Is it just me, or do you get frustrated with the outdated information search engines are “throwing at you”?
I do a lot of research for my blogs, as well as for my full time job. What I find most frustrating, is that the information at the top of the search engines, is often outdated.
When I do research, it’s vital that the information I receive is current. So, as an added chore to my research, I now must check for the date of an article. It’s not uncommon to find a website at the top of the search engines which has articles that are two to three years old.
I think it’s great that “someone” is getting lots of “clicks” because their site has moved to the top of the search engine, but I also think it’s important that a search produces current information. Hmmmm! Maybe the Google bots, spiders, and crawlers should take that into consideration.
It was “back to school” today.
I was tweaking a page in my other blog, and wanted to add a line break, so I went to W3schools.com and learned the code. Insert “hr” inside of these brackets < >, before or after where you want the line break, and this is what you get:
Whatever you typed, will have a line either over or under the text. Pretty cool.
I also wanted to have the information I was working with in columns on my page, so I used the suggested code from W3schools.com which I found under HTML layout, and created three columns of information. In their demonstration, they divided the page in half, by using 50% for each table, but I wanted three columns (or tables), so I used 33%. It worked perfectly.
You can see my creation at www.Observationmountain.com – Sidebar Shopping.
Even though I spent the greater part of the day learning and applying code, it turned out to be a lesson that served me well.
Try the line break code or use tables, and see how creative you can get.
Setting up a website or a blog? Need a domain name and web host? Want to buy a popular domain name?
I know of one advertiser that sells domain names, They are www.GoDaddy.com where you can 
Find, Buy & Sell Domain Names
Do you want to choose your own domain name? Find a web host that offers all of the services you need? Here’s a sampling of web hosting companies to choose from.
I’m currently using BlueHost as they Host Unlimited Domains on 1 Bluehost Account $6.95 Per Month I signed up with them as I have two blogs, and so far, I’ve been happy with them. Plus, their site is easy for me to navigate.
If you’ve signed up for the free Google Analytics for statistic reporting, you may have noticed they now have a new beta version for reporting statistics.
I received an email from Google, notifying me of the change. When I clicked on the Google Analytics Bets Version, I was immediately confused. What did they do? But, the more I moved around the new Google Analytics beta version, the more I’m finding how easy it is to navigate.
I’m not sure if I like the “heat map” which shows were the visitors originated. That’s going to take some getting used to. Having a new site, I actually like seeing the “dots” on the old Google Analytics version. Since I like geography, it’s fun to see where my visitors are coming from. Now, until you have a lot of visitors from one state or country, the sections of the heat map are pretty light in color. But, for those who have thousands of visitors, I’m sure the old map looked like one big blob. It does seem like you have to do a lot of clicking, to get to the actual numbers by state (unless I’m missing a shortcut). But, I do like how you can pass the mouse over the map, and it gives you a read out by state or country. The information is in report form just below the map, so that’s a nice feature. Plus, I can always go back to the old version to see my “dots”, until they, too, become a blob.
All in all, I think the new Google Analytics, beta version is a big improvement. Google gets credit for listening to their users and addressing their concerns. Thank you Google!
I’m taking a break from beating my head against the wall, learning all I need to know to produce a good blog, and spending time reviewing my list of advertisers. I find that easier than researching code for my blog; plus, I feel I deserve a break.
I realized that I have one advertiser that offers a product for free (you don’t see that too often), so I showcased them on my other blog, and decided to do the same here.
The advertiser is Smilebox. They offer free e-cards that can be personalized with photos. You can make greeting cards, scrapbooks, slide shows, photo books, and postcards. They offer all of these possibilities with music and motion. You add the photos, and then send them to your friends and family. All for free. How sweet is that?
Here’s the link to Smilebox:
So, do like me, take a break, and make someone smile today. 
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford & I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
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