How to investigate discrepancies – DoubleClick

The best practice is to always traffic DFA tags using the "DoubleClick tag" creative type. If you have trafficked, your DFA tags as a DoubleClick tag creative type and are experiencing a discrepancy of greater than 2%.

Normally, DFP records an impression as soon as the ad server determines which creative to send. When the DoubleClick tag creative type is chosen, however, DFP does not record the impression until the line item has been sent and an impression has been recorded by DFA. As a result, this process reduces discrepancies between DFP and DFA, typically to within 2%. The DoubleClick tag creative type will also eliminate the need to add click tracking macros.

If a DoubleClick tag is booked as a custom or third-party creative, this enhanced functionality is lost; DFP will treat the DoubleClick tag as a third-party tag. It will not report clicks without the DFP click macro, and you will see a larger discrepancy in delivery numbers (as you would with any third-party ad server). If you have trafficked DoubleClick tag as a custom or third-party creative type and are experiencing a reporting discrepancy between DFP and DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA), please see the “Third-party discrepancies” article. Otherwise, explore the following possibilities.

Discrepancies may result from:

Invalid activity filtering: DFP and DFA differ slightly in filtration methodologies, which can result in discrepancies in instances when frequent invalid activities occur.

Things to check:

• Has the correct DoubleClick tag been trafficked? Like DFP, DFA has many tag types, including one that is specifically intended for use in DFP.
• Are you comparing the correct objects between DFA and DFP? Which DFA ads are included in the placement for the tag you’ve trafficked in DFP?
• Have you or the advertiser made any changes during the time in question (e.g., reassigning or modifying creatives)?
• Are you looking at daily data or aggregated results? Break out the data by day and line item.
• Does the advertiser code load properly? Perform live tests on web pages where the line item should deliver to verify that the correct ad tag calls are being made.

Source: Google Support

How to investigate discrepancies – Analytics

Analytics packages (such as Google Analytics) measure different metrics than ad servers, so their reports will not reconcile with DFP.

Page views vs. impressions

Analytics tracking is based on page views. In contrast, DFP ad server concepts are, by design, not page-specific:

• An ad tag can be placed on multiple pages.
• An ad unit can be associated with many pages.
• A line item can be targeted to multiple ad units.
• A line item can serve to a single page multiple times.

Code execution

DFP counts impressions delivered to ad tags; analytics packages count the execution of analytics tracking code. Since these snippets of code are located in different parts of your page code, both scripts might not load or execute on every page view.

For instance, some analytics packages recommend placing tracking code at the bottom of your HTML. If a user exits a page before the tracking code is executed, the analytics package will not count a page view, but DFP will still count an impression.

Since there is no interaction between ad tag code and analytics tracking code, analytics packages cannot account for unfilled impressions, which can be caused by any number of variables:

• A lack of inventory
• Firewalls and misconfigured security software
• Ad blockers
• Intermittent network connections
• General latency

Iframes

Some publishers serve DFP tags in iframes. Browsers that don't support the <iframe> tag will not report an impression, but an analytics package will count a page view. Ad tags within an iframe can result in an extra round trip between the browser and server. This additional latency can cause some users to leave the page before the browser has enough time to make the calls to both the analytics package and DFP. If the analytics tracking code is present within both an iframe as well as the parent frame, the analytics software will register an inflated number of page views.

Cookies

Analytics packages typically require cookies to track page views. Some packages only record visitor traffic associated with a visitor cookie. If this cookie information is not available for a hit, or if a user has disabled cookies, then that hit may be disregarded.

Referrers

Comparing referrer URLs to DFP clicks is not advised. Referrers in analytics are not an accurate measure of clicks or landings for the following reasons:

• Referrers can be disabled by users.
• Internet security applications can block referrer data.
• Firewalls and proxy servers can filter referrers.
• Users can spoof referrers to prevent servers from knowing where they've been.
• Depending on the line creative type (rich media, standard image, etc.) and the ad tag (iframe, JavaScript, standard HTML, etc.) on the page, the referrer can be either “DoubleClick” or your domain.
• Internet Explorer does not send referrer data when switching from either (a) HTTP to HTTPS, or (b) any non-HTTP/HTTPS protocol (e.g., file://) to HTTP/HTTPS.

