Blogger tips, SEO and promotion

Customzie the blogspot title widget

2010-09-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

Blog title is the place should contains most value description about your blog. With the blogspot title widget, did you try to push as many as possible keywords to the title? Keyword in title is quite important to make your higher ranking in search engines, the problem is if you put there many words, your bad title displayed, one example is: you wish to include a keyword and some relevant keywords into blog title but you only wish to display one main keyword. Do it as follow:

0. Remember to back up your template. :)
1. Login to your blog admin page, Go to Design as usual and open the 'Page Elements' view, change your blog title with many words you like as normal, Save it.
2. Now change to tab 'HTML View' and check the 'Expand Widget Templates' check box. Search the following text to find out your title widget code: b:widget id='Header1'. And then replace the script '<b:include name='title' />' with your actual title text you want to display on your blog.

3. Now View the blog, you see that the browser title will display different with your blog title, and you will see that the search engine index your real title ( not your displayed title ), that's nice :)

Parameters in Blogspot feed

2008-11-30T01:53:00.000-08:00

This post presented with parameters in blogspot feed. As we know, the URL to get feed items of our blog is
http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default. You can review this feed after as my blog feed :
http://growyourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Understand these parameters and with a little of javascript can help us create some small 'ourself' interested widget. Lets take a look:

1. start-index.

This param allow the Feed begins at 'start-index' ordinal.
Example :
As normal feed:
http://growyourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

result is:
entry 1
entry 2
entry 3
entry 4
entry 5
...

and

http://growyourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?start-index=3

result is:

entry 3
entry 4
entry 5
...

2.max-results
This param allow the Feed returns feed-items in range of 'max-results'.
Example:

http://growyourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?max-results=10

will shows at max 10 items.

3.published-min, published-max

These parameter allow get feeditems in date range. Example:

http://growyourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?published-max=2009-01-01
&max-results=5

4. updated-min, updated-max: same with published-min, published-max.

5.1. Items in the same label:

Link feed:

http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/
default/-/Label%20Name

5.2. Items in 2 label:

http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/
default/-/Label%20Name1/Label%Name2

5.3. Items in 3 label: (tương tự cho 4,5...)

http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/
default/-/Label%20Name1/Label%Name2/Label%20Name3

what's pub-1556223355139109 and pub-7042087181757148

2008-09-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

If you’re using Blogger.com (or BlogSpot.com) blogging service, and use the new template system to add a Google AdSense page element block to your blog, you will notice that there is additional line in the ad unit appended to the JavaScript when you viewing the HTML web page source code. The extra line of ad code is google_ad_host, which locates directly below google_ad_client which represents user’s publisher ID.

google_ad_client=”pub-7042087181757148″;
google_ad_host=”pub-1556223355139109″;

There is speculation that google_ad_host is the publisher ID of Google’s Blogger that will take a cut of advertising revenue share from displayed ads impressions and clicks. Thus, there are bloggers at DigitalPoint forums who accused that Blogger commits cheating or stealing as the service agreement or terms does not specify that any possible revenue sharing by using the AdSense widget.
In actual, the part that google_ad_host is used for revenue sharing is true. But rumor that Blogger is taking a part of ads revenue earned is simply invalid, correct at least up to the time of publishing. Case study on Blogger confirms that it’s using Google AdSense API to provide the AdSense snippet on users’ blogs. Google AdSense API features a Revenue Share Program where developer can keep a percentage of revenue between 0% to 75% include from publishers’ earnings. But nothing to worry about reduced earning for publishers using Blogger service yet, as Blogger is taking 0% from you - that’s right, 100% of ads money generated from your impressions and clicks belong to you (less Google share, which you have no control anyway).

How to prove that Blogger is not stealing your money? Simply login to your Google AdSense account, then go to My Account tab, and click on Account Access link. You can see all third party service (such as Blogger) that you granted access as host to your AdSense ad code and reports in order to provide you with AdSense account management through their site. From here, you see that the Revenue Share Rate for Blogger site is 0%.

From the FAQ, Google AdSense API also states that you will receive an notification email if there’s any change to revenue share percentage rate, and third party services are also required to clearly display to your publishers the revenue share that you retain as well.

