Since MobileMe is going to be discontinued, people who use the blogging feature in iWeb with comments enabled will be in big trouble. It is a good idea to salvage your blog and its comments now, rather than wait until the last minute.

With iWeb To WordPress, you can easily make your iWeb blog ready for import into WordPress. WordPress is an ideal blogging platform that will enable you to continue your blog, and will continue to allow your users to leave comments.

WordPress is one of the most used blogging systems available and is very easy to use. The benefit of WordPress over iWeb’s blogging features is mainly that you can post a blog from anywhere. You just log in to your web browser to do so.

Migrate your iWeb blog to WordPress

I know a lot of iWeb users have been having some problems with their iWeb websites looking correct in Internet Explorer. There are a few things you can do to make your iWeb site more compatible with IE. Follow these simple steps in the video, and your site will be a lot more compatible with Internet Explorer.  The application we use is called WebCrusher, which not only allows you to make your site more compatible with IE, but it can also really increase the speed of your website.

Many iWeb users face a common problem when trying to verify their site with Google’s Webmaster Tools. When at the Verify ownership stage, after pressing the Verify button, this error you see here is returned.

I am going to show you why this error is occurring, and how you can fix the issue so that your site can be verified with Webmaster Tools.

The first thing I want you to do, is type your website’s URL in the address field and hit return. When your browser takes you to your website, you will notice how your site is forwarded to a URL that looks like this. This URL has the domain name, followed by the SiteName, followed by the page name. Some URL’s will only have the domain name followed by the page name.  Alternatively, if you do not have a custom domain name and you use MobileMe , you should see web.me.com followed by your username, followed by your sitename, followed by the page name.

Now what I want you to do, is to test that your sitemap has been correctly published. To do this, I want you to delete the page name in the URL, and type in sitemap.xml as I am doing here. An alternative way of seeing if your sitemap has been published correctly is to press the Test Sitemap button in Sitemap Automator.

If you are taken to a page that has the XML Sitemap, then this means you have published it correctly. If you do not see the sitemap, then what I want you to do now, is delete the Sitename as well, so that the URL looks like your domain followed by sitemap.xml

So in my case, I’ve deleted the sitename, and replaced the page name with sitemap.xml. If this works, then you’ve uploaded your sitemap correctly as well. If this doesn’t work, then this means you probably have not published your sitemap, and you should go back into Sitemap Automator and try it again. Remember to view the video tutorial that walks you through this process.

For those of you who can see your XML sitemap, we are ready to move on to the next step. So as a reminder, I will go back to where my sitemap actually was located. So you can see the location of my sitemap is www.anotherbigdeal.com/apptorial/sitemap.xml. I want you to keep this in mind. My sitemap works when it is my domain followed by my sitename followed by the page name which in this case is sitemap.xml. This should be the case for most of you.

First, I am going to explain why our initial attempt at verification failed. This will make it much easier for you to understand how to do the process properly when you attempt it again.

If you take a look at step 3 in the verification method, it will tell you the exact location where Webmaster Tools is looking for your verification file. You will see in my case, it is looking for the file at www.anotherbigdeal.com/ the file name for the verification file. Here is where the mistake usually occurs. We all can see that my sitemap is located at anotherbigdeal.com/apptorial/sitemap.xml. This is most likely the same situation for my verification file. If I wanted to see my verification file, I could just replace sitemap.xml with the verification file name and it would show up in my browser. This page actually shows this. If you look in the URL you will see that the only difference is that sitemap.xml has been replaced by the verification file name.

But if we look back at step 3, notice where Webmaster Tools is trying to find my verification file. Something is missing from this URL. By now you’ve probably figured out that its missing my SiteName, which in this case is apptorial. This is the reason that it was unable to verify my site. The verification file it is looking for is not located in the location where it is trying to find it.

So what I’m going to do is, hit this Back to Home button, and then I will press the Add A Site button. Now, when I type in my site’s URL, I will enter a /apptorial at the end of the URL. Now if we look at step 3, you will notice that the URL now reads the correct URL for where my verification file is actually located. Now all I have to do is click on the Verify button, and my website will be correctly verified.