Source: Google Support

What is a macro and why is it so important when trafficking third party creatives?

A macro is a short command or shorthand for an instruction to the DoubleClick ad server. Macros usually follow the format of %%MACRO_NAME%% (examples: %%CACHEBUSTER%% %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%). The DoubleClick ad server executes macros when the ad is served or clicked. Macros are most commonly used when a publisher traffics third-party creative code, but macros can also be used in custom creatives.

Every third party has a different ad tag format and the macros are inserted in different spots in the tag depending on the third party. Every time you work with a new third party, you should get documentation from them on where the macros go in their ad tags when trafficked in DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP).

The two most common macros are click tracking macros and cache-busting macros. The click tracking macro ensures that DFP is counting clicks when a user clicks on the creative. The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so you’re accurately counting impressions. It’s very important to make sure that you always insert the macros properly; the third party should provide you with guidance and support.

Click-tracking macro

A click-tracking macro ensures that DFP is counting clicks when a user clicks on a creative that is hosted by an ad server other than DFP. There are two types of click-tracking macros:

• Unescaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%
• Double-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%

%c will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

As a best practice, we recommend using an unescaped click macro when the creative hosted by another server is a standard image file (GIF/JPG). You should use the double-escaped click macro for Flash (SWF) creatives and for certain third parties. You can preview the ad and right-click it to determine its file type. If you see a “Save Image As...” or “Save Picture As...” option appear in the right-click menu, the creative is a standard image. If you see an “About Adobe Flash Player...” option, the creative is a Flash creative.

A small number of third parties use double escaping (%%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%). For certified third parties, we’ll auto-insert this double-escaped click macro; however, if you’re unsure whether you need a single- or double-escaped macro, you should reach out to the third party for confirmation.

Warning: If you don't put a click-tracking macro in the correct place in your third-party code, you will most likely not track clicks on the creative. Talk to your third-party creative provider to learn where to put the click macro.

Cache-busting macro

The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so you’re accurately counting impressions. Here is what the cache-busting macro looks like:

Cache-buster macro: %%CACHEBUSTER%%

If you don't add the cache-busting macro to the creative code, you’re more likely to see impression counting discrepancies between DoubleClick for Publishers and the third party ad server.

Source: Google Support

DoubleClick Macros – An Overview… Part 2

Continued from Part 1

File server macro

The file server macro is an ad server macro most commonly used as a shortcut to designate a creative file's path on DoubleClick's global creative and media servers. Here's what it looks like:%%FILE:file_display_name%% where file_display_name is the display name we can give to the creative file in DFP.

In general, the file server macro will be replaced with the machine name for a physical ad server when an ad serves. This is particularly beneficial for line items that are served to multiple countries.

Notes:

• %h will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• The syntax for a creative file's path using %h is: %h/advertiser_ID/filename.ext. For example, for advertiser 12345678 and creative file dclk1.gif, the syntax would be:%h/12345678/dclk1.gif
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %H is not a valid macro.

Geo ad server macro

The geo ad server macro, %g, can be used in the click-through URL, the redirect URL, and the custom code of a creative. This macro is used to track geographic information - country code, state or province, telephone area code, postal code, bandwidth, and DMA (Designated Marketing Areas) - using your proprietary systems, after a website visitor clicks an ad served by DoubleClick for Publishers. This macro can be implemented regardless of whether a line item has been geographically targeted.

When %g expands into a string, it displays the geographical information of the user to whom the ad was served - assuming that the user's IP address can be looked up - as shown here:

ct=US&st=CA&city=13358&dma=197&zp=94105&bw=0

Where:

• ct is the key that returns a value for a country code
• st is the key that returns a value for a U.S. state, territory, or Canadian province
• city is the key that returns a value for a city
• dma is the key that returns a value for designated market areas
• zp is the key that returns a value for a postal code
• bw is the key that returns a value for bandwidth

Note:

• Macros are case-sensitive. That is, %G is not a valid macro.
• The expanded form of the geo ad server macro is not wrapped in quotes (single, or double). The macro can cause syntax errors with surrounding Javascript code if it's wrapped in quotes.