If you still worry about loss of revenue, simply click on disable access link, and then use HTML/JavaScript to replace AdSense widget

from www.mydigitallife.info

Customize displaying Blogger Feed

2008-08-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Blogger provides a fanstatic widget named "Feed" allows add Feed from ours favourites websites to the blog. But it's display quite simple and the same overall. It's great if we customizing the displaying of Feed to make sense our blog's layout. Recently, i just make one for me, and if you like it, it yours ;).

I add an "@" at the title and index image to seperate feed item.

to install this feed layout:
- first: create your Feed like original.
- second: in Blogger "Layout" tab, select "Edit HTML", backup your current templete (for safe)
- third: select "Expand Widget Templates", and find the snippet contains your Feed ( search by your Feed   title ;) ). The snippet begin like this
         <b:widget id='Feed7' locked='false' title='Thanhnien.com.vn' type='Feed'>
           ........< script inside >
         </widget&gt

just replate "< script inside >" by the following snippet below. Save templates and view result of your work ;).

<b:includable id='main'>        
    <br/>
    <div><span style='float:left;color:#FF0000;'><h2>@</h2></span><h2>&#160;<data:title/></h2></div>
    <div class='widget-content'>
    <ul expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_feedItemListDisplay&quot;'>
      <b:loop values='data:feedData.items' var='i'>
        <li>
          <div style='float:left;'>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;<img src='http://www.blogblog.com/rounders3/icon_arrow_sm.gif'/>&#160;&#160;</div>          
          <div style='overflow:auto;'>
          <span class='item-title'>
            <a expr:href='data:i.alternate.href'>
              <data:i.title/>
            </a>
          </span>
          <b:if cond='data:showItemDate'>
            <b:if cond='data:i.str_published != &quot;&quot;'>
              <span class='item-date'>
                &#160;-&#160;<data:i.str_published/>
              </span>
            </b:if>
          </b:if>
          <b:if cond='data:showItemAuthor'>
            <b:if cond='data:i.author != &quot;&quot;'>
              <span class='item-author'>
                &#160;-&#160;<data:i.author/>
              </span>
            </b:if>
          </b:if>
          </div>         
        </li>
      </b:loop>
    </ul>
   
    </div>
  </b:includable>

Five tips to optimize Google Search Box

2008-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

And more, here's advises from Google's AdSense Publisher Support for how is the best optimizing Google Search Box.

Following on the five tips on AdSense for content optimization our Sydney team presented a couple weeks back, now let's turn to AdSense for search. As you may know, we recently integrated Custom Search Engine into AdSense for search to provide additional customization options and improved targeting. Whether you've already implemented an AdSense for search box on your site or you're just getting started with this feature, we recommend these five optimization tips:

1. Place your search boxes in visible locations.

Integrate your search boxes in easy-to-find locations, such as under the header or in your left navigation. Also, keep the placement of your search boxes consistent on all your pages, so users will know where to look if they need help finding something.

2. Add two search boxes to content-rich pages.

For pages with a lot of content or which require scrolling, try placing one search box at the top of the page and another at the bottom. A box at the top of the page will allow users to perform a search immediately, and a box at the bottom will provide a search option to users who've just finished reading your content. You can also track and compare the performance of each search box by creating custom channels.

3. Host your search results on your own site.

To keep users on your pages, you can host your search results and ads within your own pages. If your users don't find what they're looking for in the search results or ads, they'll still be able to to navigate to other sections of your site using your site's template. In addition, you can further integrate your search results into your site by customizing the colors of the results page.

4. Add a search box to your search results pages.

Similar to #3, try placing a search box on your search results pages so users can perform additional searches from your site.

5. Customize your ad locations.

Place ads at the top and right sidebar of your search results pages. This layout offers added visibility, and our tests have shown that these ad locations can improve monetization.

After you've optimized where search boxes are placed on your site, don't forget to try new targeting options such as keyword refinements and vertical search. To generate AdSense for search code and take advantage of these features, sign in and visit your AdSense Setup tab. You can also find more information in our Help Center.

