Category: Google

PaLM 2 – The Google’s New Large Language Model

Is Google’s new LLM adequate? Can it compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4?

While OpenAI is at the forefront of generative AI research, many have accused Google of falling behind. In an effort to catch up, Google unveiled PaLM 2, a new massive language model, during its Google I/O conference in 2023.

Google’s new LLM, which will be available in four different sizes for a variety of applications, is reportedly already powering multiple Google services, with much more to come.

What Exactly Is PaLM 2?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai presented Google’s latest toy, PaLM 2, at Google I/O 2023 on May 10.

Google’s improved LLM, short for Pathways Language Model 2, is the second generation of PaLM, with the first version arriving in April 2022. Can’t recall PaLM? It was significant news at the time, and it drew a lot of attention for its ability to communicate a bit, give rudimentary jokes, and so on. Six months later, OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 blasted everything else out of the water, including PaLM.

Gecko is so light that it can run on mobile devices and is fast enough to run fantastic interactive apps on the device even when it is not connected to the internet. Because of its adaptability, PaLM 2 can be fine-tuned to support entire classes of products in more ways, allowing it to assist more people.

Gecko, which can process roughly 20 tokens per second (tokens are the values supplied to real words for usage by generative AI models), appears to be a game changer for mobile deployable AI tools.

Data for PaLM 2 Training

Given that PaLM 2 was just introduced, Google wasn’t exactly helpful with training data. However, Google’s PaLM 2 Report [PDF] said that the company desired PaLM 2 to have a better knowledge of mathematics, logic, and science and that a major portion of its training corpus was devoted to these subjects.

Still, it’s worth remembering that PaLM wasn’t exactly a slouch. When Google first announced PaLM, it disclosed that it had been trained on 540 billion parameters, which was a massive quantity at the time.

OpenAI’s GPT-4 is said to employ over a trillion parameters, with some speculating that the total might be as high as 1.7 trillion. Because Google wants PaLM 2 to compete directly with OpenAI’s LLMs, it’s a reasonable guess that it’ll have at least a comparable figure, if not more.

PaLM 2 also benefits greatly from language training data. Google has trained PaLM 2 in over 100 languages to improve its depth and contextual knowledge, as well as to improve its translation skills.

However, it is not only spoken languages. In addition to being taught in more than 20 programming languages, the LLM has been trained in Google’s need for PaLM 2 to provide stronger scientific and mathematical thinking, making it a fantastic asset for programmers.

PaLM 2 is already powering Google services, but it still has to be fine-tuned.

We won’t have to wait long to get our hands on PaLM 2 and discover what it can achieve. Hopefully, the introduction of any PaLM 2 apps and services will be better than the launch of Bard.

It is possible that you have already utilized PaLM 2 in the past. Interestingly, Google has disclosed that PaLM 2 is currently employed in 25 of their products, such as Android, YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets.

The PaLM 2 research suggests that there is more work to be done, particularly in terms of harmful reactions across a variety of languages.

PaLM 2, for example, elicits toxic reactions more than 30% of the time when given particular toxic triggers. Furthermore, PaLM 2 generated toxic replies more than 17 percent of the time in certain languages—English, German, and Portuguese—with prompts incorporating ethnic identities and faiths driving that proportion even higher.

Despite researchers’ efforts to purify LLM training data, some of it will inevitably slip through. Therefore, the subsequent action is to continue training PaLM 2 to decrease adverse responses.

It’s a boom time for large language models

Although OpenAI was not the first to release a major language model, its GPT-3, GPT-3.5, and GPT-4 models unquestionably ignited the blue touchpaper on generative AI.

Google’s PaLM 2 has some challenges to work out, but the fact that it is now in use in multiple Google services demonstrates the company’s confidence in its newest LLM.

Wrapping Up

Google’s new massive language model, PaLM 2, was unveiled during the Google I/O conference in 2023 as an effort to catch up with OpenAI in generative AI research. PaLM 2 has been trained in over 100 languages and more than 20 programming languages, with a major portion of its training corpus devoted to mathematics, logic, and science. PaLM 2 is reportedly already powering multiple Google services, although it still needs fine-tuning to minimize harmful reactions. PaLM 2 is expected to compete directly with OpenAI’s GPT-4, which is said to employ over a trillion parameters. It is a boom time for large language models, and the introduction of PaLM 2 will hopefully lead to better AI apps and services.

How To Restore A WordPress Site After A Google Search Penalty

Google’s search penalty is every website owner’s worst nightmare. Your site pages may be removed from search results or lowered in search rankings, resulting in a dramatic loss in organic traffic.

What exactly is the Google Search Penalty?

A search penalty is a punishment imposed by Google on websites that breach its policies.

Google’s mission is to provide its users with the best search results possible. Sites that attempt to manipulate or scam the system in order to attain higher search ranks by unethical means, on the other hand, are frequently penalized.

As a result, penalized WordPress sites may notice a decline in search rankings or, in severe situations, be removed from search results.

