Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions) 184719317X, 9781847193179, 9781847193186

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Blogger Beyond the Basics

Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO

Lee Jordan

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Blogger Beyond the Basics Copyright © 2008 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, Packt Publishing, nor its dealers or distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: April 2008

Production Reference: 1230408

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. 32 Lincoln Road Olton Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK. ISBN 978-1-847193-17-9 www.packtpub.com

Cover Image by Vinayak Chittar ([email protected])

Credits Author Lee Jordan

Reviewer Narayan Bhat

Senior Acquisition Editor David Barnes

Development Editor Ved Prakash Jha

Technical Editor Dhiraj Chandiramani

Copy Editor Sumathi Sridhar

Editorial Team Leader Mithil Kulkarni

Project Manager Abhijeet Deobhakta

Indexer Monica Ajmera

Proofreader Angie Butcher

Production Coordinator Aparna Bhagat

Cover Work Aparna Bhagat

About the Author Lee Jordan is an avid user of Blogger, Twitter, and other useful web applications. She designs interactive customer service portals, enterprise-level websites and other web-based applications and writes web content and user guides. She applies over ten years of experience designing and writing for the web to developing interactive, user friendly web sites and writing technical guides to popular web technologies. This is her second book with Packt Publishing. Get Blogger tips and download source code on her companion web site to this book at http://bloggerbeefedup.blogspot.com. A big thanks to my daughter Celeste who practiced her reading skills by looking over my shoulder, and editing my writing. Her cheerful suggestions kept me motivated. An Innocent Drinks smoothie or ten is owned to David Barnes. His vision for the book, and constructive feedback kept me focused and helped me through the rough spots.

About the Reviewer Narayan Bhat is passionate about wandering the Internet and Blogging.

Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: All Blogs Are Not Equal Meet Georgia Peach, Fanatical Fruitier The Way She Blogs Now What's Out There

1 7 7 8 10

Cooking with Amy Meeblog BoingBoing Innocent Drinks

11 12 14 15

What They Share Time to Plan Defining Goals

16 16 16

Attract More Readers Reinforce her Brand, Build a Community Sell More Fruits, Explore New Revenue Opportunities Measure and Improve

Summary

Chapter 2: Customize and Create Templates Choosing a Theme Presentation—It's About the Visual Things Changing Blogger Templates without Code Use the Test Blog Customizing Page Elements Managing Page Elements Editing the Header Page Element, Title, and Description Replacing the Header Image Changing Blog Templates Changing the Fonts and Colors Choosing High Contrast Text Colors Matching the Font to the Blog

17 22 22 23

24

25 25 26 27 27 27 29 30 33 37 41 43 45

Table of Contents

Choosing an Effective Layout The Usual Suspects Pruning the Template Code Designing the Visual Look

49 49 51 52

Preparing to Style the Post Content Block Adding a Custom Variable Tag to the Template Displaying an Image Next to the Title of Each Post Adding Background Images to Post Text Blocks Spicing up the Sidebar Styling the Footer Section Styling the Header Section of the Template

53 53 55 57 59 61 63

Adding Polish to the Template with Style(s)

65

Creating Visual Interest with Backgrounds and Borders

Creating a Three-column Template

65

67

Preparing to Modify Your Current Template Tweaking Template Images

Summary

68 71

75

Chapter 3: Social Bookmarking

77

How Social Bookmarking Works Submitting Posts without Bookmarks Sharing Posts by Email Adding Bookmarks to Blogs Choosing the Right Bookmarks for Your Blog Deciding Which Bookmark Services to Use

Using Simple Text Link Bookmarks Adding Social Bookmark Buttons

78 78 81 83 83 85

86 89

Offering Multiple Bookmarks with One Button Adding Dynamic Counters to Bookmark Links

Adding Multiple Counter Scripts Simultaneously Attracting Readers with Links What People are Tagging

92 94

96 102 102

Planning an Article

103

Building an Audience with Regular Posts Summary

105 106

Chapter 4: Joining the Blogosphere

107

Backlinks, Trackbacks, & Pingbacks Configuring Backlinks Why You Need Backlinks

107 107 108

Trackbacks Added Automatically Viewing Multiple Backlinks

110 110

Being a Backlinker

111

Maintaining Backlinks

111 [ ii ]

Table of Contents Using a Trackback Service Trackbacking Non-Blogger Blogs

113 116

Blogrolls Setting up Blogrolls Caring for Blogrolls Linkbaiting Bloggers Attract Attention

119 120 124 124 124

Find a Unique Story Angle Create Controversy

124 125

Technorati and Other Blog Networks How Blog Networks Work Summary

Chapter 5: Using Widgets

125 126 128

129

Adding a Blogger Page Element Widget Widgets Your Readers Want Adding a Custom Third-party Widget Adding Interactive Third-Party Widgets Interacting with Visitors Using Chat