Sandra Tsui - AdSense Publisher Support

Optimize site for Google Search

2008-08-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

Let's hear powered advices from a Google's Search Quality Evaluator:

In addition to participating in the AdSense network, you may also be interested in having your site ranked in organic Google search. In this post, I'll highlight some important points for search optimization. While there's no a magic formula to make your site show up first on a search results page, there are some good practices when it comes to links, design, content, and the structure of your site.

First of all, as a reminder, Google organic search and AdSense are independent of each other. Displaying AdSense ads on a site won't change the ranking of the site in Google search in any way. So it follows that sites containing AdSense ads don't receive special treatment in Google search.

Ranking in Google search is based on many different algorithms, and optimization for search is a long, continuous process. For these reasons, and because the techniques might violate our guidelines, we recommend avoiding any techniques that claim to optimize your ranking very quickly or radically. If you have concerns or questions, you can consult other webmasters on a number of forums, including Google's official forum for webmaster-related issues.

We encourage you to monitor the quality of your site's backlinks -- links from any site directing to your site. To increase your site's popularity, check if other sites that discuss similar topics or have a similar reader base are aware your site exists.

Outgoing links are also important and should comply with our guidelines. When you create a link to another site, we recommend first asking yourself: "Is this link going to be useful for my visitors?" or "Is this link likely to be clicked by my visitors?". Don't participate in link schemes or buy/sell links that pass PageRank, as it is against our guidelines and may hurt your site's performance in our search results.

Here are some tips for structuring your site:

Your pages should have a clear hierarchy and relevant internal links. We also recommend creating a Sitemap and using Google's Webmaster Tools. These tools are useful, user-friendly and will provide information such as where your backlinks come from or which queries visitors used to reach your site.
Use tags that are explicit and useful for the user. For example, avoid a title like "Homepage" or "Welcome to my site".
For images, use ALT attributes to describe appropriately what the image is about.

Also, adding original and compelling content on a regular basis may help Google crawl your pages regularly. It can have the added benefit of attracting links to your pages too.

Finally, design your site with your users in mind, and be patient and consistent in your efforts. To attract quality backlinks and develop your optimization strategy, it's important to keep a clear structure for your pages and regularly add organic content.

Ambroise Fensterbank
From Google Adsense Blog

New Blogger element : Blog List

2008-07-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

Once more cool Blogger's widget, check it out ;).As details below, this new list will able to available to search result and ables to be crawled by search engine crawlers.

buzz.blogger.com :

Show off your favorite blogs with a Blog List

Today we’re releasing a new page element for Layouts blogs: Blog List. The Blog List improves on our Link List page element by using blogs’ RSS and Atom feeds to show update times, post titles, and snippets.

Use a Blog List to put a blogroll in your sidebar, or make a few to categorize the blogs you read. The Blog List works well for any page that has an RSS or Atom feed, so you can get creative: link to news sites, podcasts, Twitter streams, search results, or anything else with a feed.

Here’s a quick summary of the features that a Blog List gives you:

Link to blogs, web pages, and feeds from your blog’s sidebar, with an optional favicon
For pages with RSS and Atom feeds, Blog List can show last updated time, post title, and a snippet of the latest post
Sort links alphabetically or by last update time
Show all links, or hide some behind a “show all” link
Import subscriptions from Google Reader
Blog List links are visible to search engine crawlers, so your blog’s PageRank and reputation flow to those you link to

Add chat widget to blog

2008-04-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

This post talk about chat widget on the blog. When the comment section does not quite convenient handling with a lot of blog readers, or when they would like to ask you question for easily..they had to use email... and why a chat widget. It's can be instant support or a shout box, blog owner can consider what reader would like to shout to his/her blog ;)..ya, it's cool.

After is list of review articles, hope it useful for you, friend! ^^

10 Chat Widgets to Consider by Aidan Henry

GeeSee Chat widget by Derek Anderson

Google Talk Turns Into a Chat Widget by Stan Schroeder

I like this : ShoutMix

Comparing two ChatBox widgets: ShoutMix and Meebo by Jerome Eteve

MeeboMe web chat widget

Chatopica chat widget review by Flex

Today, i just made a test about chat widget, if you like this post, shout it to me ;) , thank you!