Google has two sorts of penalties:

  • Manual penalties Manual punishments are applied by Google’s internal team, and every offense is reported to you. It could be for things like spam material, veiled images, hidden language, unnatural internal and external links, and other Google Search Essentials rules infractions.
  • Algorithm penalties: Algorithm penalties occur when Google updates the search algorithm in order to deliver better search results. This form of penalty is difficult to detect because there is no warning from Google.

How to Find a Google Search Penalty

It is possible to verify Google search penalties for WordPress sites in several ways.

In Google Search Console, look for Manual Actions.

To begin, log in to your Google Search Console account and search for manual penalties issued by the search eLog into your Google Search Console account to see whether you’ve been penalized by the search engine manually.

Simply navigate to Security & Manual Actions » Manual actions from the left-hand Search Console menu. Any manual penalties imposed by Google will be displayed here.

If you get the ‘No problems identified’ notice, you’re good to go.

Accordingly, here are a few manual steps Google can take against your site:

  • Third-party spam is abusing the site.
  • Spam created by users
  • Spammy-free hosting
  • The problem with structured data
  • Links to and from your site that are not natural
  • Content that is thin and has little or no extra value
  • Pure nonsense
  • Cloaking or deceptive redirects
  • Images that are obscured
  • Mismatch in AMP content
  • Mobile redirects that are deceptive
  • Stuffing keywords or using hidden text
  • Policy breaches in the news and discovered

Examine Google Analytics for a decrease in organic traffic.

Following that, you may examine your site’s organic traffic in Google Analytics. If there is a significant decline, it might be due to a search penalty.

This approach is useful for checking for algorithm penalties, especially after a major Google update.

Go to Reports » Acquisition » Traffic Acquisition in Google Analytics 4 and look at the Organic Search numbers.

You may change the date range at the top and compare it to a previous period to search for a drop in traffic.

To go further, you may utilize a keyword tracker tool to examine search phrase ranks for your website. If you observe a decline in different keyword ranks, it might signify you’ve been penalized with a search penalty.

Google Your Website and Content

Finally, if your web pages aren’t appearing in Google search results, you may check to see if they’ve been blacklisted or delisted.

Simply type site: example.com’ into Google and see whether your site displays. Simply replace example.com with the URL of your own site.

If your website does not appear in the search results, it may have been delisted owing to a search penalty.

You may also use Google to look up some of the material from your most significant pages. This will also aid in the detection of delistings or declines in search ranks for essential pages.

Restoring A WordPress Site After A Google Search Penalty

Having said that, let’s have a look at various methods for recovering a WordPress website from a Google search penalty.

1. Conduct an SEO Audit to Identify Critical Issues

An SEO audit determines whether your WordPress website is properly optimized for search engines.

An SEO audit can help you identify important SEO flaws and faults on your site. This way, you can rapidly correct problems and return your site to the top of search results.

Using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin is a quick and easy approach to running an SEO audit in WordPress. It is the greatest SEO WordPress plugin for optimizing your site for search engines without the need for technical skills.

You may execute an audit using AIOSEO’s SEO Analysis tool from within the WordPress admin. It examines your website using many metrics and flags any important concerns. Furthermore, you will receive advice for addressing mistakes, which will aid in the recovery of your site from a search penalty.

2. Improve Your Backlink Profile

Unnatural connections to and from your WordPress website are one of the most prevalent reasons Google gives a search penalty.

Google primarily penalizes sites that buy spammy links or participate in various link schemes to increase their search engine results. This might be done manually or by an algorithm change.

Identifying and eliminating bogus backlinks is a straightforward technique to restore your site from such penalties. However, removing the backlink might be a time-consuming operation, especially if you have to visit every page on your site.

Following that, you may see all of the domains that connect to your website.

Domains that appear unnatural or spammy are highlighted on this page. After that, pick the domain, then click the Bulk Actions dropdown box and select the ‘Delete’ option.

After that, you may delete links from a specific domain by clicking the ‘Apply’ button.

You can also click on any of the websites to see the pages on your site they are connecting to. Then, to delete a hyperlink from a certain page or post, click the trash can symbol.

If you are unable to delete an unnatural, spammy, or fake link, you can use Google’s disavow links tool to remove it.

Please keep in mind that this approach is intended for people with technical understanding and is not appropriate for beginners. You should check Google’s guidelines on how to disavow links to your site for further information.

3. Audit the content

Auditing your content is another technique to recover from Google search penalties.

Here are a few things to look at and correct on your website.

Resolve thin and duplicate content

Google will penalize sites that have thin content that provides little or no value to users. This comprises low-quality content created by software or generated automatically. Or affiliate pages with a few lines and a product promotion link.

Similarly, if you have duplicate material or pieces taken from other websites, Google may penalize you.

An easy solution is to find pages with relevant or thin text and then rewrite them. You may use Google Analytics to identify pages with little or no traffic.

Simply navigate to Google Analytics’ Reports » Engagement » Landing page.

