrar renews it. If the transfer fails, especially after expiration, you may face additional fees or be unable to restart the transfer process.

Here are the steps you can take if you want to transfer your .io domain name to GreenGeeks.

Step 1: Verify Your Contact Information

Make sure you are listed as the “Admin Email” in the whois record for your domain, as you’ll need to authorize the transfer once initiated.

Step 2: Disable WHOIS Privacy Protection

For the duration of the transfer, you may need to disable WHOIS Privacy Protection. This ensures you can receive and respond to transfer confirmation emails.

Step 3: Disable DNSSEC

If your domain has Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) active, you’ll need to disable these settings to prevent DNS resolution issues. Once the transfer is complete, GreenGeeks can re-enable DNSSEC for you.

If you need to keep your DNSSEC records, provide GreenGeeks with the DNSSEC keys before changing the nameservers to avoid resolution failures.

Step 4: Update Nameservers

Change your domain’s nameservers to those provided by GreenGeeks:

ns1.greengeeks.net

ns2.greengeeks.net

Contact your current registrar for instructions on how to update nameservers. Remember, you cannot change nameservers while the domain name transfer is ongoing.

Step 5: Unlock Your Domain

Contact your current registrar to unlock your domain, which is necessary for the transfer.

Step 6: Obtain the Authorization Code

Ask your current registrar for the domain authorization code, sometimes referred to as an “Auth Code” or an “EPP Code.”

Step 7: Submit the Domain Transfer Form

Complete and submit the Domain Transfer Form provided by GreenGeeks to initiate the transfer process.

Domain transfers typically take up to seven days but responding promptly to any authorization emails can expedite this process. Not all registrars can speed up transfers, but quick responses can help shorten the waiting period.

Do’s and Don’ts When Naming Your .io Domain

1. Do Consider Registering Variations of Your Domain Name

Even if you’ve decided on a .io domain, it’s a good idea to register other variations of your domain name. This helps protect your brand and ensures that others don’t take your domain name or hold it for “ransom”.

Securing variant domains can also be useful for email marketing. It allows you to conduct outreach without risking spam penalties to your main domain.

2. Don’t Choose Gimmicky Names for Your .io Domain

Names ending in .io can seem fun and creative, like Mauric.io or Mustach.io, but they can hurt your site’s credibility in the long run.

Although these names might look clever at first, they may not be taken seriously as your site grows in popularity. It’s best to choose a straightforward and professional name to maintain trust and respect from your audience.

3. Do Keep It Short and Sweet

Choose a name for your .io domain that broadly represents your website’s niche. A unique, branded domain name can effectively convey what your business is about. Keep it under two words to make it memorable, as longer names are harder to remember.

4. Don’t Use Hyphens

Using hyphens on your domain name is an outdated practice and can be a red flag for experienced internet users. Keeping your domain simple and clear without hyphens helps maintain a professional image.

5. Do Check if It’s an Expired Domain

While the .io domain doesn’t have heavy competition, it’s still important to check if your chosen name is an expired domain. Use websites like who.is to investigate your potential .io domain.

Look into the domain’s history to ensure it doesn’t carry any penalties or unwanted associations. Also, make sure you aren’t unintentionally infringing on someone’s copyright. This due diligence helps protect your brand and ensures a clean start for your website.

6. Don’t Forget to Check Your Competitors

Before registering your .io domain, Google your shortlisted names. This helps avoid confusion with other websites in your industry. Overlooking this step can lead to legal issues over copyright and potentially cost you a lot of money. Always make sure your domain is unique and distinct to protect your brand.

FAQs About .io Domain

Conclusion

Choosing the right domain for your website is a strategic decision that reflects your brand’s identity and goals. The .io domain offers a modern, tech-savvy appeal, making it a great fit for startups and innovative companies. However, its suitability depends on your audience’s recognition and understanding of the .io TLD.

Consider what impression you want your domain to create and whether a .io domain conveys the right message. While a .io domain can signal innovation, a .com domain might feel more familiar and trusted to a broader audience.

Ultimately, the true value of your online presence lies beyond the domain name. High-quality content and a user-friendly experience are what truly engage visitors and keep them coming back.

The post What Does .io Mean? When to Use This TLD & When Not to appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Most SSH commands are designed to help you quickly find what you are looking for, or in other words, they exist to save you time.

Today, I will share 20 SSH remote commands that you should be using.

What Are SSH Commands?

SSH commands are executable commands that allow network administrators to locate and move files from one device to another.

While locating, moving, and even editing files are some of the most common commands, there are many others that are far more technical. For instance, it is actually possible to start an SSH service (connection) with a command.

Other commands include the ability to download files directly from the internet onto a remote device. And this is just scratching the surface.

The following 20 commands are some of the most useful in an SSH environment. Of course, what is useful to one person, may not be to another, so when it comes to usability, results may vary.

The Most Useful SSH Commands You Should Be Using

1. Copy Command, or cp

There is no doubt in my mind that every person that uses SSH will need to copy a file at one point or another. And that’s exactly what you can do with the Copy Command cp.

cp [source] [destination]

So for example, let’s say you want to copy a file on your desktop called MyFile and paste it into another directory with a different name. This is what the command would look like:

cp MyFile Directory2/NewFileName

It is important to note that if you do not specify the source location, it will search the directory you are currently in for the file. You can use this command to copy an individual file or an entire folder.

2. Change Directory, or cd

Arguably the most important command in SSH, the change directory command allows you to switch between directories. Most commands rely on being in the correct directory to work. In fact, that’s especially true about the copy command we just talked about.

Luckily, the command couldn’t be simpler:

cd [directory name]

That’s it. So, if you wanted to go to a directory named recipes, it would look like so:

cd recipes

Of course, you can get very specific if the directory you want to visit is found within other directories. In this case, you would just add the path after the directory name like so:

cd directory1/directory2/recipes

This basically tells the system to go into directory 1, then into directory 2, and finally, open up the recipes directory.

3. List Files, or ls

When network administrators have to take a look at other devices, it can be annoying to find where certain files are being stored. The List Files command exists to solve this very problem because it displays all of the files and directories on a device.

And to be honest, there’s not much to this command it is simply:

ls

This will display all of the files and directories that don’t require further digging.

Now, this command can be quite versatile outside of the simple two-character entry. You can actually add a ton to this simple command to get more results or to help you find more specific file types.

For example, if you use this command:

ls -a

This will actually display all of the hidden files that are not normally visible. Another useful command is:

ls -R

This command will display all of the files and folders within the current directory. There’s a wide variety of things you can do with the List Files command.

4. Move File, or mv

The Move file command operates similarly to the cut command you might be used to using on your computer. It will essentially take a file in one location and move it to another. It’s very basic and works similarly to the copy file command.

mv [source] [destination]

So for example, let’s say we want to move TestFile from the home directory to the TestFolder within the home directory. The command would look like so:

mv /home/TestFile.txt /home/TestFolder

It’s an incredibly useful command, to say the least. You can use the list file command afterward to make sure everything is in the correct location.

5. Current Path, or pwd

Have you ever forgotten where you are in a directory? Odds are you have, and the good news is that there is a really simple command to tell you exactly where you are. Just enter the following:

pwd

You will see the full path as a result. There are no other additions to this command, and it’s really as simple as typing pwd into the line.

6. Delete Command, or rm

There’s a high chance you will need to delete a file at some point. In fact, I would go as far to say it is unavoidable. The good news is that you can do it with an SSH command in seconds, simply enter the following line:

rm [file name]

The file in the current directory will be deleted. You can also use the pathing for the file to be more exact or if you are in a different directory. Of course, this command is not limited to files, you can also use it for directories.

In that case, the command will look like this:

rm -r home/Testfolder

The -r is what separates the two commands, so make sure to use it when it is necessary. Deleting the wrong file or directory can have catastrophic consequences.

7. Create File, or touch

Copying and moving files will only get you so far. Eventually, you will probably need to create a new file within a directory, and you can easily do that. Simply use the following line to create a file in the current directory:

touch [file name]

This command is exclusively for creating files. If you want to create the file in a different location, include the pathing information. Again, this is one of the more straightforward commands.

8. Create Directory, or mkdir

If you were looking for a way to create a new directory, don’t worry, there is a command for that. In this case, to create a new directory within the command will look like this:

mkdir [directory name]

Similar to all of the other commands, you can use the pathing information to create a directory outside of the current one. It’s identical to the previous command but is for directories instead of files.

9. Concatenate, or cat

Let’s get into actually opening files. The most common way to do this is with the concatenate command, or cat. This command will open the file in question so you can view all of the content within.

The command looks like this:

cat [file name]

However, this is only scratching the surface of this command. The real use is for merging multiple files into a new one. That command would look like so:

cat [file name 1] [file name 2] > [new file name]

Essentially, it will take the information stored in the two files and combine them into a new file. It’s quite handy when the need arises.