Height and width macros

The %%HEIGHT%% and %%WIDTH%% macros insert the creative height and width into the custom code of a creative during the ad serving process, based on the size of the ad slot where the creative is being served.

These macros can be especially useful if we are creating a creative template that you want to reuse with creatives of different sizes. Instead of hard-coding the size for each creative, you can let the height and width macros insert the values into each creative dynamically.

We can also use these macros in the custom code for creatives where we have overridden the creative size (which you can do on the "Settings" tab of a creative). When we override the size, we can enter multiple creative sizes. The creative can then be served to ad units of any of those sizes. We can use the height and width macros to add the dimensions dynamically to the creative code when the creative is served.

Host name macro

The host name ad server macro, %a, can be used in the redirect URL and custom code of a creative. This macro expands into http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net.

Note: DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %A is not a valid macro.

Interstitial impression macro

The interstitial impression macro enables the DFP ad server to record when an interstitial impression is served from a creative that wasn’t built using one of the built-in creative templates for pop-ups, pop-unders and floating Flash overlays.

Use %%VIEW_URL_UNESC%% for image creatives (JPG, GIF) and %%VIEW_URL_ESC%% for Flash creatives (SWF).

Here's an example of the proper implementation:

<img src=%%VIEW_URL_UNESC%%http://www.acme.com/img/logo.gif>

Notes: %i will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Pattern match macro

We can pass a custom variable into a creative using our creative targeting macro:  %%PATTERN:key%%

Use this macro to pass targeting values into a creative. This can be helpful if we want to serve different creatives based on information we know about a user. For example, maybe we have two creatives for a given line item: one that was designed to appeal to female users and one that was designed to appeal to male users.

1. We are passing the user's gender into an ad tag on your page via custom criteria like this:

GPT tag:

googletag.defineSlot("/1234/adunit1/adunit2", [728, 90],

"div-gpt-ad-123456789-0")

.addService(googletag.pubads())

.setTargeting("gender", "male");

DART tag:

http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/sitename/pagename;gender=male;ord=12323

2. In the custom or third-party creative, dynamically pass the criteria using the following macro:<some creative script here>...&gender=%%PATTERN:gender%%
3. The entire macro of %%PATTERN:gender%% will be replaced with "male".
4. DFP will call and serve the “male” creative file to this user.

Notes:

• %p will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• %p is not supported with GPT tags. If you use GPT, you must use %%PATTERN:key%%.
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %P is not a valid macro.

Site name macro

The site name ad server macro, %s, can be used in the click-through URL, the redirect URL, the custom code of a creative, and click commands. This macro is commonly used to track the name of the site (included in the ad tags) where visitors clicked on an ad served by DART in a proprietary system. This macro expands into the originating site's name as defined in DART, not into the DNS name of the site.

Target window macro

The target window macro instructs the user's browser to open the creative's landing page in either the user’s existing window or a new window when the user clicks on the creative.

For example, the DFPNews.com ad unit has the target window set to _top and the DFPFashion.com ad unit has it set to _new. If the %%TARGET_WINDOW%% macro is included in the creative's code or script, it will open a new window when a user of DFPFashion.com clicks on it and an existing window if a user of DFPNews.com clicks on it.

Typically, here’s where you’d see %%TARGET_WINDOW%% placed in the creative code:

<a href="%%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%%%DEST_URL%%" target="%%TARGET_WINDOW%%"><img src="my ad"></a>

Notes:  %t will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Source: Google Support

DoubleClick Macros – An Overview… Part 1

A macro is a short piece of code that serves as a shortcut for a message to the ad server. Macros will expand into a longer code string that the ad server can understand when they’re included in creative code or click through URLs. Ad server macros are useful for passing important information to your proprietary systems or third-party ad servers.

If the creative code is recognized as being from a certified vendor, then it will automatically insert the proper macros. If DFP don't recognize the third-party creative code, then we need to insert the macros manually. We can manually insert the macro at the cursor's position in the 'Code snippet' field by clicking one of the insert macro buttons. Work with respective third-party to determine where to insert the macro.