Happy browsing ^^
moongy

Change numbers of posts displayed by label

2008-03-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

Blogspot already has UI allow our to set the number of posts displayed at main page or displayed by days.

Check this picture below :

But when we click on a label in Label widget, there're many posts displayed.
By default with a blogspot blog, max of posts displayed is 20.
And you need to customize number of posts display by label, do the following :

Go to "Edit HTML" as in picture above. Remember to save your template ( for safety ;) ), and then check the check box "Expand Widget Templates".

Now, press Ctrl+F and find below snippet:


   <div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-2">
   <span class="post-labels">
     <b:if cond="data:post.labels">
       <data:postlabelslabel>
       <b:loop values="data:post.labels" var="label">
         <a href="data:label.url" rel="tag"><data:label.name></data:label.name></a>
         <b:if cond="data:label.isLast != "true"">,</b:if>
       </b:loop>
     </data:postlabelslabel>
   </b:if></span>
   </div>

The snippet above show post's label at (usually) bottom of your post.
Notice the phrase in RED, modify it to customize your posts number displayed:
<a expr:href='data:label.url + "?max-results=3" '
3 is mine, just replace yours.

And, the snippet below is the Label widget:


<b:widget id='Label1' locked='false' title='Labels' type='Label'>
<b:includable id='main'>
 <b:if cond='data:title'>
   <h2><data:title/></h2>
 </b:if>
 <div class='widget-content'>
   <ul>
   <b:loop values='data:labels' var='label'>
     <li>
       <b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:label.url'>
         <span expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection'>
           <data:label.name/>
         </span>
       <b:else/>
         <a expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' expr:href='data:label.url'>
           <data:label.name/>
         </a>
       </b:if>
       <span dir='ltr'>(<data:label.count/>)</span>
     </li>
   </b:loop>
   </ul>

   <b:include name='quickedit'/>
 </div>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>

Change phrase in RED and we done:
expr:href='data:label.url + "?max-results=3" '
Now, test your work and enjoy.
Happy harvest exp.
Moongy

Add Digg button to blog post

2008-03-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

The idea add Digg button to every blog post is very brilliant, isn't it? So, the change that your post to be digg is higher ( as your blog promotion ;) does ).

With blogger, it's very easy to have one same as below :

First, go to your blogspot layout tab and click EditHTML,

check Expand Widget Templates and remember save a copy of your temple ( for safe ) by click Download Full Template.
Then find the phrase below by press Ctrl+F:

Your found like this :

Just copy the script below and paste above the line we found:

Done.
Happy harvest exp ;).

40 best social netwoks to join!

2008-03-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

Each is a door show yourself, your work, your services to the world. ;)

How to hide blogger navigation bar

2008-03-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Login to blogger; at Dashboard, click Layout. Then, click "Edit HTML"

Find the line below :

/* Variable definitions

and put these code above it.

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

Happy harvest exp.

How to add meta keyword and description to blogspot

2008-03-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

As we known, meta keyword is one important way to optimize your website search ranking. Search engines use meta keyword to filter sites for the search result of querry occured by their search tool. If your keywords is bad, click rate of your site in search result low, your rank will be lower, lower and may be banned out of the list. So, is meta-keyword important?

For blogger users, the question is how to add meta keyword to ours blog? Ya. The answer is:

1. First, sign in to blogger; at Dashboard, click "Layout" tab; then click "Edit HTML".
2. Find this line of code :

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>

You could press Ctrl+F to use "Find" function of your browser.

3. Copy three line below and paste after the line we found at step 2.

<meta content='DESCRIPTION' name='description'/>
<meta content='KEYWORDS' name='keywords'/>
<meta content='AUTHOR' name='author'/>

4. Replace the words in red with your appropriated content.

Now your could view your blog and check your meta tags at the page source ( in your browser, click View/Source(Page Source) ).

Happy harvest exp.

Expand collapse label widget

2008-02-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is my first widget on the way i'm learning about blogger.
I don't like original label widget of blogger because :
- it's load all posts related to (slow to browse).
- hard to browse all if there're too many posts of a label.