After unearthing information with thin content, you can add additional value by delving further into the issue, making the content more engaging using graphics and videos, and ensuring you have original content.

Pages with duplicate or auto-generated material, on the other hand, can be identified and removed from your website. Simply copy and paste portions of the text into Google. The search will return all pages and articles on your site that have the same content.

If your content has been scraped by other websites, you can use tools like Copyscape to identify plagiarised information. You may also be interested in our advice on how to simply discover and remove stolen content in WordPress.

Get rid of keyword stuffing and hidden text.

If your site’s material is illogical and crammed with search phrases in order to rank better, you may face a search penalty for keyword stuffing. Similarly, Google may penalize websites that have hidden content and keywords in their CSS design.

You may simply resolve this issue by eliminating or altering keyword-stuffed material. Search keywords should not be repeated too often. You may also utilize keyword research tools such as Semrush to uncover new keywords to include in your article.

Semrush also provides an SEO writing assistance tool that assists you in discovering LSI and related keywords, readability score, language tone, and other factors that will help you generate optimized content.

Get Rid of User-Generated Spam

It is recommended to conduct a thorough scan of your website to detect any spam comments. Examples of such comments include those with advertising links, spammy usernames, auto-generated or irrelevant remarks, and unrelated links.

Simply navigate to Comments from your WordPress dashboard and label the comment as Spam. You may also delete the remark by selecting Trash.

Examine Your Site’s Internal Linking

Google’s search crawlers employ links on your website to discover new information and establish a contextual relationship between new and old content.

Internal link auditing aids in the recovery of your WordPress site from an algorithm penalty. For example, if a page has no or few internal connections, you can create internal links to other related sites to increase their ranks.

You may increase internal linking on your website by using the AIOSEO link assistance. It will display current linkages as well as new connecting opportunities. Aside from that, you may highlight orphaned pages that lack internal links.

Examine Page Load Time

When doing an audit, you should also assess the load time of your website. While a slow-loading website will not result in a Google search penalty, it will have an effect on your search engine rankings.

This is because Google now considers page load speed when ranking websites. Sites that load quickly will have an edge over those that load slowly.

You may audit page load performance with IsItWP’s free website speed test tool. The program will offer an overall score as well as recommendations for increasing page performance.

4. Check to Make Sure Your Website Isn’t Hacked

If your WordPress website is hacked and injected with malicious code that might deceive Google, you may face a search penalty.

Typically, hackers would upload scripts or bits of code to your website that would cause stealthy redirection. Because this violates the standards, your websites may be deindexed from search results.

In Google Search Console, navigate to the Security & Manual Actions > Security Concerns area to look for security issues.

Aside from that, you may do a WordPress security audit to identify any flaws that may result in a search penalty. You may, for example, examine your website for malware and other security flaws.

5. Look at recent Google algorithm updates.

Additionally, you may be penalized if your traffic or rankings decline after a Google upgrade.

In contrast to manual punishment, it is extremely difficult to determine the impact of an algorithm adjustment. Google will not inform you why your site’s ranks or traffic have dropped.

You may, however, look into the most recent Google algorithm update to discover what has changed. Following that, you may do an assessment of your site’s SEO, content, and security to identify and resolve any concerns.

Following WordPress blogs is the greatest method to remain up to speed on the newest algorithm updates and tweaks. Many famous marketing and SEO websites give the newest Google algorithm updates news, case studies, and other information.

Submit a Reconsideration Request to Have Penalties Lifted.

After you’ve resolved the issue that caused Google search penalties, you should file a reconsideration request to have the penalties lifted.

If you receive a manual punishment, this process is rather easy. You may seek a review for the particle problem by logging into your Google Search Console account and going to the Security and Manual actions area.

We recommend that you include the following information in your reconsideration request:

  • Explain in detail how you comprehend Google’s standards and recommended practices. You can share links to answers in Google forums, YouTube videos, and other Google literature on the manual activity.
  • Demonstrate that you’ve done everything possible to resolve the problem, such as deleting artificial links. You can submit your case with screenshots, a list of deleted links, and other proof.
  • Assure users that your site is designed for them, not search engines, and that you will not make the same mistake again. You may also make certain that any other actions on your website follow Google’s rules.

Google will examine your consideration request once you submit it. The reaction time is generally proportional to the severity of the search penalty. It might take days, weeks, or even months to hear back from Google and determine whether or not your search penalty has been erased.

How To Integrate Google Web Stories To Your WordPress Site

Are you interested in integrating Google Web Stories with your WordPress website?Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube shorts, and other platforms use the popular storytelling style. You can develop and host this kind of content tales on your own website using Google Web Stories. We’ll demonstrate in this article how simple it is to integrate Google Web Stories into your WordPress website.

Google Web Stories

Social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and even YouTube use the popular short-form content format known as “stories.” Although they may not always go by the same name, they all perform the same function.

They are interactive tappable slides that contain rich media like pictures, music, and videos. These components combine to make them very engaging.

