Misc. Ramblings

DNS Propagation Happens in Minutes or Hours and May Take Longer Depending on Many Factors

In order to resolve a domain name, it must be registered and pointed to at least two name servers which will host the DNS zone file for the specific domain. These servers are authoritative so when someone on the Internet “asks” for the IP address of the specific domain, the request will first go to the root name servers for the requested TLD (top level domain, for example: .com, .net, .org, etc.). They will reply with the authoritative name servers for the requested domain and the request will go to the server hosting the file with the DNS records where the IP will be resolved from.

Each Internet Service Provider (the folks you pay to connect to the internet) maintains its own caching DNS server/s. These servers store the DNS records in their local cache in order to save network traffic from querying the authoritative name servers each time they receive a request for a given domain. So when you request your domain name in your browser, the request goes to the name server of your ISP. It resolves the IP address of your domain from the authoritative name servers and the record is being stored in the local memory of the ISP name server.

The stored record remains in the local name server memory according to the settings applied in your DNS zone file and more specifically the value of the TTL parameter in the SOA record (Start Of Authority). This value is set by default to http://brentnorris.com4400 seconds (4 hours) in the BIND name server. Often, this value is increased to a day or two, again due to the traffic saving purposes.

So when your local name server caches a record from your DNS zone file, it keeps the record in its memory as long as the specified value in the TTL parameter from your zone file. When you make another request for the same record before the TTL time pass, your ISP name server will reply with the stored record rather than querying the authoritative name server again and will do so until the TTL time is reached. After the TTL is reached, it will re-fetch your DNS zone from the authoritative name server for your domain and will start serving the updated records.

That is why you need to wait up to approximately a day when you make changes to your DNS zone.

While you wait for an updated record to propagate, it is a good idea to flush the local DNS resolver of your PC, since the DNS records may be cached there as well. Check the links provided below for detailed instructions on how to clear the DNS cache:

How to clear the local DNS cache in Windows?

You can flush your local DNS cache in Windows by following these easy steps:

http://brentnorris.com. Open Start menu
2. Click Run
3. Type cmd and press enter
4. In the command prompt type ipconfig /flushdns and press enter

How to clear the local DNS cache in Mac OS?
You can flush your local DNS cache in Mac OS by following these easy steps:

http://brentnorris.com. Open your terminal to use the command line.

2. Type the following command and press Enter:

dscacheutil -flushcache

You should also try clearing your browser cache. Learn how to clear your browser cache here.

Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera and Chrome:

Firefox:
Open Firefox and go to Tools > Clear Recent History. Choose the time range and the items you wish to clear and click Clear Now.

Internet Explorer 6:
Open Internet Explorer 6 and go to Tools > Internet Options > General.
Click Delete Files. Check the box next to Delete all offline content In the window that opens and click OK.

Internet Explorer 7 & 8:
Open Internet Explorer 7 and go to Tools > Internet Options > General.  Under Browsing history click Delete. Choose which items you wish to delete and click the Delete button next to each item to delete it.

Internet Explorer 9:
In Internet Explorer 9 go to Tools > Safety > Delete browsing history. Then untick the option for Preserve Favorites website data, tick the options for Temporary Internet Files and Cookies and click Delete.

Safari:
Open Safari and go to Safari > Empty Cache. Click Empty in the window that opens to clear the cache.

Opera:
Open Opera and go to Tools > Delete Private Data. Choose which items you wish to delete and click Delete.

Chrome:
Click the wrench icon at the top right corner of the screen and go to Tools > Clear Browsing Data. Select the items you want to delete, choose the period for which you want to delete them and click Clear Browsing Data.

Additionally, in order to speed-up the process, you can try clearing your local DNS cache.

If you are having cache problems with your website, ask your host for assistance.

We love Google Analytics!

A free tool that has become comprehensive enough for enterprise users and and easy enough for small business owners. We love the automated reports, short easy to read and understand -yummy. When used with Google Search Console and Google AdWords/AdSense these apps share and exchange information.

