a) how clever the person is to have got their site on page 1 of Google for it’s keyword when there are 43,087 competing pages, or

b) telling you to look for a keyword that has fewer than, say, 50,000 competing pages.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how accurate that number is that Google quotes you at the top of the search results?  Do you blindly believe that there really are 43,087 competing pages?

I regularly say in forums that these results are meaningless – and wrong.  Here’s what happened just a few minutes ago when I was searching for links to a website that I run.  This particular site – www.itsbeennicked.co.uk – gets interest from the press and I was adding a page to the site with links to articles that have been run about us by newspapers and magazines.

I entered this search term into Google – “itsbeennicked.co.uk”.  Notice that I used quotation marks so that Google actually searched for sites containing the link, rather than just taking me to the site.

Here is a screenshot of the part of the first page of results:

Google tells me there are 49,400 results.  Are there really?  I scrolled to the bottom of the page and clicked to go to page 10

At the foot of page 10, I could suddenly see only 14 pages.  I clicked to go to page 14.  At the foot of page 14, this is what I saw:

Suddenly there are only 138 results instead of 49,400.  What happened to the other 49,262 results?  If I click the bit that invites me to repeat the search and include the omitted results, will I get the rest of the results?

What do you think will happen?

Here’s what did happen:

There are now 62 pages of results.  With 10 results on each page, that adds up to 620 results.  A staggering 48, 280 fewer.  Or, to put it another way, the number of results claimed by Google is a mind boggling 7,780% more than actually appear.

Let’s try that again with something else.  Let’s try “how to lose weight fast” (a good keyword if you are an internet marketer in the weight loss niche).  This time, I’m not going to use the quotation marks.  I’ll do the search just as a potential reader would do it, using Google.

Here it is:

Google claims 158,000,000 results.  Frightening if you are thinking of designing a niche to target that keyword.  Now I’ll click through to the end.Now there are actually only 815 results.  Not so scary if you need to research the competition.  What will I get if I repeat the search with the omitted results?  Here we are:

It takes me to page 100.  With 10 results per page, that’s 1000 results.  The original number claimed by Google (158 million, yes, Million) is a totally staggering 15,800,000 percent higher than the actual results.  Yes, Google claims fifteen MILLION percent more results than there actually are.

(disclaimer, I’m not sure about the maths here, I might need to double check it, but you get the point!)

Cleaning malware off computers is a large part of my daily work.  People phone me up and tell me that their computer has slowed down, isn’t working properly – or sometimes specifically state that their computer “has a virus”.  Of course, for the techie amongst  you, you will know straight away that a classic virus is rare these days.  It’s more likely to be a trojan or other spyware or malware.

Malwarebytes isn’t fussy about what you call it – if it’s undesirable Malwarebytes will find it.

A question.  How many of you have an additional toolbar that you don’t remember installing on your browser that takes you off to somewhere strange each time you do a search?  I’ll guess quite a few of you, if my experience is anything to go by.

Most of these are unwanted advertising, taking you off to their own search engine and then returning results you’d rather not know about.

Malwarebytes will find these toolbars and remove them for you.

There are two versions of malwarebytes.  There is a free version – which I admit is the version I use.  You have to remember to open it, update it and run it every few days.  I do.  Take a look at that screenshot.  I’m writing this on 19thMarch and I last ran it on 12 March.

I run it every 7 – 10 days.  Usually it finds nothing.

However, if your computer is more than a few weeks old, I would imagine it will find something.  If your computer is used by a teenager (and no disrespect intended here) experience tells me you will probably find hundreds of problems.  I’ve seen over 1000 before now.

I have one client who has two computers in the house, one run by her currently single son and one run by her granddaughter.  I used to go their house three or four times a year to clean up both computers.  A couple of years ago I suggested that they install the paid for version of Malwarebytes on both computers.  I have only seen them once since then!

The paid for version is proactive, regularly scanning for and protecting you from a wide range of malware.

At this point, I hear you saying “but I’ve already got anti-virus software, why do I need this”?  It’s a good question – one that all my clients ask me, believing that if their anti-virus is working they won’t have malware on their computer – and conversely believing that if they do have malware then their anti-virus has failed.  Neither is true.  New malware is coming out all the time.  It can creep onto your computer and bury itself deeply on your hard drive so that your antivirus software simply doesn’t find it.  Some spyware is ignored by anti-virus software – some spyware you (or someone in your house) will have accidentally consented to install by clicking on yes or install without realising what you were agreeing to.  Your anti-virus software will ignore these programs and toolbars – Malwarebytes will find and remove them.

