Measuring the effectiveness of your redirects
Do people actually follow old URLs to your site? Set up UTM tracking on your 301 redirects to find out. Here's how I did it with Fathom and GA4.
Articles by Simon Cox
I don't write that often about Technical SEO Auditing or any of my hobbies, such as modelling narrow gauge railways, or bread baking, but when I do it's usually to share with you something that I have found to be of interest to me, or something I have had fun doing. Hopefully these articles will help and encourage others, perhaps yourself, to have a go, solve an issue or provide a modicum of light relief and an occasional private little titter.
Mostly though these articles are really for myself, to remind me of how I did something, or to provide a reference for the future. I have on occasion in the past looked something up on a search engine only to find that I have already written about it, but had forgotten!
Where I have more to say I will spend time weaving into an article but when it is a quick thought I will jot it down as a short note in the Shorts section and possibly expand on those in the future. Writing things down is a great way to remember ideas and thoughts - and we all need to do that.
Commenting was with Disqus but it all went horribly wrong so for now please ping me comments on Mastodon.
Latest Articles
Scotney Castle visit on a cold day
We had a fabulous trip to see the fairytale Scotney Castle and found the lake had frozen over making it a magical sight!
Gluten free veggie sausage roll recipe
My version of a classic vegetarian sausage roll recipe.
More articles
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Creating a modular approach to json schema in an eleventy website
on Tue, Oct 28, 2025 ~ Post SEO EleventyI wanted a modular and automated way to add json schema to my personal website so built a set of templates and some simple logic to populate the schema.
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What to do with keywords that have dropped out of the rankings
on Thu, May 1, 2025 ~ Post SEOLosing keyword rankings? Maybe it's not a penalty. Learn why tracking irrelevant terms is a trap—and what to do when your rankings drop.
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Recovery from a Bing de-indexing
on Mon, Apr 7, 2025 ~ Post Web SEOMy personal site vanished from Bings index and it took quite a while to get it back in - here is what I found and did.
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Creating a blogroll page from Mastodon bookmarks
on Fri, Apr 4, 2025 ~ Post Web EleventyHow I built a page with a list of the toots I have bookmarked in Mastodon.
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A Winters Day Trip To Rye
on Tue, Mar 11, 2025 ~ Post TripsAn exciting winters day out in beautiful sunshine visiting Winchelsea Beach, Rye Harbour and Rye Town.
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Marketing URLs - when and how to use them
on Fri, Feb 7, 2025 ~ Post SEO WebDiscover why URL shorteners like Bitly may not be ideal for SEO and how to implement your own memorable, branded redirects for better marketing results.
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The 2025 blog question challenge answers
on Mon, Jan 20, 2025 ~ Post WebI reflect on my blogging journey, platforms like 11ty, my writing process, favorite posts, and Ava’s Bear Blog Challenge.
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Goods Shed and Ticket Office
on Mon, Nov 25, 2024 ~ Post Modelling WhitesandsSimon Cox builds and revises a model goods shed and ticket office, combining historical references, laser-cut parts, and detailed weathering for realism.
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Resin printed figures for Whitesands Quay
on Mon, Jul 8, 2024 ~ Post Modelling WhitesandsResin printed figures for Whitesands Quay, 3D printed and painted with intricate details, using Modelu files and Elegoo Mars 3 Pro printer.
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Whitesands Quay Customs House rocks
on Sun, Jun 16, 2024 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingSimon Cox uses real fir bark to model rock faces behind the Customs House, applying layers of paint, weathering, and scenic walls to enhance visual depth.
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Then I built a new bin store!
on Mon, Jun 3, 2024 ~ Post HomeSimon Cox discusses designing and building a bin store, highlighting the challenges and solutions in creating a functional and aesthetically pleasing structure.
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How I Built a Log Store (Plans, Materials List & Costs)
on Tue, May 28, 2024 ~ Post Home FeaturedSimon Cox built a new log store for my firewood to replace the pallet crates the logs come in and this includes a plan and materials list.
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Do invisible characters in your code cause issues with search?
on Wed, Nov 8, 2023 ~ Post SEOCan hidden HTML characters can impact SEO. I explore how they affect rankings and share ways to identify and remove them.