We centralize this information into WordPress dashboards to empower our managed services clients.  It’s as easy as customizing a few dashboards and plugins. It works right now on your phone and provides information like you’ll find in this case study.

Digital Conversion Thereapy

For years we’ve asked our clients to focus on their website dashboards. But there are just too many. Each requires a separate login and for many clients it’s just too time consuming. Data just seems to pop-up randomly from marketing campaigns like email (permission-based marketing), social media (Facebook Insights) and offline marketing. It’s too much for a small business owner.

Most local clients do not have weekly multi-discinplinary meetings with a discussion on website sales and marketing. Budgets are relatively small and meetings can be expensive. This changes as awareness and opportunities arise. Centralizing dashboards puts this information in front of the decision makers with a secure login. Adoption is slow but this has been working for more than a year on our client’s dashboards. It’s just not enough any longer.

It’s critical now to focus on the relationship between sales and marketing data. You need all the facts in one location. You need the data to be actionable, easy to read and understand, at a glance.

“At the end of the day, 58% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps allow them to make purchases quickly.” -Google/Ipsos, “Consumers in the Micro-Moment,” Wave 3, U.S., n=1291 online smartphone users 18+, August 2015

Marketing metrics are great. But revenue in a bank ledger attributable to your campaigns demonstrates conversions. Lead acquisition and conversion costs is the real opportunity.

To help customers focus on sales and ROI we’re doing two things;

1. We’re focusing on helping customers stay connected to their metrics. One result is an improved dashboard experience with more business intelligence.
2. We’re focusing on a mobile-first strategy in all our thinking and doing. From customer acquisition to money in the bank, we’re focused on factsfrom mobile data. This means you only pay for the campaigns that create a return for your marketing dollars.

With mobile usage dominating your customers view of your online business it’s time we better understand your customer’s interaction with your brand. Not just visual appeal or usability. The features we need now are location-based and real-time. The question is no longer, “Does my prospect have access to my message?” The question has become, “Is my message available now to my propsects near me?”

-August 21, 2014 – comScore Mobile App Whitepaper

As you can envision from this 2014 report, mobile prospects are just as available and connected as desktops. There’s a need to prepare for your prospects and customers using mobile devices. Equally important is the need to adjust your seo strategy. Why? Because mobile users can be more easily converted to sales when the customer is near.

Mobile users need your help to see your message and find your business. Google calls this, “Near me” searches. We consider this valuable in our local digital landscape. In Hawaii, your customers may have no idea where you are or what you do. But they do know what they’re looking for and Google provides an easy way to locate what they need. You just have to make some changes to a few things you’re already doing.

Your web pages are ready when the following conditions are present:

1. Your messaging is easy to read and understand. Imagine driving and finding your store. Okay wait, let’s imagine walking to find your store. your prospect has a lot going on. Whether holding an umbrella or trying to listen to a friend, it’s critical to have easy to read and understand content on your page.
2. Directions are abundant, work correctly and are easy to click and find. Google makes this really easy with Google Local. We suggest blending the best of Google Local and your own web page to present your prospect with timely and accurate information about your location.
3. Your pages load quickly. Visitors are much more likely to leave your site and try another search result on mobile. They may be using an “Okay Google” command or in a rush for an answer. For “near me” searches we recommend an optimized and fast loading landing page compatiable with all mobile devices.
4. All other web design best practices apply. In addition to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, mobile design guidelines also apply including creative. To achieve a return on your investment, focus on mobile design.

With all of these conditions present a mobile prospect can be converted into a warm lead. To convert warm and hot leads into sales, additional steps must be included. If you don’t have any products for sale on your website we can help.

With at least one product for sale online, you can create new metrics. Sales data from your website can inform your larger business strategy. With this information you can make better decisions about cost-savings and future revenue opportunities.