For clients upgrading from DART for Publishers: Creatives that we trafficked in DART with DART macros will continue to serve as expected after we upgrade. However, it is strongly recommend that we use the new syntax, where available. This list represents all of the macros it supports in DoubleClick for Publishers for Creatives which traffic after upgrading.

Cache-busting (random number) macro

The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so we’re accurately counting impressions. Here is what the cache-busting macro looks like:

%%CACHEBUSTER%%

If we don't add the cache-busting macro to the creative code, we’re more likely to see impression counting discrepancies between DoubleClick for Publishers and a third-party ad server. Note that not all third parties require the cachebuster macro.

Most creative vendors will offer a placeholder in their tag to insert cachebuster macros. 

For example, if your third-party creative code contains something like this:

http://abc.3rd-party-serving.com/Targeting/adServer.php?ab=cd&e=12fg=click&ord=[RANDOM_NUMBER]

We will want to select [RANDOM_NUMBER] and click the Insert cachebuster macro button so that it replaces the placeholder:

http://abc.3rd-party-serving.com/Targeting/adServer.php?ab=cd&e=12fg=click&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%

Notes:

• %n will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %N is not a valid macro.

Click macro

A click macro allows us to track clicks on our third-party creatives. There are two types of click-tracking macros:

• Un-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%
• Double-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%

As a best practice, we recommend using an un-escaped click macro when the creative hosted by another server is a standard image file (GIF/JPG). We should use the double-escaped click macro for Flash (SWF) creatives and for certain third parties. We can preview the ad and right-click it to determine its file type. If we see a “Save Image As...” or “Save Picture As...” option appear in the right-click menu, the creative is a standard image. If we see an “About Adobe Flash Player...” option, the creative is a Flash creative.

Notes:

• A small number of third parties use double escaping (%%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%). For certified third parties, we’ll auto-insert this double-escaped click macro; however, if you’re unsure if you need a double-escaped macro, you should reach out to the third party for confirmation.
• %c will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• Warning: If you don't put a click-tracking macro in the correct place in your third-party code, you will most likely not track clicks on the creative. Talk to your third-party creative provider to learn where to put the click macro.

Tips:

Do not enter the click macro as the source of an image or iframe. Doing so results in a click being recorded every time the image or iframe renders, which is not legitimate and is filtered out as an invalid click.

Click-through URL macro

This macro can be helpful if we are traffic a custom creative and we want the click-through URL that you set in the creative trafficking screen to override the click-through URL built into the custom creative code.

There are three URL macros you can use:

• %%DEST_URL%%
• %%DEST_URL_ESC%%
• %%DEST_URL_ESC_ESC%%

Normally the amount of escaping (whether we include ESC once, twice, or not at all) depends on the third-party click-tracking company. Some third-party click-tracking companies require the URL to be escaped, while others do not.

The level of escaping required by a third-party click-tracking company is normally specified in the tag with the click= string in the third-party ad tag or custom creative code in DFP:

• click= escape it once (%%DEST_URL_ESC%%)
• click1= escape it once (%%DEST_URL_ESC%%)
• click0= don't escape it (%%DEST_URL%%)
• click2= escape it twice (%%DEST_URL_ESC_ESC%%).

Notes:

%u will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Expand macro

This macro is most commonly used to track line items with your backend reporting system. %e is used in combination with match tables, which provide a relationship between the ID number in the database and the ID number in DoubleClick for Publishers. This can be useful for troubleshooting; for example, a trafficker only has to look at the ad server response in order to see the line item ID or creative ID that served to an ad tag.

We can insert the %e macro at the end of the ad's click through URL in its creative assignment (for example: http://www.firstautomobile.com/?%ecid!; inserts the creative ID for the line item).

The different expand macros available are:

• %eaid! -- expands with line item ID
• %ecid! -- expands with the creative ID
• %eenv! -- expands with the environment (tag type) indicator. For example, 'i' if iframe, 'j' if JavaScript, etc.
• %esid! -- expands with the first-level ad unit ID serving the line item
• %epid! -- expands with the second-level ad unit ID serving the line item
• %eadv! -- expands with the advertiser ID of the line item being served
• %ebuy! -- expands with the order ID of the line item being served

The %e macros can be separated from one another in the click through URL with any character that is safe for use in DFP click through URLs: 

http://www.site.com/?%eaid!;%ecid!              