10. Open An Editor: Vi, Nano & Vim

If you want to edit a file, you have quite a few options. For example, if you want to open a file in Vi, just type the following command:

Vi [file name]

Another popular option is to use Nano. The command is quite similar:

Nano [file name]

Yet, another option you could use is Vim:

Vim -file name]

Obviously, you do need these editors installed before you can access them, and there are plenty of other options available.

11. History Command, or history

If you work in a team environment, which is common for IT departments, you may need to assist your coworkers from time to time. And when something does go wrong, one of the best ways to see the problem is to identify what commands they have entered.

And you can do that with the history command. All you need to do is enter the number of commands you would like to see and a list will be displayed:

history 5

The command above would show you the last 5 commands that were used. Overall, it can be a very useful tool when something goes awry.

12. Clear Terminal clear & reset

Sometimes, it can be hard to read everything on a terminal screen, thus you may want to clear the terminal for more readability. And there are two commands that can really help you do that.

The first is the clear command, which will clear all of the text on the screen.

clear

And the second is the reset command, which will reset the terminal completely.

reset

13. File Permission, or chmod

It’s extremely common to limit access to important files, and you can do that easily by setting the permissions. And as you might expect, there is a command that will do just that:

chmod [permission] [file name]

And like always, you can use the file pathing information in the file name portion of the command. Just make sure to not lock the wrong people out of a file.

If you need help setting permissions, there are some great tools that can help you.

14. Zip Files

Transferring large files over the internet can be a very slow process, especially since not everyone has Google Fiber. Instead, it’s always a good practice to compress, or zip, your files before you move them:

zip [file name].zip [file name]

In this example, the first [file name].zip is what you want the file to be called while the second is the file you want to compress. You can also add more files to the zip by putting a space in between each when entering the command.

15. Unzip Files

And as you might have guessed, you will need a way to unzip the files you receive from other devices or online. Yes, there is a command for that very purpose:

unzip [filename].zip

16. Find Command, or find

While you can use the list files command to see everything in a directory, that can be a nightmare when there are hundreds of them. Instead, a better way to search for a specific file is to use the find command.

This command allows you to search for files based on specific criteria. The basic syntax of this command is as follows:

find [starting directory] [options] [search term]

You may be wondering what options mean. In simple terms, this is an argument that helps you find what you are looking for. Or in other words, a filter option. The acceptable options include:

• -use: Searches for a file by a specific user.
• -size: Search for files that are a specific size.
• -name: Search for files with a specific name.

This might sound confusing since you can also use a search term. For instance, if you made your search term wp, it would locate any file that contains wp. It’s an incredibly useful command for quickly finding the file you need to use.

17. Find String, or grep

What if you are looking for a specific piece of information within a file? You can actually search for an individual string within a file by using the following command:

grep [string term] [file name]

18. Download Files Online, or wget

There will definitely come a time when you need to download a file from an online source. And you can do that directly from the command line with this command:

wget http://websiteurl/filename.ext

This will download it into the current directory, so make sure to be in the right place.

19. Check Memory Usage, or free

If you notice that your terminal is taking long to respond or just sluggish overall, you might be using too much memory on your device. One way to check is by using this command:

free

20. Exit

Last, but not least, is a command you should be using every time you need to close the terminal: the exit command. This command is straightforward as it will close the current terminal and return you to your local device.

exit

Do I Need to Be Good At Coding to Use SSH Commands?

This is actually a pretty tricky question.

On one hand, all of the commands are pretty simple, thus, just reading them online and what they do will let you use them effectively. However, reading the results of what you get and understanding some of the implications of commands is often difficult.

A simple syntax error could result in the wrong SSH command being used, as some are just differentiated by a single letter. Thus, due to the amount of damage you could cause by using the wrong command, I would highly recommend having a basic understanding of the command line.

Speed Up Your Workflow With SSH Commands

The entire point of using SSH commands is to speed up your work process. They offer shortcuts for everything…and I mean everything. The 20 commands I have listed are only the beginning, and to be honest, most of these have a ton of modifiers.

Thus, even for what’s listed, we are only scratching the surface.

What SSH commands do you use the most? Do you find them intuitive to use?

The post 20 Common SSH Commands You Should Be Using Today appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

What Exactly is Mixed Content?

When we talk about content, we are talking about the two types of protocols that serve up elements to you when viewing a web page. There is content that is delivered to you over an unencrypted, unsecured connection. This is called an HTTP connection.

Then there is content delivered to you over a secure, encrypted connection. This is called an HTTPS connection.

Basically, when you choose to use an HTTPS secure connection, hackers cannot snoop or steal information during transit. Using the HTTPS protocol is especially important for websites that deal with private information, allow for payments, or deal with other related private data or financial information.

A good example of this is an online store.

Mixed content occurs when content is being served from both protocols. A good example of this is when a website is being served over a secure HTTPS connection but is pulling images and/or scripts from other resources that are using the unencrypted HTTP.

The Web is Moving to Secure All Websites

If you haven’t noticed, the web (while being led and pushed by Google) is moving to secure all websites. This means that even now, if you try to connect to a website with the HTTP protocol, Google has pop-up warnings that let you know that “the site is not secure.”

Google has made such a huge push that they are starting to not even allow mixed content in Chrome. However, you can still enable Chrome to allow insecure content if you wish.

Mixed Content is Confusing

Building on what I said above, websites that are pulling from both protocols can be confusing. There really should be no reason for this, especially if you have a solid web developer. Since there are a number of reasons why mixed content in Chrome occurs, your developer should make sure that no mixed content is on your website.

This is an essential part of the website design process.

If your site is being served up using the secure HTTPS connection, then all of the resources it uses should be pulling that same protocol. Google and other major browsers like Firefox are making it more difficult to navigate sites with mixed content and are forcing website owners to do some cleanup.

If they straighten these sites up, then they will continue to work by default. If not, they will be blocked unless mixed content in Chrome is enabled.

How Mixed Content in Chrome Will Be Handled

After December 2019, insecure content will be blocked by Chrome. It will handle mixed content differently. With the coming of Chrome 79, Google will do two main things:

1. Google will look to automatically upgrade all insecure to secure content. This will only happen if that particular resource is available and exists on HTTPS.
2. If that doesn’t work, Google will introduce a “toggle” that Chrome users can use to unblock insecure resources and items that Chrome is blocking.

You may think to yourself that this isn’t such a big deal. However, even though this isn’t technically a “full blocking of content,” users will more often than not back out of a site that shows the Google warning instead of unblocking mixed content in Chrome.

This will hurt your website traffic, possible client interactions, and much more.

Should You Worry About Updating Your Website?

The short answer is a simple yes. As time goes by, the option to allow mixed content in Chrome will start to get buried deeper and deeper. This will continue until Chrome will not allow insecure content at all.

There is no timetable for this, but history has shown us that Chrome and the other major browser are definitely working toward getting away from the HTTP protocol for good.

How to Resolve Mixed Content Issues on Your Site

This is all going to depend on what type of website you are running. If you are using WordPress, then resolving mixed content issues can be handled using plugins.

You can also use something like Really Simple SSL. These steps can of course only be taken after you have installed an SSL Certificate on your website.

Other online tools that will help you resolve mixed content on your website include something like Screaming Frog. Now, there is more of a learning curve with this, and it costs money. However, it will definitely do the trick for you so that you do not show mixed content in Chrome.

If you are looking for a free mixed content scanner, then JitBit SSL Checker may be right for you. The tool is solid for finding and showing you mixed content errors, but it won’t automatically fix them for you.

How to Unblock Mixed Content in Chrome

Right now, and for the foreseeable future, Chrome will still allow mixed content if you take a minute to enable it. See, Chrome already blocks so much mixed content and adds an “Insecure content blocked” message as well.

You can actually see how this works from this Google mixed content example page. In order to unblock mixed content in Chrome, you need to click a link named “Load unsafe scripts.”

This will essentially tell Google that you are fine with taking the risk of viewing the page. Once they have this information, the page will automatically let you view the non-secure content.

This process will become even easier when Chrome 79 is released. As stated above, Google will have an added icon in the browser that you can simply toggle on or off for mixed content.

Other browsers like Firefox also allow you to view mixed content when needed. That being said, Firefox, Opera, and Safari are all moving in the direction of not allowing mixed content on websites over time.

Final Thoughts 

Allowing mixed content in Chrome has become a major concern for Google. They have really concentrated on making website owners switch to the secure and encrypted HTTPS protocol.

Google has really driven that process for the last couple of years. Now, they are now tuning their resources to finding the best solution for mixed content issues across the web.

While the process of getting rid of mixed content may be slow, over time, Google and the other major browsers will all look to get to a point when all mixed content is blocked until fixed.

The post What is Mixed Content in Google Chrome and How Do You Enable It? appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Custom dimensions in Google Analytics can be a powerful and informative tool when used correctly. You want data-driven marketing to be useful by understanding how it works. This means that not only do you need accurate data, but the right data as well.

Simply put, most users do not use Google Analytics to its full potential. Sure, they stick the tracking code on the website and look up pageviews and simple data points, but rarely are things like metrics and custom dimensions used.

