Basic Blogger Tips: How to Create Text Links That Open in a New Browser Window

Bloggers often find it necessary or helpful to add links to other pages or sites to their blog posts. This article explains how to create text links that open in a new browser window, meaning your reader won't leave your blog if they click on the link.

All too often bloggers lose first-time readers as a direct result of placing helpful links in blog posts. The key to successful blogging is to keep visitors on your blog long enough to convince them to subscribe, which may not happen if the first post they come across leads them somewhere else, which in turn leads them somewhere else, and...well, you get the picture...

The best way to avoid this problem is to edit the html code of the link created with the blogger text editor to redirect link to open in a new window.

How to Create Text Links That Open in a New Browser Window

• Create your link as usual, with the blogger text-editor (in compose mode, highlight the word or words you wish to turn into a link, press 'Link,' and enter the URL or email address you wish to link to). 
• Click 'Edit HTML' above the text editor, next to 'Compose.'
• Find the HTML code for your link, which will look something like the text in the following image (click to enlarge).

• Add the following code snippet directly after the URL's end-quote, and before the arrow-brackets: target="new" - as shown in the following example.

• Publish your blog post and check your link - it will now open in a new window, meaning your traffic won't be diverted away from your blog. The RSS link below is a working example.

If you found this tip helpful you may want to sign up for our RSS subscription, or read the following similar articles, providing additional tips and tricks for Blogger blogs.

Basic Blogger Tips: Creating a Successful Blog - Rome Wasn't Built in a Day!

With reports that over 20,000 blogs are started daily it's easy to see why many fail to win significant numbers of readers. In  fact, the vast majority are abandoned within the first six months, as bloggers become disillusioned with the results they see - usually as a result of their own unrealistic expectations regarding blogging.

Upon recognition that your blog is but a tiny grain of sand in an infinitely expanding ocean, you may feel as though you face an impossible task that simply isn't worth the effort it requires. But before you go ahead and give up, consider that Rome wasn't built in a day, and that all enduring structures are built slowly, and purposefully, with keen attention to detail. Also remember that the foundations are the most important feature of any building project. The same is true of your blog.

Creating a Successful Blog

If you speak to any successful professional blogger you'll soon discover they all have pretty much the same advice when it comes to building an enduring blog - patience, and perseverance. That's not to say that quality content, SEO techniques and design are unimportant - quite the opposite: they're detrimental - but understanding the time and effort required to build a successful blog is an important aspect of the process.

It is said that any blog will take a minimum of six months to a year to develop a reasonable page rank in it's particular niche. This is true even if you are posting quality content several times per week or more, so there are no short-cuts here, and patience is ultimately the key.

If you're planning to set up a blog and fill it with content under the assumption it will receive instant recognition from search engines, and an immediate surge of visitors, you are sorely mistaken; creating a successful blog requires motivation and commitment over a long period of time.

This means your topic-choice must be one you are willing and able to expand upon for years to come, or your blog will die an early death, quickly becoming redundant - along with millions of others.

In short, if you want to build an enduring, successful blog you are going to have to put in a lot of effort, on a regular basis, over a long period of time. If you're not prepared to do this you may as well give up at the first hurdle. Blogging isn't easy, but it's not exactly hard, once you know what you're doing. However, if you lack the patience, perseverance, commitment and motivation necessary, you may as well not waste your time.

Basic Blogger Tips: Why You Should NEVER Delete Redundant Blog Posts

Often regular bloggers find obsolete or redundant posts on their blog, and delete them to tidy the appearance. Today's Blogger tip explains why blog posts should never be fully deleted, and what you should do instead.

We all know what it's like. You publish a blog post when you're tired, upset, angry, drunk - or otherwise unable to judge the relevance or usefulness of the post - or you find an old post that is now completely irrelevant, or - worse still - totally inaccurate.

So, what do you do? You delete it, right?

No... This is a wrong move, and here's why: when you delete a blog post the url (web-page address) remains live, or active, and any search engine results or links posted elsewhere, by yourself or your readers, will pull up an error page.

This doesn't sound too bad, but actually it is. Search engines don't take kindly to error pages, and will rank your blog poorly if there are too many of them. Some search engines will fail to index a blog at all, if there are too many of these error pages.

So, what should you do instead? There are two options; one is to update or edit the post, making it relevant/accurate, or changing it to something entirely different. The other is to remove the content and replace it with a polite message explaining the page is no longer available. You needn't go into why, and a simple sentence or two will do. For example:

 "Unfortunately this page is no longer available. We apologise for any inconvenience."

In addition to the message, you could use also add links to similar posts, or those you believe will be relevant or interesting to any readers who've found their way to the post you've removed, which reduces your chances of losing readers. It also seems more professional than a blank page.

Whichever method you choose, you should remember to edit the labels or keywords, in addition to the blog post itself, as you don't want the search engines to register keyword spamming - that is, use of irrelevant keywords).

How to Add a PayPal Donate Button to a Blogger Blog

If your Blogger blog provides helpful information or free products, such as templates or web-tools, you may wish to install a PayPal donate button, to enable your readers to donate a small amount of money if they've found the information or products particularly useful or beneficial. 

Adding a PayPal donate button is completely free, but you will need to sign up for a PayPal account to do so. There are a few countries not yet served by PayPal; if you reside in one of these countries you will be unable to use this service.

