Blogspot Blogger Guide

Add a Facebook Share Button to Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sun, 09 May 2010 07:34:00 +0000

An easy way to have your readers share your articles on Facebook is to add a Facebook Share Button to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). It only takes a few minutes to put a Facebook Share Button on your Blogger blog.

Sharing your content on Facebook is an excellent way to attract many more visitors to your Blogger blog. By adding a Facebook Share Button to Blogger you will allow your content to be shared with all the friends of your blog visitor through their Facebook account.

When a visitor to your blog clicks on the Facebook Share Button Facebook collects post details like your blog name, post title and the first few lines of the content including the images and other media.

The Facebook Share Buttons look and act very similar to the Twitter Retweet buttons by Tweetmeme.

Steps to Put a Facebook Share Button on Blogger (Blogspot)
There are 2 different Facebook Share Button styles to choose from: a large button and a compact button. The following codes will place the Facebook Share Button at the top of the post only on the post page. If you wish to have the button appear on the homepage as well you will need to remove the if statement.

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
Facebook Share Button Code
</b:if>

Login to Blogger
At the Dashboard go to Layout >> Edit HTML
Check the Expand Widget Templates box on the right
Using CTRL + F find this code: <data:post.body/>
Copy and paste the following codes depending on your choice of Facebook Share Button style immediately before the line <data:post.body/>

Note: If you have trouble finding <data:post.body/> alternatively you can paste the code directly below:
<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

Large Facebook Share Button (right aligned)

 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> <div style='float:right;padding:4px;'> <a expr:share_url='data:post.url' name='fb_share' rel='nofollow' type='box_count'/> <script src='http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share' type='text/javascript'/> </div></b:if> 

Large Facebook Share Button (left aligned)

 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> <div style='float:left;padding:4px;'> <a expr:share_url='data:post.url' name='fb_share' rel='nofollow' type='box_count'/> <script src='http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share' type='text/javascript'/> </div></b:if> 

Compact Facebook Share Button (right aligned)

 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> <div style='float:right;padding:4px;'> <a expr:share_url='data:post.url' name='fb_share' rel='nofollow' type='button_count'/> <script src='http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share' type='text/javascript'/> </div></b:if> 

Compact Facebook Share Button (left aligned)

 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> <div style='float:left;padding:4px;'> <a expr:share_url='data:post.url' name='fb_share' rel='nofollow' type='button_count'/> <script src='http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share' type='text/javascript'/> </div></b:if> 
Click Save
View a blog post to see your new Facebook Share Button in action

Summary
Today you have learned how to add a Facebook Share Button to your Blogger blog. The Facebook Share Button will allow your readers to share your content which will attract new visitors to your blog. Adding a Facebook Share Button to your post pages only takes a few minutes.

Related Links
Add a Follow Me Twitter Icon Button to Blogger
How to Remove the Blogger Navbar
How to Change the Color of the Blogger Navbar
How to Increase the Image Size in a Blogger Blogspot Blog
How to Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger
Set the Date of a Blogger Post to a Future or Past Date
How to Remove Blogger Labels Counter
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Change Color of Blogger Navbar

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sat, 08 May 2010 04:59:00 +0000

This article shows you how to change the color of the Blogger Navbar so that it matches the color scheme of your Blogger blog. The Navbar in Blogger is the blue colored link bar that appears by default at the top of Blogger blogs. Changing the color of the Blogger Navbar takes less than a minute and is an easy trick that requires no change to the Blogger code.

One of the most frequent complaints about the Blogger platform is from webmasters who want to change the Blogger navbar. Most people want to get rid of it altogether but before you do remember that the navbar has a lot of uses and all that might be required is to change its color so that it is coordinated with the other colors of your blog. Please refer to my Blogger tutorial about How to Delete the Blogger Navbar if you want to remove it completely.

Currently Blogger offer the choice of 6 different Blogger Navbar colors: blue, tan, black, silver, transparent light and transparent dark. Transparent light and transparent dark are the most recent additions and it is likely that Blogger may continue to offer more color options for the Navbar as time goes on.

Steps To Change the Color of the Blogger Navbar

Login to Blogger and select the blog you wish to change
From the Blogger Dashboard go to Layout >> Page Elements
Click the edit button which appears on the right side of the Navbar. The Navbar is the blue strip labelled Navbar which is located directly under the Add and Arrange Page Elements heading.
Select the color of your choice by clicking on the radio button on the left side of each color in the pop up Navbar Configuration window that appears
Once you have made your selection click on the Save Button to save your changes
Click View Blog to see the effects of changing the color of the Blogger Navbar to match the design and style of your blog

Summary
Today I have shown you how to change the color of the Navbar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) so that it matches the color and design of your blog.

Related Links
How to Remove the Blogger Navbar
How to Increase the Image Size in a Blogger Blogspot Blog
How to Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger
Set the Date of a Blogger Post to a Future or Past Date
How to Remove Blogger Labels Counter
Add a Follow Me Twitter Icon Button to Blogger
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

How to Remove the Blogger Navbar

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:18:00 +0000

It is easy to hide the Blogger Navbar and it only takes a couple of minutes to do this simple Blogger trick.

Most people dislike the Blogger Navbar and want to remove it because it looks unprofessional and it encourages readers to leave your blog by clicking on the Next Blog link. If you are using a custom template the Blogger Navbar is likely to already be hidden but if you are using a default Blogger template it will need to be removed manually.

Before you get rid of the Blogger Navbar completely though remember that it has some pretty useful features such as:

1. Follow Me link to encourage your readers to follow you
2. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, Google Reader
3. Blog search
4. Quick links to Blogger New Post, Page Elements and Blogger Dashboard

I would suggest that if you do decide to hide the Blogger Navbar that you add a custom search box and some social bookmarking features to your blog to partly compensate for the features you will be losing.

If you simply want to change the color of the Blogger Navbar please refer to my Blogger tutorial How to Change the Color of the Blogger Navbar

Steps to Remove the Blogger Navbar

Login to Blogger and select the blog you wish to change
From the Blogger Dashboard go to Layout >> Edit HTML
Use CTRL + F to find this code: ]]></b:skin>
Insert the code below just before the ]]></b:skin> tag

/*
#navbar-iframe {
height: 0px;
visibility: hidden;
display: none;
}*/
Use the Preview button before committing the change to see the Blogger Navbar is now hidden.
When you are satisfied click on the Save button to save your changes
Click on View Blog to admire your Blogger blog with the Navbar removed

Blogger Tip:
If you decide that you want to reinstate the Blogger Navbar you can do one of two things:

Simply remove the code you inserted:

#navbar-iframe {
height: 0px;
visibility: hidden;
display: none;
}
Or comment out the code like this

/*
#navbar-iframe {
height: 0px;
visibility: hidden;
display: none;
}*/

Summary
Today I have shown you an easy trick to remove the Blogger Navbar. By adding a short piece of code to your Blogger template the Blogger Navbar can be hidden from view. I have also shown you what to do if you need to reinstate a missing Blogger Navbar.