“The most innovative brands have marketing, digital, media, and agency teams all sitting together at the start of the campaign to define objectives, brainstorm on insights, process data, and create the right strategy to reach brand goals.” – Google

Small business owners don’t have “agency teams.” Our local clients need one or two people to fill critical roles in their growth. They need someone they can trust to deliver a return on their investment.

Read Our Case Study: Assessing A Mobile-First Strategy for Local Clients

Does your marketing team consider mobile first? Do they have the knowledge skills and technical abilities to provide the facts you need to track your mobile strategy? Do you have the in-house creative design skills to create content for a mobile-first strategy? 

Can you outsource these roles more affordably than hiring a part time employee.  Here’s some help evaluating if you should outsource or insource your next project.  Here’s some help understanding the opportunities of offshoring some of your project work.

Have any questions?

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KPI = Key Performance Indicator – Wikipedia

USING DATA TO ASSESS YOUR MOBILE FRIENDLINESS

Don’t let a bad mobile shopping experience get between your customers and that last minute purchase.  –Inspired by Data

We Asked

“Would existing local data demonstrate value for a mobile-first strategy for local clients and would that data show a clear opportunity for client return on investment?”

Desktop versus Mobile Clicks

Definitions

• Clicks – Count of clicks from a Google search results page that landed the user on your property. Learn more.

• Impressions – How many links to your site a user saw on Google search results, even if the link was not scrolled into view. However, if a user views only page 1 and the link is on page 2, the impression is not counted. The count is aggregated by site or page. With infinitely scrolling pages, such as image search, the impression might require the item to be scrolled into view. Learn more.

• CTR – Click-through rate: the click count divided by the impression count. If a row of data has no impressions, the CTR will be shown as a dash (-) because CTR would be division by zero.

Browser and OS Traffic Over Two Year Period

Past Three Years of Traffic sorted by Technology

In the pie chart below you can see a representative number of traffic (sessions). There was less mobile traffic to local websites than desktops. 5,579 sessions from mobile and tablet compared with 9,342 sessions from desktops. Interesting to look back at some of the best smartphones of 2013.

Past Year of Traffic by Technology

Desktop and mobile sessions are near even in number of sessions.

Past 90 Days of Traffic

Mobile has clearly emerged as the leader generating more than double the number of sessions. This graph represents approixmately 2,000 sessions from organic search results. The bounce rate is around 35%. Page load time is 4 seconds resulting in an average of 2 minutes per session. Goals such as form fills were achieved

So now we return

Historical Perspective

Nearly ten years after the iPhone was announced, Android has become a catalyst in mobile device adoption. “There are now over 24,000 distinct Android devices in use around the world from over 1,000 different manufacturers.” – Open Signal

Conclusions and Recommendations

We recommend all clients develop a mobile-first approach to their online business. This includes all clients in Hawaii and especially those in large cities. To stay connected with new and existing users a mobile strategy is necessary. A mobile-first strategy is recommended.

The mobile traffic tipping point was reached more than a year ago when mobile use superceeded desktop use for content like video, podcasts. According to Google Inside AdWords in May of 2015 “…more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan.”

Then there’s this Wired statement earlier in 2015, that phones now appear to be a “more affordable device than computers for most consumers.”

A recent report from Hitwise (registration required) argues that in the US mobile search is roughly 58 percent of overall search query volume. That’s based on an average of 11 key categories and associated queries analyzed by Hitwise in its “Mobile Search: Topics and Themes” report. The company “examined hundreds of millions of online search queries” across PCs, smartphones and tablets between April 10 and May 7, 2016. –Search Engine Land

To be prepare for another leap in the number of mobile searches this year we recommend:

1. Stay focused on ROI. Ensure current ad spends are less than income from ads.
2. Develop a mobile-first strategy for your website. Include fast loading landing pages, directions and offers for “near me” searchers.
3. Prepare internal teams to understand the shift. Prepare then to know how to properly value mobile prospects and their unique needs in all areas of sales and service.