How to Add a PayPal Donate Button to a Blogger Blog

• Log in to your PayPal account (if you don't have one visit the PayPal website and sign up).
• Click on the 'Merchant Services' tab.
• Scroll down and find the 'Donations' link in the right-hand sidebar.
• Click 'Donations,' which will re-direct you to another page, called Website Payments Standard Donations. In the sectioned titled 'Step One' you will find another 'Donations' link.
• Clink the second 'Donations' link, which will take you to the page where you can create and customise your PayPal donations button.
• Choose your settings (ensure you choose a button that will fit where it is intended - you can choose a small button if your sidebars are too narrow to accommodate the larger one) and enter your payment details into the field provided. You can upload an image of your choice for the button itself, or use the default PayPal donations button.
• Save the PayPal button and click 'Create Button.'
• Copy the HTML code provided.
• Log into your Blogger dashboard and click 'Layout' (if using Blogger draft click 'Design').
• Click 'Add Gadget' and choose 'HTML/Java Script.'
• Paste the HTML code into the box (title is optional) and press save.
• Position your button by dragging and dropping in the Layout or Design area of your Blogger dashboard.

 You can now accept donations from your blog readers securely through PayPal, using the 'PayPal Donations' button.

* Important note: PayPal will charge you a fee for each donation transaction. The fee will depend on the amount received, but there is a set charge in addition to a percentage; this means low-level donations will result in disproportionally high charges.

Here is an example of the PayPal Donate button.

How to Add an AddThis Share Button to Individual Blogger Blog Posts

Adding the AddThis share button to individual blog posts enables your readers to easily bookmark you blog and share your links with a potentially huge number of people. Today's Tips & Tricks for Blogger blogs post will instruct you in how to add an AddThis share button to individual Blogger blog posts.

Social bookmarking is an effective tool for those promoting an online business or blog. To encourage readers to promote your site you should add a share button to individual blog posts. The AddThis share button is a popular one because it's neat and compact, yet provides links to hundreds of social bookmarking sites.

You can choose from a number of AddThis share buttons, each with a slightly different design. It is also possible to receive tracking reports, displaying your button's performance. These reports act as a helpful guide when working out your stats and trying to determine the most beneficial promotional techniques, but are by no means necessary. For the tracking service you must register with an email address, but untracked buttons require no registration.

How to Add an AddThis Share Button to Individual Blogger Blog Posts

• Visit the AddThis website.
• If you desire tracking reports create an AddThis account, and follow these instructions.
• Select Blogger (or whichever blogging platform you use), and choose your button. There are more options available if the four shown aren't suitable.
• Click 'Get Your Button,' and scroll down to Blog Post Button instructions.
• At this point you may further customise the look of your button, by clicking on Customize AddThis, at the bottom of the page (or use the link I just provided).
• Copy the code.
• Log into your Blogger dasboard and click 'Layout,' and 'Edit HTML.'
• Download a copy of your template as it is currently, in case you make a mistake.
• Check the small 'Expand Widgets Template' box to the upper right of your blog's HTML template.
• Scroll approximately halfway down your HTML template and paste the code into the area shown in the following image (click on image for a close-up view).

• Click 'Save Template,' and you're done!

You should now be able to see the AddThis share button at the bottom of each published blog post. If the AddThis share button doesn't appear as planned simply upload the original template and start again, making sure you paste the code in the correct place.

How to Add A Free Wufoo Contact Form to A Blogger Blog

Bloggers often require a contact form, so that readers are able to get in touch, without the blog owner divulging an email address. This article will instruct you in how to add a free Wufoo contact form to a Blogger blog.

If you click on the 'Hire Me' link in the title-bar you'll see I've recently installed a contact form, so that anyone wishing to hire my services can get in touch easily, without me having to divulge any contact details. All messages received via the form will appear in my email box, and I can limit the number of forms sent from each IP, to help prevent spam.

The Wufoo forms are very comprehensive, with many functions, including template designs and many additional fields to those shown in my form - which can be set up to include questions and multiple choice responses. This is brilliant for those hoping to do business through their blog, as it means communication can be initiated anonymously, at least until it's established that a working relationship will commence.

The free Wufoo service provides three contact forms, with the ability to upgrade to a paid service if this exceeds your needs. A few features are blocked for non-paying users. However, many functions remain available, and the system is easy to use with very professional looking results. There are several options to choose from when it comes to displaying your form - from simple text-links to embedded frames, such as used on this blog.

How to Add a Free Wufoo Contact Form to A Blogger Blog

1. Visit the Wufoo website and set up an account.
2. Click 'Create Form' and add the fields you require, or use the template designer to install a pre-designed contact form.
3. Once you are happy with the elements you've added to the form you can move them around by dragging and dropping. You can also choose which fields are 'required,' and make other adjustments, by clicking on the field and checking/unchecking boxes in the left-hand sidebar.
4. Save the contact form
5. Under 'Forms' click 'Code' and choose how you wish to display the contact form on your blog. Copy the code.
6. To set up a separate contact form page, as I have done, you will need to update your Blogger template to a draft design. Using draft Blogger you are able to add pages in the form of a title-bar, by clicking 'Add Gadget' and choosing 'Standalone Pages'. Simply create a page and paste the code into the html section of your text editor. There are other options, such as pop-up forms or text-links, for those preferring not to use Blogger draft. These contact forms can be added to sidebars and used within blog posts.

Your Blogger blog now has a professional, anonymous contact form, with which your readers can communicate with you privately, and without any security risk that may result from revealing personal contact information to strangers.

Increase Blogger Blog Traffic by Using the Free Blog Catalogue Directory

Blog Catalogue is a free online blog directory. Its purpose is to allow bloggers to promote their own blogs in order to increase targeted traffic, find blogs created by others, and to network with other bloggers. This article provides detailed information about using the Blog Catalogue directory to increase traffic to a Blogger blog.