More sales, conversions, and growth for your company and brand result from engaged users because they are more likely to convert and spend more time on your WordPress website. Furthermore, publishing content on unofficial social media sites restricts your capacity to reach a wider audience.

You can incorporate the same story structure onto your own website using Google Web Stories, allowing you to produce incredibly captivating stories on your website directly from your WordPress dashboard. Google Web Stories can be indexed and might show up in Discover and Google search results.

They support structured data, employ the AMP format, and can even be made profitable by using Google AdSense. Let’s now look at how to quickly add Google Web Stories to your WordPress site.

The WordPress plugin for adding Google Web Stories

Installing and activating the Web Stories plugin is the first step. A free plugin created and maintained by Google is called Web Stories. It intends to make web tales more common and introduce them to independent, self-hosted websites.

After the plugin has been activated, go to the Stories » Dashboard page to start writing your first story.

Choose one of the templates to use as the basis for your story, or choose the “Create New Story” button to start from scratch.

Starting with a template is advised because it offers you a head start and is much simpler for beginners.

The plugin will open the story builder interface after you select a template. It resembles the well-known drag-and-drop page builder WordPress plugins.

Any element can be edited by just pointing and clicking on it. You can also add new elements from the left column. You can include things like text, headings, stickers, emojis, audio, video, photos, and more.

You’ll see extra pages generated by the template at the bottom if you’re using one. By clicking on the pages, you can navigate between them. If necessary, you can also remove a page or create a new one.

A page’s background color or media can also be changed by clicking on it. You can add a call to action button while selecting the background color for your website.

Choose between the dark or light themes, then just enter a URL. You can even, at your discretion, make the link sponsored or nofollow and add an icon to your call to action button. Similarly, you can display products if you have WooCommerce set up.

But first, you must activate the WooCommerce integration in the plugin settings. Once you are happy with the narrative, you may adjust the publish settings by navigating to the “Document” option in the left column.

The publisher logo (your website logo or site symbol will work here) and the poster image for your tale must next be uploaded.

A poster picture should ideally have a 3:4 aspect ratio and at least 640 x 853 pixels. Don’t forget to include a title and a description for your story. This will increase the discoverability of your story and aid in SEO optimization.

You can select how the pages should move below that. Pages change every 7 seconds by default; you may adjust this setting or allow visitors to tap the page manually.

Finally, you can select tags and categories for your tale. Although this step is optional, applying tags and categorizing your article will improve SEO.

Your web story is now ready for publication. Just select “Publish” from the menu in the top right corner of the screen.

A pre-publish checklist will be displayed to you. If everything appears to be in order, use the publish button to make your story public.

Using WordPress to Display a Web Story

When you publish a new blog post, the plugin will display a button that allows you to contribute your narrative.

But you may also add your tale to any post, page, or sidebar that already exists. Simply add the Web Stories block to the post editor of the post or page where you wish to display the tale.

You can select many tales, the newest stories, or a single story under the block settings. You will also get other display options to display stories in a circle, carousel, list, or grid if you choose the most recent stories or numerous stories options.

To save your changes, click the “Update” or “Publish” button after you are finished with the post. You may now view your web stories in action by visiting your website. Here is how the multiple-story carousel format appeared on the home page of our test website.

Because the web stories are their own unique post type in WordPress, you can show them there just like any other page or post.

For instance, you can use their archive page as a landing page for visitors, or you can feature them separately like a WooCommerce product (which is also displayed using a custom post type).

Increasing Google Web Stories with Integrations

You can activate a few built-in integrations that are included with the Web Stories plugin. These integrations are available on the Stories » Settings page.

Google Analytics Integration for Web Stories

Initially, you can enter your Google Analytics profile ID here. This will let you monitor the number of times your content has been viewed in Google Analytics reports.

Note: The more recent GA4 Google Analytics monitoring is not supported by web stories. It only accepts tracking IDs for Universal Analytics that begin with “UA.” Your Google Analytics tracking ID can be found on the Insights » Settings page if you’re using MonsterInsights.

If you do not use Monsterinsights, Google Analytics is where you may locate the tracking ID. To access property settings go to the “Admin” menu and select “property settings”

Making Web Stories Use Custom Fonts

You must manually upload the desired font using FTP to your website if you wish to utilize it in Web Stories. Just upload the font file to your website’s /wp-content/ folder. Your uploaded font’s location after uploading would be:

http://example.com/wp-content/font-file-name.ttf

Don’t forget to change font-file-name.ttf to the real font file name and example.com to your own domain name. After that, you can copy and paste this URL into the custom fonts section of Stories » Settings.

Integrating Monetization with Web Stories

For revenue alternatives, Web Stories supports Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager. Choose your method of monetization, then fill out the necessary fields. For the ad unit, for example, you’ll need Publisher ID and Ad Slot ID.

Enable Web Stories’ Ecommerce Integration

You can add eCommerce support for Web Stories if your online store is powered by WooCommerce or Shopify. You can then include products in your web articles as a result.

