Technical Tidbits™

This post will probably affect maybe 1% of our readership, but I felt it worthy of posting anyway.

I have been having problems for quite some time using HootSuite for my social networking in both Firefox and IE 8 browsers. I finally found that it worked best in IE8 if that was the only thing running. Meaning, I didn’t have other tabs open like I so often do with Firefox. And, I can run IE 8 with HooteSuite while having my Firefox open with all the tabs I want without interference.

This morning, I made an amazing discovery! I had HooteSuite running in my IE and I had opened Firefox to log in to my BlogTalk radio show. Panic set in!

BlogTalk radio would not load properly and even when I tried to call in to the switchboard, the phone call would not connect and my switchboard items became dimmed out.  (Now why the calling part would be related to the online switchboard I don’t know.) With less than 3 minutes to show time, I started panicking!

I don’t know what made me shut down IE and HootesSuite, but as soon as I did, I was able to connect to the BlogTalk radio switchboard and my call went through!

When I decided to write this post, I went back to each page – HooteSuite and BlogTalk Radio – and looked at the page sources to see what might be conflicting.

Both sites use JavaScript but I’ve never had a problem having multiple tabs open with JavaScripts running on each page. Even the most complex JavaScript doesn’t seem to be resource intensive by any means.

The problem appears to be Flash. I don’t know whether each of these sites are so Flash intensive that the browsers (both IE and Firefox) can’t handle it, or whether there is a conflict with the resources being used by each and the way the browsers manage it.

Even now as I type this post, I have the radio switchboard open in one tab and HooteSuite open in another and I’m getting a lag in the typing here in the WordPress blog tab.  It seems to happen when either HooteSuite is updating the tweets, or when BlogTalk radio refreshes the page for the advertising at the top. Which appears to be handled by JavaScript so I’m really confused!

Anyway, I wanted to put this out there so anyone who might be having a problem using HooteSuite might benefit from knowing that you may have to restrict using it with other resource intensive sites.  At least until we can upgrade to such a powerful computer that it won’t matter how resource intensive a web app is for the browser! (Where is an affordable terabyte processor when you need one? )

So, if you’ve been kicked out of our radio show chat or lost your sound during a show, make sure that you’re not running HooteSuite in the background while you’re listening to the show live. I bet you won’t experience any problems during the show!

BTW, I know that friend of the show, Charles Taggart, uses TweetDeck during the show and he has never reported being kicked out of the live chat nor losing sound. (Yes Charles, I’ve heard the chirps over our phone conversations! LOL) So, whatever the difference is between how TweetDeck and HooteSuite is programmed to work, is where the problem is.

And I’m not going to blame the browsers on this one! Are you surprised? (GRIN)

I know, the silence around here has been deafening! Sorry about that.

The granddaughter was here for 10 days visiting from out of town, and I’ve been super busy playing catch-up! Busy is always a good thing in business thought!

Just wanted to tell you I’m back to work, granddaughter gone, and moving forward again.

I’ve been making notes throughout my absence and have I got a TON of posts to put up here! So much has been going on! Technology never takes a vacation.

So, first up is our tech strategy calendar for the rest of the year.

August: “It’s a Small World”

If you end up having that Disney song playing in your head this month and hate me for it, it means my strategy worked! Just kidding. The strategy relates to how the techology has made our world much smaller!

September: “Back to (Tech) School”

October: “MONEY! How to make it and manage it – ONLINE!”

November: “It’s a Tech Holiday!”  (Technology as it relates to the holidays.)

December: “2011 Tech”

That being said, what does that mean to you, the reader of this blog or visitor to our site?

It means that along with our regular features related to tech developments that should concern you, there will be articles that relate to the Tech Strategy of the month also. Our Radio Show – Technical Tidbits on BlogTalk Radio, and the Technical Tidbits Newsletters also will carry the theme for the tech strategy of the month.

Just what is this whole technology strategy concept you might ask?

Technology encompasses every aspect of our life from you reading this message to your work or business and every aspect of your modern life. You are digitally connected with cell phones, computers, GPS systems, e-mail, and so much more.

Since our average visitor, student, customer or client is a person who uses technology in their job, their business (solopreneurs and SMBs), and is usually self-taught or has wanted to learn more about making technology work for them, I developed a monthly tech strategy theme to help maximize your use of technology.

I will present to you strategies – methods, if you will – that you can incorporate into your life or business that will help you use the tools available to you in the most efficient way possible.

And if you’ve been following our blog and website for any length of time, you know I do so in a very easy-to-follow way that doesn’t talk over your head or beneath you.

This is the next phase in the new look, feel, and information on our site.  Soon, you will have access to the newly designed site with information that will help move your skills and knowledge in a way you never knew existed!

And as for the other posts I need to get out here, well, you’ll just have to watch your RSS feed or check back here! Because I’m back to work!

Yesterday, I was downloading and reviewing my clients Google Analytics reports because I always like to see where I might be able to help them improve traffic.  I always leave my site reports for last.

When I opened the report for my personal/professional website – DebbieMahler.com – I was a bit startled to see the following search term that led someone to my web page!

(Click the image to see the full size)

I was a little taken aback when I saw that! It’s like reading your Obituary when no one told you were dead yet!

I immediately proceeded down to my roomies office in the lower level and said to him, “I’m a bit creeped out!”  Of course, he wanted to know why.

“I was just looking over my own Google Analytics report for Debbie Mahler. com and someone got to my site by searching for the terms: ‘radio show host woman death debbie’.” I replied.

My roommate started laughing and said, “Now there’s someone who knows you and knows how to use a search engine!”  I was stumped by what he meant. After all, I had myself dead!

As he went on to explain his reasoning for the results, it became clearer! And he was right! Not only did the person know enough about me, they also knew how to use the search engine to find me!

As you all know, I host a radio show – Technical Tidbits™ on Blogtalk Radio – and my name is Debbie. The key to what makes this search relevant specifically to me was the “death” search term!

What more and more people are finding out about me through listening to the radio show, connecting with me on the other social networks, or reading my metaphysical blog, is that I had a Near Death Experience (NDE) many, many years ago.

So, the person who actually did the search knew this about me and that’s where the “death” search term came into play.  And yes, this person does know how to use a search engine!

But there is also something telling in this search.  The person didn’t know my last name (Mahler) or didn’t know how to spell it?  And, they most certainly didn’t know my company because if they did, they might have entered MICE as a term.  And, they also didn’t know the name of my radio show because they didn’t use the search term ‘Technical Tidbits’ to narrow their search results.

Now, what does this rumor of my death search have to teach us? I’m not marketing my company nor my radio show properly! Otherwise, the person might have refined their search even more had they known more about me, my company, and my radio show.  So, I can guess from this search that the person is one of my social networking followers or a student from my Introduction to PC Security> course, or the Advanced PC Security course with Ed2go.

Why do I arrive at that conclusion?

1. I rarely, if ever, do self-promotion on my social networks – with the exception of the radio show.
2. I am restricted by contract from pointing my students to my personal or business website with Ed2go.

So, the take-away point of this post is that when you are reviewing your Google Analytics reports, look at more than just the basic information that it provides.

We all have a tendency to look at how many new and repeat visitors we have, what browser they’re using, where they came from, and the time they spend on the site.  What you might be missing – as I have until this search popped up in my report – is that the actual search terms may be telling a different story unrelated to SEO; as with my death!

The rumors of my death may be greatly exaggerated, but failure to get the word out about my business and my radio show could accelerate my professional demise much more quickly!

Now, go back and look over your own analytics report too!