Facts, Opinions, Stories and Observations

Things we see, things we know, things we care about and a few questions that need answers.

by Tom Davis

Facebook likes to do fun things for its users, and generally it does want to protect its users. But as social media gets more fully integrated into our culture, things that were once fun and easy get more serious and harder to do. (This is my daily experience with building websites these days.)

by Tom Davis

Duh!

But in many ways it is "worse" and "better" than their research findings. The report is located here.  They encourage you to take the test yourself. I did — it was just 17 questions — and I can say it is like many surveys where there are some obvious and some trick questions. A couple of questions required a deep historical knowledge and other required very current applied knowledge.

by Tom Davis

There... I said it... and I am just saying what everyone else is thinking.

by Tom Davis

Dumb We AdAs I move around on the Web I occasionally run across the ad shown here. I don't know who is running the ad but I would love to explain to them their basic errors.

First, if it is 3 steps - why do I have to choose my website builder? That looks like a fourth step to me. Maybe they are counting that as Step Zero.

But that is not my main problem with the ad.

by Tom Davis

There are good reasons to use a secure connection on a website. At this point SEO is not one of them. But for everyone selling security certificates it is time to break open the FUD.

by Tom Davis

Finally Facebook does something for users. This may actually be the best reason to let Facebook manage my news feed. I wish them great success. But it will really take me and you resisting the urge to click. (but this is not click bait, so go ahead and click now)

by Tom Davis

Every website should have a custom 404 page. This is one the greats!

by Tom Davis

We see an ongoing parade of security exploit announcements, and it will not stop anytime soon. What made this announcment unique is that it involves two of the most popular website frameworks: WordPress and Drupal. We use both of these systems to build websites.

by Tom Davis

One of the best explanations of what SEO actually involves. And why it is so much harder than "keywords".

by Tom Davis

Book Review: Marketing in the Age of Google
If you are responsible for a website it is important to know the world you are living in. If you think search engines just index and match words, you need to read this book. If you think keywords are something you hide in a Web page, then not reading this book is a dereliction of duty. This is not a "how to" book, it is a thorough explanation of search engines, searchers, and how you need to be managing your website.