Editing Blogger Blog Layout

Now comes the interesting part in your Blogger blog, customizing blog layout. Layout is arranging Blogger widgets in your blog to make it easy read for visitors. The default layout will have minimum widgets like About me, blog archives, attribution.

New Blogger Layout Design Interface

The advantage of Blogger layout customization is that it takes no skill to create a widget. So managing your content need no programming skill except for using your mouse! Clicking 'Add a Gadget' link will open up Gadget dialog box where you can select a predefined gadgets. This tutorial is good to explain how to add gadgets in blogger. 

You will find no problem when it comes to adding predefined blogger gadgets in your blog. But that is not the end of customization. You could just create your own gadgets in blogger with pure HTML and Javascript. If you got some code from any repository to implement in your blog then it is good to add 'HTML/javascript' gadgets to add your own code.

While it comes to arranging the placement of gadgets, you will find it similar to using visual IDE. In other words, if you are good at mouse, you are good to go with customization of Blogger layout. Just drag and drop your gadgets to your required place. No more editing CSS and HTML. In this sample tutorial, it is explained how to create your own social media share gadget in blogger. It is not just easy to explain Blogger layout customization in single blog post. Without any paid or free blogger theme, you could just create your own theme for yourself.

Editing Blogger Layout is up to you. Your creativity will create the design of your blog. The design does not mean just arrangement. It is something which make your blog personal with your readers. If you are blogger, who is interested in creating theme for yourself out of stock blogger theme, then I is highly recommended to subscribe this blog for more updates.

Blogger Guide on Earning & Campaigns

Whatever may be the objective of your web blog, either it is run on Blogger service or self-hosted blog! At some time, bloggers feel the need to monetize the blog. Most of the premium web blogs which run on a niche will receive subscription either monthly or yearly to gain premium articles access. But for beginners who just starting a new web blog will find difficult to raise money through premium subscription. Most of the visitors would bounce off your web blog once they find pay for view comes up in blog. The truth is most personal blogs will not gain readership if premium subscription comes up before visitors.

So most blog webmaster prefer ads and banner instead of paid subscription to gain access to the blog. Blogger blogs are easy to monetize. Moreover, it has its own inbuilt integration with Google Adsense account. Just a click of a button will take you to Google Adsense dashboard.

Earning using Blogger blog:

Google Adsense

Blogger.com has inbuilt Google Adsense integration. For any beginners, monetizing a Blogger blog is just a click away. But, it is not easy anymore. You have to run into Sandbox mode for 6 months before signing up for adsense. Just kidding! New blog needs some age and exposure to start monetizing. Google will provide with 6 months time to build your Blogger blog. 6 Months is an ample time to generate enough content to draw attention of your audience. When the time arrives, the the Sign up button would be enable for your blog.

Sign Up for Google Adsense

Once you click on the sign up it will take you to the Google Adsense dashboard where you would keep your blog for approval from Google Adsense Team. If you application gets approval, you are good to setup ads in your blog! Visit here to know more and Troubleshoot in setting up Google Adsense for your blog.

Starting your Campaign:

Your blog is been alive for 6 months, yet to achieve your target on audience. Then campaign is one of the best way to try gaining your presence over Internet. 

Start Campaign for your Blog

Campaign? Sounds like some election work for a candidate? For those who are new to Google Adsense pay per click advertising, it is a paid ad that comes along with organic search results of Google Search engine. Paid search results are as long as good if you pay for clicks from the search results. To know more about pay per click advertising, read about pay per click advertising.

Blogger.com inbuilt analytic features

So far how many blog post did you publish? If you have done publishing 3 blog post a day on average then in a week you would have some 21 to 25 blog post to your record. But the problem is getting visitors to your blog post. Creating content would not be a problem for new bloggers. If you spend some one hour per day, you could have good number of post to your name, sorry, to your Google+ profile, provided you shared all the post you wrote from day one. But how would measure your success as a blogger? 

