Drive engagement and loyalty through smart mobile site design

Mobile empowers users to access your site at anytime and from anywhere. Is your site ready for them? Your mobile site should allow users to quickly and easily find what they�re looking for without sacrificing richness of content. While there are a lot of expert opinions about how to do this, very few are based on actual data and research. So we partnered with AnswerLab to study more than 100 mobile users as they completed conversion-focused tasks across a diverse group of sites. From this research, we developed 25 principles of mobile site design to help you develop a mobile site that both delights your users and drives engagement.

Let�s take a closer look at three findings from the research:

Primacy of site search
Study participants with a specific need, especially those visiting retail sites, turned to site search to find what they were looking for. Participants were quick to abandon sites that returned irrelevant search results or a large set of results that they were unable to narrow.

Key takeaway: Ensure site search is visible on the homepage via an open text field, returns relevant results, and is equipped with advanced features, like auto-complete and filters, to get users what they want quickly.

Mobile site misconceptions
If presented a choice, study participants would often tap on the link to visit the �full site� due to a perception that they�d be missing out on something by staying on the mobile site. Choosing the �mobile site� implied to them that they were not getting the �full� experience, when in reality, the mobile site offered most, if not all of the functionality in an easier-to-view format.

Key takeaway: If your mobile site provides the same content and functionality as your desktop site in an easier-to-use format, then there is no need to provide a link to the desktop site. If you do decide to provide users with a link to the desktop site, then use terms like �desktop site� instead of �full site� to be clear that both sites offer a complete experience.

Sites with a mix of mobile optimized and desktop pages provide a poor user experience
Unsurprisingly, it was easier for participants to navigate mobile-optimized sites on their mobile devices than desktop sites on their mobile devices. However, sites that included a mix of desktop and mobile-optimized pages were actually harder for participants to use than sites with all-desktop pages.

Key takeaway: To improve user experience, task completion and conversion rates, go all in and optimize your entire site for mobile. If launching in phases, then make sure users don�t have to traverse between desktop pages and mobile optimized pages to complete their tasks.

To review our complete findings, download the Principles of Mobile Site Design from Think Multi-Screen. Use the principles to review the effectiveness of your existing site or to guide the creation of your first mobile-optimized site.

Posted by Jenny Gove, User Experience Researcher, Google

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Pennsylvania Death Certificates 1906-1963 Now Online

Ancestry has been working with the Pennsylvania State Archives to digitize Pennsylvania death certificates and put them online. Scanned death certificates covering 1906-1963 are available now (fee required). See:

Online Pennsylvania Death Certificates, Indexes and Records

Ancestry is has now completed the database to 1963...

1925-1944 -- now available (added June 24, 2014)
1945-1963 -- now available (added October 24, 2014)

If you are a resident of Pennsylvania you may be able to access these Pennsylvania death certificates for free. See: Ancestry.com Pennsylvania for more information.

This article was updated on October 24, 2014.

New Ad review center features help save you time and offer improved controls.

Having the right information on the ads displayed on your site and being able to control them, is a big ask we hear from publishers. Many of you are already using the Ad review center to review and control these ads. From today, enjoy more choice with new updates designed to save you time and give you more control in the review process.

Save time by not having to review the same ad twice. Now you can see which ads you�ve already reviewed by selecting the �Show reviewed ads� checkbox in the top right corner of the Ad review center.

Show reviewed ads feature

 You�ll also have more choice when reviewing ads with our new ad size widget. Using the widget, you can review ads according to their size. If you want to review only the banner ads on your page for example, they�ll be quick and easy to find. We�re still fine-tuning this feature meaning it�s possible that not every single ad of a particular size will be captured right away, but it will capture the majority of them.

New ad size widget

You�ll now also have more control with new enhancements to our related ads feature. Over the next few days, related ads will start to identify ads containing the same logo. It�ll then group together different ads containing that logo and give you the option to allow or block them running on your site. This feature will also cover ads containing the same video.