There are many blog directories to help increase traffic; some offer free services, whilst others require annual payment. One of the best free services is Blog Catalogue - a sophisticated mixture between a blog directory and a networking site, with numerous functions, such as a member's only forum, and the ability to review and 'favourite' listed blogs, join groups, befriend other bloggers, etc. Blog Catalogue also provides a list of useful tools and resources for bloggers, which members are able to review, creating a link to their profile page. Each group also has it's own discussion area for group members. The only condition of use (besides the blog being approved) is that you must add a blog catalogue button to your blog's front-page.

Both personal and professional bloggers are welcome at Blog Catalogue. Signing up is very straightforward, although it does take several business days for each new blog to be approved, and if you need to edit details (due to a spelling error or other adjustment) the blog will return to the back of the approval queue. In the meantime, you will be asked to provide a blog description and related keywords, as well as to create a profile. Throw yourself into this aspect of it - you're here to promote your blog, so use this opportunity to sell your blog and your personality to potential readers. The more appealing your profile is the more traffic your blog will receive.

Because of the superior functions provided by Blog Catalogue, it is possible to generate traffic to your blog quickly and easily. However, due to the review function, it is advisable not to register your blog until you have several pages of quality content, and not to become an active member of any groups or the forum until you are 100% happy with the look and functionality of your blog.

To get the most out of using Blog Catalogue it essential to join whichever (active) groups are relevant to your blog content, make friends with other members, review blogs, broadcast announcements, and generally be an active member of the network. Registering will bring a trickle of visitors, but to increase traffic in any real capacity regular participation in the Blog Catalogue community is required. The more active you are in the forum and group discussions, the more members will see (and may click on) the link to your profile. This can mean an increase traffic to your blog, and in members reviewing and rating your blog. Your blog will be internally ranked by Blog Catalogue, so the better reviews your blog receives, the higher up the list it will climb. The highest ranking blogs appear on the first page of category results, and so on; appearing on page one or two greatly increases your chances of increasing traffic and gaining subscribers or followers.

There is also an option to upgrade your membership to a paid service, providing far greater exposure within the Blog Catalogue community. There are two upgrade options, one starting at $8 p/m, and the second at $60 p/m. Option one is arranged on a first-come, first-served basis, and your money will get you a top five slot for your particular niche, and sponsor links leading to your profile, which links to your blog. Option two puts your blog in the spotlight slot on the first page of your blog category, and is guaranteed to increase traffic, with sponsor links redirecting to your blog.

How to Add Email Subscriptions to a Blogger Blog Using Feedburner

Email subscriptions account for a large percentage of any successful blogger's return traffic.  This Tips & Tricks for Blogger Blogs article will instruct you in how to add email subscriptions to a Blogger blog using Feedburner.


Adding email subscriptions to a Blogger blog is a simple yet effective way to allow visitors to easily follow your blog, without any understanding of RSS feeds or readers.


Most people check their email accounts more regularly than their RSS readers, so email subscriptions can be an extremely effective way to successfully reach your readers on a daily basis. Ideally you should offer both email subscriptions and RSS feeds, in addition to Google follow.

Before adding email subscriptions you must change your RSS feeds over to Feedburner by setting up a Feedburner account, adding your blog URL, and entering the new feed address into the box provided on the 'Site Feed' tab under 'Settings' in your Blogger dashboard.

How to Add Email Subscriptions to a Blogger Blog Using Feedburner:

1. Sign into your Feedburner account.
2. Click on the website in question and then on the 'Publicize' tab.
3. Click on 'Email Subscriptions' in the left-hand column.
4. Choose whether you prefer to display a full subscription form or a simple text-link. The design of your blog may limit you to using a text-link only.
5. Choose Blogger from the drop-down menu, which is currently displaying the option for Typepad.
6. Click 'Go'.
7. You will now be redirected to your Blogger dashboard to add and save the widget.
8. You can now move the widget to a suitable part of your blog by dragging and dropping (this is done in the 'Page Elements' area of the 'Layout' tab in your Blogger dashboard). It is recommended that you place subscription links and forms as close to the top of the web-page as possible.
9. Return to the Feedburner screen and press 'Save.'
10. Directly beneath the 'Email Subscriptions' link in the left-hand sidebar of your Feedburner account you will notice four further tabs, titled 'Subscription Management,' 'Communication Preferences,' 'Email Branding,' and 'Delivery options.' You can change settings under these tabs to alter colours, change the address from which the posts are sent out, set delivery times, etc.

Visitors to your blog are now able to subscribe to your blog posts via email!

Blogger Basics: 10 Simple Tips & Tricks for Effective Blogging

This article provides simple tips and tricks for effective blogging. Following this advice will help you maximise your chances of reaching your targeted audience, gaining subscribers, and successfully monetising a Blogger blog. Some of the following tips apply mainly to those blogging professionally, but many apply equally to those blogging for pleasure.