Select your eCommerce platform from the drop-down bar in the Shopping area of the Stories » Settings page by simply scrolling down.

The plugin will immediately begin displaying your products for WooCommerce. You must create an API access token for Shopify and give them your store’s address.

Simply click the “learn how to get one” link to be brought to instructions on how to create your Shopify API token if you don’t already have one.

We hope that adding Google Web Stories to your WordPress website was made easier by this article. If you are interested in learning more, read our post on boosting WordPress traffic or follow our recommendation for utilizing WordPress to increase conversions.

The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Google Analytics For WordPress

If you are thinking of monetizing your website, understanding your website traffic is a prerequisite to making informed business decisions—what better way to do that than with Google Analytics.

Not sure where to begin? You’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about Google Analytics for WordPress, from benefits to installing the plugin.

Benefits of Google Analytics for WordPress

Here are a few reasons why you need Google Analytics.

1. To learn who visits your website

With Google Analytics, you can find out your visitors’ location and the type of browser they use. Plus, you learn other valuable information like Flash support and screen resolution, which are elements to consider when designing your website. For instance, if most of your subscribers lack flash support, you can leave that design aspect out.

2. Understand how users interact with your website

Google Analytics lets you see which pages your visitors go to and the bounce rate. By tracking the most well-liked articles, you can learn what content your users enjoy, and thereby take necessary steps to limit the bounce rates.

3. Identify the peak hours

Aside from popular articles, you’ll want to know the peak hours for your website. Once you find out, it would be wise to publish your posts then to increase page views.

4. Know how users discover your website

Ever wondered how new users discover your page? With Google Analytics, you’ll know which sites they came from; usually, it’s by looking your site up, referral, or direct links. What’s more, this tool gives you a breakdown of percentages. For instance, if your visitors used a search engine, Google Analytics lists down the different types, e.g., Bing and Google. Moreover, it shows you which search engine is the most popular.

How To Install Google Analytics in WordPress

Step 1: Set up a Google Analytics Account

Google Analytics is free, and the setting up process is easy.

  • Visit the Google Analytics site and click the sign-up button, which will take you to the Gmail sign-in page
  • Login in to your Gmail account or create one
  • Using your Gmail account, sign up for Google Analytics
  • Register your account name and choose the “web” option under the measure tab
  • Complete the property setup page, then click “I Agree.”
  • Copy the Google Analytics tracking code

Step 2: Install Google Analytics in WordPress

While there are multiple Google Analytics plugins, we recommend using these tools:

  • MonsterInsights
  • Google Analytics by 10Web
  • WP Google Analytics Events
  • ExactMetrics

There are three ways to install the Google Analytics plugin to your WordPress site.

1. Adding Google Analytics through MonsterInsights

Why use MonsterInsights? Well, this plugin is an excellent option for beginners. It’s user-friendly and has multiple features, including e-commerce and author tracking.

Here’s how you can install MonsterInsights in WordPress.

  • Visit the plugins page and click the “add new” option
  • Type MonsterInsights, then click install and activate
  • Wait for a new tab to appear titled “insights.”
  • Choose the “launch the wizard” option
  • Under the category tab, select the most appropriate website category
  • Click “save and continue.”
  • Click “connect MonsterInsights.”
  • Select your Gmail account, then log in
  • Click “allow” to let MonsterInsights access your data
  • Connect Google Analytics by clicking the “complete connection” button
  • The settings page will appear, select the recommended settings and click “save and continue.”
  • Next, MonsterInstights WPForms will appear, click install
  • Voila! You’ve finished setting up the plugin to your site

Note: It’ll take some time before the data tracking begins. You’ll love this plugin because the Google Analytics reports are accessible through the WordPress dashboard, so no need to leave this site.

2. Installation using Headers and Footers plugin

This method should come as a secondary option for two reasons: the advanced tracking configuration is missing. And, you can’t view the reports directly from the WordPress dashboard. Below are the steps for inserting Google Analytics through the headers and footers plugin.

  • Install and activate the headers and footers plugin
  • Click settings > headers and footers
  • Paste the Google Analytics tracking code which you copied earlier when setting up Google Analytics
  • Click “save changes” to finish the installation process

3. Set up Google Analytics in WordPress theme

This method is often the last resort, especially if you are a beginner. It’s technical, and the tracking code will no longer be available if you decide to change your WordPress theme. Two options for installing Google Analytics exist:

Header.php file

  • Go to the WordPress dashboard and click the “appearance” button
  • Select theme header
  • Paste the tracking code on top of the </head> tag
  • Click “update file” and finish

Functions.php

  • Select the “appearance” option
  • Click theme editor and navigate to the functions file
  • Paste the tracking code
  • Select “update file” and then save

Leveraging Google Analytics To Grow Your Website

Google Analytics is a valuable tool if you wish to collect accurate data regarding your website’s traffic. By using its in-built reports, you get real-time information about your traffic and your conversion rates. As a beginner, Google Analytics is the best way to immerse yourself into the analytics field. Want to discover more? Read “The Complete Guide To Advanced Analytics” to learn how to leverage data further to grow your site and improve conversions.

