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Recent Posts
- Thinking About Switching From WordPress? What Should You Consider Before You Move?
- The Airtable Acquisition Raises a Bigger Question: Do You Really Own the Software Your Business Runs On?
- How to Use Google Search Console’s New Generative AI Data to Improve Your SEO
- How to Update the Same Website Content on Multiple Pages at Once
- Discovered vs. Crawled Not Indexed in Google Search Console: What’s the Difference and How to Fix Each
- The Small Business Guide to Auditing Google Ads and Website Costs
- Do Professional Writers Still Need SEO in the Age of AI?
- Search Engine First vs. People First Content: Why Generic FAQ Dumps Harm Your SEO
- Looking for a Website Builder Without AI? Which One Should You Choose?
- Keyword Cannibalization: How to Find and Fix the Pages Stealing Your Own Google Traffic
- Why Great Content Gets Stuck on Page 8 (And How to Fix It)
- Why MySQL FULLTEXT Search Returns 0 Results (And How to Fix It)
- The Reality of Domain Speculation on New TLD Launches: Is It Still Worth It?
- The Hidden Domain Name Lock-In: Which Registrars Restrict Nameservers?
- Paying $10,000 a Month for SEO? Here’s How to Tell If You’re Getting Your Money’s Worth
- Introducing New WordPress Magazine Layouts in UltimateWB 9 (With Early Access)
- How to Fix the WordPress “Critical Error” on the Widgets Page After a PHP Upgrade
- The Hidden Risk of SaaS Website Builders: Lessons from the Recent Wix Outage
Categories
Category Archives: Backend
What Is the IndexNow Message in Bing Webmaster Tools?
If you use Bing Webmaster Tools, you may have noticed a banner that says:
“Set up IndexNow and boost your site’s visibility in search engines within minutes.”
At first glance, it looks like an ad.
It sounds promotional, it’s visually highlighted, and it pushes you to click.
But it’s not an advertisement - and it’s also not a Bing-owned service, which is where most of the confusion comes from.
Let’s clear this up properly.
Short Answer
- ❌ It’s
Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged authority, bing, bing webmaster tools, boost visibility, crawl, https, improve ranking, indexing, indexnow, internal linking, microsoft, robots.txt, search engine optimization, search engine ranking, seo, sitemaps, visibility
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SEO Is Working – So Why Aren’t Sales Increasing?
Ask David: "My traffic statistics have grown organically, so SEO is working, but sales are not growing - how do I know I am on the right track or what else should I be doing?"
This is a very common situation, and it’s also one of the most confusing for website owners.
The important thing to understand is that organic traffic growth and sales growth are related - but they are not the same metric.
If
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Posted in Ask David!, E-commerce, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged call-to-action, conversion friction, conversion rate optimization, conversions, convert leads, engagement, increase sales, leads, messaging, organic traffic, reach, sales, search engine optimization, seo, small business websites, trust, trust signals, trustworthy, website builders, website conversions, website optimization
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Do I have to keep adding content for SEO?
"Ask David" Question: "I’ve launched my website and have been focusing on SEO. Do I have to keep adding new content constantly to maintain my search engine ranking and traffic?"
Quick Take:
No - you don’t have to publish new content constantly to maintain traffic. Updating your existing pages, optimizing technical SEO, and building quality backlinks can preserve or even grow your rankings. Fresh content helps, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.
Detailed Answer:
1. Updating vs.
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Posted in Ask David!, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Web Content, Website Traffic
Tagged authority, backlinks, build backlinks, clear navigation, easy navigation, engagement, engagement signals, fresh content, high-quality content, keyword targeting, mobile optimization, mobile-friendly, performance, readability, responsive, responsive design, search engine optimization, seo, site speed, structured data, technical seo, user experience, website content
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How Fast Can Traffic Grow From Only SEO?
If you’ve launched a website and decided to rely only on SEO, you’re probably asking the same question many founders quietly worry about:
Is this growth normal… or am I stuck?
Maybe your site has been live for a month or two. You haven’t promoted it. No ads. No social pushes. Just search traffic. Organic traffic. You’re seeing a few hundred users trickle in, engagement looks good, and things are slowly climbing - but you don’t know what
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Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged bloat, bounce rate, build trust, clarity, core web vitals, engagement, engagement metrics, fast loading, fast loading times, fast website, Google Search Console, javascript, keywords, kiss, organic traffic, plugins, search engine optimization, search intent, seo, SEO metrics, simple website design, thin pages, third party plugins, traffic
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Webpage direct visits: bots, crawlers, or real visitors?
"Are webpage visits coming from a direct visit (vs a search) from bots or crawlers vs real visitors, or perhaps AI scrapers?"