As you see the label widget on this blog, when a label name is clicked, a table of content (TOC) is display above post region. The TOC author is Hans , you can visit his site and try implement the original TOC if you like.

At first, your blog must already has a label widget. If not, just add one ;).
There are three easy steps to get one label widget. Here you are :
1. In Layout tab of your blog administration region, choose "Edit HTML". After "Expand Widget Templates", press Ctrl-F and type "Label1" to look up your label widget code ( or find it by any way you want ;) ).
You found code like this :

Replace code above with this (click to get code )
Ok, step one finished .

2. Now, press Ctrl-F and lookup "type='Blog'". You found it?
Ya, nothing to do with this line, Let take a look at the line above it.
section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='yes'
change showaddelement to 'yes'.
Save your work.
Ok, step two finished.

3. Choose "Page Elements"
You can add Page element in the same column with Blog Posts now. ;). Ok, click to add one.
In the popup, choose type of widget is "HTML & JavaScript", click "Add to Blog".
You see a new popup appear. Ya. Now add this code (click to get code) to Content, title just left blank.
Click "Save Changes".
step three finished.

Just view your blog and enjoy the widget.
Happy harvest exp.
Moongy.

Add image to label widget

2008-02-26T02:05:00.000-08:00

Do you like Label with the cool arrow image at front like this ;) . It's really cool, isn't it?
It's very easy to have one at the same :D. Just read steps below.

1. You must have your image url, if not you can create a googlepage account at push the image there. If you like this arrow image and ... here you are : http://www.blogblog.com/rounders3/icon_arrow_sm.gif
2. Now, log in to ur blog, choose "Layout" tab, choose "Edit Html", choose " Expand Widget Templates" (familiar steps ;) ).
3. Press Ctrl+F and find your Label widget's code (my keyword is "Label1" ^^).

what we found:

finished:

4. Rivise the snippet as the 'finished' area, remmember to replace 'IMAGE URL' by your image URL.

Save your template and enjoy.
Happy harvest exp.

Remove posts count of label widget

2008-02-26T01:41:00.000-08:00

Ya, it's very easy to do this.

- First, login to your blog , select tab "Layout", chose "Edit HTML".
- Check the box "Expand Widget Templates"
- You see the page reloaded. Ok. Now, find the code like this:

Easily way to found code above is use Find function of your browser - press Ctrl+F and enter this text :

- To do what we need ( Remove posts count of label widget ), just delete the line you found ( selected line in image above ).

Submit your site to Alexa

2008-02-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

On previous blog post, I wrote about submit website to popular search engines ( Google, Yahoo, MSN ...)..
But how about Alexa?
Alexa said : "There are a few reasons that Alexa may not have visited your site. Perhaps your site is new or we haven't discovered any links on the web that lead to your site. Or perhaps we haven't had any Alexa users visit your site. It is also possible that your web site administrator has disallowed crawlers from visiting your site - please read the information about robots.txt that we have provided above."

The easy way to submit your site to alexa is you or someone browse your site with a browser had Alexa toolbar intergrated.
If by any reason, your site not available at Alexa, don't worry. Just visit this link, go to the bottom, fill your website's address and click "Crawl my site". That's all.

http://www.alexa.com/site/help/webmasters

Happy harvest exp ;).

Submit your site to popular search engines

2008-02-21T23:30:00.000-08:00

One first thing to do when you create your blog ( website ) is submit it to popular search engines. How to do this? Read my experiences below will help you to find the answer.

1. Submit to Google Search

Just vist this url : http://www.google.com/addurl

By do this, you submit your url to the queue list that google bot will crawl.
Note : Only the top-level page from a host is necessary; you do not need to submit each individual page.

2. Submit to Yahoo Search

Visit this url http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
You can also submit to other service provided in this page.

3. Submit to MSN Search

Vist this url http://search.msn.com.sg/docs/submit.aspx

4. Submit to Live Search
http://search.live.com/docs/submit.aspx

You can also add your url to other web directories to get more backlinks.
I will post a list of free dicrectories on a post later. ;)

Happy harvest experiences.