1. Marketing: Effective blogging requires that you know and understand your market. Choose a topic or a small number of related topics and stick to blogging about those. Niche blogs receive far more traffic and are more relevant to readers, who are usually looking for information - not a glimpse into your inner world or to find out what you had for breakfast.
2. Appearance: Design is important. A cluttered blog with poor navigation will almost certainly put off visitors. Keep it simple and clean. Use categories or stand-alone pages to enable readers to find exactly what they are looking for. Install useful widgets and add relevant ads, but don't crowd the site. List interesting or useful labels, and provide a search box.
3. Subscriptions: Make it easy for visitors to follow your blog. Add social bookmarking buttons, provide an RSS feed, enable email subscriptions, and add similar applications, such as Facebook's Networked Blogs. Keep important buttons close to the top of the blog.
4. Blog Titles: Use appropriate titles for blog posts. They should be clear, concise, and contain relevant keywords. Choosing a rare keyword combination as a title-phrase can be one way to reduce competition and increase traffic. Detailed information can be found in my previous post, How to Choose Successful Blog Titles.
5. Blogging: each post should ideally contain from 300 to 500 words. The title phrase should be repeated more than once in the text, and individual keywords should appear numerous times, at the rate of around 5%. Break each blog post down into short paragraphs, and add a small, relevant image whenever possible (only ever use images you own the rights to, or that were published under the creative commons attribution and marked as suitable for commercial use). Ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors before publishing a blog (Blogger draft now includes an integral spell-check but professional software such as Office Word or a dedicated writing program such as Whitesmoke is essential if you have major problems in this area). Not only do errors look unprofessional, but they can also affect page rank. 
6. Domain Names: Buy a custom domain and host with whichever company fulfils your needs, but don't use a free Blogspot or Wordpress domain name if hosting on these platforms. A blog is more professional-looking to visitors if it has a private domain name. Blogging on a custom domain also provides SEO benefits.
7. Post Frequency: Blog regularly, but don't swamp your readers with several page-long blog posts per day. Keep it short and sweet, and if you have nothing to say simply keep quiet. Most people wouldn't remove a blog from an RSS reader due to not receiving enough feeds, but they may do if they are frequently overwhelmed with irrelevant or lengthy posts. Besides, blogging about nothing is pointless!
8. Advertising: Avoid using pop-ups and/or too many brightly-coloured or moving images - some readers will find these off-putting and leave your blog as a result. Advertise products relevant to blog content.
9. Promotion: Promote your blog using social bookmarking sites and blog directories. Network a little and find people with similar interests to the topics you're blogging about. Viral marketing can be hugely successful, if the right person promotes your blog. 
10. Content: Use only original content. Not only is it disrespectful to steal someone else's work, it will usually work against you in search engine results.

Detailed information concerning many of the above tips can be found in individual posts on this site.

Here are some useful books providing more tips and tricks for effective blogging. You can add them to your Amazon basket without leaving the site. For more great books about blogging, marketing, monetising, and promoting a blog please visit the Tips & Tricks for Blogger Blogs Bookstore.

Effective Online Promotional Tools: Writing Articles for Online Publishers to Promote a Blog

Writing articles for online publishers that allow self-serving links within the text-body is an effective way for new bloggers to promote and drive traffic to a blog, in addition to creating valuable back-links that help improve the blog’s page rank. There are many online publishers facilitating such promotion, and the best part is that it's absolutely free.

Online promotional tools are often too expensive to be considered by those new to professional blogging, or simply blogging for pleasure. However, most serious bloggers have the skills to write a 400-500 page article, focusing on a topic or topics most often featured on the blog. Clever use of this form of promotion can help a new blog become more successful in many ways, and all it costs is the time it takes you to write an article.

With a little SEO knowledge it is possible to take advantage of the publishing site’s well-established page ranking, and quick indexing by search engines, to promote web-pages that may otherwise remain unseen. When coupled with the additional exposure to traffic from the publishing site’s writer-members, this can be an effective way to drive targeted traffic to a blog.

There are a number of online publishers to choose from when looking for ways to effectively promote a blog. Choose one which appears regularly in search engine results for keywords relevant to blog content. Some publishers place ads on the articles, sharing the revenue generated with writers. Others allow writers to add their own advertising, such as Adsense, Amazon Associates, and Chiquita, to the articles. In this way the articles are potential money earners, in addition to effective online promotional tools.

When choosing a topic for the article it is necessary to consider the keywords most often used in blog posts (if unsure simply check the label list in Blogger dashboard) and those that make up meta-tags - not using meta-tags? Click HERE to find out how to add them to a Blogger blog. It’s best to choose a title phrase that includes keywords which are not too often written about, but searched for reasonably often.

The free Goggle Adwords keyword tool helps determine this, and can aid greatly in choosing effective titles for articles, and in creating rare keyword combinations. Choosing rare keyword combinations for an article is beneficial because it reduces the competition from other blogs and websites, meaning the article will be more likely to be displayed on the first page of search results. People rarely search further than the first two or three pages, so appearing on the first page will guarantee an increase in views, which may convert to blog traffic, as long as the article presents the link in the correct manner.

To promote a blog effectively the articles must be relevant to the blog’s general subject-matter (or at least that that of several articles/blog posts). Articles will ideally introduce a broader subject than that of the blog posts they links to, which should contain more useful or detailed information. For example, when creating a promotional article to promote this blog post, a suitable title might be ‘Cost-Free Ways to Promote a Blog.’ The article would list several free methods of driving traffic to a blog (such as listing in blog directories and using social bookmarking sites) and would list Writing Articles for Online Publishers as one of these, turning the text into a link to this article. Anyone needing more details regarding how to do so is likely to visit the link, thus driving targeted traffic to the blog, and potentially gaining a subscriber or follower.

Online Publishers That Allow the Use of Self-Serving Promotional Links within Articles:

Hubpages

Infobarrel

Squidoo

Ezine

For more information about writing articles online, freelance writing, and online publishers, please visit Freelance Writing Online

How To Monetise Your Blogger Blog Using Infolinks In-Text Advertising

One of the latest forms of internet advertising to grace our computer screens is in-text ads - advertising links embedded within internet text that, when hovered over, produce a relevant pop-up ad. This article explains how to monetise your Blogger blog using Infolinks in-text advertising.