Finally, we�ve given the Ad review center a new look with a brand new user interface designed for quick and simple navigation. Try out these new features today. We�re continuously looking for new ways to make this a valuable tool for you - please tell us what else you�d like to see over on our AdSense+ page.

Posted by Fiona Herring - AdSense Product Manager
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Catholic Cemeteries with Online Burial Databases in the US

Roman Catholic Cemeteries with Burial Databases
Among the many items listed at the Online Death Indexes website you can find links for Catholic Cemeteries with burial searches in the following places...

California: Fresno Diocese Cemeteries, Orange County Catholic Cemeteries, and Holy Cross Cemetery in San Mateo County
Colorado: Diocese of Colorado Springs - Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery Burials (listed under Elbert County)
Delaware: Diocese of Wilmington (encompasses all of Delaware and 9 counties of the Eastern Shore of Maryland (listed under New Castle County, Delaware)
Florida: Palm Beach
Georgia: Archdiocese of Atlanta Cemeteries (Fulton County)
Illinois: Jackson County: St. Andrew Catholic Cemetery Burials
Indina Allen County: Fort Wayne Catholic Cemetery
Maine: Portland (Cumberland County)
Maryland: St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Catholic Cemeteries (in Baltimore)
Michigan: Mt. Elliott Cemetery Association (Detroit area)
Minnesota: St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery Association (Red Lake County) and Saint Vincent de Paul Cemetery Burials (Hennepin County)
Missouri: Archdiocese of St. Louis; and Catholic Cemetery Burials in Iron, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties
Nebraska: Omaha (Douglas County)
New Jersey: Newark (Essex County)
New York:

• Brooklyn And Queens: Diocese of Brooklyn Catholic Cemeteries (includes burial indexes for cemeteries in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County)
• Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, Ascension Garden in Henrietta, and St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Clarkson (listed under Monroe County)

North Dakota: Catholic Diocese of Bismarck: St. Mary's Cemetery Burials (listed under Burleigh County)
Ohio: Cincinnati (Hamilton County), Cleveland Diocese (Cuyahoga County) and Dayton (Montgomery County)
Oklahoma Resurrection Memorial Cemetery in Oklahoma City
Oregon: Eugene and Portland (listed under Multnomah County)
Pennsylvania: Diocese of Pittsburgh Catholic Cemeteries (listed under Allegheny County)
Rhode Island: Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence
Tennessee: Calvary Cemetery Burials - in Nashville (listed under Davidson County)
Texas: Catholic Cemeteries of the Victoria Diocese (several counties in South Texas; listed under Victoria County)
Washington: Archdiocese of Seattle (King County)
Wisconsin: Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Wyoming: Mount Olivet Cemetery in Cheyenne (Laramie County)

You can find links to the above databases at the Online Death Indexes website:

Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Cemetery Burials

Click on the appropriate state, then scroll down to the city or county as listed above.

Even if a Catholic Cemetery doesn't have an online burials search you may still be able to contact the cemetery for information (sometimes a fee may be required). Try using Google to see if there is a website for the Catholic cemetery, diocese or archdiocese you need.

This article was updated on 20 January 2016

20(14) Publisher Stories: Total Race revs up their success using Google AdSense

Time sure does fly - we�ve now reached the end of our �20(14) publisher stories� blog series. Thanks for following the series and for sharing your own stories. Read on to meet this week�s featured publisher and check back soon for more publisher stories.

Total Race was created by five friends and racing enthusiasts. Covering Formula 1, stock car racing and IndyCar, the site receives 135,000 monthly visitors and employs a team of 15 editors and reporters.

Total Race partners, Ivan and Erick, were already familiar with Google AdSense and using it as a monetization solution for their other web projects. The decision to also choose it for totalrace.com.br was an easy one says Erick and today �AdSense earnings represent around 70% of our total advertising income�.

(Don�t forget to enable english captions using the Captions button under the YouTube video)

The team also partnered with DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business to manage their advertising and save them time. Erick is pleased with this decision stating �the process from start to finish is very fast and easy to use. I�d highly recommend this tool for publishers seeking more detail and control of their advertising campaigns�.