This tutorial will show you how to properly publish your iWeb site, so that you can avoid having your website URL be longer than necessary.

If you use iWeb, you already know that when you type in your website’s URL, once you are taken to your page, the URL in the address bar will forward to your domain name, followed by the site name that you gave in iWeb while publishing, followed by your page’s file name.  This URL you see here is just an example of what this might look like.

What we are going to be doing in this video, is reduce the length of the URL by getting rid of the site name so that the URL goes from looking like this, to looking like this. I will not be teaching you how to have the domain read just www.yourdomain.com. The reason for this is because the easiest way of actually doing this to an iWeb site would be to turn on what is called domain masking.

I will quickly tell you what domain masking is, and why you don’t want to use it for your website. Domain Masking is basically hiding the name of your site and replacing it with something else. As an example, notice how when I click to various pages on this site, the URL in the address bar stays the same. The reason why domain masking is not recommended, is because it makes other pages on your website unrecognizable by search engines and it makes it impossible for your users to bookmark an individual page on your site.

Now that we have a good understanding of the URL structure with iWeb sites, let’s get right into reducing the length of our URL’s. The first thing I want you to know is that you will be required to have a third-party FTP tool to publish your site. This means that we will no longer be publishing our websites directly from iWeb.

I recommend using Cyberduck or iWeb SEO Tool which are both available for free. Cyberduck is a basic FTP client which allows you to transfer files from your local hard drive to your web-space and vice cersa. iWeb SEO Tool is a great application for iWeb users to optimize their sites for search engines, AND it also includes a built in FTP client.  I’m going to be using iWeb SEO Tool in this demonstration, because I want to show how this method of reducing the length of our URL’s applies to people who use iWeb SEO Tool as well.

So the first thing we are going to do, is publish our website to a local folder in iWeb. It will be easiest for you if you create a new folder and publish your site to this new folder. You will need to remember where you created this new folder on your hard drive. I am going to call my new folder My iWeb SIte. While the site is publishing, I want you to take note of my Site Name, Photos By Matt which can be seen here…and here. Keep this in mind for later in the tutorial.

When our sites have finished publishing, go ahead and open the folder where you just published your site to. You should notice that there are three things inside this folder. There is an index.html file, a file with a long name that has the word ‘assets’ at the front, and finally a folder with your Site Name on it. Inside this folder, is where all of our website files are. The reason we get long URL’s is because we publish all three of these files.

Here is how we will fix this. In iWeb SEO Tool, when I press the Open Website button, I will first locate the folder that I just created. Many people will select this folder and choose to load the entire folder. This is how we end up with those long URLs. Instead, I will select this folder, and then locate the folder inside of it that contains the Site Name for my website, which is Photos By Matt which, we took note of earlier.

When we publish this to our FTP account, our site will now not have the site name in the URL.

If you wanted to publish to an FTP client such as Cyberduck,  make sure that you do not just upload the folder with your Site Name on it, but that you select all of the contents of the folder and upload them directly to your FTP.

If you haven’t yet, watch the SEO For iWeb Walkthrough Video Tutorial to learn how to make your iWeb site rank higher in search engines. Learn how to add a Statcounter.com AND Google Analytics code to your website.

To install a Statcounter code on all pages of your iWeb website, we are going to be using RAGE Software’s iWeb SEO Tool. This application can be downloaded for free at www.ragesw.com

After you’ve downloaded and installed iWeb SEO Tool, open up your web browser to www.statcounter.com. If you don’t have an account with Statcounter, click on the register button on the top left part of the navigation menu. Fill out all the required information and register your account. After you have registered, login with your username and password.

Once you are logged in, you will need to create a new project in order to get your code. Click on the “Add New Project” button.

In the following form, you will need to enter a title for your website followed by  your website’s URL. Then you will need to select a category for your website, and your time zone. You also have the option of having the statcounter not count your visits to the site by blocking your IP. If you don’t care for this feature, just leave it blank.

When you are done filling out the form, click the Next button. Now, you will  need to click on the “Configure and Install Code” button. You have a few options for which type of statcounter you want. Choose whichever option you like best, and then click on the next button.