Infolinks isn't the best known form of in-text advertising, but it is the company that pays the highest rate per click, and reviews suggest Infolinks also comes out on top when it comes to providing relevant adverts. I'm using Infolinks to monetise this and another blog, but I'm not currently in a position to review the company as far as earning potential is concerned. Instead, I will provide instructions regarding how to install Infolinks in-text advertising to a Blogger blog, and some introductory advice and guidelines concerning its use. I will, however, mention that there do seem to be one or two categories displaying very few (or no) relevant in-text ads, at this point in time. I assume this is because the Infolinks is still undergoing major growth and, as such, will correct itself, as more advertisers sign up.

Before signing up for an Infolinks account you should realise that not all websites are accepted. It is therefore advisable to wait until you have published at least ten pages of quality content before applying, or your website will simply sit in a queue, until it's ticking whatever boxes are required for acceptance.

Infolinks is incredibly simple to use and install, although the ads do slow down page-loading speed very slightly. Users are able to customise the look of Infolinks in-text ads by switching from double-underlined to single-underlined, with less intrusive dots (although this is not advised), or altering the colour of the in-text links to match those of the website or blog. It's also possible to choose from which category ads are displayed, and set the number of ads to appear on each webpage (the maximum number being twelve). The in-text ads themselves are fairly noticeable to visitors (depending on the settings you choose), so are easy for readers to avoid if they don't wish to see the pop-ups.

How to install Infolinks in-text advertising to a Blogger blog:

• Visit the Infolinks website and sign up for an account.
• Log in and click on the '1-minute integration' tab.
• Press the 'add to Blogger' button (Note: Mozilla Firefox users will be unable to add the widget in this manner, so should copy and paste the html provided before the last BODY tag in their html, or use an alternative browser such as Google Chrome, which works perfectly).
• You will now be redirected to Blogger, where you must sign in and select the correct blog before being able to add the widget.

If you wish to customise your ads use the following instructions:

• Click on the 'advanced integration wizard' tab.
• Choose a colour, and other preferred settings.
• Press save.

If ads are appearing in the wrong parts of your blog - for example, you may have link lists in your sidebars which are being overwritten by infolinks ads - you can easily remove them by editing the html of your blog template to start and stop infolinks at the desired places on your webpage. Full instructions are provided on the 'advanced integration' page, the link to which can be found at the bottom of your 'advanced integration wizard' page. Instructions are also provided for other customisations, including setting the system to display ads based on keywords, which should lead to a higher click through rate (CTR), which translates into higher earnings.

How To Use Redgage to Promote your Blogger Blog & Create Valuable Back-links

Using Redgage to promote your Blogger blog is a great way to increase traffic, build a network of followers, and create back-links to improve search engine optimisation. Another great thing about using Redgage is that you get paid whenever anyone visits your links!

Redgage is a social bookmarking/networking site, where members are able to upload blog posts, images, articles and - most importantly for bloggers - links to other websites or blogs. Every link posted appears on the Redgage website, and usually attracts several views in the first few minutes without any networking having been done, or friends having been made. With a large fan-base this number increases dramatically, and can generate a knock-on effect, with readers from Redgage tweeting, stumbling or digging your blog post, or sharing by other means.

Not only does Redgage help generate traffic but it can also help you in your quest to optimise your blog for search engines, by creating valuable back-links to your blog posts. Each time you post a link to a blog post on Redgage your blog becomes more visible to search engines, which will in turn drive more targeted traffic to your blog.

Redgage pays its members every time another member clicks on a link, and payment is made via a Redgage credit card, which is topped up each time the minimum payout level of $50 is reached. One of the ladies on my own Redgage friend list has earned over $500 promoting her website, and has no doubt also benefited from the increased traffic and exposure, in terms of her online sales.

The minus-point with Redgage is the time it takes to post each link: the system is fairly slow and you must add a description and tags, and choose an image from your blog post to display as a thumbnail, before you may add your link. However, for those promoting personal blogs, or with very small/young businesses, it beats paying for back-links elsewhere.

How To Add the Outbrain Ratings & Recommended Posts Widget to A Blogger Blog

Using the Outbrain recommended posts and ratings / thumbs up widget is a great way to gain additional exposure. Outbrain also helps you gauge which posts your readers find most enjoyable or useful - meaning you are able to plan future articles catering to your readers exact needs and preferences. This article will in instruct you in how to add the Outbrain ratings and recommended posts widget to a Blogger blog.

You may have already noticed the Outbrain widget operating on websites or blogs you've visited. It appears at the bottom of each post, in the form of images and links (as used on this site), or links only, to recommended articles or blog posts. These suggestions are supplied based on popularity and relevance, and the widget can be set up to display articles from your own site only, or to also display recommended articles from other websites. Displaying posts and articles from other blogs and websites means you risk losing a reader, but providing useful links makes your blog more useful to visitors, so you'll need to weigh up the pros and cons and decide which system is best for your blog. 

The Outbrain widget also provides an optional ratings or recommendation system, allowing readers to rate an article from 1-5 stars, or give it a 'thumbs up,' depending on how the widget was set up. This is a brilliant way for Bloggers to learn which of their blog posts are enjoyed by their readers, which will be a great aid in planning successful future posts. You can easily change all settings at any time, without reinstalling the widget, so don't worry if you change your mind about anything later on.