That's the point! From being a blogger, just writing blog posts often doesn't qualify you to the podium. You know? Some millions of people own web blogs. But the said part only few reach the success and find place in SERP. Most people lose track of the progress and achievements. From my personal experience, I find most people abandon their blog. Mostly in blogger.com, I find often orphan blogs. Most blog writers just abandon once they find green pastures somewhere. The sub-domain owned by those bloggers are just doing nothing but parking in it for nothing. Simply, domain parking is done in Blogger platform. But that's different story we don't have to worry about now! 

I guess if you are reading this blog, then you are determined to make your blog complete. Success blogging is creating your own benchmark and targets. And of course, achieving them on time. Blogging had turned into a commitment. You have set target for yourself and achieve in on time.

Blogger Stats:

Stats Blogger Menu

So, you are setting up your targets, ain't you? If not, start setting monthly and weekly targets for your blog. Creating quality content is your goal. But with out any audience for your blog, it would like you are performing in an opera without visitors. So try targeting visitors who would like your blog. Unlike wordpress.com blog, your blog post will sit in new pressed category. Each blogger blog seems isolated except for the navigation bar, which usually brings up others blog.

Overview of Blogger Stats

Overview: Now, stats menu is easy to acquaint with. Overview shows up Post Entry and page views for your blog. Geographical location of the blog visitors. It is overall stats for your blog to make rough estimate out of the metrics collected by the blogger.

Posts: It will provide metrics on pageviews on blogger blog post and blogger page views. You could know about the top blog post which gets visit often from this option.

Traffic sources: This is important metric to measure your success in Blogger. You could learn about sites that are providing entry in to the blog post. 'Referring URL' keeps tab on the web site that provide backlink to your blog. More over 'search keywords' shows the search query for which your blog shows up in search result. This metric is as good as gold if you plan for SEO in your blog. Any search query for which your blog shows up then it is good to optimize your web page for such terms to rank higher. To know more about keywords research, you could find SEO your blogger blog post useful.

Audience: This tab will make you know more about Geographical location of your blog audience. It will provide insight into the Country on which you get page views from your blog and the browser from which blogger blog is accessed along with the Operating system or devices used by audience. It is good to know the OS which frequently appear in this stat. If you audience prefer mobile views, then it is good to optimize your blog for mobile. Interested in mobile optimization, visit to know more about responsive web design.

With Google rolling out mobile search algorithm, followed by anticipated Bing mobile search algorithm update, mobile optimization play vital role. Know the reason for optimizing web blog for mobile and tablets.

Drawback of Blogger inbuilt analytic:

Every tools comes with its own drawbacks! Blogger analytic provided with your blogger blog dashboard has its own drawbacks and pitfalls. 

Blogger stats are not real-time. In other words, you can see live updates over the stats as you do in other web analytic tools. The stats are updated with some delay. So it is good to use some professional analytic service if you prefer to have real time updates. For those, who are critical about the target audience, real time analytic service is way to go. Most of the web bloggers prefer Google Analytic service, yet even that service is not real time.

Further, Page views will count the bot visits. I run words of guru, a web blog running on blogger service. I receive an aggregate of 150 page visits from bots. Most of them are not quality links. Referring web sites would be some unrated website, not safe for audience of all ages. Most of these web sites, try to gain attention of beginners in Blogger who are new to blogging. Most beginners tend to click on those links i.e, referring URL to know about the website which provide link back to the blog and end up landing in page mostly compromising your security and privacy. So make sure, you or other author of your blog don't click on those links which you are uncertain about.

Sharing Blogger Post using Google+

Sharing Blog post using Google+

I will presume that you run a blogger blog and you are here to how Google+ sharing will help your blog? Any blog needs some active readers. In Blogger.com, Google+ integration will help you get readers to your blog in initial days. Many would feel wary about integrating social profile with blogs. Any one who visits your blog will get know about your social profile and thus might know more about personal information which you wish to protect or save it from unwanted attention. Well, we are in the age of internet, were most people are concerned about user privacy. I would highly recommend such bloggers to keep personal information private such as address, phone numbers, office address and so on. If you feel insecure about publicizing your personal information in social media platform then it is good check your privacy settings to hide few information from general public. Hiding every single information is not good for business such as hobbies, interest, websites, other blogs, promotions. 

