Ninja Space Content Blog

Today, I received a surprise gift. Facebook has no longer marked one of my URLs as fraudulent or spam and now I can share that particular URL (not referring to this very one that you're currently at) on Facebook again. They had blocked that URL for over a year! I still have no idea why it happened for a year and I had consistently filled out their form to say that my website is not a spam website and it's a legitimate mom blog. I have over 1,700 likers on this particular Facebook page that's linked to that particular website so it still has a decent number of likers and followers but the increase within the last year has been a slow growth compared to years prior when people could freely share my website link on Facebook.

Maybe now with this pandemic, Facebook has looked back at responses on these forms and finally had a personnel go through them to fix them?

So how did I find out that my website link was no longer marked as fraudulent and is allowed to be shared again? Well, today someone contacted me about sharing an event that they are planning for local moms. She had messaged me via Facebook in the past and I looked at our past thread and noticed that my URL from 2019 in our message exchange was hyperlinked properly. That caught me by surprise because when Facebook marked my URL as spam, all of the posts and messages with that link embedded got ghosted. Any post on someone else's Facebook page with or without pictures with any mention of my website URL disappeared as well. It was the craziest thing and now they are all back! Posts that were ghosted for over a year can now be seen and I'm telling you, this is like trying to find that favorite shirt that has gone missing for a long time! I have such relief!

I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but I've been spreading the Lord's word more often than usual this summer. I also started a mission last month to help more moms with sharing about their businesses and their own mission for free by writing blog posts about them and doing more social media shares. I feel good about being able to help someone during this difficult time because as a result of this, I am connecting with more moms and doing more message exchanges and seeing their joy firsthand. I'm also going through a tribulation myself so if I can offer a sense of relief for someone else by writing, a hobby that I enjoy, then it helps me as much as it helps them. When I started this mission, I did it to refocus my energy on the positives because I was feeling a bit beat down. A Covid-19 pandemic can do that to anyone and their mental health. I know that when you do something to try to help others, you shouldn't expect to get rewarded and that you just do it because it is the right thing to do. This was truly the case. I just felt like it was the right thing to do for other people right now and if God decides to get Facebook to take one of my URLs off their spam list, then that is just a nice bonus.

And to whomever needs this encouragement: Hang in there!

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (ESV): ⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

I've owned websites for over a decade and have never run into this problem until now. In the past, all of my websites were properly indexed in Google with "http" and not "https" because I don't buy an SSL certificate for them but recently one of my websites is being indexed with "https". I don't want this to happen because if Google is indexing it this way, a DANGER DANGER page will be shown to the visitor before they can reach my URL. This causes a high bounce rate and in turn, decreases the value of my website and prevents people from reading my content. 

I contacted my domain company and my hosting company and they both just quickly said to just go ahead and order an SSL cert for it and then it'll eliminate the problem. Thing is, I only have this problem for this one particular site. My other 7 websites are being indexed in the search engine with "http" as they should. I thought that was a very lazy way to get me to just stop bothering them. And no, this is not a new website. It's been up and live for several years.

Anyway, I'm looking into my current set-up in Google Webmasters (also known as Search Console) to make sure my site is indexing with just "http" only. I think I'm heading in the right direction because it allows you to list all of the variations that you'd like your website URL to be indexed as. I'll let you know if the search engine has changed the indexing of the website in a few weeks. If you're having the same problem, good luck!

July 24, 2020 Update: 

I've decided to use the free SSL cert plan from Cloudfare to use for the website that's mistakenly indexing with https:// because my traffic is building and I want to decrease my bounce rates as quickly as possible. So far, all I had to do was change the name servers. The process was so easy and quick and it propagated within the same day! This is so great. They give you a limit if you're using the free plan, which I plan on just utilizing for the near future. However, there are upgraded plans that you can choose from.

I received an email from Belkin last month that informed me my Wemo NetCam will no longer be serviced starting at the end of this month (update: they extended to June 30 2020 now). I'll no longer be able to use my Netcam anymore to view any motion activated movements for my side yard, which is what I've been and still using it for. I am pretty bummed out by this. 

I've been using this particular Belkin Netcam since 2015. It's been helpful for me and my sanity because it informs of any suspicious activities coming into my property via email and I can view it live through their app. I've even moved it with me across states when we relocated. Now, I'm going to have to find a new solution to replace my side yard cam. It's pretty important as a security measure for my home and this is such a huge blow to my trust in tech companies, particularly this one. Now, I'm going to make sure that I believe the next cam I'll buy will keep their services and stay in business for a long time and not disappoint me like Belkin is doing. I don't want to jepardize the security of my home with an unreliable service.

You can get a refund on the purchase of the Netcam, only if it was purchased within the last 2 years and with a receipt so that doesn't apply to me. I've had this hardware for over 4 years. Now, this Belkin Netcam is literally useless. According to the Belkin's website, I can't use this cam with any other app.

So what am I going to do? What technology will I use? What will I substitute my next home cam with for my side yard? 

Right now, knowing that Amazon is going strong as a company, I'm probably going to use Ring cams. They are also easily linked with my already exisitng echo devices (also owned by Amazon) via Alexa so they are hopefully much more reliable than Belkin ever was. The thing with my current Belkin netcam is it's electrical and has to be plugged in. The next cam I am going to get will be battery operated so that I can place it outside and not worry about wiring. Ring cams are either wired (needs to plug in) or battery-operated. Some cams can be used specifically for indoor or outdoor use, or both so I'll have to look for the exact device that will help me be able to place it outside without it getting possibly damaged.
A more reliable webcam among the market are Ring cams, which are owned by Amazon: Ring Stick Up Cam Battery HD security camera with two-way talk, Works with Alexa.

Last year, while on my Instagram page, I received this prompt that turned my social media marketing upside down. It's the "Link Not Allowed" prompt. What this meant was that the link that's on my bio was no longer clickable from instagram because they have marked it as an inappropriate or fraudulent website. How did they determine this? I think I had some clues.

Before I received that problem, I think I was "loving" too many posts within a short period of time. Maybe this caused Instagram to think I was being a spammer. Who knew? So after Instagram had determined that my "Link (is) Not Allowed", I was also unable to include any text in my photo posts on there or "love" other posts. It was all so frustrating.

How did I recover the "Link Now Allowed" issue on instagram?

Well, it took a while but the first thing I did when I had this issue was I removed my bio link from my Instagram's bio. If you're a business, this could be so maddening because you've just lost another big marketing avenue for people to get to your website. Then after a couple of days, I went on my computer (not mobile device) and logged out of my instagram page. I turned off my wi-fi on my computer. Then I restarted my wi-fi modem and turned on my wi-fi on my computer again. After my internet was working properly, I logged into instagram (on my computer, still not mobile phone) and inserted my bio link again and it finally worked! I didn't get a "Link Not Allowed" prompt anymore and could start "loving" other posts and including text in my photo posts. Phew! So if you're having the same issue, try that. Good luck to you.

I ran my first Pinterest ad recently to see if it would help with converting sales. Unfortunately I didn't make a sale but I did get 28 clicks within a span of 4 days for $4. I had originally planned to have it run for 5 days but my credit card that I had on file had expired at the beginning of March (today) so it cut it short. I was actually happy that it cut it one day short because I wasn't too pleased with the results. See the pin that I had used to promote as an ad below.

It didn't let me narrow down to any geographic targets but they only charged me by the number of clicks and not impressions and then it would stop the ad for the day once I've spent my budget for the day. It came down to 7 clicks for $1 a day. The website I was promoting this picture for was SCBeachTrips.com. This website promotes traveling to South Carolina beaches.