This could be due to a lack of understanding of the tools available, or simply most don’t feel the need for this type of data. Let’s dig down some and talk about what custom dimensions are, what they mean, and why you may want to use them on your website.

What are Custom Dimensions?

The easiest way to explain custom dimensions is to simply say that they allow you to record additional, non-standard data in Google Analytics. You can then take that data and pivot or segment it based on these dimensions.

They are very similar to standard dimensions like source, medium, city, or browser. Custom dimensions can be used as filters at your main view level. This allows you to more easily isolate a specific subset of your audience or traffic. Doing so gives you a deeper analysis of what all is going on.

Different from the Content Grouping feature, which allows you to “bucket” your existing pages into groups that are more logical, custom dimensions in Google Analytics allows you to attach new data to hits, users, and sessions.

The last part of the above sentence is perhaps most important. See, custom dimensions take advantage of what is known as Scope. This is another tool offered by Google Analytics. What this means is that your new dimension can be applied to an individual user and all of their interactions on your website. Or, it can be applied to a single pageview hit.

Scope

Let’s touch on Scope a little more and how it plays along with custom dimensions. Basically, there are four main scope types that can be specified for custom dimensions. These include:

• Product Scope
• Hit Scope
• Session Scope
• User Scope

Product Scope: A product-level scope used for eCommerce tracking. This type of tracking assigns value to a specific product. Remember, it will only be able to pull data if enhanced eCommerce tracking is enabled.

Hit Scope: A hit scope value is only applied to a specific hit. The specific hit will have a custom dimension like ‘Comment” applied to it. You can see which of your posts have received comments.

Session Scope: A session-level scope can be set if you are interested in finding out all the interactions that took place within a session that a specific action occurred.

User Scope: This is the highest scope level you can set for a custom dimension. Setting up a scope like this will send the most values tied to successive hits right to Google Analytics.

Using the scopes above and tying them into custom dimensions can give you very direct and helpful data that can be used for the future.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is used in conjunction with custom dimensions as well. Remember, Google Analytics itself is a good start for tracking data and figuring out what people are doing on your website.

That being said, if used alone, it does have limitations. This is why things like tag manager and custom dimensions can really help you understand your site traffic and how it all interacts.

You can use different tags to properly track data and help you gain more control over how you market your business and products in the long run.

Difference Between Predefined and Custom Dimensions

At first glance, you may not understand that there are some major differences between predefined and custom dimensions within Google Analytics.

Simply put, a predefined dimension is one that is already available within a Google Analytics report. These are also known as “ready to use” dimensions. On the flip side, custom dimensions are actually user-defined dimensions.

So, if you are trying to measure or track the characteristic of a user that can’t be measured by any existing or predefined dimension, then you need to create your own custom dimension to measure and track your need.

Using custom dimensions also allows you the ability to import data that Google Analytics does not automatically collect for you. Some of this type of data may include:

• CRM Data
• Phone Call Data
• Logged In Users Data
• eCommerce Data

When you import this type of relevant data, you can then compare it with other data already provided and continue moving forward from there.

Let’s dive into how custom dimensions can actually help your business by going over a couple of examples together.

How Can Custom Dimension Help?

Let’s move a step further and talk about how custom dimensions actually help. Listed below are ways that tracking specific visitor traffic can really help a website.

In this example, let’s say you run an online store and your content marketing strategy is built around a blog. When you implement a custom dimension, these are some ways they help and can be effective.

User Engagement

Say you publish a series of tutorials on your website. They are performing decently when you look at the statistics and the analytics. However, they don’t seem to offer any monetary value and you feel like your efforts are a waste.

You can use a user-level custom dimension and call it “Commenter.” You will see that this dimension communicates back to you with a true/false signal on whether a user has ever commented on your blog.

Use this data to track the behaviors of your website users and see if there are patterns between them and purchases placed on your site. This can help you pinpoint what users are making purchases.

Do users that comment on your site usually end up buying something?

User Demographics

If you own an eCommerce website, chances are you want to track user login. User login status is actually a highly recommended custom dimension. It allows you to isolate shoppers. You can track existing and loyal customers.

This is a fantastic source of data and insight that you can see in marketing for a small business that sells online. You can take this even further if you are collecting anonymous data during the user registration process on your website.

Here is an example of that:

You add a field to your user registration form that is titled “Occupation.” When you communicate the user selections for the form to analytics, you will be able to compare purchase patterns over time based on a profession. You can use data accordingly after that when you determine purchase patterns based on what people do for a living.

Out of Stock Products

Out of stock products is a problem on a couple of different levels for eCommerce websites. For one thing, it hurts SEO. These URLs become blank, and in some cases don’t exist anymore.

This negatively impacts your site ranking and structure with Google. You can use Yoast SEO to help, but even then, things can get dicey if this problem isn’t taken care of. There are some options here, though. Do you leave the pages online, redirect, or put 404 errors on them?

If you use a custom dimension called “out of stock pageviews”, then you can effectively choose what process you want to use based on the data you get from the custom dimension created.

Another really great example of when you should or could use custom dimensions is if you run a content-heavy website that has a lot of different authors. As a website owner, you would want to understand which authors have the most popular content.

In order to get this information, you could view a report in analytics that compares pageviews by author. That being said, author data is not available in Google Analytics by default. So, you can send this data as a custom dimension to your analytics account with each pageview.

You see, custom dimensions can really break data down in a way that makes marketing easier. If you want to learn analytics on it, then a custom dimension in Google Analytics is the way to do this.

How to Create a Custom Dimension

In order to create a custom dimension, you first need to be logged into your Google Analytics account. Go ahead and login or create an account if you need to. From there we can move forward.

Now that you are inside your Google Analytics account let’s go ahead and add a custom dimension together.

To add a custom dimension, click on Admin > Property Settings > Custom Definitions. In the Custom Definitions dropdown, click on “Custom Dimensions.”

Once that is clicked a box will open up where you can add a new custom dimension. Go ahead and click on the red “New Custom Dimension” button to get started.

From here, go ahead and give it a name, define a scope setting, and make sure the “Active” box is checked.

Go ahead and click on the “Create” button when you are ready.

You will see some lines of code come up. Make note of these, or copy and paste them somewhere that you can access them easily. This is JavaScript, Android SDK, and iOS SDK code.

Click on the “Done” button when you are ready to move on.

From here, you may need your developer to take over. The code above is fully documented on Google Developers and Google Support. Both of these pages talk in great detail about custom dimensions and metrics. They will also guide you on how to integrate with Google Tag Manager and more.

If you feel like you can get these codes operational and put into your site, then go for it! If not, grab a developer and use their knowledge to help you integrate all of this together.

Once in place, you should be able to easily track all custom dimensions from your Google Analytics account.

Final Thoughts

Having a deeper knowledge of your audience and how they interact with your website is never a bad thing. This can only be useful in the long run. Using a custom dimension in Google Analytics will provide you with more tailored analytics that can better serve your business and its overall marketing plan.

Remember, most analytics accounts only allow you to use up to 20 custom dimensions at any one time. If you have 20 and want another one, you will first have to remove one to make room.

For this reason alone, make your custom dimensions count. If you aren’t sure what you are doing yet, then work on some, test them, then publish them and see how they do. If the data they provide is good, then roll with it.

It is better to simply use Google Analytics as it is then it is to waste your custom dimensions slots on ones that are poorly implemented and just don’t work correctly.

I hope this article has given you some good information regarding what custom dimensions are, how they work, and what they can be used for. Go ahead and start playing around with some custom dimensions of your own and see how they work.

If you seem to be getting useful data from them, then move forward. If not, then go ahead and try something different until you find the data that is most helpful.

Simply create a few like we did above, then attach them to Google Tag Manager and follow the steps given from Google. Before you know it, you will be getting all sorts of amazing targeted data and stats that you can use to your benefit.

The post What are Custom Dimensions and How Do You Use Them? appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Okay, 19 tips to stay inspired and avoid blogging burnout.
Perfect.
Here we go.
It’s a great topic.
This will be easy.
Time to start typing.
Nineteen tips, here we go.
Come on, man.
Just start typing…

Ever been there? Are you there right now? You may have a case of blog burnout.

But the way out is the same for all of us. To stay inspired often means nothing more than getting out of our own heads. I have some tips for you that will make that impossible-seeming task easy, and maybe even enjoyable.

All of these tips aren’t going to resonate with you. But the reality is a single idea or activity is often enough to shake you out of the doldrums.

If you are looking for a way to stay inspired, read on.

Tip #1: Take a Day Off

All the way off. Don’t look at your blog statistics; don’t promote an older article. Step away from the keyboard.

Spoiler alert: a lot of these tips to stay inspired involve stepping away from the keyboard. When you’re burned out, stepping away for a day seems logical. But it’s also a good tactic to employ when you’re overwhelmed.

I know it seems counterintuitive. When you have too much work to do, walking away from it for a day feels almost blasphemous.

But guess what? There’s always going to be too much work to do. Try to put the guilt aside and forget about your blog for just one day.

