John K Mitchell's Misc Blog

John Mitchell
Google Searches and Geography: How Far Away Are Your Customers Looking?


TL;DR: When someone searches Google for an accountant, plumber or local shop, their location can make a big difference to the results. A customer might look within five miles for a nearby service, consider a 45-minute drive for a professional adviser, or search much further afield for a specialist. Understanding these differences can help your small business focus on the customers most likely to use your services.


Google doesn't show everyone the same local results


Imagine searching Google for an accountant. You might expect to see the same firms as someone else searching for exactly the same words. In practice, that isn't necessarily what happens.

Google considers several factors when showing local results, including relevance, distance and prominence. It looks at how well a business matches the search, how far away it is from the person searching, and how well-known it appears to be.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3239 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3239

John Mitchell
Can Your Children Work in Your Family Business?


Although it was many years ago, my introduction to the world of work started with a paper round and later helping out at my dad's newsagent stall and shop. It was a good way to learn about turning up on time, dealing with customers and understanding that earning money meant putting in some effort (especially on a Sunday when, back then, many papers had "Sunday supplements).

Things have changed since then though, and employing children comes with rules that parents running a business need to understand. But the basic idea is still the same: a family business can be a useful place for children to gain work experience, learn new skills and earn some money of their own.

If you run a small business, you might be wondering whether your own children can lend a hand — and whether you can pay them for doing so.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3237 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3237

John Mitchell
How to Stop Those Annoying “Sign in with Google” Pop-ups


TL;DR: Fed up with websites asking you to sign in with Google every time you visit? You can block many of these pop-ups, but the method depends on your browser. Chrome has a built-in setting, while Firefox users may need an extension or a filter.


Another website, another pop-up!


You visit Reddit, open an interesting page or browse a website you’ve used dozens of times before, and there it is: a box asking you to “Sign in with Google”.

No, thank you. I just want to read the page!

These prompts have become an increasingly familiar irritation, and annoy the heck out of me so much that I spent some time looking at this yesterday and decided to pass on to my readers what I'd found. They’re often called Google One Tap prompts, and they’re designed to make signing in quicker. Rather than creating another password, you can use your Google account.

That’s handy if you actually want to sign in.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/10/how-to-stop-those-annoying-sign-in-with-google-pop-ups/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/10/how-to-stop-those-annoying-sign-in-with-google-pop-ups/

John Mitchell
Google Search Console Says Your Speculation Rules Are 404 Errors – Should You Worry?


TL;DR: If Google Search Console has started reporting 404 errors for URLs such as /* after you've added Speculation Rules to your website, don't panic. The /* isn't supposed to be a real page. It's a pattern used to tell a browser which links it can consider for preloading or prerendering. Google has been known to report these patterns as if they were URLs. In most cases, there's nothing wrong with your website and nothing you need to fix.

If you've been doing a bit of technical housekeeping on your website, you may have come across something rather odd in Google Search Console, it's happened on all my client's sites, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3226 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3226

John Mitchell
Is Your Home Office Too Humid? It Could Be Affecting Your Business


TL;DR: If you run your business from home, your office isn't just a spare room with a desk in it. It's your workplace. High humidity can make it uncomfortable to work in, contribute to damp and mould, and create problems for computers, printers and 3D-printing filament. A cheap hygrometer can tell you what's happening, while a dehumidifier can help keep things under control.

When you run a small business from home, there are plenty of things you worry about.

Keeping customers happy. Getting the invoices out. Finding new work. Paying the bills. Keeping your website running. Making sure the Wi-Fi doesn't decide to have a nervous breakdown five minutes before an important video call.

You probably don't spend much time thinking about the humidity in your office.

But perhaps you should.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3221 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3221

John Mitchell
September on the Forest Software Blog: Websites, Security, Monitoring and Running a Small Business


September has been a fairly varied month on the Forest Software blog, although there is a bit of a theme running through the articles.

A lot of them come back to the same basic question:

How do you keep a small business running when so much of it depends on technology?

That covers everything from the website customers see, to the server quietly handling it, to the security of your premises and the health of the people using the computers.

There have also been a few articles looking at some of the less obvious problems that can catch a small business out, such as customers abandoning online shopping baskets or discovering that someone has added their email address to a marketing database.

So, rather than simply listing September's articles in date order, here are the subjects we've been looking at.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/september-on-the-forest-software-blog-websites-security-monitoring-and-running-a-small-business/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/september-on-the-forest-software-blog-websites-security-monitoring-and-running-a-small-business/

John Mitchell
You Had Your Website Built by AI – Who Is Going to Maintain It in Six Months?


TL;DR: AI can now build a surprisingly good website. It can write the pages, create the layout, suggest images and even produce the code. But a website is not a one-off purchase. It needs updating, checking, securing and improving. Before you ask AI to build your business website, ask yourself a much more important question: who is going to maintain it in six months' time?

If you run a small business, the arrival of AI website builders can look like very good news.

Why spend thousands of pounds having a website designed and built when you can describe what you want, click a few buttons and have something online in an afternoon?

And, to be fair, some of the results can be impressive.

AI can produce attractive layouts. It can write reasonable website copy.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/you-had-your-website-built-by-ai-who-is-going-to-maintain-it-in-six-months/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/you-had-your-website-built-by-ai-who-is-going-to-maintain-it-in-six-months/