How To Synchronize Your Google Calendar And Outlook

For any of us, our day begins and ends with looking at our Google Calendar. This helps us prepare for the day ahead, or to know what will happen the next day before we sleep. But what if you use Outlook calendars as well?

It can get a bit confusing using both of them separately and simultaneously, causing a few mistakes. There is a solution, and that’s through synchronizing both your Google and Outlook accounts. But how can you do that successfully?

Read on to learn about the Google and Outlook Calendar sync process on different devices.

Syncing Outlook Calendar with Google Calendar

When you want to sync exchange calendars, you won’t need additional plug-ins or extensions, since both of these platforms use a similar format. If you want to connect Outlook with Google, you will first require a link from Outlook.

Get the link by following these steps:

  1. Open up your Office 365 account and click on Settings, then View All Outlook Settings.
  2. Select Calendar, then Shared Calendars.
  3. You’ll be able to get the link from the Publish Calendar section. Go to Calendar, select Can View All Details, then click Publish.
  4. Copy your ICS link, which you’ll use in Google later.

After getting the link, finish syncing in Google Calendar. Follow these steps:

  1. Open your Google Calendar then select ‘Other Calendars +’ located at the bottom of your page.
  2. Click ‘From URL’ and paste your copied link. Select ‘Add Calendar’.
  3. You’ll find other calendars and then find the new one you can choose. Once you see your new calendar, then the syncing is done. Now, you can save your calendar, change the colors, rename it, and customize your settings any way you want.
  4. If you choose to disconnect your calendars, simply hover over your calendar’s name and select the ‘X’ icon.

Using Your iPhone and iPad

If you plan to sync your calendars using your iPhone or iPad, there are different options to follow. One will require to create multiple accounts for your emails, though the best option is to add both your calendars to your device’s Calendar app.

When doing this, you can see your appointments clearly and in organized manner without having to sync your accounts. Furthermore, this is a straightforward process that only takes a few minutes.

Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Open your Settings and select Calendar.
  2. Select Open Account then open your Google and Outlook accounts.
  3. Sync all your calendars by toggling the option to green.
  4. And you’re done! After this, all data appears on your calendar automatically, so you won’t have to worry about double booking and/or overlapping appointments.

Using Android Devices

For those who want to use your Android phone or tablet, the best solution is to install the Microsoft Outlook app, which is free. After installing it, you can connect it using your Google Calendar for all your schedules to be in one place.

Follow these steps:

  1. Open your Google Play Store and find the Microsoft Outlook app to install.
  2. After installation, select ‘Open’ and sign in to your Outlook account.
  3. From here, you’ll get a pop-up notification and you can link your account with other Google accounts.
  4. You’re finished!

Using Your Mac

It may be better to keep your two calendars updated on one platform instead of syncing them. If you want to use Google Calendar with your Outlook program, there’s a method you can follow.

First, you need to install your Outlook app on the Mac and connect it with your Google account. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook, select Outlook, then Preferences.
  2. Select Accounts and then the + sign from the lower-left corner.
  3. Select on New Account, logging into your Google Account, then select Continue.
  4. Choose the Google account you’d like to sync and you will be asked to authorize your Microsoft App to access your calendar. Select ‘Allow’.
  5. A pop-up window will appear, select ‘Open Microsoft Account’ and select ‘Done’.
  6. Click on your Calendar icon, where you can see all of your events in the Outlook app.

Using Gmail

Gmail doesn’t have any official desktop app, though you can use it with Microsoft Outlook. You just need to know how to sync it with Gmail. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Open your Gmail account and select the gear icon, opening the settings.
  2. Select ‘Forwarding POP/IMAP’, making sure it is checked. Then, select ‘Save Changes’.
  3. Connect your Outlook and Calendar accounts by opening your Outlook account.
  4. Tap ‘File’ then ‘Add Account’.
  5. Enter your Gmail address, click on ‘Advanced Options’, then select ‘Let me set up my account manually’.
  6. Tap ‘Connect’ and input your information for the IMAP account settings. After entering your password, tap on ‘Connect’.
  7. Once the account setup is complete, select ‘OK and you’re done!

Wrapping It Up

I hope that these ways to sync your Google and Outlook calendars helped you out! Follow any of these methods, depending on the device you’d like to use. Good luck and enjoy the benefits of your synced calendars!

Do you have any questions or want to share your tips and experiences on how to sync your calendars efficiently? Share them in the comments section below, all of your thoughts will be much appreciated.