These tips aren’t ranked in order of effectiveness, but if they were, this would still be number one.

Tip #2: Procrastinate!

When the well feels like it’s temporarily run dry, promote an older article.

Take some time to go through your body of work and identify pieces that are “evergreen.” Make a list of those articles and promote them when you don’t have anything new to put out there.

And as luck would have it, reviewing your body of work doubles as an excellent way to stay inspired. Seeing an overview of what you’ve already accomplished can be encouraging and downright motivational.

Tip #3: Go off the Rails

Not the “Crazy Train” kind of rails, but the rails that keep you on track.

If you’re doing blogging right, you are likely concerned with optimizing your work, writing for SEO, answering questions, solving problems, bringing in new readers or customers…

Not every article you write has to serve those masters.

It can be refreshing and liberating to write outside your box once in a while. Stay inspired by making a monthly post about some pancakes you ate or something funny your dog did. How much you dig your new shoes. How the mail carrier is always leaving the neighbor’s copy of The Reader’s Digest in your mailbox, and you hate bringing it over to the neighbor because whenever you do, she talks to you for half an hour about what she’s been reading in the political emails she gets from her son in Akron.

Your readers, even readers of business-oriented blogs, love to hear personal stories. Deviating from your norm gives them an occasional glimpse into that personal side, and it frees you from the constraints of your usual blogging rules.

Tip #4: Just Say No

And say it often.

When you work for yourself (and even when you work for someone else), you can feel obligated to do everything that you can to advance your position. Increase your profile. Grow your brand. And that can lead to saying ‘yes’ every time anyone asks you to do…well, anything.

Saying ‘no’ is difficult. It can feel like turning down an opportunity. And there’s a fear that if you say ‘no’ too often, people are going to stop asking for you. But that’s not the case.

There’s even a school of thought that maintains that saying ‘no’ can help define who you are.

It’s difficult to do if you’re used to saying ‘yes’ to everything. But it’s an excellent way to stay inspired, reclaim your time, and spread yourself a little less thin.

Tip #5: Ask Yourself Why You’re Here

Not here on earth, but here managing a blog.

It’s good to take stock now and then, and remember why you started your blog in the first place. As we become successful or more involved in what we’re doing, no matter what it is, we can lose sight of our reasons for doing it.

When you’re feeling burned out, remember why you started. Odds are you’ll find some new inspiration when you look back. Maybe you had goals that have fallen by the wayside.

With the experience you’ve gained, you’re probably in a better position now to achieve those kinds of goals.

If you look to the past, you can stay inspired by getting a glimpse of the future!

Tip #6: Fingers Are for More Than Just Typing

So do something else with your hands.

That something else can be anything else. If you want to know how to stay inspired, you can get a good start by working the non-writing parts of your brain and body.

If you like to do woodworking or oil painting or something fancy like that, it’s a great temporary respite from writing.

But there are plenty of non-fancy things you can do with your hands. Fixing that kitchen drawer, the one that falls out every time you open it too far. Cleaning all of those old boxes out of the garage. Baking some bread.

Then again, maybe baking bread isn’t such a good idea. It has a high failure rate. What with the yeast and the rising and the precise temperature requirements.

Then again, it’s not success we’re after. It’s activity, so forget what I just said. Go ahead and knead that dough. It may be right for you.

Tip #7: Take a Look at the Competition

What are the leaders in your field up to? What are they doing that you aren’t doing? Go find out.

It’s possible to gain inspiration from observing someone more skilled or more successful than you are. You can learn.

I’d wager that you can do a better job writing about a particular topic than someone who is supposedly “better” at blogging than you are.

That’s where watching the competition can benefit you. You can recognize and capitalize on opportunities to increase your relevance and expertise.

You might also check out writing blogs to stay inspired. They can offer up more than just artistic inspiration, but practical advice (hopefully you’re reading some right now).

One thing you don’t want to do is start comparing yourself to other, perhaps more successful bloggers. Things are not always what they seem. And what about every shortcoming, insecurity, or neurosis you believe that you have? Well, those successful bloggers have them too. They probably have more of them than you do.

So never look at the green grass on the other side of the fence with envy. Just work on growing your own.

Tip #8: Step Out of the Bubble From Time to Time

Again, if you’re doing blogging right, you’re probably a teeny, tiny bit obsessive about what you do. The best people in any field are usually enthusiastic and passionate.

To put it into polite terms.

But it’s essential to spend time with people who aren’t quite as enamored with your passions as you are. Or those who, dare I say, don’t even care about your blog. (Did you just shudder? I feel like you just shuddered a little bit.)

A friend of mine runs a successful airline blog. One of those weird, obsessive things where they’re always talking about points and miles and credit cards and routes and which planes have the best silverware.

He and his wife were in town recently, and they came by for an evening. As they were leaving, he pulled me aside and said, “This is the best night I’ve had in a long time. We didn’t talk about airlines once!”

Throughout the evening, I’d thought he was bottling up his passion and couldn’t wait to talk about planes. But the truth was, he was relieved to talk about anything but planes.

Everyone needs a break once in a while. And I’d bet that some non-plane-related topic we discussed sparked an idea in his mind for a plane-related article.

Tip #9: Just Start Typing

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo? That’s a really awkward concatenation and abbreviation of “National Novel Writing Month.”

Weird name aside, its fundamental reason for being is pretty sound. They encourage people to finish a novel by writing on a schedule, even if what you’re writing isn’t perfect.

As the name says, NaNoWriMo only happens one month of the year. But their concept is something you can put to work for yourself at any time. Focusing too much on getting everything right can stop us in our tracks.

If you permit yourself to type some junk, then at least you can get going or keep moving, and eventually, you’ll have what you need.

It’s not always easy to “just start typing.” But if you can get the hang of it, you can work your way out of a jam or a block or a moment where you feel a lack of inspiration.

Tip #10: Don’t Be a Slave to Your Inbox

If you’re a freelance blogger, there are a lot of pressures placed on you. But there are also a lot of demands we place on ourselves.

One of the biggest is email. There’s a sense of urgency there, that can send you scrolling through your inbox dozens of times during a working day. So I’m going to make a bold and ridiculous suggestion.

Only check your email once a day.

If you think that’s crazy, consider the fact that it takes most of us 25 minutes to get back into a task after we’ve been interrupted. My rudimentary math skills tell me that means if you check your email 20 times in a workday, you’re never really fully concentrating on anything.

If you check your email at the beginning of your day and respond only to what you really have to respond to, you’ll enjoy much higher productivity during the workday. This can have the added benefit of shortening your workday in the long run.

Tip #11: Don’t Be a Slave to Social Media

If we think we’re slaves to email, we might have to come up with a new word for how addicted we are to social media.

But some of us use social media as an essential tool in our marketing strategy, so it isn’t something that can be ignored, or even relegated to “check it once a day” status. But there is an effective way to take control of your social media workload.

Turn off notifications.

Notifications are time-sucking poison! They’re designed to distract you, to take you away from what you’re doing, and to reward that distraction.

You can stop notifications and still maintain a social media schedule that is ongoing throughout the day. The difference is you’ll be doing it on your time.

And personal social media during work hours is also a time-bandit and should be avoided. I know you won’t stop doing personal social media during your workday, but I have to suggest it anyway. 😉

Tip #12: Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

It’s a bit of a cliche, but the real message in that saying is things take time. And greatness takes even more time. So it’s in our interest to be realistic about what we can achieve in a single day.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling guilty for not finishing everything on our agenda in a given day. But step back and take a look at that agenda. Chances are, it’s unreasonable.

Be realistic about what’s possible, stay inspired, and give yourself time to be effective.

Tip #13: Get Out of the House

Ever been in a 20 or 30 story building that doesn’t have a 13th floor?

Fear of the number 13 is called “triskaidekaphobia,” and I guess if you put a triskaidekaphobe on the 13th floor but call it the 14th floor, that satisfies them. But it’s still the 13th floor, right? There’s something kind of off about the whole thing.

But this is tip #13, and we’re just going to have to deal with it. The tip is, get yourself an office. It doesn’t have to be above or below the 13th floor. It just has to be somewhere outside of your house.

Working from home is one of the most significant innovations that the internet has brought to us. But working from home can become claustrophobic. You can get cabin fever if you don’t get out. If you have kids or other family around, they can be distracting and make work difficult.

Your office doesn’t have to be a space where you pay rent and share the cost of a receptionist. It can be a coffee shop. Your front porch. Your back yard. A bench in front of a Walmart.

Will they let you sit on a bench in front of a Walmart for hours a day using up the wifi? I don’t know, but you get the idea.

Tip #14: Outsource?

Usually, we’re talking about ways to offer ourselves up as guest bloggers. To increase our profiles or strengthen our stranglehold grip on our industry.

But what about the opposite? What about using blog writing services to fill some holes in your publishing calendar?

It’s not a solution that is feasible for every blog. But, if you could make use of paid bloggers to take some of the pressure off of yourself, it may be an option worth exploring.

