Tech stuff

google ads

Google Ads Shopping Campaign Structure for Ecommerce

I love ecommerce, and now work exclusively with ecommerce businesses after working at one for 18 years. This account structure is one I use with my clients and own business. The idea is split the products into campaigns based on past performance, then use a Performance Max campaign to drive

google ads

Google Ads & GA4 Tracking in Shopify

I used to like GTM but if you want the tags to fire in checkout (you do) then you need to use the Shopify method of inserting the tracking tags. As of March Shopify finally support GA4 through the Google channel app.  You can also use the Google app to

debian

Debian Sid as my Desktop

History I've toyed on an off with Linux as as my desktop OS since the early 2000's (yikes getting old) but never managed to make it stick. It is always Photoshop, SolidWorks or maybe a game that brings me back to Windows. Why I Switched from Windows I enjoy hacking

shopify

Shopify vs WooCommerce

Intro I have been an open source software user since I first installed Slackware from floppy disc. For most web projects I've self hosted or managed a bare metal CentOS or Debian server. Naturally this led me to open source tools and frameworks, avoiding using IIS at all costs (then

akeneo

Installing Akeneo on Google Cloud

Installing Akeneo manually on Google Cloud Platform using Debian & Nginx.

ppc

List of Google Ads Countries

I never trust Google's targeting and always try and negative where possible. Location targeting in Google Ads is a powerful tool that can help you make the most of your budget and reach the people who are most likely to buy your product or service. It can target ads to

dev ops

Move a Google Cloud Project From A Personal Account to an Organisation

Migrate a google cloud platform project from a personal account to an organisation

analytics

Combine Events in Analytics to Help Ads Machine Learning

Rename similar events in Analytics to provide a clearer goal for Google Ads machine learning, resulting in better performance.

web design

Emoji for Titles & Meta Descriptions

A reference collection of Unicode symbol emoji to copy-paste into descriptions and titles.

cloudflare

Expose Real IP Addresses in Cloudflare & Nginx

How to expose a users real IP address in Nginx logs when using Cloudflare. By default everything routed through Cloudflare shows up in your logs as a Cloudflare server IP.

tools

Using WinSCP to Automate SFTP Transfers

After using FlashFXP for years I switched to WinSCP as it's simple to add to batch scripts and automate FTP transfers.

magento

Debian Server Setup & Magento 2 Installation

How to setup a Debian server on GCP and then install and configure Nginx and PHP to run Magento.

analytics

Using GA4 to Track Multiple Form Submissions in Ghost

How to track form submissions using GA4 events properly, not just reading page views on a success page. If you don't use forms in an iframe then it's very easy!

git

Create a Git Submodule Inside an Existing Directory

How to create a git submodule inside an existing directory. In short, cheat and move the files in and out of the folder.

magento

Building a Magento Cluster

Building a Magento cluster with seperate admin server on GCP using SQL, Filestore and Redis.

dev ops

How to Load Test a Website With Locust

How to load test a website using the Locust python tool. I wanted to find out what a google cloud instance running LEMP could handle.

cloudflare

Why I Use Cloudflare For DNS, Firewall & More

I first started using Cloudflare when I was sick of being up and nights and weekends fending off scrapers and bots from a large e-commerce site.

google

Which Google Cloud Platform Instance For a Small LEMP Stack

I choose and configure a Google Cloud Platform e2-small instance to run a Debian web server with Nginx, PHP and MariaDB.

hosting

Self Hosting a Blog - BookStack vs Hugo vs Ghost

I tried out BookStack, Hugo and Ghost to find out which one I wanted to use for my blog. I ended up keeping BookStack for personal docs and you are reading this on Ghost.

google

Essential Free Tools For Every Website

As a webmaster, I am always on the lookout for new tools to help me in my work. Google provides a wealth of resources, and I am particularly fond of Data Studio for its ability to pull in data streams and create beautiful dashboards.

dev ops

My Web Development Workflow Setup

My sweet web dev setup with Windows 11 and WSL2, giving me Debian at my fingertips from the windows taskbar.

dev ops

Build A Digital Marketing Toolbox

Equip your team with the tools that help you achieve real eCommerce growth. These are all tools that I use daily and recommend to clients, and will scale up from free or nearly free plans.

css

Useful CSS snippets

A collection of nice CSS tricks, most of which are in use on this website. Pinch yourself and remember all the cool new CSS features we have now, no more floats! I love you grid and flex.

dev ops

Useful Commands

A place for me to keep useful linux commands.

google ads

Advanced PPC Optimisation Tactics

Three powerful optimisation techniques I use on e-commerce PPC accounts - campaign segmentation, remarketing and custom labels.

I love anything tech and have spent my whole life "hacking" in the real sense of the world - tinkering with things (normally in a shed). When I got my first Amiga aged 9 it started my lifelong passion for computing. I spent hours playing around in Workbench, changing colours, icons and wallpapers. I started with simple Basic scripts, but before long I was writing my own games and demos. My passion for computing had been ignited, and it has continued to this day. Over 30 years later I still enjoy configuring computers and making them work for me!