Yes - a significant portion of direct webpage visits can come from bots, crawlers, and AI scraping content, not just real human visitors. But how much depends on the site, traffic level, and what kind of page you’re looking at.
Below is a clear breakdown.
1. What “Direct” Traffic Really Means
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Posted in AI, Ask David!, Website Traffic
Tagged ai, AI crawling, ai scrapers, analytics accuracy, bot traffic, bots, bots vs humans, content scraping, crawlers, direct traffic, fake direct traffic, fake traffic, google analytics, matomo, raw server logs, real visitors, robots, seo, SEO analytics, server logs, traffic analysis, web crawlers, website analytics, website monitoring
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Pros and Cons of Hosting Static Websites for Free: GitHub Pages, Netlify, and Cloudflare Pages
Pros, Cons, and How They Compare to UltimateWB
If you’re building a static website - a portfolio, blog, landing page, or documentation site - you’ve probably seen claims that you can host it completely free.
And you can.
Platforms like GitHub Pages, Netlify, and Cloudflare Pages all offer free static website hosting, often with global CDNs and HTTPS included. But “free” comes with important trade-offs - especially once your site grows beyond a simple static project.
Let’s
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Posted in Ask David!, Compare Website Builders, Web Hosting
Tagged backend, cdn, CDN hosting, Cloudflare, cloudflare pages, css, custom domain, database, dynamic website, dynamic website builder, fast website, free hosting, free static website hosting, free web hosting, GitHub, github pages, hosting comparison, html, https, jamstack, javascript, jekyll, landing pages, netlify, scalability, server logic, static vs dynamic websites, static website, static website hosting, web hosting, web hosting limits, website builders
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Google Algorithm Penalties Explained: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How to Recover
Google doesn’t like surprises. Website owners, on the other hand, often get one they didn’t ask for: a sudden drop in traffic, rankings vanishing overnight, and pages that once dominated search results quietly disappearing.
In most cases, that shock traces back to Google algorithm penalties.
If you’ve ever wondered what Google actually penalizes, how algorithmic penalties differ from manual actions, or whether recovery is even possible, this guide breaks it all down - clearly, accurately, and
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Posted in AI, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged ai, AI content, AI-generated content, auto-generated content, backlink cleanup, backlink profile, backlinks, bounce rate, content depth, content quality, core web vitals, crawl, credibility, duplicate content, E-E-A-T, engagement, engagement signals, experience, expertise, fast-loading website, google algorithm, google algorithm penalties, Google algorithm update, google core updates, google panda, google penguin, Google rankings, Google Search Console, helpful content, high-quality content, keyword stuffing, layout shift, link spam, low-quality, mobile-friendly, page experience, search engine optimization, search engine ranking, search intent, search intent match, seo, seo guide, slow load times, slow website, spammy, thin content, thin pages, trust, user experience, ux signals, visibility, website optimization, website traffic
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Why Google Search Console’s 24-hour report suddenly shows all zeros
If you rely on Google Search Console to keep an eye on your site, you may have noticed something unsettling recently: the “last 24 hours” view showing flat zeroes - no clicks, no impressions, nothing. You might be thinking... Google Search Console is broken!
Or, if you are not in tune with your traffic stats via another channel, your first thought might the obvious one:
“Did Google drop my site?”
Short answer: no.
Long answer: this is a Google
Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged analytics, analytics issues, google analytics, Google indexing, Google Search Console, GSC data delay, GSC reporting issue, hosted website builders, raw server logs, search engine optimization, SEO reporting, seo tips, SEO troubleshooting, website analytics, website performance, website traffic
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The Best CAPTCHA for Your Website Forms: Code vs. Question & Answer
If you’ve ever filled out a website form, you’ve probably run into a CAPTCHA. That little test to prove you’re human and not a spam bot can be as simple as typing a distorted code or answering a question. UltimateWB, in all its versions, gives you both options for your forms - but which one works best?
The Classic CAPTCHA: Copying the Code
The traditional CAPTCHA shows a string of letters and numbers in a distorted image, and users
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Posted in Website Security
Tagged captcha, captcha code, code CAPTCHA, form security, question & answer pairs, question & answers captcha, question and answer, question and answer CAPTCHA, reduce spam, spam, spam controls, spam protection, user-friendly forms, web forms, website forms
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Should I Use a Custom Domain Email Instead of Gmail?
Pros, Cons, and What I Recommend
When you’re building a website - especially a business or professional project - one of the first questions that comes up is:
“Should I stick with a Gmail address… or switch to an email that matches my own domain?”
Both options have advantages, and the right choice depends on how you want your brand to appear, how much control you want, and
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