Automating processes has become essential in many daily activities, and collecting data via online forms is a common practice. Google Sheets offers a simple and efficient way to collect and organize this information. In this guide, we will explore how to submit form data directly to Google Sheets, simplifying the management and analysis of the collected data.
1. Creation of the Google Form.
The first step is to create a Google Form using Google Forms. Log in to your Google account and go to Google Drive. Create a new form by selecting "Other" and then "Google Form." Here you can customize the form to your needs, adding fields such as name, email, free text, multiple choice options, and more.
2. Linking the Module to Google Sheets.
After creating the form, it is now necessary to link it to a sheet Google Sheets To file the answers. In the Google Form, go to "Responses" and then to the spreadsheet icon. Select "Create a Spreadsheet" to automatically generate a new spreadsheet in which the form responses will be archived. Once this is done, whenever someone submits a response to the form, the data will automatically be added to the linked spreadsheet.
3. Spreadsheet Configuration.
Now that you have a spreadsheet linked to the form, you can further customize it according to your needs. For example, you can rename tabs, format cells, and add formulas to analyze data in more detail. You can also share the spreadsheet with other team members to allow them to view or edit data in real time.
4. Advanced Integrations with App Scripts
If you need more advanced functionality, you can use Google Apps Script to further automate the process. With Apps Script, you can add triggers to run scripts when new form responses are submitted, manipulate data dynamically, or even send email notifications when new responses are received.
5. Data Security and Privacy
Be sure to properly configure the sharing and security settings to protect the data collected through the form and spreadsheet. You can restrict access to the form and spreadsheet to only those who need it and use the permission settings to control who can view or edit the data.
In conclusion, submitting form data to Google Sheets is a relatively simple process that can greatly simplify the collection and management of information. Using this guide, you can easily create custom forms, link them to spreadsheets, and automate the process to save time and simplify your workflow.
What would you think if there was a SEO trick That allows you to increase your site's visibility in the Google serp in less than an hour?
The great thing is that you can notice this improvement within a very short time, within an hour you will see the results.
After reading, as announced in the official blog, that Google would insert faq rich snippets within the search results, I had decided to give it a try.
On a site I manage, I added the outline for FAQ and I noticed that after a few days the site was appearing in the serp with an additional snippet in which the questions I had entered were present.
I had experienced this improvement firsthand, but as usual, even the SEO bigwigs noticed, as confirmed by this post by Neil Patel.
Neil went a step further and tried inserting faq under one of his posts and then made an indexing request via Search Console only to notice that within about half an hour the rich snippet was coming out under the serp.
Analyzing what the serp looks like we can see that the box takes up quite a bit more space, almost twice as much, so competitor sites get pushed further down.
How much of an impact this can have in terms of increasing click trough rate is yet to be determined. But it is certainly a more appealing result.
What is structured data for FAQs?
Rich snippets or structured data are the result of the implementation on websites of so-called microdata provided by Schema.org, a standard supported by both Google and Bing and Yahoo.
They serve to enrich the search result with additional information. There are examples such as review stars or prices of an ecommerce item.
<html>
<head>
<title>Example Site - Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)</title>
</head>
<body>
<script type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https:\/\/schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is the return policy?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Most unopened items in new condition and returned within <strong>90 days<\/strong> Will receive a refund or exchange. Some items have a modified return policy noted on the receipt or packing slip. Items that are opened or damaged or do not have a receipt may be denied a refund or exchange. Items purchased online or in-store may be returned to any store.<br \/><p>Online purchases may be returned via a major parcel carrier. <a href='http:\/\/example.com\/returns'> Click here <\/a> To initiate a return.<\/p>"
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How long does it take to process a refund?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "We will reimburse you for returned items in the same way you paid for them. For example, any amounts deducted from a gift card will be credited back to a gift card. For returns by mail, once we receive your return, we will process it within 4-5 business days. It may take up to 7 days after we process the return to reflect in your account, depending on your financial institution's processing time."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is the policy for late\/non-delivery of items ordered online?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Our local teams work diligently to make sure that your order arrives on time, within our normaldelivery hours of 9AM to 8PM in the recipient's time zone. During busy holiday periods like Christmas, Valentine's and Mother's Day, we may extend our delivery hours before 9AM and after 8PM to ensure that all gifts are delivered on time. If for any reason your gift does not arrive on time, our dedicated Customer Service agents will do everything they can to help successfully resolve your issue. <br\/> <p><a href='https:\/\/example.com\/orders\/'>Click here<\/a> to complete the form with your order-related question(s).<\/p>"
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "When will my credit card be charged?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "We'll attempt to securely charge your credit card at the point of purchase online. If there's a problem, you'll be notified on the spot and prompted to use another card. Once we receive verification of sufficient funds, your payment will be completed and transferred securely to us. Your account will be charged in 24 to 48 hours."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Will I be charged sales tax for online orders?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Local and State sales tax will be collected if your recipient's mailing address is in: <ul><li>Arizona<\/li><li>California<\/li><li>Colorado<\/li><\/ul>"
}
}
]
}</script>
</body>
</html>
If you use WordPress I recommend that you install, if you haven't already, the plugin Yoast SEO which includes gutenberg blocks to create these patterns very easily.