How To Manage Your Google Photos, Since There Is 15GB Limit After June 2021

Since the Google have started to count the Google Photos storage along with the Google Drive storage, which is 15GB for all (like emails, files and uploaded photos and videos) in free plan. So, now it is the matter of concern what we are uploading and also there is need to audit the uploaded content whether it is important or not. So, to manage the storage of google drive and uploaded data, there are few things to keep in mind. How much space is left on drive? How to use free plan as long as possible? If it comes to migrate to other service, how to move data safely? There are many alternate services to upload photos and videos available other than Google Drive.

How much space is left on drive?

To check the storage left on google drive just click on this link https://one.google.com/storage , it will show which service is using how much space on drive, whether you are using free or paid plan. Here you can manage the storage by deleting the unimportant emails, big attachment files, deleting old phone backups and big video files.

How to use free plan as long as possible?

It is totally depending on how much you upload on the drive, there is a tool provided by google which can predict when will your storage run out of space depending on the current uploading habits, here is the link https://photos.google.com/quotamanagement . Also, you can review and manage photos that are large in size, blurry and unwanted screenshots.

If you have uploading all the images and videos in ‘Original Quality’, you can make more space available by changing it to ‘High Quality’ for the future uploads by selecting upload size quality to ‘Storage saver’. This you can change from given link https://photos.google.com/settings

On the same link you can see any unsupported videos, if they are not important to you delete them.

Now by clicking on ‘Recover storage’ option all the Original Quality uploaded photos will be compress to Storage Server Quality or High Quality which will free up more storage on drive.

Then, you can manage the photos and videos form your phone app. Go to Google Photos in your phone and go to ‘Library’ then ‘Utilities’, here you will find many suggestions from Google to manage and review the unwanted photos.

If it comes to migrate to other service, how to move data safely?

If you want to move on to other service or want to download all the data to your local storage, here is the toll for doing that https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout .
By using Google Takeout you can download all the Google Photos content very easily. Google takeout utility supports almost all the services provided by google and all the services are by default selected, unselect all. Then just select only Google Photos and click on ‘Next Step’. On the second step choose the delivery method, frequency, file size and type etc. The export to other platforms is also supported like OneDrive, Dropbox, And Box.

Now click on ‘Create Export’ it will send the email to your email address containing the download link, if you selected the delivery method to ‘Send download link via email’. Download the data from that link, now you have all the Google Photos data on your local computer and ready to upload elsewhere or different Photo hosting service.

Here are the few, photo hosting and storage service alternates to Google Photos are Microsoft OneDrive, DropBox, Mega, Amazon Photos (Free with Prime) and FlickrPro etc. But when it comes to maximum storage provided free, then Google Photos is the best option.

7 Free Google Maps Plugins For WordPress

Are you looking for a way to add Google Maps on your WordPress website? There are lots of free Google Maps plugins available for WordPress which makes it difficult to know which is the best.

In this small article, we are sharing 7 best free Google Maps plugins for the WordPress website.

Adding Google Map plugins in WordPress

Before we consider the Google Maps plugin, it’s necessary to emphasize that Google Maps offer an embed code that you can edit and paste in your WordPress posts or pages without using any other plugins.

However, you will have to switch to the “text editor” to add it to your posts or pages.

Also, there are not various customization options available for the default embed code. You cannot add custom information and data to the map.

This is where Google Maps plugin comes in helpful. Using a plugin will enable you to add locations, directions, markers, routes, etc. Your map will be interactive and more beneficial to the users.

Here is our unique list of the 7 best free Google Maps plugins for the WordPress website.

1. MapPress Easy Google Maps

MapPress Easy Google Maps is one of the most common free Google maps plugin. It enables you to simply add a Google map to any WordPress page, post or custom post type by just typing the address.

You can embed the map automatically before & after a page or post. You can also use a shortcode to embed the map within the post.

2. Google Maps Builder

Maps Builder comes with a lovely map customization experience with lots of options. You can simply add locations, controls, choose map size, map types, and even select a map theme. All of this can be done in a simple visual customizer.

Adding a map to a post or page is easy. All you need to do is click a button on the post or page editor and select your map. Maps builder also allows you to add own custom markers, and you can even show nearby areas with Google places.

3. WP Google Maps

WP Google Maps is another easy and free Google maps plugin. You can quickly create maps by entering an address, set markers, get directions, etc.

It comes with a map widget that you can attach to your WordPress website’s sidebar or any widget area. Your users can also shift to street-view without leaving your site.

4. WP Google Map Plugin

Another excellent option for extremely interactive Google maps is WP Google Map Plugin. It comes with a large set of features allowing you to build beautiful maps with lots of custom information.

You can add information windows, colorful markers, redirect users when they click on a map, and simply embed maps with the shortcode. You can save various locations and then create a map showing these locations with the use of custom markers.

5. Google Maps Widget

Want to instantly display a map in a sidebar widget? Google Maps Widget provides you to easily add a Google Map in your sidebars or any other widget areas. Clicking on a map will open the map in a lightbox popup with a wider view. You can also choose pin colors and also use your own image as a pin.