Could become: http://www.site.com/?1234567;4265598

Notes:

The %e macro cannot be used by DFA clients running click-commands on DFP sites. The advertiser_id or page_id values, for instance, will populate with the DFP values instead of the intended DFA values.

This article will continue to Part 2

How to Read Doubleclick Ad Tags and Ad Tag Variables

The term ad tag is thrown around quite a bit, and can usually refer to any link involved in the ad serving process, on the publisher, or marketer side. Strictly speaking, Ad Tags are the HTML code a browser uses to fetch an advertisement from an Ad Server – it is a redirect to content rather than content itself. 

There are also click tags, action tags, view tags, and other more specific variants to the general ad tag category.  For this particular example, we’ll look at publisher side tag; because our purpose is to show how ad tags help publishers organize their content into targetable products.

Ad Tag Components

So, without further ado, feast your eyes on this example a DoubleClick ad tag:

http://ad.doubleclick.net/ADJ/publisher/zone;topic=abc;sbtpc=def;cat=ghi;kw=xyz;tile=1;slot=728x90.1;sz=728x90;ord=7268140825331981?

An ad tag can tell you quite a bit about how which ad ends up on a page – if you want, navigate to any major publisher and look at the source code; you can probably find a real-life example of a working ad tag. So how can you tell what the ad tag says about the publisher hierarchy and ad targeting? Let’s break it down piece by piece:

http://ad.doubleclick.net/ – this is the host address for the Ad Server – you can see that it is not a publisher’s website, but an independent technology company that has nothing to do with publishing content.  In this example, we’re talking about DoubleClick, the Ad Serving powerhouse that was acquired by Google for $3.1 billion dollars in 2007.

/ADJ – this code defines a specific type of ad call, and what the response can be, i.e., images vs. XML vs. scripts.  For this example, the code ‘ADJ’ is the most common and only returns images, which will serve via JavaScript.  Other responses can include ADF (only image creative in a frame), ADX (only image creative served through streaming technologies), as well as others. 

/publisher - this is the site code that DoubleClick uses to distinguish one publisher property from another.  For example, the New York Times owns NYTimes.com, About.com, and Boston.com among other properties.  If they are a client of DoubleClick, the corporation likely pays the bill, but each site would have its own site code so ads could be targeted to a specific paper and not the entire network.

/zone - the zone is akin to a channel level, so the Homepage vs. the Arts page, vs. the Sports page.  These content verticals are likely to attract different advertisers, so it’s important for publishers to be able to target to this kind of granularity.

Zone-Based Hierarchy vs. Topic Based Hierarchy

Here is where tagging logic starts to diverge in DoubleClick.  Some publishers prefer to deeply categorize at the zone level, while others keep moving down the hierarchy to the topic level.  The benefit of using zones over the topic, subtopic, category, or keyword levels that we’ll talk about in just a minute is that the zone is the last level in which you can pull historical reporting.  So you might have sports/baseball or even sports/baseball/nymets so you can pull traffic statistics going back months or years.

The downside with this method is that zones are vertical structures, so if you had multiple verticals on your site that all had a games section, you would have to select each games zone every time you wanted to target all games when traffic the ads, rather than just targeting a single “games” key value.  This sounds easy on paper, but ads up to lots of extra time for your trafficking staff if you have lots of subcategories in each zone.  It would not be difficult to imagine needing 50 zones or more per content vertical to tag to the lowest level of granularity.

That is why most Publishers tag at a higher level, and leave the granularity to the topic variable and below.  A great benefit of granular topic tagging opposed to granular zone tagging aside from being able to use the same topic tag across multiple zones is the ability for topic tags to handle wild cards when trafficking. 

