HOW DO I CLEAR MY CACHE?
You said that you updated my site but i don’t see the changes?
Your computer keeps a copy of websites that you visit so that the next time you go there, it will load quicker. The frequency that it checks for new files varies depending on your settings.
These copies are saved in your computer’s “cache” and your “cache” can be cleared. In fact it is considered good preventative care to regularly clear your cache and you don’t even need any fiber.
Here is how to clear caches on various browsers:
Chrome: Go to Chrome>Preferences>Settings>Show advanced settings>Privacy(Clear browsing data)> check Browsing history, Download history, Cookies…, Cached images>Clear browsing data
Internet Explorer:
Macintosh: Go to Explorer>Preferences>Advanced>click Empty Now
Windows: Go to Tools >Options>General>Temporary Internet Files>Delete Files
Firefox: Go to Firefox>Preferences>Advanced>Cached Web Content/Clear Now
Safari: Go to Safari>Clear History>(select one of the four options depending on when you last visited the site)>Clear History
This information may become out of date. If so, a simple web search on “(browser name) clear cache” should get you what you need.
Typically changes are almost instantaneous but sometimes it just takes time for changes to show up, as a website must go thru a network of systems to be accessible everywhere. We have a client in Africa and it can take up to a full day for changes to become visible.
WHY IS FLASH A BAD IDEA FOR MY WEBSITE?
Adobe Flash is a dynamic multimedia and software platform that you’ve probably seen in use before in the form of dynamic graphics, animations, interactive content, streaming videos, and online games. It’s also used to create websites and/or supplement them with dynamic visuals that look nice and do cool things.
Unfortunately, now more than ever, Flash is bad for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) / search engine traffic. Here, we’ll talk about the impact of Flash effect on your website and how you can remedy it.
SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
• No Unique URLs
A website built in Flash doesn’t generate unique URLs for each page. This is a big part of SEO; unique URLs help search engines better index your page and point users in the right direction. This means your internal pages – those beyond the home page – will suffer in rankings.
• Poor Site Crawlability
Flash breaks up a lot of the code on a website into small, half phrases and other snippets, especially when animating a text effect. This Flash effect means that search engines have a hard time crawling your website , meaning your indexing will not be as complete or thorough.
• No External Linking
Flash content doesn’t get a lot of external links, which is unfortunate since external links are so important to SEO website performance. Part of it is structural; often it is impossible to link to a specific part of a website completely or mostly created in Flash. The other part is cultural; people just do not like linking to Flash content unless it’s a video game in most cases.
• Bad Website Performance
Flash can also require updates to web browsers that annoy users. You want maximum website performance; anything less can drive away users.
SPECIFIC ALTERNATIVES
• You can have us use an SEO plug-in for your website. They can quickly accomplish the technical on-page SEO aspects a site needs.
• A “sitemap” can help with SEO.
• Use ALT tags with highly appealing pictures. ALT tags are HTML labels that help crawlers read what the picture is supposed to be about. They are Google-friendly descriptors of visual content that search engines can index. ALT tags are a necessity for any visual content.
Village Green Studio now builds most sites on a WordPress platform which allows for ALT tags, and all kinds of SEO options/additions available in SEO plugins.
There is a lot involved in search results besides tags and text on your site:
• age of site
• frequency of site updates/changes
• external links to your site…
• traffic (Vicious circle as you need good SEO to get traffic and you need good traffic to get good SEO. True dat.)
• more
All that said, SEO is sticky-tricky and constantly changing-evolving thing. Google, especially, frequently changes up their algorithm without notice. Anyone that tells you that they can get you page-1 Google results for a general, common term is either lying or using “black hat” methods that could get your site blacklisted.
That’s not to say we can’t help. We can and will do whatever we can.
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY DOMAIN EXPIRES?
Once your domain expires the registrar can take it down at any time. They don’t typically take it offline until 2-3 days after expiration but can take it as soon as it expires. 10-ish days after expiring, your domain will go into the “redemption period” which will add an additional, roughly, $80 to the cost of renewal. Different registrar charge different fees but they are generally around $80. Their fee, not ours. We can keep the hosting live but can’t control the registrar. Info on the steps of an expired domain follow:
“Usually, a domain name is not available for re-registration as soon as it expires. Most registrars allow a grace period that can be as short as one or two weeks or as long as a year for registrants to renew expired domain names. The actual grace period can be different for each individual registrar and domain name extension. That is, the grace period for a .com domain name might be different from the grace period for a .us domain name, even at the same registrar.
After the registrar’s grace period, most domain names have a redemption period. This period can last from two weeks to 30 days, and, during this time, the current registrant can renew the domain name by paying a redemption fee along with the domain name’s renewal fee.
If the current registrant does not renew or redeem the domain name, it might be auctioned. When a domain name is released to a public auction, you can participate and possibly capture the domain name by placing a bid on it.
If the domain name is not renewed, redeemed, or purchased through an auction, it is returned to its registry. The registry determines when the domain name is released again for registration. Once it’s released, you can register the domain name.”
(from https://www.godaddy.com/help/when-can-i-register-an-expired-domain-name-572)