Related Links
How to Change the Color of the Blogger Navbar
How to Increase the Image Size in a Blogger Blogspot Blog
How to Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger
Set the Date of a Blogger Post to a Future or Past Date
How to Remove Blogger Labels Counter
Add a Follow Me Twitter Icon Button to Blogger
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:52:00 +0000

Attention Blogspot bloggers I have found a really easy way to allow visitors to my Blogger blogs to print out my articles. Today I am going to share with you this very easy trick. It only takes a few minutes to install a printer friendly button at the foot of your Blogger posts and you will be adding a lot of functionality to your blog.

Advantages of Adding a PrintFriendly Button

Creates an attractive print friendly version of your blog article that is print optimized
Removes unwanted content such as Google ads
Provides flexibility to remove unwanted text and only print out what is important to the reader
All images can be removed leaving only the text thus saving paper and ink
Minimizes the risk of readers copying and pasting your material because they don't know how to print out

The PrintFriendly button is a very handy gadget. When a visitor clicks on the button it will take them to an article preview screen and offers some printing and sharing options. There is the option to print out the article directly with or without images. Alternatively the article can be downloaded as a PDF file or a link to the article emailed. PrintFriendly even lets you share the article via a Twitter Tweet button.

How To Add a Print Friendly Button to your Blogger blog

Log into Blogger and select the blog you want to add the printer friendly button to.
From the Blogger dashboard go to Layout > Edit HTML
Tick the Expand Widget Templates checkbox.
Using CTRL + F find the following code:
<div class='post-footer'>
Open a new browser window go to the PrintFriendly website
At Step 1 go ahead and select the radio button for Blogger to choose your site type
At Step 2 select the radio button for the print friendly button that you wish to use on your Blogger blog
Copy the code snippet for your chosen button
Then go back to your open Blogger window and find the code you identified in Step 4 of these instructions.
Paste the code directly after the <div class='post-footer'> tag
Save your template
Click View Blog to see your PrintFriendly button beneath each post.

Summary
Today I introduced you to the PrintFriendly button - a button that print optimizes your Blogger posts. I discussed some of the main advantages of adding the printer friendly button to Blogger and I provided you with comprehensive instructions to add the button to your Blogger template.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Remove Blogger Labels Counter on a Blogspot Blog

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Until recently the only way to turn off, disable or remove the counter of the labels widget in Blogger was to use a Blogger hack. Luckily Blogger has now added a new feature so that Blogger webpublishers have a choice about whether to show or not show a post count next to the corresponding tag when using the Blogger labels widget.

How Do I Turn Off - Remove the Blogger Labels Counter?
If you already have a Blogger labels widget installed then Blogger shows a count of the number of posts with that label or tag next to each label by default. If you want to turn off the label counter you will need to disable it.

Removing the Blogger labels counter is easy and only takes a minute. Switching off the labels counter can be useful sometimes for instance when establishing a new blog where a limited number of posts may deter visitors.

Conversely you may find that your Blogger label counter has been disabled and you want to reinstate it. In this case you would navigate to Blogger and follow these steps except that you would reverse Step 4.

Log in to Blogger
At the Dashboard go to Layout > Page Elements
In the Blogger sidebar click on your labels gadget
Uncheck the box marked Show Number of Posts Per Label
Click on Save
View your Blogger blog without the number of posts shown next to the labels tag

Summary
Today you have learned how to turn off the Blogger (Blogspot) labels counter so that no count of the number of posts is shown next to the label. Disabling this feature only takes a minute and can be a useful feature for new blogs with few posts. If you are new to Blogger and blogging you can learn more useful tricks and tips for customizing your blog at Blogspot Blogger Guide. Watch out for more Blogger tutorials in this beginner basics series.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Put a Twitter Button Icon on Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Would you like your blog visitors to be able to follow you on Twitter? It's easy when you put a Twitter button on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). Let me show you how.

Just follow the instructions below to add a Twitter button to Blogger to encourage your readers to follow your Twitter tweets. This is an easy way to attract new traffic to your blog and it only takes a few minutes.

This Blogger tutorial is easy and doesn't involve changing your Blogger template.

How to Put a Twitter Icon on Blogger (Blogspot)
There are lots of Twitter icons to choose from. Below are several to get you started. Remember you can change this Twitter icon or button for another if you find a better one simply by changing the URL address of the image.

Log in to Blogger
At the Dashboard go to Layout > Page Elements
Click Add a Gadget in the sidebar or where ever you want to place your Twitter icon
Choose the HTML/Javascript gadget
Copy and paste the following HTML code for the icon into the content box

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your-Twitter-Username"><img width="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SspoQko3KOI/AAAAAAAAB4M/kMDVtv7Cfxk/s320/twitter-34c.png" height="124" title="Follow Me on Twitter"/></a><br/>

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your-Twitter-Username"><img width="175" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SspuP_1ce9I/AAAAAAAAB4U/KiQtxEq-mus/s320/twitter8gif.gif" height="81" title="Follow Me on Twitter"/></a><br/>

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your-Twitter-Username"><img width="152" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SspvMr71piI/AAAAAAAAB4c/31KBqHlFQpI/s320/nt11.png" height="68" title="Follow Me on Twitter"/></a><br/>
Change Your-Twitter-Username for your own Twitter username
Click Save
View your blog to see the Twitter icon in your Blogger sidebar

Summary
Today you have learned how to add a Twitter button to your Blogger blog. If you follow the instructions above you will have your Twitter button or badge up and running in no time. Want another button design check out more free Twitter buttons.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Publish Blogger Posts Past or Future Date

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Today I will be talking about how to set either a future date or past date on your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts). This Blogger feature is easy to use and comes in handy when you need to set a Blogger post date other than the current date.

Last year sometime Blogger started to support future dating of blog posts. That meant that webmasters could set up their posts ahead of time and schedule them to become live at a particular point in time of their choosing. This future dating feature is particularly useful if you are going away on holiday or you just want to stay ahead of your game.