How To Add Outbrain Widget to A Blogger Blog:

1. Visit the Outbrain website.
2. Choose your preferred settings for image or text, and ratings or recommendations. 
3. Check box to accept terms and conditions and Click 'Blogger' as your chosen platform (Note: the latest version of Mozilla Firefox is unable to install the Outbrain widget - and any others I've attempted to add from external sites - so use the Google Chrome browser (which works perfectly), or another of your choice.
4. If you'd like to see traffic reports on your Outbrain views and ratings check the box saying 'Get access to advanced settings,' and sign up using your email address (this is optional).
5. Click 'Install,' at which point you will be redirected to your Blogger account to sign in or choose which blog you want to add the widget to. 
6. Click 'Add Widget.'

You should now have successfully added the Outbrain widget to your blog, and (if so) will see the recommended posts appearing directly beneath each of your own blog posts. If you have any problems you can contact customer services through live-chat, who should be able to rectify things for you.

Note: The Outbrain widget is set up to automatically use the CSS (colours and style) already used in your own blog template, but if it isn't appearing as you would like it to the Outbrain staff are happy to stop by and edit the CSS for you, should you have no prior experience doing so.

Using the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program to Monetise Blogger Blogs

Using the Amazon Associates affiliate program to monetise Blogger blogs is a simple way to help generate additional advertising revenue.

The Google Adsense affiliate programme has been around for many years, and there are already several major competitors in activity, particularly for those resident in the US. However, bloggers around the world are already using another reputable affiliate program to monetise their blogs, and it's recently been fully integrated into the Blogger dashboard, to simplify its use.

Amazon Associates is similar to Adsense, in that adverts for products will appear on your site, but the program provides far greater freedom regarding which products you promote, and exactly how you choose to display them. This may prove very beneficial to bloggers, who are now able to promote products specific to their blog's content.

You can to sign up to whichever Amazon Associates program you prefer - US, UK, Europe, etc., or you can sign up for multiple accounts in different currencies - which is very useful for those whose traffic is international. It means you can promote the best books available on your blog's main subject matter from several continents. 

However, when advertising products in a currency other than your own you will be paid by cheque, so will require a bank account that accepts foreign currencies (usually a business account). Alternatively, you can choose to be paid in vouchers to spend on the appropriate site, but this isn't going to boost your earnings, so should be avoided if possible.

To benefit fully from using Amazon Associates affiliate program you will need to spend some time choosing products relevant to your blog content, then adding them to widgets, and installing the widgets to your blog or website; if you don't Amazon will automatically choose your products (in the way adsense chooses your ads), and will often repeat the same products in several widgets or posts, thus minimising your potential earnings. You can also add individual products (as many as you wish) to each blog post, in the form of a text link, an image, or both.

You are also able to add a full Amazon store to your site, filling it with individual products, or choosing entire categories you believe will benefit your readers. This store can be set to open in a new window or can be embedded into your website so it appears to be a part of your webpage. Setting up and maintaining the system is far more time consuming than running adsense ads, but I can see the potential for far higher earnings if the programme is used carefully and the blog or website recieves enough traffic.

Amazon Associates has created all sorts of wonderful widgets to maximise your internet earnings, from banner ads and favourite product collections to flash slideshows. And you can often change the size to help you integrate the widgets to your particular website or blog, in a professional-looking manner. You are also able to add simple text links which display pop-up product reviews when hovered over. This means any product you might mention when blogging (book or album tiitle, or virtually any other product you care to think of, from Amazon's vast selection) has the potential to become a product link with all the information required by a buyer - price (new and used), average customer rating, stock level etc. - and a button to add the item to their basket without leaving your blog or website. As long as they pay for it within 90 days you get 5% commission, and this rate will increase as you provide more referrals.

Setting up an Amazon Associates account through Blogger is very simple: you simply click on the 'Monetise' tab in your Blogger dashboard, as if you were about to create an Adsense account, and click on 'Amazon Associates.' Here you'll be directed to set up an Amazon Associates account in your chosen currency in order to get started adding products or widgets to your site. If you're not using Blogger you should visit Amazon Associates via a search engine and set up an account. Full instructions will then be given as to how to proceed adding books or other products to your website.

How To Add A Custom Domain to Blogger Blogs Using Go Daddy

This article provides exact instructions concerning how to add a custom domain to a Blogger Blog, using the well-known internet provider Go Daddy. If your blog is hosted anywhere other than Blogspot, or you are purchasing a domain from another provider, you will need to refer to instructions supplied by your host, or the company providing your private domain.

When you initially set up a Blogger blog you are asked to choose a Blogspot web address - which may or may not be available, because each must be unique - or given the option of adding a custom domain. If the Blogspot address is available it will be formed as follows: 

http://(your name).blogspot.com - although anyone typing www.(your name).blogspot.com into their browser will be automatically redirected to your blog.

However, many small business owners feel it looks less professional to use a blogspot web address, preferring to add a custom domain and simply host the blog with Blogger. As you can see by checking your browser the url address for this site is a private one (there is no reference to Blogspot), yet this blog is hosted by Blogger. This provision also means that if the blogspot address you've chosen is already in use you can simply purchase a private domain and use that instead. To do so I recommend that you choose any Blogspot address that's relevant to content and then change over immediately to your private domain address. This way, should anything go wrong with your custom domain (like you forget to renew it), you will still have your Blogspot address functioning.