If you regularly have problems with spyware, adware or malware I can’t recommend the paid for version of Malwarebytes highly enough.

At

Of course you restart the computer and all is well for a while – until it crashes again. Crashes become a cumulative process.  The more your computer crashes, the more its performance decreases and so, inevitably, the more it crashes. Installing and uninstalling programs also contributes towards slower performance.

Unless a program is totally uninstalled traces of it are left behind, in the registry or as fragments of files that point nowhere and are attached to nothing. Each time your computer crashes, Windows tries to save itself, creating temporary files that are often left behind.

When you restart the computer these temporary files and other fragments of files or short cuts are left that point at nothing.  The computer can’t do anything with them, but they are there, clogging up the memory and causing the computer to work less efficiently and take longer to start up.

Each time your computer starts you have to wait whilst all the programs that are set to run at start-up do just that – start up.  Each program takes time, and also RAM space.  The more programs that start, the longer it takes for your computer to start and the less RAM space is available to allow your computer to actually work on the tasks you want it to do.

Cleaning up your registry is a major part of ensuring that your computer is running at optimum performance, but it isn’t the only part.  There are many reliable, stand alone, registry cleaners that you can use, both free and paid for.  Before downloading a registry cleaner, make sure to do an internet search to ensure there are no horror stories.  Some are not all they are cracked up to be and will download spyware or other unwanted programs on to your computer.

To keep your computer running smoothly and starting quickly it is better to find software that will automatically perform a range of functions.  If you are a computer expert you can find individual programs that will perform each individual part of the process.  Many require you to remember to open them and run them.  If you take this approach look for programs that will clean your registry, remove broken shortcuts, allow you to choose which programs start when your computer starts,  as well as allowing you to optimize the performance of your computer display and graphics and turn off many of the unwanted features that inevitably slow down your computer for the sake of prettiness (sometimes I think some of these features are added just “because they can” and serve little or no real purpose other than to slow your computer down).

An all in one program is a much better solution for the non geeky.  It runs automatically to a set timescale, cleaning your registry, removing shortcuts and broken files, and making any recommendations that are necessary – informing you if you need to take action.  When you first install such a program you can choose which programs to run at start up and which you want to start manually.  A good program will make recommendations about which programs to allow to run when the computer starts.  Free software can also help – by telling you which programs do run at start up and allowing you to choose which to stop.  If you are unsure what any start up program does, then the internet is your friend.  Search for it – find out what it does and whether it is necessary for it to run all the time.

As I’ve said in other articles, I’m like an over anxious mother with my computer.  Long experience of sorting out clients’ computers – often with the client telling me that the computer has been behaving oddly for weeks, or even months – has taught me the value of keeping your computer running smoothly and acting at the first sign of problems.  I’ve seen computers that have gone from starting up in a few seconds to taking enough time to, quite literally, make a cup of tea.  With the owners just accepting the decrease in performance.  Don’t be one of them.

I could go on a lot longer, but you’d get bored – so I’ll just say take a look at Tune Up Utilities

It never ceases to amaze me how people will continue to use a computer that is running erratically or has slowed to a crawl!

I’m like an over-anxious mother with my own computer.  It only has to do something unusual and I scan it with a range of software in an attempt to keep it running properly.

This is how I look after my own computer.

Top Priority – Do Your Backups

I can’t stress this loudly enough or often enough.  It’s one of the first things I say to most of my off line clients – “do you have a backup of your files?”  You’d be amazed at how many don’t – even people who are running small businesses.

If you woke up tomorrow and found your computer had been stolen, damaged or just wouldn’t turn on, what would you do?

For many of my clients the answer is – PANIC!  Phone me and expect me to do something.

Your data is your responsibility, not mine!

I back up my computer onto an external hard drive, but the one thing I wouldn’t be without is my online, external backup.

It silently backs up all my new files, emails and downloads offsite.  If my computer is stolen, along with the external hard drive, or damaged I know my data is safe.

If you use an online backup service you can access your files anywhere.  I use it to access files I need when I am visiting friends or relatives and don’t have my laptop.  I have used it to retrieve files that have become corrupted.

It, quite literally, allows me to sleep easily at night.

There are lots of free pages on this site with “how to’s” and general hints and tips. There are also tutorials for sale and software for sale.

If you have any suggestions for additions to the site or tutorials that you would like me to write, email me on help(@)it-teacher.co.uk.

Regardless of which model or brand of desktop computer you have, you can maximize its performance if you have the right software. If you look after you computer and use the right software to protect it and enhance it you can get the most out of even a cheap desktop computer. On this site you will find software and tips to help keep your compute running at its best.