I also make use of the post date feature. When I am setting up a new blog I frequently use this feature to set pages like the About page to a date that is a long way back. Another time that has been very handy is when I have missed a post and want to fill in a gap.

To Post Date a Blogger Post

Navigate to New Post and create a Blogger post
In the Blogger HTML editor click on Post Options which is just below the compose box
Select your Blogger post date and time to any date and time before the current date and time
Click on Save and Publish Post
Click on Edit Posts to find and View your post

To Future Date a Blogger Post

Navigate to New Post and create a Blogger post
In the Blogger HTML editor click on Post Options which is just below the compose box
Select your Blogger post date and time to any date and time in the future
Click on Save and Publish Post
Click on Edit Posts to find your post will be marked in red as scheduled for the date and time set

Summary
A user defined future date or past post date can be set for any Blogger post. In this Blogger tutorial I have shown you how to schedule future posts for publication and to assign past dates to your Blogger posts. This date feature is very useful for setting your post dates to suit your own posting schedule and needs.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Make Money with Blogger and Affiliate Programs

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:34:00 +0000

Today's article focuses on a how to make money from a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) by earning referral fees from Affiliate Referral Programs.

If you read any website about affiliate marketing you will see a consistent thread - readers ask how can I make money from affiliate programs? Well I suspect if you are reading this article you too are hoping to get a earn money for all the effort you put into your blog. That's why I have put together a handy list of affiliate programs plus a quick summary of the benefits and referral fees paid so that you can start to earn money fast. If you choose to put affiliate banners from these advertisers on your Blogger blog you will kick start your blog's ability to earn extra money.

Even if you are not advertising with anyone other than Google Adsense you can still take advantage of the referral programs offerred by many advertising programs such as Chitika, WidgetBucks and Linkworth.

Remember that these advertisers want new sign ups and so are keen for you to put their advertising banners on your Blogger blog. When visitors to your blog click on these banners and join these programs you earn a percentage of the member's earnings for up to 2 years in some cases. This is a very common method of making extra money blogging with very little effort on your part.

Popular Affiliate Referral Programs

LinkShare - Earn $1.50 for every referrer you sign up who generates a click thru in 30 days
Join the LinkShare Referral Program for free!
Linkworth - Earn $50 for just signing up plus a flat commission of $50 for every referral and 5% of their earnings for the life of their account.
Sign up with Linkworth
Chitika - Earn 10% of what your referrals earn for 15 months following each referral’s approval date.
Sign up with Chitika
Text Link Ads - Earn 10% of all revenue earned by publishers for a full two years after the publisher joins
Sign Up to Text Link Ads
WidgetBucks - Earn 15% of all revenue affiliates earn for a full 12 months after the new member joins.
Sign Up with WidgetBucks
Adbrite - Earn 50% of member profits for the first 3 months then 10% of member profits for the next 9 months. Applies to all buying and selling activity referred by your blog

Once you have signed up with an affiliate program which pays you referral fees you can start to earn cash by placing the affiliate banner on your Blogger blog. For help to add your banners to Blogger please refer to my article Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger

Summary
It's easy to make money from blogging by joining affiliate referral programs. With Affiliate Referral Programs you earn money in referral fees by placing advertising banners on your blog. You get paid for new sign ups (publishers, advertisers and affiliates). Usually you earn a percentage of the member earnings for the next 12 months to 2 years. It only takes a few minutes to sign up to these affiliate programs and once approved its easy to place the banners on your Blogger blog. Remember you get paid for every sign up. Good luck.

Related Articles
How to Add Chitika Ads to Blogger
Make Money from Banners with Blogger
Earn Money from Blogger with Linkworth Affiliate Program
Earn Money with Chitika and Blogger
Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Position Adsense on Blogger to Earn Extra Money

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Want to know more about how to make money with Google Adsense and your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog)? A lot of bloggers make money blogging solely from Google Adsense clicks. Placement of your Adsense ad units on your blog is critical if you are to earn money. In this article I will give you some tips about some of the basics of placing Google Adsense ad units on Blogger from my own experience so that you will earn extra money from your Adsense banners.

Tips for Adding Google Adsense to a Blogspot Blogger Blog

Use the Google Adsense Heat Map Placement Guide
First take a look at the Google Adsense Heat Map that shows you the hot and cold positions of Google Adsense ad placement. Notice that a lot of the primary positions where you would put Google Adsense are around the main content. If you use this Google Adsense Heat Map as a guide to your Adsense placement you will start to earn extra money from your ad units.
How many Adsense Ads?
Just because Google Adsense rules allow three content units per page doesn't necessarily mean it is a good idea to put three on a page. I have often found two is a better number. I suggest that you position both your units close to your content. One above the first post or around the title and another at the foot of the post is a placement strategy that has been working successfully for me.

Too many units can actually lower the value of your highest paying ad unit so in this case more is not necessarily better.
Best and Worst Performing Google Adsense Ad Units
- I have found that my best performing Google Adsense ad units is 336x280. This sized unit has been very successful in the position above the post and under the post title. Both of these areas are Adsense hotspots as depicted in orange. If this size is not an option you could try a 728x90 leaderboard which is a high performance unit too.
- I don't particularly like a 468x60 Adsense ad unit in the header. I haven't found this a particularly high performing unit either. Instead I now reserve this slot for my favorite affiliate banner rather than an Adsense ad unit
- All my Adsense vertical skyscraper ad units such as 160x600 in the sidebar of my blogs have been a waste of time and I have now gotten rid of them. Notice how this is borne out by the white low performing area of the Blogger sidebar
- I have had mixed success with the linked units such as 728x15 in the Blogger header. They do work on some blogs where there is no navigation menu so I have decided to keep them on in the meantime.

Summary
In this post I have given you the benefit of my experience with respect to strategically placing Google Adsense ad units on a Blogger blog to earn extra money. I strongly suggest following the Google Adsense Heat Map which is an authoritative guide to ad unit placement. If you want to earn extra money try out a 336x280 unit and dispense with any sidebar skyscrapers and 468x60 header banners unless you are sure they are actually good earners. Any questions or if you would like to let me know how you get on please don't hesitate to comment.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:49:00 +0000

Beginner bloggers who want to make money from their blog often ask me how to put banners on a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). In this article I will outline the steps to help you put banners on Blogger the easy way. You will have your banners up and running in no time and starting to earn extra money from your blog.

