You can now integrate Geo with your tools directly using Zapier. In this tutorial, we’ll create a Zap that captures Bing News daily from Japan and sends an email with a screenshot.
1. Grab an API Key
You can find the API keys in the My Account section
Create a new API key for Zapier. The API key will be shown in the list titled “Existing Keys”. You can hover over the blurred box to reveal the content.
Save the API key in a safe location. You will use this key to authenticate with Zapier.
2. Connect with Zapier
Use the invitation link to sign up for the Zap.
This invite link will take you to the GeoScreenshot integration
Sign up for Zapier or sign in with your existing account. You will see a screen to accept an invitation:
Accept the invitation by clicking “Accept invite and build a zap”
3. Create a new Zap – Authenticate
You can use any app that generates events as a trigger for screenshots. For this example, we will use Zapier’s built-in Schedule app.
Configure the triggering event by modifying the settings of the zap
Search for GeoScreenshot and select the app
You should see GeoScreenshot in the search results
Click on Sign in with GeoScreenshot
It will open a modal that will ask you for the API Key from Step 1
Fill your API key and click Continue
You should see your email and plan under account
You have now linked Zapier with your Geo account!
4. Create a new Zap – Screenshot
Once you click Continue, it will take you to the capture setting screen.
The options shown here mirror what is available in the Capture user interface at geoscreenshot.com
Run a test capture once you’ve configured your capture
We’re proud to announce the release of scheduled captures on GeoScreenshot. You are now able to schedule your captures to run in the background on a daily, weekly or monthly interval and archive your results for future viewing.
Our customers requested this feature to help them track the consistency of their captures over a long period of time. You can also use this feature to maintain an archive of website changes from various locations and configurations.
We’ve released it to all subscribers of our monthly plans. You can schedule as many screenshots as the maximum allows.
To get started,
1. Capture your URL
Go to the capture page and capture your desired URL as you normally would. Feel free to fine tune your capture settings according to your needs.
Capturing www.office.com from 50 locations. The captures are displayed grouped by country.
2. Convert your recent capture to a scheduled job
Once your capture is done, you can click on the Schedule Job button to convert your capture into a job. Give it a descriptive job title, and proceed in the dialog. Your capture settings from your capture (in the example, www.office.com) will be automatically carried to the second step of the flow.
You can click on the schedule button to convert your existing job into a recurrent capture. Your settings for the capture will be automatically persisted.
3. Customize your capture schedule
On step 3, you can choose to run your capture daily, weekly or monthly. You can further customize the schedule by customizing it further by setting the day of week, hour, time zone and limiting the maximum number of runs. In addition, you can choose to limit all jobs to a time window.
You can expand the Advanced Options section to fine tune the capture schedule to meet your needs.
4. Confirm your final schedule
As a final check, you can preview a forecast of the run times and get an estimate for monthly credit reservations. When your job is active, it will reserve the necessary number of credits from your prepaid and subscription pool. Once you deactivate your job, any unused credits will be refunded to your subscription credits.
Click Save Job when you are done.
You can make changes to your schedule and click Preview to see how it will affect the actual dates and monthly credit costs
5. You are set!
Once you have configured your jobs, you can click on the schedule tab to see a dashboard of your upcoming runs.
You will get a comprehensive report of your latest runs from all your scheduled jobs on this screen.
6. Give us feedback
Email [email protected] with any questions or feedback. We’d love to hear your suggestions for improvement.
We’ve released an early version of the GeoScreenshot 2 API for our advanced plan users. Here is a brief tutorial on how to get started.
Step 1. Generate an API Key
Your API key is private and should not be shared with another person. If you need to create multiple API keys for different applications or users on your team, Geo allows you to create multiple keys and manage them individually.
If you want to get very precise geolocation information about your website’s visitors, the HTML5 Geolocation API is a very reliable method for fetching real-time location information. Most browsers support the JavaScript API and there are many tools for implementing it.
Many sites use the Geolocation API to fetch the user’s information. For example, McDonalds.com prompts the user for permission to access the browser’s API. Without explicit permissions, it will show an input box for a user’s address.
