Sunday, September 30, 2012

Fix 404 Page Not Found Error with redirection in Blogger

You will often notice that visitors come to a page which doesn't exist on your website, either by clicking a broken link (unreachable link) or typing a wrong URL. Typically, this may result bad user experience. As a webmaster, it is our concern to avoid misleading with a status message.  In Blogger, page not found site errors can be identified with the help of Google Webmaster Tools. It also works for any website that capable of verifying ownership with Google webmaster tools.  If you encounter an error, then the next step is putting it in right direction. In order to resolve the error, we will employ following error handling mechanisms in Blogger.
  • Blog's custom page not found message
  • Blog’s custom redirects
Organization of errors can be done easily in updated blogger interface. Please note that you won't find any options in older interface.

Set custom 404 Page message in Blogger:

1. Go to Blogger and open your blog Setting in Dashboard
2. Under settings click on Search preferences. There you will find Errors and re-directions.
3. Now edit Custom Page Not Found option and enter the message which you would like to notify your users about the error page.
Custom 404 page settings in Blogger
Custom 404 page will be displayed only to the visitors who come with 404 HTTP status code. Instead of message, you can use HTML, as well as CSS code up to 10k characters. If possible, try to put search box within the message and provide link to most popular articles or posts. This method is perfect solution for the visitors who came with a mistyped URL.

Set custom redirects in Blogger:

So far we have discussed about Custom 404 page, Now it's time to fix errors related to deleted or removed pages or posts.
1. For this edit Custom redirects option in Search preferences.
2. Then click New redirect and enter non-existing or removed post URL path followed by root domain in From block.
3. Next enter the URL path followed by root domain in To block to where you would like to redirect.
Custom redirect settings in Blogger
This option will helps you to drive your old visitors to new relocated page or home page. But It is not compulsory to fix all 404 errors with redirection. Because you may not able to control every link to your site. Moreover it doesn't affect your site search performance. So just try to fix every 404 error listed in Webmaster Tools or top-ranking related issues. Have any feedback or query? if yes, then post a comment.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Minimize the bounce rate and Keep your Readers Engaged

Bounce rate is the percentage of single page views i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the landing page without visiting any other pages. Most of the ranking systems like Google and Alexa will take it into consideration. So I am going to explain you some effective tips to reduce the bounce rate. We use Google Analytics to track the bounce rate. It can be calculated from the following formula.

Bounce Rate = single page views / total page views.

What does this metric tell us?
It decides how much pull and interest your website is generating for your visitors. Usually, Website with a high bounce rate indicates that entrance pages are not relevant to visitors and changes are necessary for improvement. Many Analytic Experts told that up to 50% is the good rate, over that is some what worrying. Moreover, it gives an idea how you can optimize your website further.

How to lower the bounce rate?
  • Keep the navigation simple and Make it easy to reach every page of your website.
  • Embed related post widget under every page. Instead of related posts you can place popular or recent posts. I suggest LinkWithin widget, if your site contains at least one image per page.
  • Write effective headings for your anchor text while linking.
  • Link your each keyword to other pages that focusing same topic.
  • Concentrate on the quality of content rather than writing for ranking systems. Be realistic and write killer articles.
  • Don’t fill your pages with unrelated ads and excess ad blocks.
  • Many situation proved that visitors will get frustrated from unwanted things, so give your visitors good experience by avoiding pop-ups and redirection.