You can use any custom domain name for your blog, and setting it up is fairly simple, depending on which provider you choose. I purchased my domain names from Go Daddy, as their reputation is good and they currently have a great deal on .info addresses (around £0.60 for the first year!); they also offer bulk pricing for those buying a number of domain names. I found Go Daddy's own instructions for adding my domain names to my Blogger account far easier to work with than Blogger's own, which were incredibly confusing and didn't actually work!

How to Add A Custom Domain Using Go Daddy

The following instructions will guide you through purchasing a domain name from www.GoDaddy.com , setting it up correctly to work with your blog, and activating your blog to accept the new domain name:

1. Choose and purchase a domain name; if the one you desire has already been taken, as is fairly likely, a box on the right will suggest similar names available for purchase. If you have your heart set on a particular name there are so many extensions to choose from nowadays that you should be able to purchase some version of it. If you can, choose a .com, .net, .biz, or .info. Alternatively (and this is ideal if your visitors will come from one particular country), you can choose a demographic extension (e.g. .co.uk, .nz, etc.). 
2. Log in to your account manager at Go Daddy and click on 'Domain Manager,' where you'll see a list of your domain names.
3. Check the box for the chosen domain and click on 'Nameservers.' Choose 'park domain' and click 'okay.'
4. In domain manager, click on the web address in question. Under 'Total DNS,' click 'Total DNS Control.'
5. Under CNAMES (Aliases) find the line with www (it should be on the bottom row) and click on the edit button (a small icon to the right with a piece of paper and a pencil).
6. Edit the 'Points to Host Name' to 'ghs.google.com' and save.
7. In 'Domain Manager,' check the box of the address in question and click 'Forward,' choosing 'forward domain.'
8. Enter your blogspot url in the box provided, leaving the box below checked, and press save.
9. Log into your blogger dasboard and click 'Settings.' Under the 'Publishing' tab (which shows which blogspot address you are currently publishing on) you will find a link called 'Custom Domain.'
10. Click on 'Custom Domain,' where you will be given an option of purchasing a domain through Google (you may wish to purchase your domain directly through Google, but do check you can't buy the same name cheaper elsewhere, first).
11. Click on 'Advanced Settings' and enter your new domain address in the box provided, enter the verification code below, and save.
12. Now simply tick the box below your new domain name to redirect DNS traffic, and reverify the code.

You are now hosting your blog on your private domain name!

*If you've just purchased your domain please allow 24-48 hours for your changes to take effect. If after this time there is still an error you should contact Go Daddy customer services on their 24/7 helpline.

SEO Tricks for Blogger: How To Choose Successful Blog Titles

Choosing a successful title for a blog post is a fine art that needs to be perfected quickly if you are to attract visitors and keep them on your site. Not only do you need to consider SEO (search engine optimisation) when choosing a title, but you also need to ensure it's interesting enough to make people click on your link over other people's, and to view more of your pages once they've landed on your site.

How to Choose Successful Blog Titles:

Successful titles must be informative, relevant to content, and should contain the most important keywords from your blog post. However, you shouldn't spam the title with unnecessary keywords, as this may go against your site's ranking, and will probably make little literary sense, thus potentially putting off prospective readers. Keep titles short, sweet, and to the point. Use the occasional relevant adjective (a descriptive word, such as 'successful,' as seen in the title of this blog post), or an exciting or unusual-sounding adjective to grab people's attention and encourage them to view your page/website.

When choosing a title, consider how likely it is that people will be searching for your title phrase and keywords, and expand upon it/them slightly, if necessary. For example, if I were to publish a blog post providing instructions in a new jewellery-making technique I'd created, with a name few people would know or search for, it would be sensible to title the post 'New Jewellery Making Technique: (Insert name of technique here), rather than simply naming the technique itself. Additionally, be sure to include the title phrase in your blog content at least once - more often if possible - but without interrupting the natural flow of the text. Also, use keywords from your title individually several times each during the text.

It's often a good idea to write an article using a title and keywords that are very specific and not often used. This increases your chances of appearing on the first page of search results, as there is less competition for those specific search terms. If you set up an Adwords account you are also able to check which are the most searched for keywords regarding your specific content, and to create keyword combinations using a tool. This can save an incredible amount of time. If you plan to publish many blog posts about the same topic (which is helpful for SEO) try to ensure each title is unique in some way.
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Blogspot in Draft: New Free Blogger Templates

Brilliant news for bored Bloggers!

Blogger recently released a draft version, allowing users to choose from several new professional-looking templates, all of which are easily customisable - even for those with no understanding of html - and all of which are absolutely free.

As you can see, I've already installed one here, and I'm very pleased with the result. It took a few moments what with adjustments, because it's a slower system then the current one, but I was able to change the size of the page elements with the simple use of a slider, choose from various new layouts, and adjust the colour and font for all text (even on gadgets). You can also add an image from a selection, which will form the background of your blog. To do this simply click on the tiny arrow next to the 'background image' box in the 'background' tab (I haven't used this particular function on this website, but you can see example HERE & HERE. There are many backgrounds to choose from, mostly themed (unlike the two I linked to, which are abstract designs), so you should find something suitable for your blog - if not simply leave it transparent).

To make use of the new version you need to log in at the address below, where you will find a new 'template designer' tab has been added to the 'layout' section, in your dashboard. From there it's pretty much self-explanatory - enjoy!

Please note that installing a new template on your blog will remove your current template, as well as all your widgets, gadgets and previous customisations; so, be sure to download a copy of your current template before changing, in case you are unhappy with the results.