Tip #15: Every Song Can’t Be a Hit

If you’re old enough, you remember listening to music on albums.

If you’re not old enough to have that frame of reference, the album experience went something like this: you went to a record store, bought an album, took it home and listened to it. Eventually coming to the realization that, even if it was a great album, some of the songs were not as good as others.

Thousands of bands and musicians made a good living producing a handful of good songs every year, along with a wheelbarrow full of lesser songs. They slept soundly, knowing that every song wouldn’t be a hit. That people all over the world would even skip some songs when listening to their albums.

Did that knowledge drive them into a crazed, perfectionist state where they stayed up for weeks at a time striving for consistent greatness?

No, it didn’t.

They accepted as a fact of life that when you produce something creative—and writing is creative, brothers and sisters, make no mistake about that—it’s not all going to be great.

So why, as bloggers, are we disappointed with anything less than perfection? Why is it so difficult to stay inspired?

I think some of it has to do with the constant measuring of everything. The metrics we’re surrounded by. “THIS didn’t do as well as THAT. How can we fix it?”

A wise man named William Bruce Cameron said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Which is a fancy way of saying that statistics don’t tell the whole story.

Not every article that you write has to be your best article. Sometimes you write something that a lot of people are going to skip. But that doesn’t make it any less valid or mean that you shouldn’t post it.

Tip #16: Slow Your Roll

What does your publication schedule look like? If you’re like most of us, you’re aiming at posting multiple times a week. Maybe even every day.

A good way to stay inspired is to post less often. And yes, I know that flies in the face of general advice from most of the experts out there. But audiences are not machines. They are limited in the amount of information they can take in, and they will tolerate (and can enjoy) occasional breaks in a breakneck schedule.

Do your own experiment. If you post five times a week, try posting three times a week for a month. Then check your stats to see if there was a negative effect. You may be surprised.

Tip #17: Not Everyone Makes It to the Top of Everest on the First Try

This relates to tip #5 because it asks you to think back to when you started your blog. What was your definition of success? Did you even have one?

Sometimes our definition of success or our ultimate goals change as we go along. We learn things or have realizations that cause us to rethink what we’re doing.

If you haven’t given much thought to your definition of success lately, it may be time to do so. You may realize that you’re stressed or can’t find a way to stay inspired because you’re aiming too high. Or you are aiming in the wrong direction.

Stop, look around, and listen to yourself.

Tip #18: Patience Is a Virtue

Being successful at blogging is not something that is going to instantly happen. In many cases, it takes an incredible amount of effort and dedication to meet goals and objectives.

Blogging is a long-term commitment.

It’s possible to gain an audience for your blog overnight. It’s incredibly uncommon, but it happens. In a case like that, it doesn’t take much to stay inspired. For most of us, though, it takes years. You have to be in it for the long haul.

That may seem obvious. But if you think about it and accept it as fact, it can have a positive effect on your day to day life as a blogger. Setbacks won’t seem so tragic, and successes will be more measured.

Taking the long view can make you happier and more productive.

Tip #19: Get a Life

Outside of blogging, that is.

You can’t just think about aquariums all day every day. Or airline schedules or Korean food or wedding planning. I write about WordPress three or four days a week, but when I’m not writing about WordPress, believe me, I’m not thinking about it. That’s how I stay inspired; by having other interests.

It’s good for your writing, and it’s even better for your soul (if you believe in such things).

The most interesting people you meet are not single-minded obsessives. They’re the people who have a wide range of interests and experiences.

It’s cool to be an expert. It doesn’t matter what the field is. But what’s cooler is speaking to an expert in some area (or reading their writing) when they suddenly go off on an unrelated tangent that’s just as fascinating as their field of expertise.

Strive to be that person.

We may not make it. We may not ever become that multi-faceted, well-rounded person who also happens to be an expert. But it’s a good goal. And the act of working toward it makes us more interesting by default, so it’s a win/win kind of thing, isn’t it?

The Best Way to Stay Inspired

Tips and suggestions are helpful. But the best plan, as it applies to your blog, is one that you’ll stick to. So whatever you find that sparks or retains your excitement about your blog, stick to it. Find what works for you and wring every bit of value from it that you can.

When you burn out, as all of us do now and then, change things up and see what gets you back on track. It’s a very personal thing, and once you find your groove, you’ll be able to find your way back into it any time you need.

The post 19 Tips to Stay Inspired and Avoid Blogging Burnout appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Are you looking for domain name suggestions? If so, you have come to the right place. But be warned, it is not a simple process. This is due to the fact that most common domain names are already taken, which means you may find it difficult to secure the one you want.

This sounds like it could put a damper on your plans, and is extremely complicated to work around. For example, let’s say you run a small business and the domain name is taken.

It’s not very simple where to go from there.

You could try picking an abbreviation of the name, but odds are that’s taken, too. Every deviation from the original name makes it less likely to get found naturally by customers who are looking.

Thus, you need to make sure it matches your brand and is identifiable.

How Does A Domain Name Work?

The domain name is the web address that anyone can type into their URL box to gain access to a website. A great way of thinking about it is that it is like the cell phone number for your site. Anyone can call it to reach you.

However, unlike a phone number, which is assigned to you by your provider, you get to pick out your very own domain name. How well the name represents your brand will not only help visitors find your website naturally, but it will also make it more successful on search engines.

Of course, since you can pick any name, it doesn’t actually have to represent your brand. However, it’s a mistake if it doesn’t.

For example, let’s say you run a pizza place and have a website called www.GreatBurgersandWings.com. It doesn’t make any sense and it will confuse customers and search engines.

Thus, the name you choose needs to represent your website.

Get a Free Domain Name With GreenGeeks

When you sign up with GreenGeeks, we provide a free domain name to help you get started. This can help you cut down those troublesome initial costs and let you get developing your dream website that much quicker.

Of course, you’ll still need to come up with something unique.

17 Domain Name Ideas

Without a doubt, there is no right way to go about picking a domain name. However, there are plenty of wrong ways to do so.

This list shows the 17 most successful strategies to use when selecting a domain name.

It can be very discouraging when your dream name is taken, so try not to get frustrated. Keep in mind that it can take a lot of time to pick a domain name, so don’t rush it.

1. Pick Your Business Name

If you are trying to pick a domain name for a small business website, simply select the name of the business.

For example, let’s say you own Rob’s Donut Shack. Your domain name should ideally be www.robsdonutshack.com. Customers often assume that the name of your business is the same as your website name.

So if it’s available, go for it.

2. Keep It Short

One of the best domain name suggestions you can get is to keep it short. The longer your URL becomes, the worse it will perform. Something that is short and easy to remember will go a long way.

In particular, you want to try and come up with as many short catchy names for websites as possible. The more you think of, the better the chance it hasn’t been taken.

3. Match Your Brand

Your domain name needs to reflect what your website is all about.  In most cases, this is a pretty obvious domain name suggestion. But, it is really important to consider.

Try to match it as closely as possible. If you have a business called, “Bob’s Surf Shack” but the domain is taken, try something like “SurfingWithBob.com” or perhaps, “MySurfShack.com.”

4. Spell It Right

While there are many examples of successful websites that are not spelled correctly or the way that someone may think, its a mistake to not do so.

For example, let’s say your dream name was www.robsdonutshack.com, but someone else already has it. Instead, you decide to replace the “o” with “0” and pick www.r0bsdonutshack.com.

No one will spell it with a zero naturally, thus you will lose traffic.

The more convoluted you are when mixing numbers and letters, the more difficult it becomes to type. Not to mention how it will confuse visitors and search engines alike.

5. Be Open to Change

I’ll be perfectly honest, the odds of your first domain name not being taken are extremely low. Thus, it can be really problematic when you are set on a specific name.

If you are, I can assure you that selecting a domain name will be a terrible experience. You need to be open to changes and compromises because most names and variations of it are just not available.

6. Don’t Use A Hyphen or Special Characters

We have already established that spelling the name right is really important, but that alone isn’t enough. You might think you’re clever by adding a hyphen or replacing “and” with “&,” but it will only work against you.

For example, let’s say you tell a customer to visit Logan and Sons online.  Which way would you type it?

1. 1. www.loganandsons.com
   2. www.logan&sons.com
   3. www.logan-and-sons.com

I know I would immediately try the first one, and if it didn’t work, I would probably not bother trying again. And that’s true for most people.

7. Try Using A Domain Name Generator

Coming up with a domain name is challenging, but you don’t have to do it yourself. There are plenty of free domain name generators available that you can use to do the heavy lifting.

These tools will come up with names that are available for use. It is a great way of finding domain suggestions when your dream name is taken. Just make sure the name follows the other strategies on this list.

8. Pick a Different Domain Extension

A domain extension is what follows the period at the end of the URL. For example, the domain extension in “GreenGeeks.com” is .com. There are plenty of others to choose from like .net, .co, .biz, etc.

However, without a doubt, .com is the first thought anyone has when typing a website address. Thus, it is the most sought after. But, if you are really set on a name that is taken, using a different domain extension is the answer.