This means if you had topic=newyorkmarathon and topic=bostonmarathon, you could simply target topic=*marathon* and ads would automatically fall into both areas.  This makes trafficking much easier, but has the downside of no historical reporting, which can be a challenge for your Yield or Inventory teams.

topic=abc – next in the hierarchy is the topic level. As mentioned above you can use the topic level to tag similar content across zones.  For example, games in multiple content verticals or within them.

sbtpc=def – next in the hierarchy is the subtopic level.  You might use this to target sports games vs. adventure games for example.  Again, you can use this to target across content verticals or within them.

kw=xyz – the keyword segment isn’t really another level in the hierarchy but a way to describe the page for contextual targeting.  The benefit here is multiple keywords are allowed.  These are typically used in guides and directories like a recipe, where you would want to be able to target chicken recipes vs. vegetarian recipes vs. winter recipes, and etc., allowing some overlapping targeting.

tile=1 – the tile variable sets a unique value for each ad call on a specific page.  If there were two or more of the same size ads on a page, separate tile values would prevent the browser from trying to serve the same ad to multiple ad slots at the same time.

slot=728x90.1 – typically defines the location of the ad tag, but is really just another type of key-value.  While this may seem duplicative with the tile value, it isn’t.  For example, tile values are often set dynamically, in the order they appear on the page.  So the first call is tile=1, the second is tile=2, and so on.  But websites use different templates all the time so the homepage may not have as many ad calls as a category page which may have a different number of calls than an article page, so the tile value isn’t designed to be a consistent variable for use in targeting.  The slot however, is.  For example, if a publisher had two of the same ad units on a given page, say a 728×90 unit at the top of the page and a 728×90 at the bottom of the page, the slot value allows them to target specifically to one or the other. That said, the publisher could just as easily set the value of this to anything they want, and it’s common to see sites re-purpose this key value for another purpose, use a text value such as “leaderboard”, or not use it at all.  See Jared’s post in the comment thread below for more detail.

sz=728x90 – defines the ad size of the unit for the ad server logic.  To be clear, this doesn’t restrict the size of the ad in the unit, it just provides a targeting attribute for the ad server.  If a trafficker were to mistakenly target a 300×250 ad to a market segment with a sz=728×90 attribute however, the 300×250 creative would still serve to the 728×90 call, it would just be cut off.  It isn’t uncommon to catch one of these mistakes from time to time as you surf around the web. Additionally, you can actually include multiple values into this attribute, separated by commas.  (Thanks to Jared for correcting!)

ord=7268140825331981 – this number is a random value better known as a cache-buster.  As users move back and forth between pages of content, they often return to pages they’ve seen before, especially navigational pages like the homepage.  Browsers today try to save as much content as possible to speed up load times.  

To prevent browsers from reloading the same ad multiple times (so publishers can maximize revenue and advertisers can get accurate reporting), a random number is tacked on to the end of each ad call so it looks unique to a browser and forces a new series of calls through the ad server. 

Source: www.adopsinsider.com

Five Technical Things Every Blogger Should Know

Where 15 years ago, having a Web site was something of a badge of neediness, today having a site doesn’t require much technical knowledge at all. Someone with almost no technical expertise can set up an account on WordPress.com or Blogger and be blogging within minutes.

However, this doesn’t mean that a blogger can get away with being a technical dunce. Though getting words on the Internet is pretty simple, building and growing a blog does require one to know a bit more than how to flip on a PC. Social networking sites make it easy to get online, but blogging, especially over the long haul, takes something more.

So what are those things that every blogger should know? There are many, definitely more than what is on this list, but here are five things every would-be blogger should know before, or at least shortly after, getting started.

1. The Basics of the Web

The Internet is a pretty amazing thing. Data travels all across the world on the back of a system that, when explained correctly, seems like it should never work. It’s both breathtakingly complicated and brilliantly simple at the same time.

Though a blogger doesn’t need to understand every technical detail about how the Web does its thing, a basic understanding of how a browser goes from a “.com” and then loads a site is probably a good idea. This should include at least a basic understanding of how domains are registered, how DNS works and how data gets from A to B on the Web.

One doesn’t need to know how the TCP handshake works, but a fundamental understanding of the “big picture” when it comes to Web infrastructure is pretty useful.