How to Put Banners on Blogger the Easy Way
In order to make money online and place banners on Blogger you first need to sign up with a referral program.

Sign up for some affiliate referral programs such as Chitika, Widget Bucks and Linkworth. There are heaps of affiliate marketing networks out there but to start with you might try Commission Junction which boasts a huge range of advertisers.
- Examples of Some Earnings You Might Expect from Affiliate Programs
  - Earn $1.50 for every referrer you sign up who generates a click thru in 30 days
    Join the LinkShare Referral Program for free!
  - Earn $50 for just signing up plus a flat commission of $50 for every referral and 5% of their earnings for the life of their account.
    Sign up with Linkworth
  - Earn 10% of what your referrals earn for 15 months following each referral’s approval date.
    Sign up with Chitika,
Once you have signed up with an affiliate program which pays you referral fees you can start earning money by placing the affiliate banner on your Blogger blog.
Decide where you want to place your banner on Blogger. Here are 2 very easy options:
- Place Banner in Blogger Sidebar or Footer
  Adding an Affiliate banner to the Blogger sidebar or footer are both easy placement options. While logged in to Blogger, go to Layout > Page Elements and click on Add a Gadget in the Blogger sidebar, choose HTML/Javascript gadget from the list and paste the affiliate banner code into the content box, click on the Save button and your banner should display. If you need to center the banner enclose it in an HTML tag like this:
  <center>YOUR AFFILIATE CODE</center>
- Place Banner Above First Post in Blogger
  To add a banner above the first post in Blogger you first need to make it possible to add a gadget to this area. If there is no option to add a gadget in the Blogger post area go to Layout > Edit HTML. No need to check Expand Widget Templates for this. Scroll down until you find these lines:
  
  <div id='main-wrapper'>
  <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
  
  Replace the no with yes and save. You will now be able to add a gadget to the area above the first post. To display your banner click on Add a Gadget above Blog Posts and paste the affiliate banner code into the HTML/Javascript gadget and save. Click on View Blog to see your new banner.

Today I have show you the easy way to add affiliate marketing banners to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) to help you earn extra money. Remember affiliate programs are free to join so it costs you nothing to experiment. Why not try a program like Chitika advertising and referral program because even if you don't decide to advertise with Chitika it costs you nothing to put their banner advertising on your blog and you might make your first $10 faster than you think.

Related Articles
How to Add Chitika Ads to Blogger
Make Money from Banners with Blogger
Earn Money from Blogger with Linkworth Affiliate Program
Earn Money with Chitika and Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Earn Money with Chitika and Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:55:00 +0000

If you are looking for ways to earn money from your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) have you considered Chitika advertising and referral program? Adding a Chitika affiliate banner to your blog is a very easy way to make extra money.

Chitika is 100% Compatible with Google Adsense
Chitika is a pay-per-click advertising program which is free to join. The greatest benefit of Chitika is that it can be used in conjunction with Google Adsense to add another way to earn money from your blog. There is no conflict with Google Adsense because Chitika only serves non-contextual ads.

Chitika vs Google Adsense
Chitika claim a higher CTR (click through rate) in Chitika vs Adsense debates but I think you will have to try this for yourself. I have had good results with Chitika on the blogs I have added a mega unit to. Whether the returns are slightly higher for Chitika ads or not the most important aspect in my book is that they both can form part of your blog monetization strategy.

Easy to Monetize Your Blogger Blog with Chitika
Chitika is an easy way to make money from your Blogger blog and can yield good earnings depending on your traffic source and your blog topic. Technology and gadget blogs are a particularly good fit with Chitika.

Chitika has ads for all types of content particularly product-related including including automotive, finance, health, consumer electronics, news, sports, travel to name a few.

Chitika offers a wide range of ad unit sizes including its recently introduced mega ad unit 550x250. Chitika claim that the mega unit has a higher CTR than their other Premium units. I am currently trialling this unit to see how it performs.

Best Results Using Chitika
For best results with Chitika your Blogger blog needs to receive a significant portion of its visitors from USA and Canada as ads are only served to that traffic stream. In addition your US traffic has to arrive at your blog via a search engine. No ads are displayed to non-US traffic however an alternate ad (such as Google Adsense) can be displayed if the alternate URL feature is enabled. To get the most out of Chitika therefore your blog needs to be search engine optimized.

Chitika Referral Program
By adding a Chitika banner or two to your Blogger blog you can increase your blog's earning power and make extra money. For every Chitika publisher referral you make you will earn 10% of what your referrals earn. You are eligible to earn commissions for each referral for 15 months following each referral’s approval date.

Summary
In this article I have discussed the Chitika advertising and referral program and how it might be incorporated into your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) so you can make extra money. I have explored some of the many advantages of signing up for Chitika. Why not sign up to Chitika today and start to earn extra money from your blog?

Related Articles
How to Add Chitika Ads to Blogger
Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger (Blogspot) Blog
Make Money from Banners with Blogger
Earn Money from Blogger with Linkworth Affiliate Program

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Increase Image Size Blogger Blogspot Blog

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:35:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to increase the displayed size of the images you upload to your Blogger Blogspot blog by entering your own dimensions. This is a very easy trick requiring no change to your Blogger template. It is suitable for anyone from beginner to advanced users.

By default Blogger has three image settings: small, medium and large. Your uploaded images are scaled down to fit these standard Blogger sizes. If your image is larger than the maximum 400 pixels in width and 300 in height it is still scaled down to 400x300px. If you want to override these settings you can by manually changing the dimensions of the height and width of the uploaded image.

To Make Uploaded Images in Blogger Bigger

1. Log in to Blogger if not already logged in.

2. Go to Posting > Create Post or if you want to edit an image already posted go to Posting > Edit Post

3. Upload your chosen image or if you are editing your post identify the image you want to change

4. Switch from Compose to Edit HTML which will allow you to see the HTML code of your post

5. Find the code block for the image you wish to change. Look for the code that begins <img> tag beginning <img style>. For example for the following image:

img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SjMKOjXnmYI/XXXXXXXXX/Ra0BizPIDsc/s400/twitter123.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346628427747662210" />

This code will display the image in a Blogger post at the large size - 400x300.