Depending on the extension, you can even get a little creative with extensions. For instance, if you have an online store, you could use something like, “bobsonline.shop.”

9. Buy The Domain Name

Wait a minute, I thought this was a guide on how to select a domain name. It is, and buying the domain name you want is a perfectly viable option that many website owners choose to do.

However, be warned many companies or individuals have bought these domain names with the sole intention of selling them for a much higher price.  If you have limited resources, this might not be the option for you.

10. Try a Pun

Maybe your dream name is taken. But, have you tried turning it into a pun? This is a great way to inject some personality into your domain name, and it’s easy to do.

Not sure how to make a pun, fear not, you can use an awesome pun generator to do all of the work for you. On top of generating puns, there is also a phrase option that you can use for some more ideas.

11. Make It Personal

One of the best ways to ensure that you do not pick a domain name that is already taken is to make it personal. What I mean by that is to pick something that has meaning to you.

You are far more likely to find a domain name that is taken when you pick generic, popular, or mainstream terms. Besides the website is of your creation, the name should reflect that.

12. Use Your Name

If you are planning on running a blog or portfolio, you should consider using your name as the domain. This is also an insurance policy in case you become a household name!

A blog is your opinion on a specific matter, which makes it extremely personal. There is nothing more unique than your name, so you probably won’t find that domain taken.

13. Consider if the Name is Free on Social Media

Just because the domain name is free doesn’t mean you are good to go. To be successful in 2020, you need a presence on social media platforms.

Thus, you should ensure that the domain name you pick is also free on popular social media platforms. This will help you avoid having to come up with slightly different ones that will confuse visitors.

14. Avoid Multiple  or String Words

One of the most important domain name suggestions is to remember that people are forgetful. If we all had a perfect memory, the world would be a very different place.

For example, something like “GamesMoviesBooksManga.com” is a terrible choice. But why is that? Because people will forget the order.

If someone just remembered it was some combination of games, books, movies, and manga, there are 24 possible ways that can be arranged, like “GamesMangaBooksMovies.com.”

Avoid these types of names.

15. Don’t Limit Your Website by Your Name

Website plans can change over time, and it is very rare if they do not. For example, let’s say you sell puppies.

It would be natural to want to have the word puppy or puppies in your domain name, but then people would only recognize you for a place to get puppies. If you decide to expand to kittens down the road, you are going to run into a problem.

16. Use A Keyword

While it is true that keywords are less important than they were a decade ago, they still have an impact on search results. Thus, you can give yourself an advantage by including a keyword in your domain name.

However, this can easily work against you if you select a keyword that doesn’t perform well or will drop in popularity in the future. If you go this route, try to future proof it.

And perhaps part of vital domain name suggestions would be to avoid trending topics. When the keyword or phrase trend is over, you could lose out.

17. Avoid Using Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same when spoken but are spelled differently depending on their meaning.

For example, let’s say you picked “nightsales.com” as your domain name. If someone else heard about this website, they might think it is “knightsales.com.”

Perhaps they are hoping to get some discounted armor? In either event, there are quite a lot of examples of homophones in the English language, and you should try and avoid them.

Still Struggling?

Even with all of these domain name suggestions, it is still possible to be stumped. Most people are afraid they will choose the wrong name and that can certainly impact you.

Just remember, any domain name is better than none at all. It’s the first step to building a website, and getting hung up on it is a big problem.

Just the First Step

Now that you have some strategies for finding website name ideas, you have gotten past the first hurdle. But, you don’t want to delay. It is very possible for the domain name to be gone in a short amount of time.

You need to go through your web host and purchase that domain name immediately.

In fact, many will buy the domain name with various extensions to prevent someone else from stealing traffic. It’s common to see an owner have the .com, .net and .biz of the same domain while using forwarders to a single website.

But that is a tale for another time.

The post 17 Effective Ways to Get Awesome Domain Name Suggestions appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Selecting a domain name is one of the first steps you need to complete to begin building your website. However, there is a very high chance that someone else already owns it.

In this case, you need to identify who owns the domain name to see if they are willing to sell.

In many cases, people purchase domain names without actually using them. There are multiple reasons why someone would do this, but the most common reason is to sell it at a higher price.

In some cases, you could even end up purchasing a website if it was abandoned by the owner. In any event,  expect to pay more than normal for the domain name.

Why Is A Domain Name Important

While there is an infinite amount of domain names, they are not created equally. In fact, only a small number of them are actually profitable.

For example, let’s examine sdgfgkaweufgsdjfu.com. This could certainly be the name of your new website, but good luck getting anyone to type this into Google. Unless they decide to mash their face into the keyboard, you will not get much traffic.

In reality, your domain name needs to reflect your business. It makes your business look professional and adds credibility to your name. Picking a domain name is often considered the first part of building a brand.

The more famous you become, the more expensive the process becomes. Thus, you need to buy the domain name while you are unknown.

Finding A Domain Name

In reality, finding out who owns a website is really easy. There are multiple tools that allow you to check the domain owner for free.

Due to the process of owning a domain name, the owner must provide contact information. This information can be looked up by anyone. However, it is important to realize that there are ways to keep your information private.

I strongly recommend using the ICANN lookup tool. It is free to use and extremely effective.

To use the tool, enter the URL into the search box and click on the “Lookup” button.

The tool will normally pull up the following information:

1. 1. Domain Information
   2. Contact Information
   3. Registrar Information
   4. DNSECC Information
   5. Authoritative Servers

The most useful data will be found in the Contact Information section. This will typically list an owner or business name, phone number, and email address.

Typically, if there is a lot of information, the owner is most likely willing to sell. However, there is a chance that you will not find anything useful for contacting the owner.

Now That I’ve Found The Domain Owner, What Do I Do?

Finding out who owns the domain is only the first part of the process. You now need to actually negotiate the selling conditions.

The good news is that you can just hire someone to do the negotiation for you. While this may seem like it is adding to the total price you are paying, it can actually save you quite a bit.

For example, you can use Sedo to handle the entire process for you. This includes domain appraisal, broker services, and transfers.

Of course, if you are confident in your abilities as a negotiator, you might just want to handle it yourself.

How to Send the Right Message

If you do choose to take matters into your own hands, it’s important to do it right. First impressions are important and you need to make sure you come off as professional and serious about making a purchase.

Unfortunately, the average person has become used to getting spam emails. This makes them doubt the majority of offers they receive. Thus, you need to make sure it sounds serious.

Address the owner by their name because this gives it a more authentic feeling. Avoid using an email template. This makes it seem like an automated email that was sent out by a robot. This will likely lead to the email getting marked as spam.

Include your phone number, email, and something that adds credibility that you’re serious. A LinkedIn profile can work wonders here.

Most importantly, do not include any offers in the initial email. State that you are interested in acquiring the domain name and see what they say first. In many cases, they may be eager to sell and offer you a low price.

Of course, the opposite is also true. Keep it professional and be patient.

What If I Don’t See Their Contact Information?

Remember how I said there are ways to keep your contact information private? It is quite common and cheap to do so.

A domain owner can accomplish this by using a domain privacy service, which just about every website that sells a domain name offers.

Alternatively, they can use a proxy.

In either event, if the tool does not uncover the contact information, the domain owner is intentionally hiding their information, This is often a sign that they are not willing to sell.

However, all hope is not lost. If the website is still active, you can use any contact information listed on the website to begin the talks.

Keep in mind that not everyone is will to sell their domain. If this is the case, you are unfortunately out of luck.

Alternative Registration Lookup Tools

The ICANN lookup tool is not your only choice. Here are some alternative tools that can help you find who owns the domain.

WhoIs

WhoIs is a great alternative that is completely free to use. It will show you all of the relevant information related to the URL you have entered.

UltraTools

UltraTools offers the same features as WhoIs and is completely free to use. Just enter the URL and pull up all of the associated records.

Just The Beginning

Finding out who owns the domain name and obtaining it is only the first step in creating a website. You will need to select a web host, build a website, and create content for it.

Do not get discouraged if the domain name of your choice is already taken. In fact, it’s very likely that it is and most websites need to get creative when it comes to a URL.

Think outside the box, but make sure it is easy to remember and reflects your business.

The post How to Find Who Owns a Domain and Why appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Choosing a domain name is not an easy task. Gone are the days of one-word domain names. It can be confusing. You think to yourself; how do I find the best domain name? Or, how do I create a unique domain name?

As I stated, it can be very difficult to find short, one-word domain names these days. Even when you do, they will more than likely cost you way more than you can pay.

You want your domain name (or website address) to be both memorable, and to represent your brand in the best way. Even if you find something catchy that you love, you may try to find it and see that the .com is already taken.

Of course, there is always the option of using a different domain extension, as there are many different ones available today. Most of these are also tailored to a specific niche, so this could be a great option to look at.

All that being said, there is another way to choose a catchy domain name. You can use a domain name generator tool. Below you will find some of the best domain name generators available.