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Build your own 11ty starter
on Sat, Aug 5, 2023 ~ Post WebIf you want to build a website quickly then 11ty is a great tool. Here is how I set up my starter pack to get me up and running in a few minutes.
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How I set up lastmod date in my 11ty xml sitemap
on Thu, Jul 6, 2023 ~ Post WebGoogle now want an accurate lastmod date in the xml sitemap. Here is how I set it up in my 11ty site.
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Whitesands Quay replacement row of cottages
on Mon, Apr 3, 2023 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingSimon Cox upgrades a back row of cottages on his Whitesands Quay model using a new SMS kit, focusing on Cornish design, fine details, and historical research.
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Whitesands Quay Chapel
on Sat, Mar 4, 2023 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingSimon Cox replaces cottages with a model chapel inspired by a real Cornish Methodist chapel, detailing design, wrap creation, and laser-cut construction steps.
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Website re-platform and a light redesign for 2023
on Fri, Feb 3, 2023 ~ Post WebWebsite rebuild using Eleventy for a faster, flat-file setup. Improved SEO, performance, and design while optimizing hosting with Netlify and Cloudflare Pages.
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How to get your Wix website verified on Mastodon
on Tue, Nov 8, 2022 ~ Post WebSimon Cox explains how to verify a Wix website on Mastodon by embedding a proper link rel=me tag in the site's header for successful identity confirmation.
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Creating buildings from laser-cut 2mm MDF and card
on Sun, Aug 8, 2021 ~ Post ModellingSimons railway modelling has been invigorated with a laser-cutter and he explains how he has detailed models of cottages and a Customs house.
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Creating a Cloudflare Worker to lazy load images
on Wed, Aug 28, 2019 ~ Post SEOWorkers are available from Cloudflare and Google Chrome has native lazy loading, so I tested both together.
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Pludgebanging words into Google
on Sun, Jul 28, 2019 ~ Post SEOI was testing out different made up words to see what Google returned because we should all be testing all of the time to ensuer we understand what is going on.
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Using Google Looker Studio to review your http to https migration
on Wed, Jan 2, 2019 ~ Post SEO FeaturedMigrating from HTTP to HTTPS? I used Google Looker Studio to track issues and gain insights for a smooth transition.
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A scratch-built rail-bus for the Ding Dong Moor Railway
on Wed, Dec 26, 2018 ~ Post ModellingI was inspired to scratch build a copy of one of Reinier Hendriksen's rail-buses from his original article of April 1999.
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A first look at Safecont content quality analysis SEO tool
on Thu, Aug 2, 2018 ~ Post SEOReview of a new tool from Data elasticity S.L in Spain that analyses the quality of your websites content.
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How to find insecure pages in your site before Google start penalising
on Sat, Feb 10, 2018 ~ Post WebFrom July 2018, Google flagged non-secure sites. Learn how to use Screaming Frog’s Insecure Content Report to fix your site.
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How I add canonicals into Perch CMS sites
on Wed, Nov 29, 2017 ~ Post WebCanonical links tell search engines where the original page is. Google favors the oldest version and flags others as duplicates.
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Fix Apple Mail ’Unable to Verify Account Name or Password’ Error
on Thu, Oct 5, 2017 ~ Post Web FeaturedStruggling with Apple Mail login issues? I found a fix for keychain-related errors affecting LinkedIn, Google, Flickr, and more.
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Using a CDN to help migrate your sites hosting
on Sun, Sep 18, 2016 ~ Post WebMoving a site to new hosting can be fraught with issues. Here is one technique that I find useful when moving to a website to a new hosting server.
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Halle Marchandise en bois
on Fri, Oct 3, 2014 ~ Post ModellingA love letter to a timber freight hall in France—history, structure and craft intersect, revealing warm wood, handsome spans, and quietly brilliant engineering.
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Small Run Batch Deutz OO9 kit - part 2
on Fri, Sep 26, 2014 ~ Post ModellingCompletion of the SRB001 Freelance DEUTZ Style 0-4-0DM chassis including the running gear and motor with the bodywork following.
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Whitesands Quay first outing
on Sun, Sep 14, 2014 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingSimon Cox shares how a private model railway show at Chailey pushed him to complete key parts of his layout and reflect on progress and future detailing ideas.
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Small Run Batch Deutz OO9 kit
on Sun, Sep 14, 2014 ~ Post ModellingStuart Brewer is a fellow GDNGRS member and is one of the most accomplished model makers I know - this is his first kit and my attempts at building it.
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Whitesands Quay - Row of cottages - chimney pots
on Mon, Jul 14, 2014 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingReplaced styrene chimney pots with Langley white metal ones on Whitesands Quay cottages. Added weathering and bird mess, with seagulls to be placed later.
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Whitesands Quay trackwork
on Sun, Jul 13, 2014 ~ Post Modelling WhitesandsI have now built two versions of the track-work. Both have issues.
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La Meuse - construction
on Sat, Jul 12, 2014 ~ Post ModellingBrass, nickel silver and white-metal kit of the Belgian La Meuse 2-6-0 narrow gauge locomotive used on the French sugar-beet lines
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Whitesands Quay - row of cottages
on Fri, Jul 11, 2014 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingExplore Whitesands Quay's row of cottages built with Scalescenes kits. Learn about customization and model railway building techniques now easily today.
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Plots and scheming - digging out a raised bed for fresh food and herbs
on Thu, Nov 14, 2013 ~ Post HomeWe’ve always wanted to grow our own vegetables—not to an extreme, but as a nod to the post-war "make do and mend" lifestyle.
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EU cookie consent law largely ignored
on Mon, May 28, 2012 ~ Post WebThe UK had until May 28, 2012, to comply with the EU cookie law. How many organizations met the ICO's deadline?
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A steam trip on the Swanage Belle
on Sun, Oct 16, 2011 ~ Post TripsI recently booked a trip on the Swanage Belle, a steam hauled special train service from London down to Swanage on the Dorset Coast.
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EEUK11 report from the 2011 ExpressionEngine conference in Manchester
on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 ~ Post Web TripsThe UK's first ExpressionEngine conference took place in Manchester in 2011—I share a report on the event and surrounding activities.
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Assets for ExpressionEngine
on Sun, Jul 3, 2011 ~ Post WebAssets for ExpressionEngine improves file management. I installed it and built a simple image gallery to test its capabilities.
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Vintage tractors
on Sun, Jun 19, 2011 ~ Post TripsOn the 11th June 2011 we attended the Shakey Super Pull run by the Midlands Tractor Pulling Club at the Shakespeare Country Raceway.
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Responsive web design
on Tue, May 31, 2011 ~ Post WebInspired by Simon Collison, I implemented Responsive Web Design on my site as the approach gained momentum over two years.
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Loxley Barton Falls - part 1 - inspiration
on Fri, Feb 25, 2011 ~ Post Loxley ModellingMy first visit to Expo Narrow Gauge in 2004 rekindled an old hobby I thought I'd never return to—model railways.
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WebFonts
on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 ~ Post WebWith HTML5 evolving, I explore modern web fonts, current techniques, and the latest in digital typography.
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Star Wars Day is on the 4th May every year
on Mon, May 3, 2010 ~ Post MiscLuuuuuke, Luuuuuke, wake up it's the 4th of May - Star Wars Day... The 4th day of May is traditionally Star Wars day where all Star Wars fans celebrate.
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Nibbler
on Tue, Feb 9, 2010 ~ Post WebOnline testing suites are a very useful way of checking your website to see if it's up to scratch. I take you through Nibbler from Silktide.
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The perfect angle to staple paper
on Thu, Feb 4, 2010 ~ Post Misc FeaturedYears ago, I shared a small thought on stapling paper – one of those everyday ideas we rarely say out loud. That time, I did.
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Medmenham walk
on Sun, Jan 31, 2010 ~ Post TripsWe completed a short country walk around Medmenham in Buckinghamshire including a stretch along the banks of the Thames river.
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New look for 2010
on Tue, Jan 26, 2010 ~ Post WebA fresh new look for the site having moved it to ExpressionEngine.
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Whitesands Quay progress
on Wed, Dec 9, 2009 ~ Post Whitesands ModellingOngoing development of my third layout.
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Articles from Simon Cox, Technical SEO consultant
on Thu, Jan 1, 2009 ~ PostIn-depth articles by Simon Cox covering Technical SEO, web standards, and narrow gauge railway modelling.
