{"id":129,"date":"2021-04-14T14:18:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T14:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2021-04-16T08:35:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T08:35:39","slug":"how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor is part of the free features with this website monitoring service. It\u2019s a great choice to catch some downtime scenarios that won\u2019t get picked up by standard website monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use The Keyword Monitor in conjunction with other monitoring so you get wider protection from problems with your website. This article has a full explanation of what it offers, and a step-by-step guide to setting it up. We&#8217;ll also show you how to run a test to see an alert in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_64 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6610af5568ca3\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6610af5568ca3\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#What_Is_the_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\" title=\"What Is the Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?\">What Is the Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#Why_Use_The_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\" title=\"Why Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?\">Why Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#How_To_Use_The_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\" title=\"How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor\">How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#Keyword_Alerts_For_Hacked_And_Defaced_Pages\" title=\"Keyword Alerts For Hacked And Defaced Pages\">Keyword Alerts For Hacked And Defaced Pages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#Common_Reasons_For_Uptime_Robot_Keywords_Not_Working\" title=\"Common Reasons For Uptime Robot Keywords Not Working\">Common Reasons For Uptime Robot Keywords Not Working<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#Testing_Your_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\" title=\"Testing Your Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor\">Testing Your Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/#Looking_For_A_General_Guide_To_Uptime_Robot\" title=\"Looking For A General Guide To Uptime Robot?\">Looking For A General Guide To Uptime Robot?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_the_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\"><\/span>What Is the Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you create a new monitor within Uptime Robot, you are offered a few types as part of the free version. The most common monitor is the HTTP(s) type, which sends a standard web request to the web page you specify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The type we\u2019re looking at here is the \u201cKeyword\u201d option. This does more work than simply sending a web request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"489\" height=\"314\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/new_monitor_choose_keyword-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/new_monitor_choose_keyword-1.png 489w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/new_monitor_choose_keyword-1-300x193.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor scans the content of the chosen web page and looks for a specific keyword or phrase that you specify. Depending on your set-up, the monitor will send an alert if the keyword is either present or does not exist on the web page.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This works by looking at the page source. That\u2019s the same as if you pull up a page in your browser, right-click and choose the \u201cView page source\u201d option. You\u2019ll see a jumble of HTML and text that makes up the page. This is what the monitor is scanning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don\u2019t use the Keyword Monitor for javascript content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the monitor checks the page source, it won\u2019t see content that is loaded via javascript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I see people complain occasionally on forums that the feature isn\u2019t working. It\u2019s usually because they\u2019ve set a keyword that is dynamically loaded by javascript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Use_The_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\"><\/span>Why Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re setting up a content website, the first monitor you should set up is the HTTP(s) type on your home page. That gives you a great basic alert when your website goes down for more than five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, what if your visitors land on your website and see nothing except a cryptic message like\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;<em>SQLite error 14 unable to open database file<\/em>&#8220;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Or worse, a page that displays content like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201c<em>for best casino go to ScamYouFromVictimWebsite.com<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Your overall website is available and serving up this web page. So, the HTTP(s) monitor gives the thumbs up. Unfortunately, bad things happen for your visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can consider these examples as downtime for your website content. This is usually due to one of two reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first scenario is an example of an error from your WordPress database. The website page is available but a database query is producing a system error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will get past your HTTP(s) monitor and is the more common type of problem that evades it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WordPress script or database issues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first scenario is an example of an error from your WordPress database. The website page is available but a database query is producing a system error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\u2019t have to be a database issue that breaks your page. If you\u2019re using javascript (and this could be from a plugin), a bug could result in your content being replaced by an error message or gibberish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will get past your HTTP(s) monitor and is the more common type of problem that evades it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hacked content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The second scenario is due to a hacked website. Malicious content has been placed on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As long as you have good security and protection on your WordPress site, this should be far less likely. We recommend the free Wordfence plugin for sites that are starting out. Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/category\/wordfence\/\">series of articles on using Wordfence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if you have additional security, you can also have extra peace of mind by adding an alert for this kind of defacement issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Use_The_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\"><\/span>How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll walk through how to set up a Keyword Monitor to protect against the first of the problem scenarios. This is where a script or database error stops the load of all or most static content on the page. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your first decision is which URL to use. When you\u2019re starting out, choose your home page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later, you may want to add another monitor for your highest income-generating page. If you have a page that uses complex custom scripts or database queries, that\u2019s another choice to target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing a keyword<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your next decision is what keyword to use. We want to get alerts for partially loaded pages, so it\u2019s a good idea to pick a keyword that first appears near the bottom of the web page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How about the copyright phrase nestled in the footer of many themes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, if you have a link to a privacy policy at the end of the page, this can also be a good choice. The keyword can include HTML as well as text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keyword Exists or Keyword Not Exists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For this scenario, we toggle the option to \u201c<strong>Keyword Not Exists<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the monitor scans the static loaded content, it will trigger an alert if the keyword does not exist on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keyword_Alerts_For_Hacked_And_Defaced_Pages\"><\/span>Keyword Alerts For Hacked And Defaced Pages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This scenario is trickier to predict and set up an alert. If the hack simply replaces your entire content with dodgy affiliate links, then the standard \u201cKeyword Exists\u201d alert will work perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, more sophisticated defacements will keep most or all of your content. They\u2019re not trying to capture your traffic. Instead, they\u2019ll insert a few links to make their target website look more legitimate in the eyes of search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this case, you can try to choose a keyword that will trigger the alert when it exists. Don\u2019t worry about this when you\u2019re starting out with a website (just be sure you have security in place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are unfortunate enough to experience a hack like this, make notes of the malicious content before you clear up the hacked pages. Then you can add a monitor to protect from the same hack. You may use a keyword like \u201ccasino\u201d or other dodgy terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Common_Reasons_For_Uptime_Robot_Keywords_Not_Working\"><\/span>Common Reasons For Uptime Robot Keywords Not Working<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I occasionally see complaints on forums that the keyword monitor is not working. Here is some advice on trouble-shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check the Exists\/Not Exists toggle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing to do is to check that you\u2019re using the correct \u201cExists\u201d\/\u201dNot Exists\u201d toggle. I know that\u2019s pretty basic, but I\u2019ve been known to click the wrong option inadvertently!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check the keyword is in static content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using the \u201cKeyword Exists\u201d option, the next thing to do is to check that your chosen words appear in static content within the page. If the text is generated by javascript via your custom code or a plugin, then this will not be picked up by the monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check by viewing the page source via your browser. This is available when you right-click on the page and choose \u201cview page source\u201d from the menu. Then you can search the page for the chosen keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Testing_Your_Uptime_Robot_Keyword_Monitor\"><\/span>Testing Your Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you use a monitoring service for the first time, I suggest that you test it in action. It\u2019s not just to verify that it works!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll see what the alerts look like, rather than trying to decipher an alert email when there\u2019s a genuine problem for your attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is how I tested the Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor. I&#8217;ve added the screenshots of the alert emails. If you want to follow along, you can set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/uptimerobot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free account with the service here<\/a>. You don&#8217;t need to enter credit card details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Set up a test web page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I created a new post on one of my WordPress sites for this test. Because I don\u2019t want the article to turn up in Google, I turned on the post setting to stop it from being indexed. I used the Yoast plugin, but there are other ways to achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just be careful you don\u2019t set your entire website to be out of the Google index. I also use a small unimportant website for testing these things \u2013 just in case I mess up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create the test content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My test simulated a keyword search for a brand name (Acme) that should be on the web page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a few ipsem lorem paragraphs, I added this passage of beautiful prose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>The alert keyword phrase is Acme and it is present.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create the Keyword monitor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here it is. The keyword is \u201cAcme\u201d and the alert is when \u201cNot Exists\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"530\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/acme_test_not_exists.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/acme_test_not_exists.png 530w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/acme_test_not_exists-300x175.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Let the monitor run for ten minutes for a couple of successful checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The dashboard details should show an Uptime of 100% green within the last 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, let\u2019s break it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Edit the test web page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Edit the web page to remove the keyword. This is the change I made (removing Acme):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>The alert keyword phrase is not Roadrunner and it is not present.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t forget to hit the update button in WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are using certain kinds of caching, you may need to clear the URL from the cache. To be sure, browse to the page and make sure you see your changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, you just need to wait at least five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Succesful Alert<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the email alert that I received from Uptime Robot. It\u2019s a clear message specifying the name of the monitor, the website URL, and the nature of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"741\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/monitor_email_alert_page_down-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/monitor_email_alert_page_down-2.png 741w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/monitor_email_alert_page_down-2-300x105.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It may not be so clear in a year\u2019s time, which is why it\u2019s a good idea to choose decent names for your monitor. \u201cTest keyword\u201d was probably not as good as \u201cTest for brand name\u201d might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Looking_For_A_General_Guide_To_Uptime_Robot\"><\/span>Looking For A General Guide To Uptime Robot?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/uptime-robot-guide\/\">beginner&#8217;s guide to Uptime Robot<\/a> for an overall introduction to the monitoring service. We use plain language to explain what you need to know when starting out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor is part of the free features with this website monitoring service. It\u2019s a great choice to catch some downtime scenarios that won\u2019t get picked up by standard website monitoring. You can use The Keyword Monitor in conjunction with other monitoring so you get wider protection from problems with your website. &#8230; <a title=\"How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-use-the-uptime-robot-keyword-monitor\/\" aria-label=\"More on How To Use The Uptime Robot Keyword Monitor\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}