It's the Little Things That Get Ya

Yesterday I wanted to increase the visibility of my blog on the web, so I went to Google's Webmaster Tool Kit in search of info on how one gets a blog listed on search engines. Little did I know that I was in for a titanic struggle.

I knew I was on the way to major brain cramps the minute I clicked on the "Register my site on search engines" link. Up came a page telling me that Google required verification that I was the actual owner of the site I wanted to list. I could verify my control over the site in one of two ways: by adding a "metatag" or "uploading an HTML file." Oh, Lord, I said to myself. This could get ugly. I clicked on the HTML file option because I had no clue what a "metatag" was. (Well, to be entirely candid, I have no clue what HTML is either, but at least I know the term.)

That's when it got ugly. For two hours, I cursed, sweated, grumbled and scratched my head trying to figure out how to follow the instructions, which might as well have been written in ancient Sanskrit. They provided me with a series of letters and numbers followed by .html, then instructed me to create a file out of that jumble and upload the file to my blog page. It took me 15 minutes to figure out how to create the file, and the rest of the two hours to upload it successfully.

After three or four unsuccessful tries, I decided to start over from the beginning. That's when I realized that when I had initially entered the URL of the site I wanted to list, I typed it wrong. One little typo had cost me two hours of banging-my-head-on-the-desk aggravation.

When I corrected that simple error, presto! The HTML file miraculously appeared, the little box was checked in bright red, and the word "verified" appeared as if by magic. I was now officially recognized as the owner of my blog, and could register it on every search engine known to the civilized world.

This taught me a valuable lesson. Usually the mistakes I make are big ones, like the time I cut a useless-appearing white cable coiled up behind my computer hard drive, only to learn almost immediately thereafter that it was the cable providing telephone and internet service to my house. (The repair dispatcher laughed so hard she stopped breathing.)

But in the world of computers and high-tech gizmos, it's the little mistakes that screw you up. Did you spell everything right? Did you unlock your "caps lock" key before entering your password? Is your modem on? Is your computer plugged in??

If it isn't, don't feel bad. Welcome to my world.