Blogger in Draft


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Getting Started: Blogger Basics - Setting Up A Blog

Setting up a blog can be slightly overwhelming if you're new to the internet. This post is aimed at those with no prior blogging experience, nor any understanding of html (the code used to create websites). Here we'll cover the basics of setting up a blogger blog, such as choosing a suitable name and web address, customising a template, adding widgets, and applying appropriate settings.

If your reason for blogging is solely to keep in touch with friends and family, or to record your thoughts and experiences, you'll be ready to start after completing this stage. However, if you wish to use your blog to promote your business, or you want to display advertisements to generate a little income, you'll need to optimise and customise it further, as will be explained in future posts.

Setting Up A Blog:

• Before you go about setting up a Blogger blog you need to set up a gmail (googlemail) account, which you can do HERE.
• You then need to set up a Blogger account HERE, which you do using your gmail log-in details.
• Next you must choose a name for your blog and a website address (url). These needn't be the same, but it's best to use words that describe your business in your url if you're planning on using your blog to promote it. For example, if your business is called Zeena and you make jewellery your url should be www.zeenahandcraftedjewellery.blogspot.com, rather than www.zeena.blogspot.com. This is because including these keywords will help your website be found more easily by prospective clients later on (we'll learn more about search engine optimisation in future posts). It is also possible to use your own domain name (website address) for your blog, and this option may be preferable for businesses, as it appears more professional. However, this option isn't free or necessary and will therefore be explained fully in a later post.
• Once you've named your blog and the url has been confirmed as available (and you've checked spelling carefully for mistakes!) you can save it and move onto adjusting the appearance.
• After saving you will be directed to choose a template (a background design for your blog). If there are none you like the look of, or you have a specific theme/design in mind, it's possible to install a custom template, but this is far trickier than using one of blogger's own, so for now we'll work on a basic template by customising it with colours and fonts of your choice, to make it unique. This blog is currently using minima stretch, with a few slight changes to font and colour, but as we progress through various tips and tricks you'll see many changes occurring, all of which you'll be able to apply to your own blog, if you choose.
• Once you've saved your template-choice you can start changing colours and fonts to suit your needs, by clicking on the 'Layout' tab in your Blogger dashboard and then on 'Fonts and Colours,' where you are given the option to adjust many details. Play around here until you've achieved the look you want - and make sure you remember to save any changes!
• Now you can start adding gadgets to your blog. The 'Profile' and 'Followers' gadgets will have already been added to get you started, although these can be easily removed if desired; to do so simply visit your dashboard (see top left hand corner of blog page), click on the 'Layout' tab, then click 'edit' on the gadget you wish to remove and click the 'remove' button (and don't worry - you can always add them again at a later date if necessary, by clicking 'add a gadget' in 'layout'). 
• Adding third party widgets to your blog can slow down your page speed (which can affect page ranking), and some have also been known to cause errors or become infected with trojans, causing your entire blog to disappear, and making it very difficult to remove the widget; in particular live visitor counters seem to cause problems on the Blogger platform, and should be avoided unless you're using a reputable company such as feedjit. As a general rule when setting up a blog, add only those widgets necessary to improve the navigation of of your site and provide helpful functions for visitors; I recommend keeping the 'Profile' and 'Followers' widgets and also adding the following:

1. Subscribe To
2. Stand-Alone Pages
3. Recent Posts
4. Recent Comments
5. Blog Archive
6. Search Box
7. Label-Cloud (or list, as you prefer)
8. Share It.

• After adding these widgets you can move them around by dragging and dropping them in the areas provided. Once you have some followers (ask a few friends and/or relatives to sign up to get the ball rolling) you may want to place this widget close to the top of the screen to encourage others to follow, but until then it's better placed closer to the bottom (few people will follow a blog no-one else has shown an interest in). The 'share it' widget should always be placed near the top of the page (because it could bring you additional visitors, so needs to be visible), as should the recent posts widget and your profile and image (you may want to use your company logo here if you're intending to promote your business). Otherwise, arrange the widgets in an aesthetically pleasing manner, as preferred.
• Now you will want to adjust some settings so that your blog behaves in the exact way you wish. For example, do you want people to be able to comment on your blog posts? If so you need to consider moderating comments (pre-approving before publication), as blogs tend to receive lots of spam. Comments can be set up in the 'Settings' tab of your dashboard by clicking on 'Comments' and checking the boxes required. I would advise moderating comments and using a text verifier to prevent spam.  Alternatively, you may wish your blog to remain entirely private, or to manually invite only people you know as members; this is possible in the 'Permissions' tab, but you are limited to 100 readers. There are numerous other tabs in the 'Settings' area and you should visit each page and check all the boxes required to modify your blog to your exact requirements. You can change these settings at any time, should you feel you need to later on.

And that's it - you're ready to publish your first blog post! A sensible first post is a welcome blog or an introduction, explaining who you are and what your blog is about. 

Tomorrow we'll look at how to choose appropriate titles and how to use keywords to improve your ranking with search engines.

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Welcome Aboard All New Bloggers!

If you need help getting your blogger blog up and running, customising it or adding a third party template or widget, optimising it for search engines, or monetising with adverts and affiliate programs, you're in the right place.

After setting up my own blogger blog, running into all sorts of problems, and spending hours searching online for legitimate advice, and widgets that didn't malfunction, I decided to set up a blog to help others to do the same.

This is it, and over the coming weeks and months I'll be adding a new tip or trick several times each week, starting at the very beginning, for those with no prior blogging experience, and working up to trickier stuff.

So, if you're looking for legitimate advice, helpful tips and tricks, and links to useful websites and resources, please follow the blog or subscribe to the RSS feed and we'll have you up and running in no time.

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