According to Erick, these products have been fundamental in the growth of the site. With the structure they bring, he�s ready to focus further on taking his passion for racing to an even wider audience.

Posted by Barbara Sarti - Inside AdSense Team
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Get ready to share your feedback in our semi-annual publisher survey

We�re always looking to hear your thoughts on how we�re doing and your suggestions on  how we can make Google AdSense and other Google publisher products as useful and impactful as possible for you. Your feedback is important to us and helps shape the future direction of our publisher solutions. Our semi-annual publisher survey will launch on April 23rd and we hope to hear from all of you.

Every six months, the feedback collected from this survey is closely reviewed to help determine our product roadmap. Based on your feedback and asks last time round, we�ve launched a number of new features to grow your earnings. These include custom ads sizes, easier A/B testing and to get the most from your ad units and the new AdSense homepage giving you quick access to the insights you value most.

Over the coming weeks, we�ll send the survey by email to a sample of publishers. To participate, please take the following steps as soon as possible:

• Ensure your contact details are updated.
• Ensure your email preferences are updated to receive �occasional survey� messages.

Whether you�ve completed this survey before or you�re providing feedback for the first time, we�d like to thank you for taking the time to tell us how we�re doing. We�re looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Posted by Adriana Satmarean - AdSense Publisher Happiness Team
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Connecticut Cemetery, Obituary and Death Records Indexes - New Additions

Links to the items listed below were recently added to: Online Connecticut Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries

Connecticut Death Indexes - Newest Additions
- Fairfield County: Fairfield Citizen News Obituaries Index 1982-2006 (from the Fairfield Public Library; some years missing)
- Fairfield County: Greenwich Publications Index (includes obituaries from February 1983 to present)
- Fairfield County: Stamford Obituary Index (includes the Stamford Advocate 1843-present and other area newspapers for earlier years)
- Fairfield County: Westport Library Obituaries Index
- Fairfield County: Pine Island Cemetery and Mill Hill Burying Ground Burials (Norwalk, Connecticut)

- Hartford County: Wethersfield Ancient Burying Ground and Village Cemetery (map and index of burials)
- Hartford County: Vital Records of Simsbury, Connecticut (includes indexes for burials in 3 cemeteries, death notices, probate notices and other items)

- Litchfield County: New Hartford Burial Records
- Litchfield County: Kent Headstone Inscriptions

- New Haven County: Beacon Falls Death Records Index and Cemetery Index

20(14) Publisher Stories: Google AdSense helps IoLeggol'Etichetta help consumers

As part of our �20(14) publisher stories� blog series, every Monday we�ll introduce you to a publisher and share their success story. Read on to meet this week�s featured publisher, and feel free to share your own success story with us.

Raffaele Brogna is the creator of Ioleggoletichetta.it. Meaning �I read the label� in english, the site is dedicated to consumer awareness and protection offering advice on how to get the right information from product labels and tips on saving money when shopping. As a social crowdsourcing project, the site has a large community following who regularly contribute and report on their own experiences and findings as consumers.

Alongside his wife, Raffaele looks after the day-to day operations as well as the broader strategy for the site. They decided to use AdSense at the outset to help cover running costs and considered the prompt payments offered by AdSense as a key influencer in their decision. They were quickly pleased with the results, in particular with the relevance of the ads displayed.

They also use Google Analytics to help identify the best placements for their ad units and to check on their overall ad unit performance. Today, revenue from Google AdSense covers the costs of running this project online. Looking ahead, Raffaele will continue partnering with Google AdSense to go even further in his quest to give Italian consumers the information they need to make informed decisions when shopping.

Posted by Suzy Headon - Inside AdSense Team

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Online Death Records, Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries - Latest Additions and Updates

The Online Death Indexes and Records website has been updated with links to the following items...