For more information go to the official website of schema.org.
Display them after 30 minutes
After adding the code snippet to your page and testing that it is correct, you can make Google aware of it by going into the Search Console and entering the url of your page in the search box at the top.
After that you can make an indexing request and in less than an hour you will have your serp result with faq.
Google Guidelines
As always, Google offers new features and determines their proper use, hoping to always be able to give the best user experience.
This scheme should be used only in certain cases as stated in the Google guidelines.
Best not to abuse this tool, but only include it if your page has a list of questions with answers.
In any case, Google does not guarantee that it will show faqs in the serp, but only if the algorithm deems them useful for the user.
Conclusion
From the above you will have realized that this can be a good opportunity to increase your site's visibility and improve its authority.
There is no hard data yet on improving click trough rate or increasing rank on Google, but it still remains an option to consider for enriching your pages.
Did you know that with Google Analytics you can tracking events That users accomplish on your pages?
Like so many bloggers, you too will have installed Google Analytics On your site. If you have not done so, you should do so as soon as possible.
Google Analytics in fact, it is a very powerful tool that allows you to collect lots of useful data to understand how your site is performing.
In fact, by installing a small snippet of code you can obtain a variety of useful information about your site such as traffic sources, number of visitors, most viewed pages, navigation flow within the site, and much more.
You can also go beyond this data and not just limit yourself to pageviews, that is, which pages are visited, but understand what they do visitors within your site.
This is where the Google Analytics events.
With events you can track a variety of data about the behavior of visitors to your site as they visit a page.
There are many ways you can trigger events and monitor them with Google Analytics.
One method is to modify the Analytics code on pages, but it requires some familiarity with javascript.
Another method is to use Google Tag Manager to create activators that record particular actions within the site. Google Tag Manager is a very useful tool that allows you to manage so many things in a simplified way, but you may find yourself bewildered by its interface.
The method I want to suggest to you if you are novice is to use Komito Analytics.
Komito Analytics is a free open source library that can extend the functionality of Google Analytics.
With this library you can easily start tracking events in less than a minute. All you need to do is insert a small snippet of code to your pages.
What you can track with Komito Analytics:
downloading files
page scroll
outgoing links
submission of forms
YouTube and Vimeo videos
social widgets (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn )
people logged into social networks
adblock
links with CTA (mailto, tel, sms, skype)
page print button
People who change the mode from portrait to panoramic on cell phones
This library does not collect the data; it simply adds functions to the Analytics code, so the data will only be visible in your panel.
How to install Komito Analytics
To install Komito Analytics all you need to do is insert within the pages of your site this code.
<script>
var _komito = _komito || {
'trackTwitter': 1, // Tracks Twitter events if widget is presented on page.
'trackFacebook': 1, // Tracks Facebook events if widget is presented on page.
'trackLinkedIn': 1, // Tracks LinkedIn events if plugin is presented on page.
'trackDownloads': 1, // Tracks files download links.
'trackOutbound': 1, // Tracks outbound links.
'trackForms': 1, // Tracks forms submissions.
'trackUsers': 1, // Tracks pageviews by users logged in to social networks.
'trackActions': 1, // Tracks 'mailto', 'tel', 'sms' and 'skype' actions.
'trackPrint': 1, // Tracks page print actions.
'trackMedia': 1, // Tracks HTML5 video, audio, Vimeo and YouTube players events.
'trackScroll': 1, // Tracks scroll depth.
'debugMode': 0 // Prints all requests to console.
};
</script>
<script src="//datamart.github.io/Komito/komito.js"></script>
The code should be inserted after the Analytics code, possibly before the closing tag </body>.
As can be seen from the posted code, event tracking can be customized, for example, by disabling features that we are not interested in.
Simply by setting to 0 the feature you don't need, you can disable it.
For example, if you don't need to track file downloads on your site, you only need to change the corresponding line:
If you have installed WordPress, you can download the official plugin which will allow you to manage code entry and feature activation from the administration panel with simple check boxes.
The plugin is very lightweight and will not weigh down your site.
Komito Analytics also works with other tracking systems such as. Yandex Metric, Adobe Analytics, ClickTale and others.
HTML is a markup language For web pages. In fact, HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.
One thing that needs to be made clear right away and kept in mind is that theHTML is not a programming language: HTML is only for format text and to layout elements such as forms, quotes, videos.
In this brief guide we will not dwell too much on technical or philosophical discussions of what is a hypertext, but we will take as our definition that of a web page, a navigable page on the Internet.
Tools
All you need to develop your first html page is a simple text editor, for Windows users the simple Notepad.
Our first HTML page
We open notepad and enter the following code:
<html></html>
We click save and choose a name "page.html" and from the drop-down menu "save as" let us remember to select "all files“.
At this point we have created our first html page, which when opened will show a blank page.
Each html page basically consists of two elements, a head <head> and a body <body>.
We modify our page in this way:
<html>
<head></head>
<body></body>
</html>
The DOCTYPE
At this point it is important to introduce the concept of DOCTYPE. The doctype is a declaration that is inserted at the beginning of the document that allows browsers to render the page correctly. In the case of HTML5 the doctype declaration is as follows:
In the past, longer and more articulate doctype statements were used, but now theHTML5 is a standard, so we will limit ourselves only to this one.
Adding a title to the HTML page: the title tag
If we try to open the previously created html page, we will see that the window bar will show the file path. If we want to add a more explanatory title, we can add the tag in the<head> Of the document.
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My first web page</title>
</head>
<body></body>
</html>
In addition to making the page more user-friendly, the presence of the title is also important on the side SEO.
Tags
One of the first things we can notice is that HTML is a language composed of tags. Each HTML tag is always enclosed between a minor sign ( ). A generic tag is characterized by the following syntax:
<nomedeltag>
Tags can provide an opening <nometag> and a closing </nometag>,
<h1>Article Title</h1>
or be tags that contain no elements so they are self-closing. An example of the latter type of tag is. <img />.
<img src="mondo.jpg" />
In this brief guide we will not analyze all html tags, but only the most frequently used ones. For an exhaustive list of all tags you can look at here.
Let's see what the main tags are and how to use them.
The tag <h1> and the other headings
The tag <h1> is used to define a heading (title, header), which is text that has greater importance within the content of our html page, so it will be formatted with a larger font.
There are various header tags based on importance: therefore, you can have <h1>, <h2> , <h3> , <h4> , <h5> , <h6>.
<h1>Page title</h1>
The tag <p>
The <p> is used to define a paragraph. By inserting text within this tag, it will be formatted as free text.
<p>On this page we will discuss HTML.</p>
The tag <b>
The tag <b> Is used to highlight text:
<b>very important text</b>
Its operation is identical to that of the tag <strong>, bold a portion of text.
The tag <a>
The tag <a> is used to define a link (links between web pages) allows us to create a link from our page to another page. The syntax of a link is as follows:
<a href="https://www.google.it">Link to Google</a>
We can see that the tag <a> needs the href attribute indicating the destination page.
The tag <img>
The tag <img> is used to insert an image within the HTML page. Unlike the previous tags, the <img> is a self-closing tag, that is, it does not need a closing tag.
<img src="immagini/terra.jpg" />
As we see in the example, the tag <img> needs the src attribute, which indicates the path to the image to be displayed. The tag <img> Can also have other attributes:
<img src="immagini/terra.jpg" alt="image of the Earth" />
In this example, the alt attribute is used to display alternative text in case the image does not load. It is also useful for indicating to search engines what is displayed on the page, which is very important from an SEO perspective.
The list tags
, ,
.
If we want to show a list in our html page we can use the
tag. This tag shows an unordered list, so a dot will appear at the side of each list item. In case we want to show a numbered list we can use the tag.
After taking a quick look at the main html tags, we can try to create our first web page.
We open Notepad or any other text edtor and start typing this code inside:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My first web page</title>
</head>
<body></body>
</html>
Save as and remember to select "All files" in the drop-down box, after which we save as index.html o mypage.html Or whatever we like best.
If we double-click on the file we just saved, a new browser window will open with our first html page. It will be a blank page, but it will have the title we entered in the tag .
Let's go ahead and build the web page. Let's add a header and a few paragraphs. Let's apply the tag <b> to a few words to highlight, such as the name of the city of Birth, add a photo with the tag <img> and a link to the page on Wikipedia.
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My first web page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Lionel Messi</h1>
<p>Lionel Andrés Messi, called simply Leo by many, was born on June 24, 1987 in <b>Rosario</b>, in the Argentine state of Santa Fe.
</p>
<img src="Messi.jpg" />
<p>He is only five years old when he starts kicking the ball for the first time. His first team is the <b>Grandoli</b>, a small soccer school in his town aimed at children. Coaching the boys is Jorge Messi, a metalworker employee and father of the future champion.
</p>
<p>At the age of seven <a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi">Lionel Messi</a> he wears the jersey of "Newell's Old Boys" and plays in the youth categories. To the eyes of the soccer fans who followed the young boy in the small fields of Rosario, the talent of the youngster was already clear.
</p>
<h2>The arrival in barcelona</h2>
<p>Because of a delay in the boy's bone development due to low levels of growth hormones in his body, the transition fades.
</p>
<p>Medical treatment is recommended to the family, but it is very expensive: it is reported to be $900 monthly; Jorge Messi asks for help from Newell's Old Boys and River Plate without getting adequate solutions. He strongly believes in Lionel's possible future as a champion: so he asks some foundations for help.
</p>
</body>
</html>
If we want to insert an image, we can save it in the same folder as the html file and retrieve it by entering the file name in the attribute src of the tag <img>.
If we have done everything correctly, we should get something like this:
In this brief guide on HTML we have seen how to make a web page, add text and images, format a header and bold text, and add links.
To improve our page we will need to change its appearance, using the CSS. This will be the subject of a future guide.
Many users get confused when looking for information about WordPress. In fact, although they have the same name, WordPress.com e WordPress.org Are two different things.
To fully understand what we are talking about, we must first understand what is WordPress.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open source software created by Matt Mullenweg For the creation of a personal blog. Over time WordPress has been enriched with new features, becoming a comprehensive CMS thanks to the support of the developer community, which in addition to contributing to code development has created an ecosystem of plugins expanding its potential, as well as a vast repertoire of themes.
As mentioned WordPress is an open source software that can be freely downloaded by everyone by going to the official website: you can install it on your own server, customize it and use its full potential.
This therefore implies that you have to have your own domain and one of your own server Where to install the software.
The requirements for installing WordPress on your server are minimal: you just need to have PHP and MySql enabled and you can proceed with the installation.
Almost all hosting services also allow you to install WordPress through a convenient server management panel, which in most cases is cPanel.
Even a beginner can easily create his or her own blog in minutes and take advantage of the full potential of WordPress.
In fact, even if you are a beginner, you will have no problem making your own professional blog completely independently.
As already mentioned you can choose your favorite theme with which to customize the appearance of your blog: there are free and paid themes, there is an almost unlimited choice.
In addition, you can extend your blog with an unlimited set of plugins that add a variety of features, the most diverse.
There are plugins for managing SEO, speeding up the site, creating forms and newsletters, turning the blog into an ecommerce, and more.
As mentioned you must have a domain and hosting on which to host your blog: currently the best hosting service is Siteground.
What is WordPress.com: the hosted version
WordPress.com is a service that allows you to create a WordPress blog without having to download anything. It is basically a SaaS (software as a service).
This means you won't have to install anything, WordPress is already installed.
Therefore, it is not necessary to have a domain and hosting plan.
This might seem like a good solution if you have few technical skills and a limited budget.
In reality you will have limitations that will prevent you from taking full advantage of the full potential of WordPress.
The differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com
After a quick overview of the two versions, let's look at what the main differences are in more detail so you can make the right choice for starting your blog.
Domain
To start curating your online presence you will need a domain name.
WordPress.org
The cost of a domain is around 10€ per year. You can save the cost of the domain if you request it at the same time as activating a hosting plan on SiteGround: The domain is offered free of charge.
You can then have a site reachable at "ilmiosito.it“.