129 132 132 136 136

Social Network Badges E-commerce with Blogger

139 143

Using Product Sales Widgets Offering Products as an Amazon Affiliate

143 143

Providing PayPal Service on Your Blog Blogger and Third-Party Widgets Crafting Custom Blogger Widgets Anatomy of a Widget Choose Your Widgets Wisely Picking the Right Widgets

146 151 152 157 158 158

Widget Matching Matrix Ways to Pick Widgets

158 159

Planning for Future Widgets Using Experimental Widgets Summary

159 160 165

Chapter 6: RSS and Atom Syndication

167

How Site Feeds Work in Blogger Choosing a Feed Protocol for Your Blog

167 168

Multiple Feed Protocol Icons Confuse Visitors Discovering the Post URL of Your Blogger Blog Grabbing Feeds with Safari

168 168 171

Managing Blogger Feeds Basic Feed Settings Advanced Feed Settings

171 172 173 [ iii ]

Table of Contents Redirecting Feeds Promoting Your Blog with Feed Chicklets More Ways to Publicize Your Feed with FeedBurner Updating Google Sitemaps for Redirected Feeds Give Visitors the Feed They Need with SmartFeed Notifying Services with PingShot

Label Specific Feeds

175 178 180 182 183 183

183

Offering Feeds by Label

183

Measuring Feed Success Showing Your Success with FeedCount Using FeedBurner Stats Adding Outside Feeds to Your Blog Test Driving Blogger Subscription Links Making it Easy for Visitors to Add Your Feeds Subscription Links versus FeedBurner Redirect

Summary

185 185 186 187 189 189 191

192

Chapter 7: Making Money with Ads Eating a Google AdSense and Blogger Sandwich Setting up Google AdSense for Your Blog Creating AdSense Ads with Blogger Page Elements Using Custom AdSense Ads Considering Your AdSense Options Designing Your AdSense Ads

193 193 194 194 198 198 199

Putting YouTube Videos to Work with Video Units Before You Begin Managing Video Unit Players

203 203 206

AdSense for Search

207

Adding a Custom AdSense for Search to Your Blog

Setting up Referral Ad Units Why Not to Use Referrals Getting the Most Out of AdSense Ads Managing Ads in AdSense Using Advanced Reports Generating Reports Viewing Reports

207

212 215 216 216 217 217 218

Using AdSense Filters Monetizing Blog Feeds with FeedBurner Ways to Monetize FeedBurner Ad Network (FAN) Displaying AdSense Ads with FeedFlare Managing AdSense Content Ad Units in FeedBurner

Discovering Other Advertising Programs Amazon Affiliate Ads Project Wonderful [ iv ]

219 221 221 221 222 225

225 225 229

Table of Contents

BlogAds Summary

229 229

Chapter 8: Measuring Site Performance with Google Analytics

231

Setting up Analytics

232

Time for Action!—Activating Google Analytics

232

Adding Tracking Code without Editing Your Template Administrating Google Analytics Managing Website Profiles

234 235 235

Adding Additional Profiles

235

Managing Users with Access Manager Preparing to Add a User Editing Existing Users Deleting Users

236 236 238 239

Controlling Data with Filters

239

Setting up Filters Understanding Regular Expressions Processing Data Using Custom Filters Types of Custom Filters

239 241 242 244

Managing Ad Campaign Metrics Tracking Campaigns

246 246

Tagging Campaign Items Experiencing URL Builder Identifying Campaign Tags

246 246 248

AdWords Integration Analyzing Keyword Effectiveness Driving the Reports Dashboard Navigating the Dashboard

248 249 250 250

Using the Left Menu of the Dashboard Exploring the Main Dashboard Overview Section Customizing the Dashboard Overview

Viewing Reports Analyzing Reports Emailing Reports Evaluating Performance with Goals Tracking Performance with Goals Editing Goals

250 251 251

253 255 256 258 258 261

Improving Your Blog with Google Analytics Analyzing Navigation

262 262

Exploring the Navigation Summary Entrance Paths

262 263

Optimizing your Landing Page

263

Examining Entrance Sources Discovering Entrance Keywords

264 264

Interpreting Click Patterns

264 [v]

Table of Contents Understanding Site Overlay

265

Summary

266

Chapter 9: Search Engine Optimization Seeing a Blog through Search Engine Goggles Performing a Search—Which Blogs Rank High

267 268 268

What High Ranking Blogs Do Right

269

Using Tools to Evaluate a Blog

270

Using the Google PageRank Button Discovering Search Engine Reach Using Tools Improving Search Engine Rank with Web Standards Validating Your Blog Template Blog SEO Checklist

Planning Improvements Creating a List of Improvements

272 273 274 274 277

278 278

Ten Ways to Optimize a Blog for Search Engines Wearing a White Hat

279 279

Developing Improvement Strategies Prioritizing Improvements Optimizing Your Blog for Search Engines Optimizing On-site

280 280 281 281

Seeding the Blog Title & Description with Keywords Allowing Search Engines to Find Your Blog Fertilizing Content with Keywords Optimizing Image and Video Posts for Current Searches Submitting Rich Media Content for Indexing Improving Template Validation