6. To change the 400x300 dimensions it is simply a matter of changing the values to whatever you wish. Make sure you keep the proportions of the image otherwise it will not display correctly. For example to increase the image size displayed by 25% you would change the dimensions to 500x375:

img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SjMKOjXnmYI/XXXXXXXXX/Ra0BizPIDsc/s400/twitter123.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346628427747662210" />

7. Click the Preview button and you will be able to check your image before publishing

8. Once you are satisfied click on the Publish Post button

9. Click View Blog to see your image displayed with your user defined proportions

Summary
At sometime you may want to display an image on your Blogger Blogspot blog that is bigger than the maximum default size of 400x300 pixels. This tutorial has shown you how to change the height and width values of the image in Blogger so you can override the default dimensions.

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Earn Money from Blogger Join Linkworth Affiliate Program

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:35:00 +0000

Want to make money online with your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog)? Earn money with Linkworth. Linkworth is one Affiliate Program that Blogspot Bloggers need to take a good look at if they are serious about making money from their blog. Given that most bloggers are also readers of blogs virtually every reader who arrives on your blog is a possible referral prospect. Therefore having a Linkworth affiliate banner or two on your blog makes sound marketing sense and is an easy way to earn extra money.

Why Would a Blogger Want to Sign Up for Linkworth?
Linkworth is a large, established and reputable advertising network. Linkworth offers Blogspot bloggers who become a partner a variety of income earning opportunities to monetize their blogs. Multiple advertising programs offerred by Linkworth include: Text Link Ads, Linkpost, Linkmura, Linkintxt, LinkWords, LinkBB, Linkpack.

One of the bonuses of Linkworth is that it can be used in conjunction with Google Adsense provided no contextual advertising which is not allowed by Google is used. This makes Linkworth an extremely attractive advertising option for Blogspot bloggers and therefore a good reason to promote the affiliate program. Linkworth is suitable for the newbie blogger too as it is easy to get approval even when a blog has a low Google page rank and is receiving minimal traffic. Make sure you have at least 12 posts before you apply or your application may get declined.

My Favorite Ways to Make Money Online with Linkworth
All the programs offerred by Linkworth are good but my two favorite ways to make money online with Linkworth are:

LinkPost
With LinkPost you can earn money by writing sponsored posts. Depending on the Google Pagerank of your blog you can receive up to $50 per review. The process is easy but competitive. Basically you submit your blog to the advertising marketplace and sponsors and advertisers pay you money for your review.

LinkWords
With LinkWords keywords in your blog are underlined and if clicked on by a reader you earn money - either 50% or 70% for every ad clicked on depending on what scheme you have opted for. Some niches lend themselves better to text ad advertising and therefore generate more income per click than others. You will need to experiment to find out if LinkWords is worthwhile way for you to earn money from your blog.

Benefits of the Linkworth Affiliate Referral Program
Linkworth's referral program is generous and a good way to earn money. You get $50 for just signing up either as a publisher or with a combo account. That $50 is paid out to you once you earn $100 or more in total.

For every new referral sent through your affiliate link you earn a flat commission of $50. The $50 is held as a pending payment until the referee has spent or earned a minimum of $100.

Another sweetner for joining the Linkworth referral program is that you will receive 5% of the earnings for all referrals you make for the life of their account. Pretty good way to earn money huh?

Linkworth claim that most account holders spend/earn well into the thousands. While I am skeptical of this statement Linkworth does offer a chance to make money by actively promoting its affiliate referral program.

Summary
You can earn money online if you know how. The Linkworth Affiliate Program offers good rewards for pasting a banner or two on your blog. From there on in it depends on the activity of your referees as to how much money you will actually make but there is scope for reasonable earning particularly if you supplement this with LinkPosts and LinkWords. Why not act now and start earning extra money from Linkworth right away. Sign up with Linkworth Affiliate Program or become a partner or both today.

Related Posts
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Earn Money with Chitika and Blogger
Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Get More Adsense Clicks on a Blogger Blogspot Blog

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Today I am going to talk about how to get more Google Adsense clicks on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). These are simple and straightforward Blogger tips and Google Adsense tips that will increase your Adsense CTR and thereby help you make extra money from your blog. I will show you how you can make money from Google Adsense just by streamlining your Adsense ads and increasing your Adsense clicks.

If you are just starting out with your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) you may be under the impression that all you need do is stick a bunch of Google Adsense ads on your blog and you will instantly make money from Google Adsense clicks. Unfortunately there is much more to making money from Adsense. First of all you need traffic and secondly for best results you will need to optimize your Google Adsense ad units on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). By optimizing your blog's ads you will increase the Adsense click through rate or Adsense CTR as it is called. And more Adsense clicks means you will earn extra money from Blogger.

Tips to Increase Your Google Adsense CTR on a Blogger Blogspot Blog
Rather than using the Blogger Google Adsense default widgets to place Google Adsense on your blog I would recommend that you create you own Google Adsense ad unit at Google Adsense. That way you can track the success of each individual Google Adsense ad unit you place on your blog by using channels. This will help you pinpoint the Adsense ads that earn money and those that don't.

1. Use the wider Google Adsense ads such as 336x280, 300x250 or 250x250 as these are known to be the best performing ads and will consistency earn money

2. For the highest possible CTR select Google Adsense ad units that display both image and text in the one ad unit.

3. Adjust the Google Adsense ad units fonts to blend with your blog so that the ad unit is integrated rather than looking like an ad. Google Adsense allows the choice of 3 different fonts - Arial, Times Roman and Verdana, or you can go with the standard Adsense font family setting. If you are not sure what font family your blog is using you can check this in the top section of your Blogger template.

4. Match the colors of your Google Adsense ad unit to blend with the pages of your blog. The effect of matching your blogs color scheme will be that the ad units are integrated into your blog and this may encourage readers to click on the links contained in the ads.

If you are concerned about ad blindness you can choose contrasting colors to make your ad stand out. Readers are used to ads and may not even see them at all so presenting ad units in complimentary colors may help your click through rate. Some experimentation on your part will be needed to get the right look and the money earning results for your blog.

5. Rotate your Google Adsense ads regularly as this will reduce the effect of ad blindness or banner blindness as it is sometimes called and help you make cash

6. Know what your blog's keywords are and use them in your content. For instance make money, earn money, making money, making money online are examples of important keywords and phrases for this article. Check out keywords relevant to your Blogger blog at Google Adwords

7. Ensure your Blogger posts are keyword rich so that Adsense has a good basis of Google keywords to draw from. Use this free tool to check your keyword density ratio.

8. The more visible your ad unit the better. By placing your Google Adsense ad unit above the fold, that is the part of your blog that the visitor sees without having to scroll down, the more likely your ad unit will be to make an impact.