6. Basic Google Maps Placemarks

Want to add a Google map to your website with your individual custom placemarks? Basic Google Maps Placemarks provides you to add placemarks with address, assign them categories, add custom marker if you want.

You can produce as many placemarks as you need and then display them all together on a map using plugin shortcodes. You can also make categories to create different maps displaying different locations and placemarks.

7. CP Google Maps

CP Google Maps plugin provides you to quickly associate geolocation data to a post and display map with your custom images. You can choose a custom pin or marker to be placed on the map for a location. Most of the plugin’s other excellent features are locked and require the premium version of the plugin.

Final Thoughts

I did not find that one particular Google Maps WordPress plugin was ‘the most beneficial’, so it surely does come down to what your requirements are, as most maximum solutions offer some features that are not found elsewhere.

You should, therefore, analyze as many solutions as you can to see which one fits you and your website.

With more than 400,000+ active installations, WP Google Maps is a good starting point to see what’s possible with Google Maps.

However, if you are not looking for superior features, you should surely give basic solutions such as Simple Google Maps Shortcode and Google Maps Widget a try.

We hope this article helped you find the best free Google Maps plugin for your WordPress website.

If you liked this article, then please follow us on Twitter for future updates.

How To Add Google Analytics To WordPress Without a Plugin

When you think of the greatest pair of all time, you probably think of a pair like Batman and Robin, Mickey and Minnie. Then, there is a very modern pair of WordPress and Google Analytics.

While they might not the greatest partners, I bet they’d be pretty high up there for WordPress design, development, and marketing professionals.

If you have a WordPress website, you must also have Google Analytics (GA) – no questions asked. It’s not like the two can’t exist without one another (as in any healthy relationship), but I’d argue that the universe just doesn’t seem right when the two aren’t paired up. The question is: how do you make this love affair?

Pairing Google Analytics’ Tracking Code and WordPress

You are most likely to have at least one of three options to help you connect Google Analytics to your WordPress site:

– Add Google Analytics with a plugin;
– Create a Google Analytics WordPress plugin; or
– Add Google Analytics to WordPress without a plugin.
That last one? We show you in this post where to find your Google Analytics code and how to add Google Analytics to WordPress without a plugin.

Note: We do not recommend adding Google’s tracking code without a plugin.

Wait, What?

This is right. We will show you how and where to add the code for analytics tracking, but we sincerely believe that either of the other two options will better serve you and your website.

Why?

Adding Google Analytics to WordPress with plugins is easy, fast and hassle-free;
If you code GA in WP yourself, you will have to add the Google Analytics code again when you switch themes; And
The Google Analytics plugin sets all the features automatically, saving you time.
Now, we get it. If you want control over how GA tracks your data, then you must add the Google Analytics tracking code manually. Or, if you are learning the basics of how WordPress works, then this is an easy task to start with.

Whatever your reasons (and do let us know yours the comments! we’d love to know), let’s jump in.

How to Add Google Analytics Without a Plugin?

You are only six simple steps away from manually adding the tracking code.

Step #1: Create a Google Account

If you haven’t already, create a Google account and set up your website – a property.

Step #2: Log in to Google Analytics

With your Google account created, you can now sign into Google Analytics. Select your email address and log in.

Step #3: Get Your Google Analytics Tracking ID

Once you have login into Google Analytics, go to the admin area in the lower-left corner of your Google Analytics dashboard.

You will see three columns of admin setting controls. In the middle column, click Tracking Info, and then choose the Tracking Code option.

Step #4: Copy Your Tracking Code

The Tracking Code tab will open and show your property’s specific tracking ID with the full Google Analytics tracking code.

Once you get your GA tracking code, you need to copy it completely.

Step #5: Log in to WordPress and Add the Code

Note: You should always create a child theme for your WordPress site before editing the theme files.

So, wherein the HTML of your webpage should you place your analytics tracking code?

Log into the backend of your WordPress website.

Once login, go to the Appearance> Editor tab in the sidebar. On this screen, you display all the files on your site to the right, and the Google Analytics code snippet of each file is displayed in the middle of the page.

Unless you’re planning on tracking visitor activity on just a few pages of your website (unlikely), you’ll want to include some code somewhere that will automatically implement tracking site-wide.

Where can you do this?

See the header-right file of the header.php. Click on it to open it; The code editor will appear in the middle of your screen.

Look for the closing tag within the code. A simple Ctrl + F will help you find it quickly.

Once you find it, place your cursor just before the tag and paste it into your Google Analytics tracking code. Then click the update file button under the code editor to save your changes.

Step #6: Test Your Connection To GA While Waiting

After adding Google Analytics to WordPress, it takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to populate new data.

When you do not immediately start seeing data for any traffic to your site, you can test the connection you have established.

Try going back to the tracking code page in Google Analytics. To the right of your tracking ID is the status update. To confirm that everything works properly, click on Send Test Traffic. This will open your site in a small window.

If all is well, your account should update to show an active user number of 1. User!

If the active user count does not appear immediately, be patient. Google says this can take up to a minute.