Optimizing with Off-Site Techniques Adding a Blog to Google Webmaster Tools Adding a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools Communicating with Search Engine Spiders Understanding User-Agent Behavior in Robots.txt

Measuring Optimization Success Evaluating the Impact of Improvements Tools and Resources Maintaining Your SEO Status Controlling the Destiny of Your Blog The Secret to Search Engine Attraction

281 282 284 284 286 286

287 288 289 291 293

293 294 294 295 295 295

Search Engines Crave Rich Media Content Why Search Engines Care about Rich Media Content

Summary

296 296

296

Chapter 10: Website Integration

297

Adding Website Navigation Preparing to Add Navigation

298 298

Creating a Multi-Level Menu for a Blog

302 [ vi ]

Table of Contents

Using Widgets on Your Site to Share Your Blog Publicizing Blog Articles with Headline Animator Publicizing Your Blog with SpringWidgets Adding Twitter Updates to Your Website Integrating the Look of Your Blog & Website Using the Same Fonts Choosing the Same Colors Using Blogger with a Custom Domain Deciding How to Publish Your Blog Publishing to a Current Domain Using FTP FTP Errors and Solutions

308 309 312 317 321 321 323 324 325 326 328

Using a New Custom Domain

329

Purchasing a New Custom Domain

329

Summary

331

Index

333

[ vii ]

Preface This book actively immerses you in going beyond the default Blogger blog. Descriptive tutorials help you take action and learn to customize Blogger templates, add and create your own widgets, use social bookmarking tools, optimize your blog for search engines, attract more readers, play nice with other bloggers, understand Google Analytics, and make money with your blog. As a bonus, you will also learn many delicious fruit recipes and have access to a rich array of images, code, and tips for your blog.

What This Book Covers Chapter 1 will help you start by comparing a default Blogger blog with top blogs. You will meet Georgia and her organic fruit company Fruit for All. Georgia's blog will be our example throughout the book. Developing a wish list of the features and design elements for her blog will include an overview of the many types of features and online tools used by bloggers. Chapter 2 will help you plan and customize your Blogger template to give your site its own look. This will include the blog post, sidebar, header, and footer areas of the blog. Tweaking the template will include quick ixes such as fonts, colors and background images and then cover more complex tasks, including adding a third column to your design. Chapter 3 covers the types of social bookmarking and network tools, along with the most popular sites. Promoting your site using social bookmarks and using related widgets adds interactivity. You will use social bookmarking techniques with your blog and apply them to different parts of your blog. Blogger and third-party tools are customized and integrated into your blog.

Preface

Chapter 4 is all about being an active citizen of the Blogosphere. You will set up Blogger link backs, use tools to make it easier for other bloggers to link back to you, and learn ways to attract other bloggers to your blog. Chapter 5 covers the best widgets for Blogger. Widgets are small, self-contained programs that can help you build a community, provide rich content, show and sell products, and make money. They give you more choices for how you can use your blog. You will not only add Blogger and third-party widgets to your blog, you will create your own custom widgets. Picking the right widgets for your blog is covered by widget type and function. Chapter 6 will help you make the most of Blogger's feed syndication. You'll learn how to make it easy for people to subscribe, use tools like Feedburner to promote, measure and share your feed, and go beyond basic feed syndication with widgets and optimization tips. Chapter 7 covers advertising as a source of revenue for your blog. Using Google AdSense and other popular programs, you will select ad formats, customize widgets, and place ads on your blog. Rich media formats including YouTube AdSense units are explored. Chapter 8 covers the ways to measure the performance of your blog using Google Analytics. You'll start with installing Analytics code on your blog and learning how Analytics is useful for Blogger blogs. This chapter is full of active tutorials on getting the most out of Google Analytics, including how to use regular expressions to create custom ilters. Understanding and analyzing the reporting features of Analytics is also explored. Chapter 9 focuses on optimizing your blog for search engines. Create site maps, understand the cryptic syntax of robots.txt, and learn tips speciic to how search engines crawl and rank blogs. Taking action with checklists and techniques designed to get you started in ive minutes or less. Chapter 10 integrates your blog with your main website or any other site or blog you already have. You will add dynamic universal navigation, match the fonts and colors of your blog to other sites, add content from your blog to an external site, and learn multiple ways to use a custom domain for your Blogger blog.

[2]

Preface

Who is This Book for The book is aimed at current users of the Blogger platform who want to get the most out of Blogger, and people who use a different blogging platform and are planning on switching to Blogger. Blog owners who promote their own services, expertise, and products, and want to increase their blog's success by pushing the limits of what Blogger can do will get the most out of this book. This book doesn't require any speciic knowledge of Blogger or the related technologies: RSS, CSS, HTML, and XML. Everything you need to know to grow beyond the basics is covered in this book. The companion website to this book, http://bloggerbeefedup.blogspot.com includes free resource images and content.

Conventions In this book, you will ind a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning. There are three styles for code. Code words in text are shown as follows: "Every link used within the Blogger template begins with