John K Mitchell's Misc Blog

John Mitchell
Why You Check Emails While Getting the Kids Breakfast – and How to Manage Time Better


Do you ever find yourself buttering toast with one hand while scrolling through your inbox with the other? You’re not alone. Most small business owners start their day this way (I know I used to) – half in family mode, half in work mode. But why do we do it? And more importantly, how can we stop this cycle that leaves us frazzled before 9am? Let’s dig into the chaos, find out what’s really going on, and look at simple, real-world ways to get your mornings (and your mind) back.


The Breakfast Email Habit – How Did We Get Here?


Think back twenty years. The only way you’d check your emails before breakfast would be if you physically went to your computer, fired up your dial-up modem, and waited for that screeching noise to stop. Now, your phone is right there next to the kettle, flashing away with notifications before you’ve even had your first sip of tea.

It’s easy to see how this habit formed.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2025/10/why-you-check-emails-while-getting-the-kids-breakfast-and-how-to-manage-time-bette/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2025/10/why-you-check-emails-while-getting-the-kids-breakfast-and-how-to-manage-time-bette/

John Mitchell
URL Structures for a Small Business Website: What Should Your URLs Look Like?


TL;DR: A good URL should be short, clear and easy to understand. For most small business websites, something like domain.co.uk/service is usually better than a long, complicated URL. But there are times when adding another level, such as domain.co.uk/services/service, can make sense. The important thing is to create a structure that works for both people and search engines. Think about your website as a set of related topics, not simply a collection of pages.

Your website's URLs (or page addresses) might seem like a tiny detail. After all, visitors are usually more interested in what is on the page than what appears in their browser's address bar. However, the structure of your URLs can affect how easy your website is to understand, maintain and navigate.

A clear URL can tell somebody what they are about to find before they even click it.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3175 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3175

John Mitchell
What To Do If Your WordPress Website Is Hacked


TL;DR: I've recently taken on a client with a new website whose old WordPress site was hacked and had around 200,000 pages injected into it. Many of those pages appeared to link to eBay products. The new website is now in place, but the old hacked site still needs dealing with. This is very much an ongoing project that may take several months to sort out properly.

If your WordPress website has been hacked, don't panic and don't start deleting everything you can find. First, work out what has happened, protect the website and your other accounts, create backups, investigate how the hacker got in and then clean the website properly. You also need to deal with the damage left behind in Google and other search engines.

A hacked website isn't just an IT problem. For a small business, it can become a business, reputation and SEO problem too.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3170 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3170

John Mitchell
What Does “Discovered – Currently Not Indexed” Mean in Google Search Console?


TL;DR: If Google Search Console says “Discovered – currently not indexed”, Google knows your page exists but has not crawled it yet. It is not necessarily an error, and it does not automatically mean your content is poor. Google may simply have decided that other pages on your website are a higher priority right now. For a small business, the best response is usually to check your website structure, make sure important pages are easy to find, use sensible internal links, keep your sitemap clean and make sure Google can access your site reliably. Don’t panic and don’t keep clicking “Request Indexing” every five minutes. It is a request, not a magic button.

If you run a small business website, seeing pages sitting in Google Search Console with the words “Discovered – currently not indexed” can be surprisingly worrying.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/08/google-search-console-discovered-currently-not-indexed/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/08/google-search-console-discovered-currently-not-indexed/

John Mitchell
How to Turn Your Small Business Around Before Problems Become Bigger


Running a small business has never been easy. Rising costs, changing customer habits, higher wages, increasing National Insurance contributions, inflation and economic uncertainty have all put pressure on businesses across the UK. Every year, thousands of businesses close because they simply run out of cash or fail to adapt quickly enough, in 2025 approximately 288,000 businesses closed across the UK and the total registered company insolvencies reached 23,938.   The good news is that many businesses can recover if problems are spotted early and action is taken before they become overwhelming.

This is one of those topics that many business owners would rather avoid, but it is also one of the most important. It is easy to believe that next month will be better or that one large order will solve everything.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3165 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3165

John Mitchell
How Topic Clusters Improve Small Business SEO


Short introduction: Topic clusters help small businesses organise website content in a way that makes it easier for both visitors and search engines to understand. Instead of creating random blog posts, you build groups of related content around one main subject. The result is better SEO, a better user experience and more opportunities to attract customers.


TL;DR


If your website has lots of pages but they're not connected in a meaningful way, you're probably missing out on valuable search traffic. A topic cluster is a group of related pages centred around one important subject that your business wants to be known for. One main page covers the broad topic, while several supporting pages explore individual questions in greater detail. These pages are linked together naturally, helping visitors discover more useful information while also helping search engines understand what your website is about.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3157 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3157

Should I Aim My Website Nationally or Locally
Why Trying to Rank Your Small Business Website Nationwide Isn't Always the Smartest Move


Short intro: Many small businesses believe they should target the whole UK with their website. In reality, focusing on local customers often brings better rankings, lower competition and more enquiries without wasting time or money.

TL;DR: Bigger isn't always better when it comes to website marketing. If you sell products that can be delivered anywhere, a nationwide audience may make sense. However, many service businesses and local shops gain far more by concentrating on the people who actually live or work nearby. Competing against every business in the country is usually much harder than becoming the obvious choice in your own town or region. Local customers are often actively searching for nearby providers, whether they need an accountant, plumber, electrician, cleaner, café, pizza takeaway or florist. https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3143