In the drop down menu that says “default installation guide select iWeb. Then press the “Next” button. We are then given our Statcounter code. We must highlight this code and copy it.

Now open up iWeb SEO Tool. Load your iWeb site by clicking on the “Open Website” button. Your iWeb site must be saved to a folder on your hard drive in order to do this. If you wish, you can also load your site directly from your iDisk.

On the left hand side, all of the files from your site will appear. Under the Site Settings tab, paste the code we just copied into the Analytics code box.

Then press the “Apply to Entire Site” button.

Finally, you must publish the changes so that the Statcounter code can begin tracking visits to your site. The Publish button is located in the top right corner of the application. Here you will have the option of publishing to FTP or to MobileMe. Make sure you have your FTP or MobileMe information handy.

Once you publish your site, you can then go back to statcounter.com and view your site’s statistics as they appear.

When iWeb was created, Apple imagined that Jenny, the 54 year old mother of 3 would finally have a place to showcase the photos from her eldest daughters wedding, and send them to uncles and aunts and cousins from around the world. They also imagined how Jack, the 60 year old photography hobbyist would be able to create an online memory for his family and friends of the Mediterranean cruise they went on in 2006.

What Apple didn’t imagine, was that Sue, the 40 year old entrepreneur, would be using iWeb to display the inventory for Sue’s Jewelry Shop. They also didn’t imagine that Bob would be creating a website to try and gain new customers to come to his horseback riding ranch.

Because of this, SEO for iWeb has become a bit of a challenge for many users. There is no reason to fear just yet. Even though it might be more difficult, it is still quite possible. Here are five must know SEO For iWeb Tips, that anyone with an iWeb site should be well aware of.

5) Content – Wow. Doesn’t this one seem easy? Yet it’s not for some reason. Over and over again, I continue to see iWeb websites loaded with images, and barely any content. Let’s just think about this for one moment. If Bob’s site has a bunch of pictures of his horses, and very little content, how does he expect potential customers to find his site? Having pictures is a great idea. Just make sure that you include as much information in the form of text as possible. You wouldn’t believe what people type into search engines. If you put some writing on your site, users will find it. Try to make sure each of your pages has at least 250 words.

4) Site Speed – Google’s new campaign for making the web faster really lets us know that now is the time we must begin considering the speed of our site. Soon enough, the speed of your site will play a large factor in the ranking of your website. The problem with iWeb, is that we use many images which are relatively large in size. This causes our sites to be a tad slower than we want them to be. So what can we do to fix this problem? Well, to be honest, there really isn’t too much iWeb users can do themselves. If you are desperate to save some loading time, you can take off some images on your site, but then you would be compromising the integrity of your website.

Another option is to use a website optimizer such as RAGE Software’s WebCrusher.  What this application does is reduce the sizes of some of the files on your site so that it does end up loading faster in users browsers.

3) XML Sitemap – If you use the standard navigation menu in iWeb, search engines may have a tough time finding all of your pages. This is because the navigation menu is created in javascript, which search engines are not extremely fond of. To work around this issue, always remember to create an XML Sitemap, and submit it to search engines. You can watch this video that demonstrates how you can create an XML Sitemap and get your site listed in Google.

2) Incoming Links – I know you’ve heard this one before, but it’s on this list because it’s extremely accurate. Search engines really enjoy it when other sites recommend a site. It can’t just be any site making this recommendation, it has to be sites already considered to be of higher quality. There are many ways of getting incoming links. Way too many for me to even discuss right now. Just know that this is a serious thing when it comes to SEO and iWeb users need to be made aware of this.

1) Title Tags – iWeb makes it very difficult for iWeb users to change their title tags. Most don’t even know what title tags are. Luckily, there is a free tool, called iWeb SEO Tool, that helps iWeb users to update their title tags in a very easy way. You can watch my video tutorial to learn how to use title tags effectively for search engine optimization.