You can use any one of these 20 top domain name generators to help you come up with a catchy, effective, and memorable domain name for your business, blog, or brand.

20 Top Rated Domain Name Generators

Note: These domain name suggestion generator tools are in no specific order. Check them all out and see which one you like best.

Once you have used one of the below top domain name generators, you will want to find a place to buy your domain name and host it. Here are 20 top rated domain name generators you should try.

1. Nameboy

If you are looking for the oldest and most popular blog domain name generator available on the web, then Nameboy is the domain name generator tool you want to check out.

Nameboy is free and easy to use. Simply enter your chosen keyword(s) and click the “Submit” button. Then, it will generate tons of creative blog names based on your keywords.

For example, if you want to search the term “diet,” put it in the search box and all the related results will be populated for you to view and choose from. Check out this great blog domain name generator now.

2. IsItWP

IsItWP is a free domain name generator tool that will help you search for new company name ideas and get the domain name instantly (if it is available). IsItWP is actually powered by Nameboy, which we have already discussed.

The IsItWP domain name suggestions generator allows you to specify one or two words in the search box. You can also use this tool as a business name generator, website name generator, company name generator, URL generator, etc. It is good for everything.

Simply enter your chosen keywords in the search box and click on the “Generate Names” button. You will see a list of names given to you once they have been generated.

3. Domain.com

If you are looking for one of the best domain name generators and domain name registrars out there, look no further than Domain.com. This tool is both a domain name generator and a registrar. Make sure you know and understand the difference between the two.

Domain.com comes with a very powerful blog and business domain name generator. It has the ability to shows you dozens of generated domain names when you punch a keyword in. However, it also has the ability to show you the respective cost for registration of the domain name.

When you search a keyword the generator will first check the availability of the .com domain for the word. If it is not available, then it will reveal other related names for you. It shows both new and premium domain names.

4. Lean Domain Search

You can start with a single keyword and search all domain options here on Lean Domain Search. Don’t let the title of this domain name generator tool fool you.

Once you enter a keyword and click on the search glass icon you will be presented with hundreds, if not thousands, of domain name ideas. Granted, there will be many in there that you won’t be able to use, but the list is impressive nonetheless.

With this domain name idea generator you can also:

• Filter Alphabetically
• Filter By Length
• Filter By Popularity
• Save Favorites
• Track Search History
• Share Search Results
• Instantly Search Your Unique Ideas

5. Domain Puzzler

Domain Puzzler is a very simple domain name generator tool with a ton of options. It comes with a number of unique options including:

• Easy
• Advanced
• Magic
• Page Rank

You can start with the “easy” version, and insert your chosen keywords, choose your domain extensions, and search for ideas. This domain name generator tool allows you to include numerous keywords, versus just one or two like the other tools on this list.

You can also combine keywords into different variations, add results to your “Favorites” list, and perform advanced searches. Perhaps the most unique distinction of Domain Puzzler is that you can also use the tool to compare the page rank of different domain names.

6. NameMesh

Another fantastic domain name idea generator is NameMesh. They offer versatile search options based on different categories.

When you enter a word or phrase, NameMesh offers you up options in different categories. Some categories they will cover may include:

• Fun
• New
• Short
• Extra
• Mix
• Common
• Similar
• SEO

You can also create domain names with them by keywords with the tlds (top level domans), like del.icio.us, foc.us, citi.es, etc.

7. NameSmith

NameSmith is knows as the creative business name generator. They are one of the best domain name generators out there, especially for business related domain names.

They run a very flexible domain name idea generator. You are able to type in keywords or ask for random names to be generated. When you enter your chosen keywords, the results generated are based on top-level domains.

The NameSmith generator also uses a combination of language, word blends, rhymes, modified versions of your keyword, and prefixes and suffixes. They also provide you with an option to register the name if you decide to choose one of the many options provided.

8. Domain Wheel

Another amazing blog domain name generator is Domain Wheel. They will help you identify the available domain names for your blog with the desired keyword you have put into the search field.

When you type your keyword in and click on the “Search Domain” button, The Domain Wheel domain name generator will give you an extensive list of top-level domain names available.

Keep scrolling down the list to see all the short names that Domain Wheel thinks would be good to start you brand.

9. Panabee

Similar to other tools above, Panabee gives you a search field where you can describe your idea in two words. Enter your chosen keywords and click on the “Search” button.

Panabee makes it very easy to figure out if certain domain names are available or not. The names with blue heart icons are available for registration, but the names that have those broken hearts in orange color are already taken.

Note: Many of the domains names that are showing as taken will be available to purchase as premium domains. You will pay a much higher price but it may be worth it to you.

10. Domain Name Soup

This domain name idea generator works a little differently than most of the other top domain name generators. Domain Name Soup actually saves you a step. You may not want this step saved, but it does it anyway.

First you have to put in the keyword or keywords that you want to use into the search box and check if the name you want is even available. If it is available you can use it, if it isn’t, then Domain Name Soup gives you some suggestions for other options you can use.

You can also choose a name or modify a name by using the list on the left side of the screen. This list includes options like word manipulators, letter searches, word lists, and more.

11. Bust A Name

Bust A Name uses several filtering options when it generates domain names. It offers users two available options on the screen, a name search and a name maker.

Enter in the keywords you want to use for your business and this domain name generator tool will automatically help you choose a domain name that is appropriate for your business or brand.

They also use a number of filtering options to help you narrow down your choice to the best one. Don’t forget to try out the “quick check” feature . This feature will show you if the name you want is available or not.

12. Shopify Business Name Generator

Don’t be fooled by the name. The Shopify Business Name Generator gives you results for any available domain names, not just business related ones. The best way to start is to simply choose a keyword you want your domain name to have and go from there.

Enter the word you want and the Shopify domain name generator tool will give you hundreds of selections to choose from. Now, the Shopify site will try to encourage your to use the domain name on a Shopify website, but you don’t have to do this. You can start an online store several ways if you want.

You can use the domain name generator tool and then take the results and purchase the domain name elsewhere. Remember, you can always transfer a domain name as well, even if you buy it with Shopify.

13. Wordoid

I recommend you use the Wordoid domain name generator tool if you are looking to use offbeat, unique, fun, made up words as part of your domain name. After all, Wordoids are made up words.

Using made up words like this might give you a very unique name (one you may not have thought of), which can be a good thing. You can be sure that if you find the right name everyone will remember you.

Wordoid is the most creative way to find a catchy name for your new business, blog, or brand venture. You can choose one or more languages, select the preferred quality level, type in a keyword, and Wordoid will come up with plenty of name ideas.

14. Naque

Much like the previous domain name generator discussed, Naque is a great tool to use when you need inspiration for a domain name. This domain name suggestion generator provides users with a word mixer that jumbles up your keywords and comes up with something very unique for you to look at.

You can enter up to 5 different keywords and Naque will take care of the rest. You will be provided a number of word options combining the keywords you provided.

This is a great way to come up with a domain name no one else has ever seen or heard of.

15. NameStall

The NameStall domain name idea generator offers a pretty well rounded number of tools to help you along with your domain name search. Start by simply using their domain name generator tool, which will help you search by keyword and other filters.

These other very helpful filters include:

• Parts of Speech
• Popular Keywords
• Basic English Words
• Industry Categories

NameStall also allows you to choose if you want a keyword specifically at the beginning or end of your domain name. They also feature a similar domain name suggestion tool, as well as an instant domain search tool, brandable domain name list, and high paying keywords search tool.

16. DomainsBot

Turn your ideas into names with the DomainsBot domain name generator tool. This generator acts as both a domain suggestion tool and a domain search tool.

You can start by searching a keyword you want and DomainsBot will find available ideas based off that keyword, combined keywords, or similar keywords. You can also simply search the exact domain you want to see if it is available.

You will see other suggestions from DomainsBot based on similar domain names. You can then take this info and filter it by extension and language, or add your own synonyms, prefixes, or suffixes.

17. Name Station

To get started with the Name Station domain name generator tool, you will have to first signup for a free account with them. You can do this using your email or Facebook account.

Once you have signed up for an account, you will have access to several great tools including:

• Domain Name Generators
• Instant Availability Checker
• Public Name Contests
• Keyword Suggestions

Enter the keyword you want in the search field and click on the green “Get Name Suggestions” button. If you don’t like what comes back in search, or don’t have any other keyword ideas, try searching your industry for some.

Name Station has been featured on TechCrunch, Mashable, SEOMoz, and other big names online. It is definitely worth checking out.

18. Impossibility

Impossibility boasts that they are the “best domain name generator tool ever!” Now I can’t say one way or the other how true that is, but they do use a slightly different approach than the other tools on this list.

You start the process by choosing a keyword you want to use. Then you can choose to add adjectives, verbs, or nouns to the beginning or end of your keyword.

Take it one-step further and choose from 4-letter, 5-letter, and 6-letter options, or simply decide to mix anything with your keyword. This technique ensures that you will come away with a lot of different and fun options to choose from.

19. I Want My Name

I Want My Name is best used if you already have a specific name in mind. You simply enter the URL that you want and I Want My Name will let you know if it is available or not.