About the Study

Research was conducted using Google Analytics and Search Console. These tools are used by our team on every website we manage. Tertiary research to confirm and correllate data was provided by comScore, Double-click and Google. This is a non-scientific study.

The study was based on traffic and search analysis over a three year period. Data was collected from 30 websites. Statistical outliers eg; sites that had missing data, sites that did not properly account for administrative or spam traffic were removed. Ultimately, ten websites were used in the final metrics. Their numbers brought into a spreadsheet and averaged. In the end we used representative , charts and graphs to highlight our findings. No personally-identifiable data was shared or used in our research.

A Plea to Clients

A portion of the mobile users we identified in the research are your customers. Hawaii residents with a need to stay connected on a budget. Right now local business owners need to consider the importance of mobile on their bottom line.

Have any questions?

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Frequently Asked Questions

“Should I have my site coded in sanskrit or atari? Is that something a computer nerd does?”

“Will going online will help me takeover the world!”

“My current website seems kinda confusing and doesn’t do much.”

“…he’s still building websites? He’s so old. Doesn’t he code in #cursive?”

“Is it original enough to win me an award?”

“Colors and fonts are very important to me. Can you make them look great on my screen.”

“I don’t care about the technology or jargon. I want to use appropriate technology to serve my customer’s needs so it’s as easy as possible for them to use my website.”

“While building my business online, I increased my awareness of other revenue opportunities I didn’t have offline. My online business is now thriving online as a result of new target audiences and my reach into new markets.”

“Mr. Norris has a way of listening to our needs, providing facts about our users and ultimately delivered a website that was better than we imagined. No other web professionals have helped us understand our online customers or budgeting requirements like Mr. Norris.”

“He probably won’t colonize Mars with a website but what he did for our online business is out of this world!”

Brent listens and does exactly as I ask him. It’s expensive. and only on weekends.

Names were witheld to protect the innocent. View testimonials with sources

Do the math: You could earn more with a faster mobile website

Why is mobile speed important?

According to Google, “In our mobile-first world, we don’t just expect to have all the world’s information at our fingertips: we expect to get it the instant we’re looking for it.”

Things have changed dramatically in device usage in recent years. Mobile is number one. Desktop and laptop computers are no longer the target machine for your marketing messages.

According to Google, “Most mobile sites don’t live up to this expectation, despite major advancements in network speeds. Slow loading sites frustrate people with bad user experiences and cause publishers to lose revenue.”

We can help you create a mobile strategy. We can optimize your site for mobile speed and lead collection. Google’s mobile web revenue calculator linked below will help you explore how optimizing the speed of your mobile website could help you increase your revenue.

We use this tool for every client site we build and host.

Here’s what you need to get started:

1. Find out the speed of your mobile site — visit WebpageTest.org and be sure to change the connection type to “mobile” under advanced settings.

2. Find your average eCPM, monthly queries, and match rate from DoubleClick Ad Exchange or AdSense.

Need to setup your mobile ads on Google, Facebook or other social media network? That’s what we do!

Call for an estimate to increase the performace of your website and mobile advertising ROI. Ask for Brent Norris: 808-896-7656

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Starting today a security message in your browser may indicate the security of the website you are visiting (see image).

Our WordPress Managed Hosting Services already include the security features mentioned in this article.

Soon, Google will begin showing a security message in all Chrome browswers indicating whether a website is encrypted.

Visitors to your site may perceive your site more or less secure based on this new message. For ecommerce sites it’s important your visitors feel secure enough to begin a shopping experience for example. To reduce costs, security must be maintained. This means active management against spam and malware attacks on your website.

Related Security Resources:

• How Encryption Works

• Imminent: Non-HTTPS Sites Labeled “Not Secure” by Chrome

• WordPress 4.7.1 Security and Maintenance Release

• Enabling HTTPS on Your Servers (by Google)

• View email encryption between your server and Gmail

• Lookup your domain’s https security status