There are dozens upon dozens of things that we must do to ensure that our website is seen as a reliable source of information to users so that search engines will rank us highly. These are just a few things that every iWeb user must know when they are creating their sites. In just a short time, I will be releasing a 60+ minute long video dedicated to SEO For iWeb, which will be available to purchase for your optimizing needs. Be sure to check back soon for more information.

In this video, I’m going to give an important tip to iWeb users who use RAGE Software’s iWeb SEO tool. If you are unfamiliar with the tool, there is also a video available explaining what it does and how to use it.

After using iWeb SEO Tool and Publishing your changes for the first time, you are not completely done with the tool, unless you never update your site.

If you do, however, update your site, as many users do on a frequent basis, it is important to know that the changes you made to your Title Tags, meta tags and alternative text, will be overwritten when you update your site, and republish it in iWeb.  Here, I will show you how to fix this problem.

So let’s say for example, I have already updated my site and saved it. I will now  publish these saved changes to a folder.

Now I can open up iWeb SEO Tool, and load my published site which is also saved on my hard drive.

The title tags that you currently see, are the title tags that I put in previously, the last time I used iWeb SEO Tool. The tool actually remembers what I had type in, even though iWeb has written over the files when I made my update to my website.

The important thing that I must do, is press on the Re-Apply Saved Tags button. What this does, is it now saves all of these tags to the newly updated site. If I forgot to press this button, and then tried publishing from this tool, the my title tags and everything else would not be the custom tags that I initially put into iWeb SEO Tool, but they would be the default tags that iWeb had created for me when I created the site.

Since I did press the Re-Apply saved tags button, I can now publish my site, and my custom tags will appear as they were before.

iWeb SEO Tool is the only tool available that actually saves our old meta data so it really comes in handy when we make updates to our sites.

Learn how to make your iWeb site rank higher in search engines with the iWeb SEO video tutorial.

In this video I’m going to show you how to add a statcounter.com code, as well as a Google Analytics code to your iWeb site using RAGE Software’s iWeb SEO tool, which is a free tool available at ragesw.com

The first thing I’m going to do is load up my website. You can either open your website that you have published to a folder, or load your idisk sites.

Now that I have my site loaded, I’m going press the Site Settings tab. The field box that says Analytics code is where I want to put my codes from the third-party sites. The first thing I want to show you is how to add the statcounter.com code. In my browser, my code is already there for me to copy. Going back to iWeb SEO Tool, I select one of the HTML files and simply paste the code into the Analytics code field box. Click on the Apply to Entire Site button, and now the statcounter tracking code is placed on all of my pages within the site.

The same method applies to the Google Analytics code. In my browser, the code is already ready for me to copy. Back in iWeb SEO Tool, once again, I simply paste the copied code and click on the Apply to Entire Site Button.

And thats how easy it is to add statcounter.com or Google analytics using this tool.

Now, I just want to quickly show you how to use the remainder of this tool. The other options we have to use are Title Tags, Meta Tags, and Images. The Custom Meta Tags are for more advanced users so don’t worry about them right now.

If I want to change one of my title tags, I click on the Title Tag tab, and then click on the page that I want to change.  Then I type in my new title tag, and then hit the apply button. Repeat this process for all of the titles that you want to change.

Same thing goes for the meta tags. Click on the Meta Tags tab, type in your website description, and then type in the keywords that are relevant to your site, and hit the apply button.  If you are unsure what keywords to use, you can use another free product by RAGE Software called SEKeyword, or you can use an online keyword checker such as Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

For your images, click on the Images tab, and then double click on the Alternative text that you want to change. Type in your new alternative text. Repeat the process for as many images as you want. Then hit the apply button. Remember to be descriptive with your alternative text. Avoid using image titles such as picture 21, or img03.

Once you are done, you can publish your website directly from this tool.

More videos explaining some of the items mentioned in this video can be viewed at www.apptorial.com

This video shows you a very quick and simple way to password protect your entire iWeb web site.

This video shows you how to wrap text around an image using iWeb. It goes over a very common mistake that people make which does not allow them to check the box “object causes wrap.” It then shows the proper way of inserting your image so that you can click on the object causes wrap checkbox and successfully wrap text around an image.