Other sites like Starbucks.com use a hybrid approach of GeoIP and HTML5 geo-location. By using GeoIP as the default provider, they pre-populate their list with relevant store information and improve the precision of the targeting once the user grants privileges.
Example:
Once granted, it will show a populated results page with the nearest locations.
Starbucks.com For a tutorial on how to implement HTML5 geo-location, please go here.
Testing HTML5 Geo-location – Starbucks Store Locator
The newest incarnation of GeoScreenshot is now available – just as with version 1, it allows you to conveniently and efficiently view your webpage live from hundreds of locations around the world, but now includes a number of exciting new features:
An improved, more intuitive user interface
Additional locations
Incorporation of the Google Chrome engine
Enhanced debugging
An improved billing dashboard
These enhancements have made GeoScreenshot better than ever, and we’re working on additional features, as well, including HAR support, scheduled captures, and live, interactive browsing.
GeoScreenshot can be utilized in a number of situations:
Does your website feature geo-targeted content? GeoScreenshot can help to ensure that the right content is being displayed in the right location
Web censorship is an issue in many countries around the world – GeoScreenshot can be used to check where your site or its components may be blocked
Is your site multi-lingual? Use GeoScreenshot to make sure HTTP accept headers and respects are being honored
GeoScreenshot can also be used to see where your website ranks on Google or other search engines in various locations
If you need to view your website from multiple locations for whatever reason, GeoScreenshot is the tool for you!
Want to take GeoScreenshot on a test drive before you buy? You can sign up and get 20 captures for free – no credit card required!
Once you’re ready to purchase a plan, we offer three affordable options:
Prepaid – pay just $0.08 per capture
Basic – pay $19/mo on the monthly plan, or $192/yr on the annual plan (a savings of $36)
Advanced – pay $49/mo on the monthly plan, or $468/yr on the annual plan (a savings of $120)
If your website has a global audience, localization is an important element of success. It’s not just about translating the language. It’s about ensuring that the site is ready to inspire targeted users to take the desired action – to buy, join, subscribe, share and visit again. It’s about making sure every element of the site takes into consideration a user’s language, perspective, behavior and cultural norms. In order to do that, the site needs to be evaluated from various cultural perspectives. And you should expect that to lead to a redevelopment of content and branding if you truly want to resonate with international audiences.
Automatic language translation can cause issues with tone, clarity and grammar. But even if a website was translated by the most qualified professional linguist, the site may still fall short of important nuances that create a positive and comfortable experience. Consider design elements such as colors, sizes, and shapes; cultural content involving humor, etiquette, symbols and beliefs; and functional content such as date and time formats, contact information, and reviews.
Some localization experts not only adapt web content to cater to national or regional market preferences, but may also recreate or “transcreate” advertising and marketing campaign messaging to maximize cultural appeal—and avoid potentially embarrassing or offensive communications.
Don’t exhaust yourself conforming your site to every possible culture. Google Analytics or Alexa will help you determine which countries generate the majority of your visits. And once you’ve decided on some geographic targets, be deliberate! Geographic information will help you make smarter decisions about targeting and messaging, and it will increase the value of your advertising inventory. Businesses with tighter budgets will appreciate a tighter geographic focus.
Just watch the traffic and conversions grow!
Do Some Research
Get in touch with some agencies in the local region that can help you understand the market. Make sure that the products or services would be in demand there, and that they will integrate well with the values of the target audience. Know how their customs and practices differ from ours. The last thing you want to do is offend an audience you want to capture.
Keep Updating
Think of each version of your site as a living entity. You want it to continue to develop and improve as time goes by. As you add content, products, promotions, and functionality to the original site, you should plan to do the same to the other versions each and every time there is a change. The users will feel their importance and your commitment.
Make Sure It’s Working
If something isn’t displaying correctly, be sure to fix it fast. Always have skilled translators available to help you update content. Geoblocking and censorship will be an issue in some countries. Make sure you know if your site is up and how it looks and functions from every targeted location. GeoScreenshot allows you to test your website from over 50 geolocations.
Just like concerned parents and website owners can control content, some foreign governments choose to limit what can be viewed in their countries. Are the laws of certain countries affecting the visibility of your website there? You bet. If you have a global target audience, you should find out if your website or any of its content is being blocked in certain markets.