Arizona
- Arizona Death Records Index 1844-1963 & Birth Index 1855-1938 (update: year 1963 added to the death index; year 1938 added to the birth index)

Arkansas
- Saline County Library Obituaries Index

California
- Alameda County: Berkeley Daily Gazette Obituary Index (for assorted years 1894-1979)
- Alameda County: Tri-Valley Newspapers Index of Obituaries 1874-2004 (Livermore area)
- Amador County Cemeteries

Connecticut
- See: Recently Added Connecticut Cemetery, Obituary and Death Records Indexes

Delaware
- Delaware Genealogy Collections Gateway: Death and Probate Records Indexes (includes indexes for death registers, coroner records, probate records and more)
- New Castle County Wills Search

Georgia
- Hall County: Alta Vista Cemetery Burials (Gainesville, Georgia)

Illinois
- Kane County Genealogy Indexes (for Birth Certificates 75 years or older; Marriage Licenses 50 years or older; and Death Certificates 20 years or older; requires free registration; copies of the records can be ordered online for a fee.)
- Lake County Genealogical Records Index (indexes birth, marriage and death records prior to January 1, 1916)

- Note: there are now 4 Illinois Counties with vital records databases (like the one for Kane County mentioned above). These are for Cook County (including Chicago), DeKalb County, Kane County and Kankakee County. See: Online Illinois Death Records and Indexes

Kansas
- Phillips County: Fairview Cemetery Records (Phillipsburg, Kansas)
- Shawnee County: Mount Auburn Cemetery Burials (Topeka, Kansas)

Kentucky
- Boyle County Genealogy and Vital Records Indexes (includes indexes for deaths, obituaries, cemeteries, marriages and more; also has some genealogy indexes for Casey County)

Massachusetts
- Hampden County: Springfield Vital Records, 1638-1887 from FamilySearch
- Worcester County: Worcester City Death Certificates Search 1978-present

Michigan
- Kent County: Burials in 8 Grand Rapids City Cemeteries
- Ottawa County: Pilgrim Home Cemetery and Graafschap Cemetery Burials (Holland, Michigan; the city of Holland is in Ottawa and Allegan Counties)

Minnesota
- Wilkin County Historical Society Obituaries Index

Mississippi
- Alcorn County Cemeteries
- Prentiss County Obituaries and Cemeteries
- Tishomingo County: Cutshall Funeral Home Records (Iuka, Mississippi); for assorted years 1929-1990

Missouri
- Missouri Death Certificates Index and Images 1910-1963 (update: year 1963 added)

Nebraska
- Douglas County: Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Omaha Genealogy Lookup

New Jersey
- New Jersey Death Records Index, June 1878-June 1890 (update: more years added)

New York
- New York State Genealogical Research Death Index 1957-1963; does not include New York City (update: year 1963 added)
- Monroe County: Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Burials (in Rochester, New York) and Ascension Garden Burials (in Henrietta, New York)

North Carolina
- North Carolina WPA Cemetery Survey Records - Tombstone Transcription Project

Ohio
- Ohio Obituaries Index 1810s-recent from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center (update: several more counties added)
- Ashtabula County Genealogical Society Gravestone Photos Project
- Preble County: Mound Hill Cemetery Burials (Eaton, Ohio)

Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania Death Records Indexes 1906-1963 (update: year 1963 added)
- Bucks County Genealogical Society Database (includes births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials)
- Montgomery County and Bucks County: Mennonite Heritage Center Cemetery Database (has nearly 86,000 burial records from 125 cemeteries)

South Carolina
- South Carolina Death Index 1915-1963 (update: year 1963 added)

South Dakota
- Minnehaha County: Dell Rapids Cemeteries

Texas
- Bexar County: San Antonio Death Records 1873-1926 and Birth Records 1896-1936 (includes scanned copies of the birth and death registers)

Wisconsin
- Chippewa County: St. Joseph Cemetery Burials (Boyd, Wisconsin)
- Richland County Cemeteries (also has Richland Observer Obituary Index 1970 to recent)
- Richland County: Richland Center Cemetery and Bowen Cemetery Burials (Richland Center, Wisconsin)
- Sheboygan County: Greenlawn Memorial Park Burials (Kohler, Wisconsin)

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are links for many more death records indexes at: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries