Writing blog posts can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, depending on your goals for your blog. If you write a blog for fun with no long-term goals for driving traffic or making money from your blog, writing blog posts requires little more than translating the thoughts in your head to your keyboard and then online. However, if you want to grow your blog and monetize it, you need to consider several issues before you write and publish content on your blog. Determine your short- and long-term goals for your blog to identify how to apply the following considerations to your writing.
Using different formats for your blog posts
A blog post can be just a few sentences or many paragraphs. Some blog posts include an image
and no text, whereas others might contain a complete tutorial or an online lesson teaching
readers how to accomplish a task. Think about your audience (or at least the audience you
want to have read your blog content) as you write your blog posts and create content that
would appeal to them. The variety of blog posts in the following list gives you a starting place to
help write your own blog posts.
Current events: Write about something you heard about in the news.
How-to or tutorials: Share your expertise in your blog topic by writing a tutorial or instructions to help your readers accomplish a task or an activity.
Interviews: Contact a prominent person who works in a field related to your blog topic and interview her for a blog post.
Link love: Find interesting blog posts across the blogosphere that are related to your blog topic and publish a post that provides links to those posts to help your readers find new blogs and to help you connect with other bloggers.
Lists: Write your top five tips or suggestions or your top ten must-have products to help your blog readers. Alternatively, write a list of don’ts or a similar list of warnings.
Opinion: Write a post that simply provides your opinion on an issue or event.
Photos: Post a photo related to your blog topic.
Polls: Ask your readers for their opinions by publishing a blog post that includes a poll or
survey.
Reviews: Write a review of a product, an event, a book, or anything else related to
your blog topic.
Coming up with titles
The first thing visitors to your blog will notice about your blog posts are the titles of those posts. With that in mind, you should consider a few issues as you compose the title for each of your posts. Write titles that
Arouse your readers’ curiosity: Just like an advertising headline, your post title should lure readers in and entice them to want to read further.
Are relevant to your readers: Web surfers are busy and have little time to read deeply on any page to find content that matters to them. Write headlines that are easy to understand, and make sure the post delivers the content that the title suggests.
Include searchable keywords: Search engines value blog post titles strongly in terms of prioritizing your content for keyword searches. Be certain to include important keywords in your post titles.
Considering search engine optimization
If you want to grow your blog by attracting new visitors, you should write blog posts with search engine optimization in mind. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! love blogs simply because the content is updated frequently. With each new blog post comes a new entry point and a new way for a search engine to find your content. Take some time to research keywords that are relevant to your blog topic, and then use those keywords in your blog posts and titles. Each blog post you write should be optimized for a specific keyword phrase, and all your keywords should be relevant to your overall blog topic. If you’re serious about growing your blog, invest time and effort into finding out how to write for the Web with an eye toward search engine optimization.
You have to decide whether you want anyone with Internet access to be able to read your blog or to allow only a certain group of people, such as friends and family, to see it. This decision affects how you configure your blog permissions settings on the Settings tab of your Blogger dashboard.
You can select from the following options to configure the privacy settings for your blog:
1. Select the Permissions tab from the Settings navigation bar in your Blogger dashboard.
2. Under the Blog Readers heading, choose your privacy settings by selecting the appropriate radio button to determine who can view this blog:
• Anybody: This setting allows anyone with Internet access to see your blog.
• Only people I choose: Enter e-mail addresses for the specific people you want to invite to read your blog.
• Only blog authors: Only those people who have access to publish content to your blog can view it online.
The decision to make your blog private or public is up to you and should be a direct result of your goals for your blog. If you want to simply share your thoughts, ideas, or photos with just a few people, creating a private blog is a viable choice. However, if you want to grow your blog, increase traffic, and make money from it, set your blog permission to allow anybody to view it.
You can select from the following options to configure the privacy settings for your blog:
1. Select the Permissions tab from the Settings navigation bar in your Blogger dashboard.
2. Under the Blog Readers heading, choose your privacy settings by selecting the appropriate radio button to determine who can view this blog:
• Anybody: This setting allows anyone with Internet access to see your blog.
• Only people I choose: Enter e-mail addresses for the specific people you want to invite to read your blog.
• Only blog authors: Only those people who have access to publish content to your blog can view it online.
The decision to make your blog private or public is up to you and should be a direct result of your goals for your blog. If you want to simply share your thoughts, ideas, or photos with just a few people, creating a private blog is a viable choice. However, if you want to grow your blog, increase traffic, and make money from it, set your blog permission to allow anybody to view it.
If you want your readers to be able to access your old posts after the posts are moved off your blog’s home page, you need to make sure that you configure your archive settings before you start publishing content on your blog.
Configure the following settings to set up your blog archives:
1. From the Archive Frequency drop-down menu, select how often you want your blog posts to be archived.
Take a few minutes to decide how you want visitors to be able to access your older blog posts. The setting you choose here affects how your blog archives are displayed in your blog’s sidebar. Do you want visitors to find your old posts by month, week, or day? Choose the setting that
creates the user experience you want on your blog.
2. Select Yes or No from the Enable Post Pages drop-down menu depending on whether you want each of your posts to have its own page online.
Most bloggers select Yes from this drop-down menu. Giving each blog post its own page means that each post also receives its own permalink (permanent link URL). This strategy makes it easy to find and link to older content and gives more entry points for people to find your blog
by using search engines.
3. Select the Save Settings button to save any changes you made on the Archiving page.
Configure the following settings to set up your blog archives:
1. From the Archive Frequency drop-down menu, select how often you want your blog posts to be archived.
Take a few minutes to decide how you want visitors to be able to access your older blog posts. The setting you choose here affects how your blog archives are displayed in your blog’s sidebar. Do you want visitors to find your old posts by month, week, or day? Choose the setting that
creates the user experience you want on your blog.
2. Select Yes or No from the Enable Post Pages drop-down menu depending on whether you want each of your posts to have its own page online.
Most bloggers select Yes from this drop-down menu. Giving each blog post its own page means that each post also receives its own permalink (permanent link URL). This strategy makes it easy to find and link to older content and gives more entry points for people to find your blog
by using search engines.
3. Select the Save Settings button to save any changes you made on the Archiving page.
One of the most important elements of a successful blog is the community of readers that grows around it. At the heart of that community is a conversation that occurs by way of comments left on your blog posts. With that in mind, it’s essential that you set up the commenting feature on your blog before you publish any content.
The following settings should be configured up front:
1. Select the appropriate radio button to show (or hide, if you prefer) comments on your blog posts.
The most popular blogs allows comments, so take some time to think about your blogging goals before you decide whether you want to allow people to comment on your blog posts.
2. Select a radio button to configure the Who Can Comment option on your blog.
You can allow anyone to comment on your blog: only registered OpenID users, only users with Google accounts, or only members of your blog (people that you give access to read your blog on the permissions Settings tab.
3. Select a Comments Default for Posts setting from the drop-down menu.
Choose whether you want new posts to allow comments by default. You can change this setting in the future for specific posts.
4. Select the appropriate radio button to show (or hide, if you prefer) backlinks within the Comments section of your blog posts.
Backlinks appear as comments on Blogger posts and provide a “tap on the shoulder” from another Blogger blog to you, showing that Blogger blog linked to you in a published post. Backlinks are a helpful way to develop relationships with other bloggers and find like-minded bloggers. With that promotional opportunity in mind, most bloggers choose to
allow backlinks.
5. Select a Backlinks Default for Posts setting from the drop-down menu.
You can determine whether you want all new posts to allow backlinks within the Comments section by default by configuring this setting. You can change this setting in the future for specific posts.
6. From the Comments Timestamp Format drop-down menu, select the way you want the time that comments are published on your posts to display on your blog.
Each comment left on one of your blog posts is published along with the time it was originally entered. Changing the timestamp format alters how that time appears on your blog.
7. Enter a message to precede the Comment area in your blog posts in the Comment Form Message box.
This message appears above the comment form on all your blog posts. It can be used to invite people to comment on blog posts.
8. Click the Always, Only on Posts Older than 14 Days, or Never radio button to enable Comment Moderation.
Comment moderation is a helpful way to reduce spam comments on your blog. As new comments are left on your blog posts, they appear on your dashboard for you to review and approve before they’re published for others to see. This technique gives you the opportunity to delete spam or offensive comments.
9. Click the Yes or No radio button to indicate your preference for the Show Word Verification for Comments option.
Word verification is an excellent way to block comment spam. Each person who leaves a comment on one of your blog posts is given a word to enter into the comment form in order to be able to submit that comment.
10. Select whether you want to show profile images on comments by clicking the Yes or No radio button.
If you want other Blogger users’ profile pictures to be displayed with their comments on your blog posts, select Yes. Otherwise, choose No.
11. Enter an e-mail address in the Comment Notification Email text box.
If you want to be notified by e-mail whenever a new comment is awaiting moderation, simply enter your e-mail address in the Comment Notification Email box, and an e-mail is sent to you automatically when each new comment is submitted. You can enter as many as ten e-mail
addresses (separated by commas) in this field.
12. Click the Save Settings button to save any changes you made on the Comments page.
The following settings should be configured up front:
1. Select the appropriate radio button to show (or hide, if you prefer) comments on your blog posts.
The most popular blogs allows comments, so take some time to think about your blogging goals before you decide whether you want to allow people to comment on your blog posts.
2. Select a radio button to configure the Who Can Comment option on your blog.
You can allow anyone to comment on your blog: only registered OpenID users, only users with Google accounts, or only members of your blog (people that you give access to read your blog on the permissions Settings tab.
3. Select a Comments Default for Posts setting from the drop-down menu.
Choose whether you want new posts to allow comments by default. You can change this setting in the future for specific posts.
4. Select the appropriate radio button to show (or hide, if you prefer) backlinks within the Comments section of your blog posts.
Backlinks appear as comments on Blogger posts and provide a “tap on the shoulder” from another Blogger blog to you, showing that Blogger blog linked to you in a published post. Backlinks are a helpful way to develop relationships with other bloggers and find like-minded bloggers. With that promotional opportunity in mind, most bloggers choose to
allow backlinks.
5. Select a Backlinks Default for Posts setting from the drop-down menu.
You can determine whether you want all new posts to allow backlinks within the Comments section by default by configuring this setting. You can change this setting in the future for specific posts.
6. From the Comments Timestamp Format drop-down menu, select the way you want the time that comments are published on your posts to display on your blog.
Each comment left on one of your blog posts is published along with the time it was originally entered. Changing the timestamp format alters how that time appears on your blog.
7. Enter a message to precede the Comment area in your blog posts in the Comment Form Message box.
This message appears above the comment form on all your blog posts. It can be used to invite people to comment on blog posts.
8. Click the Always, Only on Posts Older than 14 Days, or Never radio button to enable Comment Moderation.
Comment moderation is a helpful way to reduce spam comments on your blog. As new comments are left on your blog posts, they appear on your dashboard for you to review and approve before they’re published for others to see. This technique gives you the opportunity to delete spam or offensive comments.
9. Click the Yes or No radio button to indicate your preference for the Show Word Verification for Comments option.
Word verification is an excellent way to block comment spam. Each person who leaves a comment on one of your blog posts is given a word to enter into the comment form in order to be able to submit that comment.
10. Select whether you want to show profile images on comments by clicking the Yes or No radio button.
If you want other Blogger users’ profile pictures to be displayed with their comments on your blog posts, select Yes. Otherwise, choose No.
11. Enter an e-mail address in the Comment Notification Email text box.
If you want to be notified by e-mail whenever a new comment is awaiting moderation, simply enter your e-mail address in the Comment Notification Email box, and an e-mail is sent to you automatically when each new comment is submitted. You can enter as many as ten e-mail
addresses (separated by commas) in this field.
12. Click the Save Settings button to save any changes you made on the Comments page.
You should set several formatting configurations before you start writing and publishing blog posts, such as time, date, and language options. Select the Formatting tab from the Settings navigation bar to display the Formatting page.
Then follow these steps to configure how your blog posts are displayed to visitors:
1. Select the number of posts you want to display on your blog’s home page by choosing these options:
• From the Show drop-down menu, select Posts or Days to display a designated number of posts on your blog’s main page or a designated number of days’ worth of posts on your blog’s main page.
• In the Show box, enter the number of posts or days’ worth of posts you want to display on your blog’s main page based on the setting you selected from the Show drop-down menu.
The number of posts you show on your blog’s home page is entirely up to you, but remember that people don’t like to scroll too much. Displaying 5 to 10 posts (depending on post length) on your home page is a common target to keep your blog readable.
2. From the Date Header Format drop-down menu, select in which format you want the dates to appear on your blog.
This date appears at the top of your blog, above your posts, to remind visitors what day it is.
3. From the Archive Index Date Format drop-down menu, select the format of the dates used in the Archive Links page element on your blog’s sidebar.
Older posts are automatically archived so they’re easily accessible from the Archive Links page element in your blog’s sidebar. It’s up to you to decide how you want your archived posts to display in your sidebar. Choose the date format that you prefer by configuring the Archive Index
Date Format setting.
4. From the Timestamp Format drop-down menu, select the format you want to use for the publication date for your blog posts.
A timestamp appears at the bottom of each blog post that tells readers when each post was published. Changing the Timestamp Format alters how that date appears on each blog post.
5. Select your time zone from the Time Zone drop-down menu.
Selecting the correct time zone ensures that your date header and timestamps synchronize correctly to your location.
6. Select your language from the Language drop-down menu.
Blogger is available in a variety of languages. Make sure that you select the correct language for your blog.
Then follow these steps to configure how your blog posts are displayed to visitors:
1. Select the number of posts you want to display on your blog’s home page by choosing these options:
• From the Show drop-down menu, select Posts or Days to display a designated number of posts on your blog’s main page or a designated number of days’ worth of posts on your blog’s main page.
• In the Show box, enter the number of posts or days’ worth of posts you want to display on your blog’s main page based on the setting you selected from the Show drop-down menu.
The number of posts you show on your blog’s home page is entirely up to you, but remember that people don’t like to scroll too much. Displaying 5 to 10 posts (depending on post length) on your home page is a common target to keep your blog readable.
2. From the Date Header Format drop-down menu, select in which format you want the dates to appear on your blog.
This date appears at the top of your blog, above your posts, to remind visitors what day it is.
3. From the Archive Index Date Format drop-down menu, select the format of the dates used in the Archive Links page element on your blog’s sidebar.
Older posts are automatically archived so they’re easily accessible from the Archive Links page element in your blog’s sidebar. It’s up to you to decide how you want your archived posts to display in your sidebar. Choose the date format that you prefer by configuring the Archive Index
Date Format setting.
4. From the Timestamp Format drop-down menu, select the format you want to use for the publication date for your blog posts.
A timestamp appears at the bottom of each blog post that tells readers when each post was published. Changing the Timestamp Format alters how that date appears on each blog post.
5. Select your time zone from the Time Zone drop-down menu.
Selecting the correct time zone ensures that your date header and timestamps synchronize correctly to your location.
6. Select your language from the Language drop-down menu.
Blogger is available in a variety of languages. Make sure that you select the correct language for your blog.
One reason that Blogger is so easy to use is that users can customize their blogs by visiting just a few pages from the Blogger dashboard and then picking and choosing options and saving those choices. To start, just select Settings from your Blogger dashboard. This action takes you to the Basic settings configuration page.
Publishing, configuring privacy, editing, and composing
The Basic settings page is a page you shouldn’t skip when you start your new Blogger blog. On this page, you can make your blog public or private, add a blog description, change your blog title, and set up editing options. Take some time to review each option and configure them as described in the following steps.
1. Enter a title for your blog in the Title text box.
If you want to change the title of your blog, this box is the place to do it. The title you enter here appears in the header area of your blog.
2. Enter a description for your blog in the Description box.
You can enter a description of as many as 500 characters in the Description text box. Note that whatever you type in the Description box appears beneath your blog title in the blog header area, so take some time to write a useful description that not only describes what your blog
is about but also entices visitors to read more.
3. Select Yes or No from the Add Your Blog to Our Listings drop-down box.
When you select Yes, your blog is displayed occasionally on the Bloggerhome page, on Blogger Play (a slide show of photos published on Blogger blogs) and Next Blog (the navigation bar that appears at the top of all Blogger blogs).
If you select No to the question Add Your Blog to Our Listings? within your blog’s Basic Settings page, your blog is still available on the Internet; however, Blogger rotates blogs in the Blogger listings and displays links to those blogs on the Blogger home page, on Blogger Play, and on Next Blog. If you want to attract additional potential traffic from these Blogger listings, select Yes from the Add Your Blog to Our Listings? drop-down menu.
4. Select Yes or No from the Let Search Engines Find Your Blog dropdown
menu.
A helpful Blogger feature is automatic pinging at Weblogs.com (http://weblogs.com) and automatic inclusion in the Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com) results if you select Yes from the Let Search Engines Find Your Blog drop-down menu. Pinging is a behind-the-scenes function that automatically notifies sites such as Google and Technorati whenever a blog is updated. By selecting Yes, every time you update your blog you ensure that Google Blog Search and search engines linked to Weblogs.com are notified that you published new content, and that content is added to those search listings. This strategy provides more traffic and more ways for people to find your blog.
5. Select Yes or No from the Show Quick Editing on Your Blog dropdown menu.
By selecting Yes, you enable one-click blog post editing. When you’re signed into Blogger and viewing your blog online, you can select a link directly from each blog post, which automatically opens a page where you can edit that post.
6. Select Yes or No from the Show Email Post Links drop-down menu.
Selecting Yes places an Email Post link on each of your blog posts so that readers can e-mail your posts to other people with one simple click of the mouse.
7. Select Yes or No from the Adult Content drop-down menu.
If your blog contains content that might be considered inappropriate for minors, select Yes from the Adult Content drop-down menu. When people visit a blog that contains adult content, a warning message appears, asking visitors to confirm that they want to proceed before the
blog content loads.
8. Select Yes or No from the Show Compose Mode for All Your Blogs drop-down menu.
Unless you know how to use HTML, you should select Yes in the Show Compose Mode for All Your Blogs drop-down menu. Doing so gives you the option to write your blog posts using a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor that acts more like a traditional word processing
program than a Web design program.
Publishing, configuring privacy, editing, and composing
The Basic settings page is a page you shouldn’t skip when you start your new Blogger blog. On this page, you can make your blog public or private, add a blog description, change your blog title, and set up editing options. Take some time to review each option and configure them as described in the following steps.
1. Enter a title for your blog in the Title text box.
If you want to change the title of your blog, this box is the place to do it. The title you enter here appears in the header area of your blog.
2. Enter a description for your blog in the Description box.
You can enter a description of as many as 500 characters in the Description text box. Note that whatever you type in the Description box appears beneath your blog title in the blog header area, so take some time to write a useful description that not only describes what your blog
is about but also entices visitors to read more.
3. Select Yes or No from the Add Your Blog to Our Listings drop-down box.
When you select Yes, your blog is displayed occasionally on the Bloggerhome page, on Blogger Play (a slide show of photos published on Blogger blogs) and Next Blog (the navigation bar that appears at the top of all Blogger blogs).
If you select No to the question Add Your Blog to Our Listings? within your blog’s Basic Settings page, your blog is still available on the Internet; however, Blogger rotates blogs in the Blogger listings and displays links to those blogs on the Blogger home page, on Blogger Play, and on Next Blog. If you want to attract additional potential traffic from these Blogger listings, select Yes from the Add Your Blog to Our Listings? drop-down menu.
4. Select Yes or No from the Let Search Engines Find Your Blog dropdown
menu.
A helpful Blogger feature is automatic pinging at Weblogs.com (http://weblogs.com) and automatic inclusion in the Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com) results if you select Yes from the Let Search Engines Find Your Blog drop-down menu. Pinging is a behind-the-scenes function that automatically notifies sites such as Google and Technorati whenever a blog is updated. By selecting Yes, every time you update your blog you ensure that Google Blog Search and search engines linked to Weblogs.com are notified that you published new content, and that content is added to those search listings. This strategy provides more traffic and more ways for people to find your blog.
5. Select Yes or No from the Show Quick Editing on Your Blog dropdown menu.
By selecting Yes, you enable one-click blog post editing. When you’re signed into Blogger and viewing your blog online, you can select a link directly from each blog post, which automatically opens a page where you can edit that post.
6. Select Yes or No from the Show Email Post Links drop-down menu.
Selecting Yes places an Email Post link on each of your blog posts so that readers can e-mail your posts to other people with one simple click of the mouse.
7. Select Yes or No from the Adult Content drop-down menu.
If your blog contains content that might be considered inappropriate for minors, select Yes from the Adult Content drop-down menu. When people visit a blog that contains adult content, a warning message appears, asking visitors to confirm that they want to proceed before the
blog content loads.
8. Select Yes or No from the Show Compose Mode for All Your Blogs drop-down menu.
Unless you know how to use HTML, you should select Yes in the Show Compose Mode for All Your Blogs drop-down menu. Doing so gives you the option to write your blog posts using a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor that acts more like a traditional word processing
program than a Web design program.
Your blog’s home page is a critical element of your blog. It’s your online welcome page and needs to be set up to make visitors feel comfortable as well as give them quick and easy access to the various parts of your blog that they’re most interested in and that you want to make sure they see. Before you publish your first blog post, take a few minutes to look at your blog’s layout to ensure that all the elements you want visitors to see are easy to find.
Avoid cluttering your home page with too much information and too many elements. Be sure that your design allows your readers to find the most valuable information and links. Follow these steps to pick and choose the page elements you want to display on the home page of your blog:
1. From the Blogger dashboard, click the Layout link for your blog.
2. Select the Pick New Template tab from the top navigation bar and choose the template you like from the Templates page. Make sure to click the Save Template button if you want to switch to a different theme.
This step opens a page where you can view and select a Blogger template for your blog.
3. Select the Page Elements tab from the top navigation bar to customize your blog’s home page.
After your template is chosen, you can return to the Page Elements page to select the elements and gadgets you want visitors to see on your blog.
4. Click and drag page element boxes to move them around your page.
Moving elements on your screen moves them to new locations on your blog.
5. Click Edit on any of the page element boxes to modify the appearance of each individual page element.
For example, you can choose to revise your profile (the About Me page element) directly from the Page Elements page by selecting Edit in the About Me box and choosing the appropriate changes.
6. Select Add a Gadget to choose from a list of gadgets you can add to your blog.
A new window opens where you can choose from a variety of gadgets to further customize the appearance of your blog’s home page.
7. Click the Preview button to see how your changes will look, and choose the Save button to save your changes when you’re happy with the layout of your blog’s homepage.
Don’t be afraid to test different gadgets. Use the Preview button to see what you like and don’t like. Everything can be customized, and nothing can be viewed by visitors until you click the Save button.
Avoid cluttering your home page with too much information and too many elements. Be sure that your design allows your readers to find the most valuable information and links. Follow these steps to pick and choose the page elements you want to display on the home page of your blog:
1. From the Blogger dashboard, click the Layout link for your blog.
2. Select the Pick New Template tab from the top navigation bar and choose the template you like from the Templates page. Make sure to click the Save Template button if you want to switch to a different theme.
This step opens a page where you can view and select a Blogger template for your blog.
3. Select the Page Elements tab from the top navigation bar to customize your blog’s home page.
After your template is chosen, you can return to the Page Elements page to select the elements and gadgets you want visitors to see on your blog.
4. Click and drag page element boxes to move them around your page.
Moving elements on your screen moves them to new locations on your blog.
5. Click Edit on any of the page element boxes to modify the appearance of each individual page element.
For example, you can choose to revise your profile (the About Me page element) directly from the Page Elements page by selecting Edit in the About Me box and choosing the appropriate changes.
6. Select Add a Gadget to choose from a list of gadgets you can add to your blog.
A new window opens where you can choose from a variety of gadgets to further customize the appearance of your blog’s home page.
7. Click the Preview button to see how your changes will look, and choose the Save button to save your changes when you’re happy with the layout of your blog’s homepage.
Don’t be afraid to test different gadgets. Use the Preview button to see what you like and don’t like. Everything can be customized, and nothing can be viewed by visitors until you click the Save button.