9. Placing a Google ads at the bottom of your Blogger posts is a good money making idea I have found. After reading your post your visitor will be wondering where to next so displaying a Google Adsense ad in this location will encourage Adsense clicks by them.

10. A Google Adsense linked ad unit such as a 728x15 can be an effective way to make money from Google Adsense when placed near a navigation menu especially when your ad unit is very closely related to your content.

Summary
In this Adsense tutorial I have explored 10 ways to increase the Adsense CTR (click through rate) of Google Adsense ads that you place on your Blogger blog. If you follow these Adsense tips you are likely to increase the number of Adsense clicks and in turn earn higher Adsense revenue from your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). If you have time please let me know about your increases in Adsense revenue and Adsense clicks with these simple Adsense tips.

Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

7 Tips - How to Choose a Great Blogger Blog Topic

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Have you chosen a blog topic that is right for you? Lots of people start their Blogger Blogspot blogs without giving much thought to their selection of blog topic. Or the angle on the topic they want to explore. If you want your blog to stand out from the crowd make sure you consider your blog topic carefully.

A good blog topic can make or break a blog. Like some partners some blogs and their owners just don't fit no matter which way you look at it. Make sure before you spend 3 to 6 months of slog to develop your blog that you haven't placed your ladder against the wrong wall.

Here are a few tips that will get you thinking about your Blogger Blogspot blog topic and how important it is to choose the right one for you.

1. Choose a blog topic that you are passionate about
You are going to be writing content about this blog topic for 365 days of the year for at least 2-5 years. For that to work successfully you have to have some passion otherwise the tedium will wear you down.

Conversely if you are really passionate about a topic that passion will shine through in your blog and like a big magnet attract others.

2. Choose a blog topic that interests you not just interests others
Yes you can make money writing about making money but if you aren't interested in money you have a problem. The topic itself may be viable commercially but readers will soon figure out you are in it for the money not the fun. Make sure you are genuinely interested in your blog topic and not just choosing it because it seems to be a hot topic. Don't forget readers are going to want new and fresh content and will not stick around if you are not up to providing it.

3. Choose a blog topic that has potential for readership
If you choose a more unusual blog topic then you may find you are the only one interested in it. However if you have very little competition you will be able to quickly carve out a niche for your blog. Research your market. Check out forums. Identify if there actually is a gap waiting to be filled. If there are a lot of others writing about the same topic can the market sustain another blog or will it be a hard slog to get traffic. Know your audience.

Attracting visitors and maintaining readership are important factors in ensuring that your blog will generate a steady income stream. If monetization is important to you check your blog's potential for adding relevant ads and affiliate marketing.

4. Know your subject area
How well do you know the subject matter of your chosen blog topic? Readers will quickly assess your knowledge of your blog topic and will expect you to deliver the goods.

If you are passionate but not very knowledgable how will you find the information you need to create new material? Creating content is time consuming and it requires good research skills. Have you got access to the kind of information you are going to need?

As a general rule don't choose a topic you know very little about or you may find yourself floundering once you have exhausted your own ideas.

5. What's your angle? Identify your angle when choosing a blog topic
Knowing your subject is one thing but finding a fresh angle is something else. If you want to create a blog in a subject area that is already heavily populated with other blogs you are likely to be more successful if you can find a good angle that has yet to be exploited. Most information isn't new it is just repackaged. How will you pitch your blog? Check out other blogs and identify what aspects might not be so well covered. Make a list of these and ask yourself if any of these areas has enough scope to sustain a blog by itself.

6. Choose a blog topic with a medium to long shelf life
Your blog topic might be great but will readers be interested in it a year or two down the track? This is particularly true for technology based blogs where products come and go and change happens at a rapid rate. Rethink your idea if your topic may not have long term sustainability. Ask yourself if there is a way to reframe it so that it will be more ongoing rather than of short duration.

7. Clearly define the parameters of your blog topic
Do you know what the parameters of your blog topic are? What you will cover and what you won't? If you don't know what the limits of your blog are others won't know either.

It pays to carefully define these or you run the risk of trying to cover everything and losing your audience because they have no idea what your blog is about. Often the most successful blogs are those that focus on a specialist subject and stick within those guidelines.

Jot down now what your blog actually covers. Include your material and your audience in this. For instance, is your blog for everyone or is it focussed on beginners only like this blog? Deciding this early on will make it easy to pitch your articles in a particular way. If you have no clarity you may find you write good material but it is not pitched to the right audience.

If you have lots of ideas for a blog topic you will need to crystallize these. Jotting down advantages and disadvantages will help you sort the wheat from the chaff. You may find you have several good ideas but select only one of these to concentrate on. Once things are up and running with your first venture you might decide to get cracking on the second idea but prioritize to start with.

Remember that laying the groundwork now will prevent disappointment further down the track. Your idea has a much greater chance of being successful if you spend some time getting clear about what you want from your blog and what you want to achieve. Even if your idea needs a lot of refining the exercise is a great opportunity to put some planning in place and planning your blog as in most things in life is one of the cornerstones of success.

Summary
This article has focused on how to choose a great blog topic for a Blogger Blogspot blog. I have discussed 7 tips to help Blogspot bloggers especially those new to blogging choose a blog topic that will fit with their knowledge base and interests. Finding a good fit with your blog topic is one of the keys to success and worth taking the time to consider carefully. Any thoughts or ideas about this article. Please share them.

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Making Money from Banners with Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:09:00 +0000

One of the very nice aspects of Blogger is that you can add banner advertising to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). Placing a few banners on your blog will allow you to make money and encourage you to stay committed to your blog as well.

There is no cost involved in adding banners to Blogger - it is 100% FREE.

It is pretty simple to add affiliate banners and Google Adsense to Blogger. Anyone who knows how to copy and paste can add a few banners in no time. For help on adding banners to Blogger please refer to my article entitled Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger (Blogspot) Blog

If you are yet to create a Blogger account refer to this tutorial for some helpful hints on creating a free Blogger Blogspot blog and to this article on how to set up and configure Blogger. These articles will have you up and running with Blogger in no time.

How Do I Make Money by Adding Banners to My Blog?
When a visitor clicks on a banner on your blog you will make money. If the banner is a pay per click banner such as Google Adsense and Chitika you will make money for every click. You can even have both Chitika and Google Adsense on the same page as Chitika ads are non-contextual. If you use Chitika as well that will 2 ways to make money instead of just one.