WordPress.com
On WordPress.com you will only be able to have a third-level domain: e.g. "ilmiosito.wordpress.com". Obviously it is less eye-catching than a domain with only the name you have chosen.
If you want to use your own custom domain on WordPress.com you will have to subscribe to a subscription plan costing €4 per month.
So you will spend 48€ plus the cost of the domain.
Hosting
WordPress.org
To run your blog independently you will need a hosting plan. Prices vary, but hover around €5 per month for good hosting.
Having your own hosting allows you to have so many advantages.
You will be able to independently manage all the files on your site, make changes to the CSS code, PHP or HTML.
Hosting offers can be very varied and with different prices, but if you want to have the best then I recommend using SiteGround: this hosting is emerging as one of the best, especially for running WordPress sites, as it offers great performance, lots of backup space and top 24/24h support service.
WordPress.com
On WordPress.com you will not need to buy hosting, because this is provided free of charge.
But you will not have access to edit files; you will be limited in making the customizations you want. To have some minimal control, you will have to subscribe to the business plan, which costs 8 euros per month.
You will understand that for the same cost, it is better to have your own hosting plan to take advantage of its full potential.
Memory space
WordPress.org
It varies depending on the hosting you choose. At SiteGround for example is of 10GB.
WordPress.com
The free version offers 3GB of space. To increase it, one must upgrade to the paid versions.
Plugins and Themes
Here is the sorest note of all.
At WordPress.com In fact, you won't be able to install any plugins. Suffice it to say that you won't even be able to use such basic plugins as Yoast Seo o WpForms.
You will also be limited in your use of Google Analytics unless you subscribe to a paid plan.
Same goes for themes. With the hosted version you will have so many limitations and you will not be able to install the best WordPress themes, but you will be limited to the free ones.
This infographic can simplify the points we have analyzed for you.
Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
As you may have realized, my preference undoubtedly goes to the self-hosted version i.e. WordPress.org.
Unless you want to create a simple amateur blog to share your thoughts and have an online space without thinking about monetizing it, my advice is to definitely go for WordPress.org.
Also for the same price, should you decide to opt for WordPress.com, you will have less freedom to better manage your blog.
Fortunately, security in WordPress is held in high regard, and developers have implemented all possible measures to prevent a site from being "laundry" by ill-intentioned people.
In spite of this, we can implement small steps to make our installation more secure. And without the use of plugins!
Update WordPress
Keeping our CMS up-to-date is the most important thing. WordPress is constantly updated with all patches to fix any security issues.
Most WordPress updates in fact consist of the following. bugfixes and security patches.
For the lazy ones it is worth mentioning that from version 3.7 WordPress can receive automatic updates. To activate this convenient option just go into the wp-config.php and add or modify the following line of code:
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true );
Delete unused themes and plugins
It may happen that you have installed a plugin or theme that then for one reason or another was no longer used. In fact, having unused plugins and themes in addition to increasing the space taken up on disk, can lead to an increased risk of exposing your site to attacks.
Limit installation of plugins to those you need and use regularly.
Delete user admin
By default many WordPress installations create the admin user. In the case of brute force there will be many attempts to log in using this account.
To improve security, the admin account should be deleted and replaced with a less obvious name.
Use effective passwords
Obvious but never trite, the advice to use a password that is difficult to guess is an evergreen.
Don't use the simplest password you remember, such as "mario83", but strive to use one that combines uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
You could use one like "!lm10Gatt0s!CH1am4G1g1o". This is a passphrase and you could use a similar one using a phrase you can easily remember.
WordPress assigns a value for each password entered, try to use a level one strong.
File and folder permissions
Proper installation of WordPress also requires taking into account the permissions of files and folders. For optimal configuration all folders should be 755 and the files 644, the wp-config.php should be set with permissions 400.
Files/Folders
Permissions
wp-content
755
wp-admin
755
wp-includes
644
All .php files
644
wp-config.php (public_html folder)
400
index.php (public_html folder)
644
Use WordPress keys
Make sure that in your file wp-config.php WordPress keys have been created. These global variables are used to improve the protection system by encrypting the cookies that reside on the browser.
They are generated during installation on almost every hosting, but in case they are not present in your wp-config.php, you can create them by going to https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/.
Backup is a critical thing. It may seem obvious, but many people underestimate the importance of having a backup in case the site is compromised.
By now, all hosting offers automatic backups, the periodic cadence of which you can set to your liking, so you can always be sure not to lose the work you have done.
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