Web User - UK (2019-07-10)

18 10 - 23 July 2019 [email protected]

It’s difficultto establishwhat visitors want from your website whenyou never meetthem,but you canask

themto fill in a form. GoogleFormsmakes thisprocess quickandeasy, bothfor you andyour visitors

Google dispelsSEOmyths
The GoogleWebmasters YouTube
channelcontinuesto be essential
viewing,with a new seriescalled
SEO Mythbusters (bit.ly/
seom4 79 ). In eachepisode, a
Googleemployee invites a guest
expert into the
Googlestudio
to discuss
topics
essentialto
building
websites and helpingpeoplefind
themusingGoogle’s search
engine. At the timeof writing,
there were four episodes:an
introduction,a look at how
Googleranks websites, an
examination of structured data,
and help with JavaScript.Further
episodeswill be releasedweekly.

SpeedupWordPresssearch
The default search in WordPress
can be slow, particularlywhen

your website reachesa certain

size, becauseit searchespages

directlyfrom your webhost’s

server. However, a new plugin

dramaticallyreduces the time

searchestake, becauseit can

return accurate resultswithout

having to communicate with your

webhost. Unfortunately, it isn’t

availablefrom the WordPress site

yet, but you can downloadit from

GitHubatbit.ly/search479. Upload

it to your website’s plugins

directory and activate it from

there. Full instructionsare

availablein the readmefile on the

plugin’s downloadpage.

1

In GoogleDrive, choosea folder in

whichto save your form. Right-click

and selectMore, thenGoogleForms.

Googlesets up an ‘Untitledform’^1

containinga singleUntitledQuestion.

(^2) Clickthe title to add a new heading,
thenclick‘Form description’^3 to
give visitors someidea of what the
form is about.
2
The default question typeis ‘Multiple
choice’.^1 Clickthis optionto see a
list of alternatives and selectthe one you
want. Write your question in the box at
the top^2 and your answers, if required,
below.^3 Click‘Add option’^4 to include
more answers, and use the cross icons^5
to remove any you no longerwant.
3
Clickthe ‘Add question’ button^1
to add as many questionsas you
need.When you’re ready to share the
form on your website, clickSend.^2
To add a link to the form on your site,
clickthe link icon.^3 Alternatively,
embedthe form usingHTMLcode,
whichyou can copy from the Embed
HTMLtab.^4
Specialist tips, top tools and practicalhelp

Build a Better Site

Top Tips of the Fortnight

MINIWORKSHOP|Get feedback fromyour visitors usinga Google Form

GoogleForms:docs.google.com/forms| 10 mins|Anybrowser

Deal of the Fortnight

Bluehost (www.bluehost.com) is offering its

Shared hosting plan for £2.80 per month,

down from £7.58, including a free domain

for one year and secure hosting. You need

to sign up for 36 months.

Web-buildingHelpdesk

Q

I like Gutenberg, the new

block-based editor in

WordPressversion5, but while

it seemseasy to use, I’m not sure how

to build a site aroundit. Can you help?

Marcus Finch, via email

A

There are lots of educational

resources available on the web. If

you already know your way around

a WordPress website, the information at Bill

Erickson’s site (bit.ly/bill479)

should get you up and running

reasonably quickly. If you need a

little more depth, consider

downloading Heart Internet’s

freeGet Started With Gutenberg

ebook from bit.ly/gutbk479. You

need to enter your contact

details but the book is free. It

has chapters written by various

experts, including a senior

developer at Automattic, the company that

publishes WordPress.

Andy Shaw, Technical & Reviews Editor

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