When a visitor clicks on an affiliate banner such as the banner below and makes a purchase you earn a commission or a percentage of the sale. Some merchants pay you for referrals so if the visitor signs up you make money. This is known as affiliate marketing and it is a very common way to make money with Blogger other than using pay per click programs like Google Adsense.

Getting Started

Create a free Blogger account
Set up your Blogger Blogspot blog
Add Google Adsense Widgets to Blogger
Sign up with other advertising programs like Chitika which you can use in conjunction with Google Adsense
Sign up for alternatives to Google Adsense such as Widget Bucks, Linkworth and Adbrite and get their code. Even if you never advertise with them they have affiliate programs worth taking a close look at.
Add Banners to Blogger

In this article I have explored how you might start making money with blogging using banner advertising and a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). You will earn money by placing pay per click ad units like Google Adsense and Chitika on your blog which pay for every click. You will also earn extra money by adding affiliate marketing banners from the likes of Linkshare. You can even increase the ways to make money by having both Chitika and Google Adsense ad units together with affiliate marketing banners. Begin today by creating your free blogger account or if you already have one why not follow this helpful guide on the basics of adding Google Adsense to a Blogger Blogspot blog.

Related Articles
Create a free Blogger account
Set up your Blogger Blogspot blog
Earn Money with Blogger Join Linkworth Affiliate Program
Easy Way to Put Banners on Blogger (Blogspot) Blog

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Benefits of Blogspot Blogging with Blogger.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:07:00 +0000

This article covers the main features of Blogger.com and compares some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Blogger platform with other blogging platforms such as Wordpress.

Creating your Blogspot blog at Blogger.com is a good choice for beginner bloggers as it is a free blogging platform with an easy interface and good features. More advanced webmasters may find the lack of some advanced features irritating but Blogger is definitely worth considering as a place to try out blogging at no expense. You can even use your own custom domain name or go with the default subdomain name that Blogger provides.

Blogger.com (Blogspot) Features

Blogger is a free blogging platform
Blogger is fast and easy to set up. It takes about 10 minutes to create a blog, configure the settings and add some gadgets.
Blogger is easy to use regardless of your level of technical knowledge. The interface is user friendly and intuitive. Tabs and buttons make it easy to navigate.
Bandwidth is unlimited with Blogger so there are no bandwidth issues with video and pictures
As Blogger.com is owned by Google there is a high degree of integration with other services like Google Analytics and Picasa Web Album (generous 1 GB of storage)
Easy to make money with Google Adsense and other banner advertising scripts which can easily be incorporated into your blog
It is possible to use your own custom domain rather than the default. For instance yoursite.com instead of yoursite.blogspot.com
Blogger supports Mobile blogging
Blogger gives users the option to tweak templates depending on their experience. Some knowledge of HTML, XML and CSS are needed. Alternatively you can upload your own template with built in features like advertising space, menus and other useful stuff. There are plenty of free templates for Blogger on the web. These can be customised to suit individual requirements

Comparison of the Blogger Platform with Wordpress
While other on-line platforms like Wordpress.org have greater functionality and are more highly customisable there is also a much heftier learning curve. The Wordpress interface is clunkier to use than the Blogger one in my opinion. On the otherhand Wordpress offers 3 GB for media such as photos and video while Blogger is limited to 1 GB so this may swing the balance if you are intending to use a lot of multi-media on your site. The main drawback of the online version of Wordpress though is that it does not allow webmasters to add advertising such as Google Adsense instead it puts advertising on your blog and Wordpress reaps the benefits.

If you choose a self hosted option like Wordpress.com the maintenance is higher and the learning curve increases too. I have a self hosted Wordpress site which needs a lot more maintenance than any of the other sites I run on Blogger (Blogspot). Plus it is time consuming to find, download and customise plugins to extend Wordpress functionality for self hosted sites. Then there are the obvious disadvantages of having to FTP file uploads rather than making changes online as you do with Blogger. My experience with hosting is that there can be a lot of server downtime which can affect your return traffic. Here I am talking about the vagaries of free hosting not paid hosting which is usually far more reliable.

While Wordpress is constantly being updated to eliminate security risks and bugs Blogger is stable and eliminates a lot of the upgrade headache. Blogger comes with a few really annoying glitches that I have found in the interface but in general it is a breeze to use. I have found Wordpress to be equally, if not more bug ridden, so don't let a few minor interface issues put you off. Nothing is ever perfect right?

One of my main frustrations with Blogger is that it is not particularly search engine friendly. It needs a lot of tweaking to provide search engine optimisation. Also some very handy widgets are left off the default configuration. I am hoping these will be added by Blogger further down the track. In particular, I mean the lack of related posts and most popular posts widgets. These features would be very nice to have and facilitate navigation of a blog. On the other hand Blogger does come with some pretty nice widgets which seem to be developing all the time and it also has the option to extend further with third party widgets.

To get the most out of Blogger as a blogging platform, you might want to consider installing a custom template for a more professional and unique look. If you use your own domain name many would be hard pressed to know what blogging platform is being used. However, you would need to dispense with the Nav Bar completely otherwise it would be apparent to visitors that your blogging platform is Blogger.

This article has covered the main features of a Blogger.com blog. It has discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of blogging using the Blogger platform in comparison to other blogging platforms such as Wordpress.

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

Set Up a Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:13:00 +0000

Before you launch into the first post of your new Blogspot blog at Blogger.com it pays to properly set up and configure your blog. There are a number of settings that can be enabled depending on what functionality you require. For webmasters hoping to attract visitors and perhaps make a little cash from advertising it is a good idea to ensure that you have configured the way your blog displays posts and handles comments. If you have not yet got a Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com please see my earlier article about creating a Blogspot Blog: Get a Free Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com.

Basic Settings
Prior to writing your first post go to the Settings tab and click on the Basic link.

Enter the Blog Description. As you are limited to 500 characters your blog description needs to be concise. Make sure it describes the purpose of your site and gives some indication of what kind of content a visitor might expect. The description will appear on your blog in the header section. It can be changed at a later date if needed.

Allow Search Engines to crawl your site should be set to yes if the purpose of your blog is to attract a lot of visitors. If you are wishing to keep your blog for just friends and family rather than the whole world ensure this feature is set to no.

Click on the Save Settings button

Formatting
Under the Formatting link set the number of posts to show on the main page if greater or less than the default number of 7. If you intend to have longer posts it is better to set this number to around 5. While shorter posts is probably best set at around 7 or 8. You may need to experiment with this feature before you find the best balance for your blog

You will need to adjust the date format and time for your blog according to your geographical location by selecting the most appropriate setting from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to save these changes or your posts will have the wrong date and time on them.

