Google Chrome



For the last three weeks, I have been using Google Chrome as my default browser at work and home. Why the sudden jump from the standard options? This question is particularly valid as Chrome is brand spanking new.

When I opened Chrome for the first time after installation, it felt something was missing. It felt a lot was missing. They hadn't included any sort of bells and whistles. I had expected at least google toolbar functionality  would be apparent. Then I realised, apart from the sole purpose of browsing the Internet and basic bookmarking, this browser had nothing. Initially, I felt severely underwhelmed and commented that Chrome was possibly under bloated. 

What am I going to do without my Google Toolbar for IE, Twitterfox and Facebook app for Firefox? After a little bit of a fit, I then took a step back. What has Google generally been good at? Keeping functionality on the Internet. They don't really make desktop apps (besides the likes of google desktop, which I felt was sort of a fluke). Google Docs, Gmail, Analytics, etc. are all web apps. Google Chrome is simply takes the focus off the browser and puts the focus on the web apps. 

Once I realised the purpose of a web browser, then Chrome started making sense. I don't need an RSS aggregator built into my browser, I use iGoogle and Google Reader. I don't need a weather app, I get my weather on iGoogle. The sites I do check, I simply have them bookmarked and accessible right under the address bar. Any other frequently visited websites are accessible by their "Most Visited" pages when you open a new tab. It just makes sense.

Another absolutely amazing and huge benefit is the fact that each tab is it's own process. I can't tell you how much I can tell the difference between running Chrome versus IE and Firefox. I will at times have up around 10-12 websites open at once, when things get a little pokey, I don't need to restart the browser, I simply close a couple tabs. Nice!

The only beef I have with Chrome is that it seems it can get finicky when trying to watch flash based videos and it's not too hot with pdf reading yet. But hey, we are still in Beta (like any other Web 2.0 thing out there) and I believe they will have a firm grounding in the browser race.

Tags: Browsers, Technology, Chrome, Google



SEO? ROI? LOL?

Alright, lately I've been feeling the need to get into some serious SEO. Lately, over at Dream In Code, it seems as though there is a spark of interest with optimising sites for search engines. I'm trying to keep up, but man alive, these kids know how to do it. So here's what I have done... an experiment, have you. I have basically started fresh with my site structure (which goes unnoticed by the average viewer) in an attempt to climb in the Google search queries. But before I can climb with such drastic changes, I must fall at the foot of Google. Here's a few steps I have taken so far:

  • I moved my entire blogs from Blogger.com and Myspace to a home-brew blogging system I have periodically been working on with my free time. I also resurected blogs between 2002-2004 from old home-brew systems I have made. The MSN Spaces era in my life is all that's left. My Blogger account is slowly diminishing in google (when searching for "Nick Davis")
  • I have decided to stick with the domain of  http://www.nicholasdavis.info. For the most part, I was sick of the ".org" look. It's funny and all, having the organization domain, but alas, I'm not an organization. I figured .info was alright, as it is information on me. Unfortunately, I believe it kind of puts me at a disadvantage compared to it's .com and .net brothers.
  • I changed all my page titles to something a little easier for google eat up. On Analytics, people do more searches for "Nick Davis" than "Nicholas Davis". I took that knowlege and figured "Nick Davis" was probably better in the title, especially if I want to tackle those keywords more.
  • I created an RSS feed for the mass populace to consume, of which I have created a modified version for Google to eat up, using Google Webmaster Tools.
  • I submitted my site to Google.
  • I reconstructed my blog template so that it will be easier for search engines to pick up on. Technorati seemed to enjoy it a lot.

So far, my Google presence seems to be improving a little since last week. Searching for "Nick Davis", my blog page shows up at the very bottom. I'm hoping the next couple days, it will be my home page and a couple notches higher than the bottom of the first page. I suppose I also need to work on blogging about things that are interesting.

This blog is my personal experience and for the most part very speculative. So if you have any information or tips, please let me know! I'd love to hear from you.


Tags: Technology, Web, Internet, RSS, Syndication, Google, SEO, Search Engines, Analytics, Blogger



Updated Site

Hello all of my blog readers (All three. bahaha.) Just want to say I updated my blogger so that it posts all latest blogs directly to my website, http://www.nicholasdavis.info/blogs. If you have me linked, please use my new link, it'd be greatly appreciated!

Why the heck would I want to move off of blogspot? Quite frankly, Blogspot is a great place to host a blog. They give you a nice address, it's fast, etc. Well let me tell you why. Two reasons and neither are opposing blogspot. First of all, I have a web server at my hands, so I might as well use it. Secondly, I have been messing with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and want to try and see if I can boost myself in the search engines a bit. What better place for trial and error than my own website? I've also been actively promoting a couple other sites in google's favor to see if I can't boost them in the lists. It's gotten quite addicting, actually. Statistics are so much fun to play with!

Tags: Archive_Blogger, Blogger, Google, SEO, Web Hosting