If the domain name you are searching for is not available, then they will present you with a list of some alternative options, along with pricing info. You can also filter by using the unavailable names tool.

20. Cool Name Ideas

Cool Name Ideas features a business name generator that also tells you if the matching domain name is available. Cool Name Ideas sets itself apart in this way. You can search for both and see if they are both available.

This domain name generator is also different in the fact that they allow you to choose filters based on your business size and customer base. This allows for better matching of names and businesses.

Advanced options allow you to choose character length and the location of the keywords that you have chosen. Not only can you see if the domain name is available, but you can also check if the Twitter handle is taken as well. Since you can do so much with Twitter this is important.

Conclusion

Remember, picking a domain name can be both fun and very challenging. These top domain name generators can really help you with creativity and help you find something that will fit your brand.

Keep in mind that many of today’s top websites, businesses and brands started out with very uncommon words that were used for domain names.

Have fun with the process and take your time. With all the available names and extensions still available you will have your new domain name figured out in no time.

The post 20 Top-Rated Domain Names Generators You Should Try appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

If you want to engage the audience before they read content, you’ll need a catchy headline. However, it’s your title tag that plays the biggest role when it comes to results in the search engine. Because of this, you need to optimize title tags if you really want to tempt someone to visit your site.

Not everyone puts in the same amount of effort when it comes to meta titles and descriptions. If you use something like WordPress hosting, a lot of this is done automatically when you publish a new post or page.

Unfortunately, you may be missing out on an opportunity to vastly improve your site’s traffic.

What Are Title Tags?

A title tag is a different element than the title of your article. It’s a small segment of code that tells search engines what your content is about. For many websites, it looks something like this:

<title>Your Title Text for Search Engines</title>

In many cases, this tag reflects the title of the article itself. This isn’t exactly a bad practice, but you’ll miss out on a few opportunities to score big in search engines like Google.

The title tag is the actual link that people see when doing a search in sites like Google or Bing. In fact, the title tag is also used by social media sites when a page is shared. It can be completely different from what the actual title of the article shows.

The tag is a different part of the site than the <H1> header you’ll use for titles. Although your title is still vastly important, it’s the tag you’ll want to focus on for SEO.

Let me show you some of the best practices for using title tags. Not only will it help your engagement in search engines, it can also impact social media campaigns.

Only Use One Title Tag

When creating title tags, only use one per webpage. Otherwise, you’ll confuse search engine bots and you may come across errors.

For example, the only title tag in your webpage should look something like this:

<head>
<title>Your Website's Title Tag Here</title>
</head>

If you’re using a content management system like WordPress, this part of web development is done for you automatically. In fact, I’m not entirely sure if you can even create duplicate title tags in a WordPress article.

Unless you’re coding a website manually, most development systems create meta data for you including the title tag. However, most will have options that allow you to fine-tune what is displayed in search results.

The only thing you have to worry about when using website development software is customizing the tag to fit your needs.

Create Unique Tags

A unique title tag is just as important as the title itself. You wouldn’t create a webpage with the exact same title as another on your site, and you don’t want to do it for the tag.

Part of the reason is because you don’t want to compete with yourself when it comes to search engines. If you use the same keywords, titles and content in a second post, search engines don’t know which one you want to show more.

The last thing you want to do is confuse the Google search bot, and duplicate content does just that. Not to mention that it simply looks more professional from a human perspective.

Remember, the title tag is what people will see in the results page. You want them to stand out from one another.

Avoid Using the Same Tag as Your Page Title

You want to avoid using your title as the tag of your article. There’s technically nothing really wrong with this, but you’ll miss out on a golden opportunity.

For example, the Google bot will crawl the title of your post to learn about what your content is about. It will also crawl the tags for further explanation. If you use a different set of keywords in your tag with relevance to the content, you can rank for those as well as the title.

Here’s an example. What if I had an article titled, “Can You Grow Roses Indoors Year Round?” I could change the title tag to read, “10 Ways to Grow Roses in the Winter.” Of course the content needs to be relevant to the title, but you should get the gist of it.

By default, a lot of systems will use the title of your post as the tag. However, many will have plugins or tools that let you change them. The Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress has a function specifically for this purpose.

Make it Relevant to the Content

Your title tag needs to be relevant to the content, just like the headline of the article. If you’re writing about cars, the tag needs to reflect automobiles.

Keep in mind the tag is what people will see in social media and search results. Which means you want the title and tag to reflect what your content is about. Otherwise, you’ll score low in sites like Google while confusing potential visitors.

This is one of the driving reasons why content management systems will default the tag to the title of the article.

Keep it Under 60 Characters

Because the space for a title is limited in Google and other search engines, you want to make sure it fits. If a title is too long, Google will cut off the end. This could be problematic if you want people to read the title in full.

For one thing, a searcher may be less inclined to click the link because he or she is unsure what the content is about.

An ideal length of a title is around 60 characters, including spaces. This gives you room for branding and ensures the title tag will be seen in full.

The trick is to be succinct in the title tag but still offer value to the visitor and search engine.

Try Not to Use Stop Words

If you’re worried about a title tag being too long, try to avoid using stop words. These are words that don’t do anything for SEO and are essentially a waste of space when trying to rank in search.

Conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns and other words simply don’t do anything in searches. So something like, “10 Ways You Can Cook Chicken and Pork in the Oven” would read, “10 Ways Cook Chicken Pork Oven.”

Removing stop words greatly shrinks a title tag while giving search engines exactly what they need to rank your webpage.

The problem with removing stop words is making sure the title is still readable by humans. Sure, search engine bots will be able to determine what you’re trying to convey, but humans often need more to go on.

Show the Branding Last

It’s good practice to put branding in your meta title tag last. After all, the content is the most important thing. People are searching more for information, and not really focusing on the company brand in many cases.

In a title tag, search engines are scanning for keywords relevant to content. This means they are looking at the first few words as primary indicators. If you have your brand at the beginning, search engines will assume it’s the most important keyword.

This isn’t helpful when trying to rank for a specific topic.

You want keywords in the title tag to ascend from most important to the least. I’m not saying your brand isn’t important. However, it’s not important to SEO when trying to rank well in the results page.

Make it Readable

Your tag needs to be as easy to understand as the title itself. This not only helps search bots, but it will impact humans as well. People should not be confused by what they see in the search result page.

You may have to pick and choose which keywords are going to be the most effective. Keep in mind people are clicking the links in Google. If the title tag is unreadable, you’ll easily lose traffic.

It’s all about finding stability for both humans and bots. And because of how the tag works, it won’t matter if your title is amazing. It’s the tag that people will often see.

This means you also want to avoid keyword stuffing. It looks bad from the human perspective and sites like Google may actually penalize your site if you do.

Using Dates, Questions or Numbers in Your Title Tag

Dates, questions and numbers are just as effective in a tag as they are as the article’s title. A lot of experts will accentuate a post by adding numbers into the tag to drive home what the content is about.

For example, let’s say I write an article, “How to Build an Amazing Blog” and I include 10 steps. I could create a title tag labeled, “10 Steps to Build an Incredible Blog.” Both search engines and humans will now see there are 10 steps to building a good blog website.

A lot of authors will include the publishing year in the tag but leave it out of a post. So, “10 Best Sites for Streaming Video” will show as “10 Best Sites for Streaming Video in 2018.” This is useful as it gives you the chance to update the article each year without creating an entirely new piece.

Include LSI Strategies and Synonyms

Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI, is when you create content using methods regarding search intent. This means you focus more on the how and why people are looking for your content outside of simple keywords.

A lot of experts will use synonyms and variations of keywords to help score well in search engines. In other words, they are trying to answer exactly what people are searching for through content and combinations of key phrases.

A great tool to discover these elements is LSI Graph. By inputting your key phrase, the tool will show you a list of variations of how people are looking for the content. For example, putting in “cookies for christmas” comes back with things like “best christmas cookie recipes.”

Consider a Call to Action

You probably already use a call to action in content whether it’s a blog post or a landing page. It’s when you prompt someone to take action for a specific result. For instance, “click here to download the app” is a call to action. It’s prompting people to click a link to get a specific app.

However, a call to action can have a similar effect when used in a title tag. Let’s say you wrote an article regarding an app you recently created. While the title of the article could say something like, “Here It Is, the App You’ve Been Waiting For,” the title tag could read something like, “Download our latest app today.”

A call to action is very effective at boosting interaction. In fact, you can increase sales by more than 1600 percent with a good call to action in an email campaign. Although a title tag is different from an email, the same psychological response is in effect.

It engages and prompts the reader to take action.

Optimize Title Tags to Reach the Audience

For many, the title tag is the first part of your website they will see when searching through Google. You don’t have to simply rely on the actual title of the article as optimizing the tags will help reach a broader set of search terms.

Give potential visitors the best chance to find your content. It doesn’t take much to empower your articles to engage the target audience.

The post Here’s How to Optimize Your Title Tags for Better Ranking appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.