Commenting
In the Comments section you can control how people comment on your blog. If you set this to registered users you will avoid a lot of unwelcome spam however you will also limit who can access your blog. This is likely to be a big issue for you if you are trying to attract a lot of traffic. I suggest you enable Anybody to view your site and set Moderate Comments to always. If you don't moderate comments anyone can post spam including offensive material to your site and you may not be aware of it. Also it is a good idea to enable Word Verification as this will prevent spam bots leaving unwelcome messages.

I find it useful to have Blogger.com email me when comments are made. If you would like this feature too then enter your email address in the Comment Notification box. Save Settings.

Archiving
Set the frequency to other than monthly if you think you need to change this setting. In most cases this won't be needed. Make sure Enable Post Pages is set to yes. Save Settings.

Site Feed
In the Post Feed Footer enter a copyright notice about your material if you are concerned about content lifting. Whatever you enter here will be visible after every post in your feed.

Permissions
You can choose to keep your blog private, invite readers to visit your blog or open your blog up to anyone and everyone.

Congratulations! With these settings in place it's time to go ahead and make your first post.

While any of the settings discussed in this tutorial are able to be altered at any time it is a good idea to put them in place prior to writing a first post so that you don't forget to set something important. This tutorial provides instructions on how to configure and set some of the basic features for Blogspot blogs at Blogger.com.

Get a Free Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:34:00 +0000

It's easy to blog at Blogger.com. And its absolutely free. This beginner's guide to creating a Blogspot blog at Blogger.com will get you blogging right away. We show you how to take advantage of this powerful blogging platform which is owned by Google. Don't spend you valuable hours wading through loads of random articles when you can find all the information you need right here in one place. Blogspot Blogger Guide walks you through the process of creating a blog, configuring it, and laying the foundations of a profitable and successful blog. Learn about gadgets, layout, templates, search engine optimisation and more. Sign up to Blogger.com and start enjoying the world of blogging confident in the knowledge that we are here to help.

Main Features of Blogspot Blogging at Blogger.com Blog

Simple user-friendly interface
Easy to post photos, text and videos
Use a blogspot subdomain or your own domain name
No restrictions on bandwidth
Unlimited video storage using YouTube
Photo storage using Picasa Web Album (1 GB)
Support for Mobile blogging

Getting a blog with Blogspot at Blogger.com is a 3 step process:
1. Create an Account
2. Name Your Blog
3. Choose a Template

Create an Account at Blogger.com?
Anyone can sign up for a free account at Blogger.com. Once you have created an account you will be free to create as many blogs as you wish using the one account name. You will be prompted for a name which you will use to sign all of your blog posts. This name is given to the author of your blog which is you. This will be visible to all visitors to your site so think about what name you like to be known by. I use The Wizz for all my sites you can use whatever you like. You can change it later if you need to.

If you already have a Google Account
You can use your existing Google Account to login if you have one. For instance an email address at gmail.com. This allows you to switch between various other Google services such as Google Webmaster Tools and Picasa Web Albums. Don't worry if you don't know what these services are as you will learn more about them in a later tutorial.

If you are not already at Blogger.com simply direct your browser to the main page of Blogger.com and click on Sign In from the main page.

If you don't already have a Google Account
If you don't have a Google Account at Blogger.com you will need to create one. Simply direct your browser to Blogger.com if you are not already there, and click on Sign in from the main page.

Click the Create an Account link at the bottom of the sign in page and follow the online instructions. This is an easy and relatively straightforward process.

Creating Your Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com
Once you have a Google account and have signed in you can create your blog. Follow the steps below to get blogging with Blogspot.

1. Click on the Create a Blog button. You will be directed to the area known as the Dashboard. You will see in the top righthand corner the following options: Dashboard, My Account, Help, Sign Out. Note these for future reference.

2. Check availability of your desired name eg yoursitename.blogspot.com by entering it into the box provided and clicking on Check Availability link. If it is available Blogger.com will confirm this. Otherwise you will have to come up with an alternative. With so many blogs now some of your desired names may be already allocated but if you persevere you will find something that closely matches the title you are after.

Naming your blog requires some thought as this is the URL address visitors will use to access your site.
Long names are difficult to remember and are therefore best avoided.
Choose a name that is short, memorable and is associated with your blog theme.
Try to choose a name (title) that has at least one of your keywords in it. For instance I chose Blogspot Blogger Guide because it described the purpose of my site and also covered two critical keywords: Blogspot and Blogger.

3. When Blogger.com has confirmed your site name (blog address) go back to the top and fill in your blog title. This will appear on your header once your blog is created so include spacing and title case for clarity for example Blogspot Blogger Guide is what I entered here as the URL for this site is http://blogspotbloggerguide.blogspot.com

3. Assuming you are going to use the default Blogger domain (yoursite.blogspot.com)rather than your own domain name (yoursite.com) click on the Continue button. Before you do this step make certain first that the exact title you want has been entered and you have spelt it correctly.

4. Choose a Template. You will be prompted to select a template from a variety of choices. It is not critical which you choose here as you can change it later if need to. The template for this blog is based on the Rounders template.

5. Finally you will receive Your Blog Has Been Created screen.

Click on the Start Blogging button and you will be taken to the Posting > Create a New Post screen. It is advisable to set a few settings on your blog before beginning your posts. These will be discussed in my next article: Set Up a Blogspot Blog at Blogger.com.

This tutorial discussed how to create a Blogspot blog at Blogger.com including creating a Google Account, naming your Blogspot blog and choosing a template.

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email

About Blogspot Blogger Guide

noreply@blogger.com (The Wizz) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Blogspot Blogger Guide provides tutorials, tips, tricks, tweaks and secrets to assist beginner bloggers to get the most out of their Blogspot Blogger.com blog. Let me show you how easy it is to customize your blog. Save time and effort by subscribing to Blogspot Blogger Guide. I am committed to bringing you useful information and instructions to help you grow your blog, attract more visitors to your site and improve your blog's functionality. Learn about SEO, layouts, sitemaps, feeds, gadgets, widgets, templates, analytics and more. I show you how to create a successful Blogspot blog. A wealth of Blogspot blogging techniques, walkthroughs, guides, instructions and tricks at your fingertips.

Subscribe to Blogspot Blogger Guide by Email