Going public
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Hi, this is my first website and I am having a bit of trouble making it public. People are able to access the site from the shared link below, but sometimes a message comes up that says the blog is marked private by its owner and says it can only be viewed by invitation and with a login, however, when the link is clicked, it goes directly to the site with no login required. I’m confused and not sure what I need to do.
http://paulgannformasoncountysheriff.com/
This site does not have an active blog as of yet. This is a campaign site and the election is almost a year away. We don’t need the blog yet, we are using facebook to start a dialogue with prospective voters. It seems confusing to have it referred to as a blog when it isn’t.
Also, the website does not show up in searches. I think I understand from a response to an earlier question I posted that it might take weeks before search engines index the site. Is that correct? I guess I didn’t realize that…The response also said it might depend on if the content is worth indexing. I’d like to think it is, but what can I do to ensure that it is?
Brother-in-law is counting on me to get this right, I would sure appreciate help/tips!
Cindy
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi Cindy,
I was not able to replicate on any of your pages, a message saying that the blog is marked as private. To ensure a setting is not causing this message, go to the Reading Screen ( Settings->Reading ) and verify that Site Visibility is set to ‘Allow search engines to index this site’. If this setting is set to ‘ I would like my site to be private, visible only to users I choose’ than you will receive the message that the blog is marked as private. If the option ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ is selected, than this could be the reason your website is not indexed by search engines.
When users search in search engines, your content and the text users are using to search will determine if your website comes up. You may want to review your content to ensure there is text in the content that users could potentially search ( i.e ‘Paul Gann election 2014’).
After verifying your settings and making any modifications to your website content, I do not see any reason your website will be marked as private or not indexed by search engines.
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Thanks for responding, John. The site visibility is set to “Allow search engines to index…” so that’s not it. I guess I will let it ride for now since people are able to access the site and I will turn my focus on making sure that the content contains key words and phrases. If I understand correctly, I can add tags when we do activate the blog and that will help with searches as well.
Thanks, again!
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People who are getting that message have their browsers set to view a cached version of the site. Tell them to clear their browser cache and they will see the new one. If they’re coming from Facebook links, however, you need to clear your Facebook cache, because their cache which says the blog is private is what’s being shared.
Yes, it is normal to take weeks to show up in searches. Please do a search of the forum for “SEO” and “Get more visitors” and related phrases to see some of the over 1000 tips already here.
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Just call it a web site – that’s what I do with my site –
What state are you in? My guess is there are a lot of “Mason” counties in the US (at least two – where you are and in my state also) – city would also help
How do I contact you?? No phone no anything – add a contact page – phone & mail address – then add a Contact Form (keeps your email out of spam books) – with some basic info and a general text / remarks area
Start making some Posts (don’t call the section “blog” – maybe “recent activities” or something) every time candidate does something you need a Post – picture with caption, his full name and office, county, state, city etc – that will help search engines – nothing fancy but some basic things when candidate does something
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Hi raincoaster, thank you for the information. I’m pretty sure you are right on target with your explanation of what was going on…I will check out the resources you suggest.
Hi auxclass, thank you for all your great suggestions.!
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