Even a basic understanding of the workings of the Web can help you be a better blogger. 

First, if you go to set up your own hosting, you’re going to need some of that understanding to make everything work and understand the process of setting up your own domain.

However, even if you host with a free site, it can help you understand site outages, how to speed up your blog and why visitors often have very different experiences based upon their location.

2. How a Web Server Works

Similar to the Web itself, a server is a thing of beauty. How a machine receives contact from the Web at large, processes the data and then returns a response is both a simple and an amazing thing. On most blogs this process involves the use of several different programs, operating in several different layers and working in tandem to pull together the information requested and present it in a human-readable format.

To make matters even more complicated, one physical server can, and often does, run hundreds, even thousands of different Web sites. It is even common for one physical 

machine to house several different virtual machines within it.

Though one doesn’t have to be ready to manage their own server to run a blog, understanding the basics of how it works can prove infinitely useful.

First and foremost, a basic understanding of a server will help you set up your blog so that it works with the hardware, not against it. It helps you understand how WP Super Cache can improve the performance of a site and what you can do to keep your site running quickly.

However, perhaps more importantly, it helps you understand communications from your host. Knowing the basics of how a server works will help you better grasp what went wrong when your site goes down, how bad it is and also enable you to ask smarter questions of your support team.

3. Basic HTML (And Maybe PHP)

If you’re used to using nothing but a word processor, HTML code can look very intimidating as it comes with strange symbols and syntax that can look like an alien language. Many understandably confuse markup language for programming language and do everything they can to avoid even looking at it.

Fortunately though, HTML is not nearly as complicated as it looks at first glance and most of the code one would need for blogging is very basic. However, not knowing it can be very costly.

Though WYSIWYG editors are much better now than they were just a few years ago, they are still not perfect. At some point, if you are going to get something to look how you want it to, you’re going to need to get your hands dirty at least a little bit.

Also, if you’re using a self-hosted WordPress installation you may want to have at least enough understanding of PHP so that you aren’t intimidated if you have to make a few changes, as it is a part of updating and customizing many themes.

However, even if you don’t customize your theme at all, the first time your table isn’t aligned exactly right or the text doesn’t wrap correctly around an image correctly, you’re going to want to have the basic knowledge to fall back on.

W3Schools has a great basic overview of HTML and is also a great reference for those who know (but sometimes forget). Likewise, Tizag has a good overview of PHP.

4. Image Compression/Sizing

Image compression is something of a black art and even those who are veterans will argue over the finer points about it. What file type to use (GIF, JPG or PNG), how much to compress and the size of an image are often areas of intense debate among the Web-savvy.

However, there are still some things one should never do as they can cause problems and knowing how to avoid the pitfalls is critical when running a blog.

If you don’t compress your images correctly, you can wind up with a Web page that is many times the size it should be. A logo that is 100 K will slow even broadband visitors down. Couple of poorly-compressed background and some heavy inline images and your visitors may be leaving before reading a single word.

It is important to keep your site as lean as practical and a big part of that is keeping your images down to a reasonable size.

5. Online Security

The Web can be a very dangerous place and keeping yourself safe on it is vitally important for everyone, not just bloggers.

Online security can involve everything from not posting your personal information to making sure your operating system is patched. It is about keeping you, your data and the information of those close to you as safe as reasonably possible.

Though there is no way one can be completely secured on the Web, there are definitely things one can do to ensure that they are as protected as possible.

Online security is important for everyone, whether they blog or not. However, bloggers face additional challenges in this area. Having a site not only gives attackers a new target, but also new openings. Blogging systems can be hacked, servers can be broken into and sites can be shut down.

Online security for bloggers includes everything from keeping software up to date, backing up data, not putting critical information your server and choosing good passwords. It’s a wide swath of items to cover but all of it is vitally important.

Last but not the least….

In the end, you don’t have to be a geek in order to run a blog, but a little bit of technical knowledge will go a very long way. A basic understanding of some critical technology will help make you a better blogger and make it easier for you to grow your site and expand on the Web.

If you don’t have this knowledge now, taking the time to develop a basic understanding will serve you well, especially in the long run.

Source: www.blogherald.com