My family visited Mammoth last week — their first trip here in a couple of years. They’ve been here several times, so this trip was a lot of repeat visits to places they’ve already seen. Convict Lake, Devils Postpile and McLeod Lake are some of their favorites.
I was a little worried that we didn’t have anything new to do or see on this trip. I’ve been dreaming of moving to a neighboring town for the past year+ but haven’t found any places worth jumping for yet.
Their visit here ended up looking a lot like all their other visits — my same little condo in the trees, my same sweet friends, the same restaurants, the same aspens, lakes, mountains, etc. But it felt like just what we needed after the last few years.
So I’ve been delighting in things that feel old and familiar while things in this country & world feel increasingly chaotic.
This Month’s Observation: Let’s revisit digital privacy.
I’ve seen a lot of posts about data privacy since the Roe v. Wade news came out. My mindset has always been sure, take all my data and serve me the things I really want and need. But this news has made me pause and reconsider.
A recent Washington Post article shared that Planned Parenthood’s web scheduler was gathering data about website visitors that it can share with a variety of third parties, including Google, Facebook, Tiktok and Hotjar. A follow-up article shared that Planned Parenthood suspended its marketing trackers on abortion search pages.
Almost all business marketing/analytics tools gather data. If you use Google Analytics on your website, Google is likely gathering IP addresses of your website visitors (personal data, potentially). If you have a contact form, you’re gathering that data from people who fill it out, and you’re likely sharing it with third parties.
This is why I always discuss privacy policies with clients — even if you don’t consciously gather or share private data, your website and marketing tools probably do. A good (and frequently updated) privacy policy is essential to let people know how you’re gathering their data and who to contact if they have concerns.
As a website owner, it’s your responsibility to gather as little data as possible, share it as little as possible, destroy it as soon as possible, and let people know how and why you’re gathering their data. Read more about privacy policies and getting one set up on my blog.
PS: this post from CNBC offers good, tangible suggestions for individuals to minimize data exposure.
Website & SEO Updates from Around the Web
The Open Secret of Google Search
I loved this read about the state of Google Search today. “We yearn for more convenience, more innovation, more possibility. But when we get it, often we can only see what we’ve lost in the process.”
How to Migrate to Google Analytics 4
You’ve probably gotten emails about Google Analytics 4. It’s a good idea to go ahead and set up GA4 in the next several months so you’ll have some historical data to compare to in your GA4 account. Most simple GA users can skip steps 2-4 in this guide. Learn more about GA4.
Easy Ways to Get Your Team Involved in Marketing
Outsourcing social media management isn’t always the perfect solution for a small business. If you have folks on your team who are interested in social media and marketing overall, this is a great guide on how to foster and grow that interest. When done right, this can really help your business grow.
Accessibility Overlay Giant AccessiBe Banned from Convention
A lot of companies are making a lot of money claiming to make websites accessible with overlay tools. I’ll share more on accessibility next month, but this is yet another reason to avoid overlays.
Recently Launched: Jennifer Barker Real Estate
I love a simple brochure website that’s built to be expanded upon as a business grows or changes.
We built Jen’s website on WordPress so we could have flexibility and options to incorporate listings later on. We kept it intentionally simple, clean and to the point, aiming to give people a feel for who Jen is and invite them to get in touch for their real estate needs in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