In default, if you use Google+ using Google account, then blogger will automatically link your blogger profile with Google+ profile. With such integration, it made easy to share your blog post with Google+ audience. Not only audience, you can enable Google+ comments in your blogger blog, so your blog will display Google+ user comments on each post.

Google+ options for Bloggers:

Google+ options in Blogger.com

Option #1 Automatically Share after posting: This option is useful, if you wish to tell world about your blog post right after you posted it. Your Google+ profile is automatically updated with the new blog post. Your circles know that you have blogged in your blog. So it is good for those who wish instant update to their circle as soon as a blog post is published.

Option #2 Prompt to share after posting: while selecting this option will show a prompt box confirming your blog share through your Google+ profile. You will be provided with whom you wish to share your blog post. Three options are provided:

• Your circles
• Extended circles
• public

It is always recommended to share with public as it is most likely to get new audience into your blog. Consider if some one +1 your blog post shared through Google+ then his/her circle get know about your blog post. Thus increasing your blog reach than your expectation. 

Option #3 Use Google+ comments on this blog: It is your own choice when it comes to selecting this option. Commenting through Google+ had not been a problem at all. So if you find it useful to enable comments, then you are good to go.

Sharing using Google+ page:

Well, default setup enable you share using your personal Google+ profile, if you wish to create new Google+ page anticipating larger audience, then it is good to create Google+ page for your blog. It must be good enough to emphasize the interest of the blog.

If you use the same Google account for creating Google+ page then the page created will be listed when you select Google+ from the Blog dashboard.

Integrating Google+ page

If you have trouble setting up Google+ page then you can follow this tutorial on setting up Google+ page. Once you finished creating Google+ page, then it would automatically show up in your Blogger blog dashboard. To cross check about Google+ page integration, follow the guide to integrate Google+ page with Blogger blog.

Once start posting all updates using Google+ page then, it would be easy for you to manage the community which you create behind your blog. Thus, help you to separate your personal profile from blogging profile. Those which to follow the blog has liberty either to follow you or just follow the blog alone.

How to Manage comments of your blog?

Well, you must have started publishing blog post from your blogger blog! Most of you must have informed your friends and family about the blog which are writing. So you have few leads to your blog. So naturally, you may expect some comments. Not only from your family & friends but from general public. It is quite natural that your blog visitors may from any part of the world once you make it public. Google is good at taking your blog to any part of the world. So it is good to manage your comments. Moreover, managing comments does not mean just moderating, filter, removing spams. But also to have engaging readers of your blog. Once some one leave a comments, it is good to appreciate for commenting out and answer his/her query regarding your blog. That way you create reader engagement. Once you engage with your readers you will have a good chance of making your blog personal with that reader. So it is wise to manage blogger blog comments. 

Generally, Blogger.com allow any users to comment using Google Account. But still, it is good to enable anonymous commenting. Few readers, who don't wish to reveal identity will prefer anonymous commenting. So it is good to enable them in your comment section. Yet, it has its own reservation which will be dealt in detail now.

Managing Comments on Your blog:

Blog Settings

In your blog dashboard, select 'settings'-> Posts and comments. It will open the settings of blogger comments.

Blog Comment Settings

Comment Location: Comment Location option will provide with options on 'comment appearance'. In Default, it will be embedded at the end of each blog post. It is good to leave as such if you are confused on selecting the right option.

Who can comment? Well, it is recommended to include 'Anyone'. But purpose of your blog may restrict users who leave comments in your blog post. So choose it wisely. Default is 'Registered User'.

Comment Moderation: Does your blog need comment moderation? If yes, it is good to provide with an email to get notified of the comments left in your blog post. Moderation will need your email id to be entered for moderating comments for which you will notified. 

Moderating comments

Show word verification: It is highly recommended to select 'yes' for this option. This option prevent spams and bots leaving comments in your blog. So it is highly recommended to enable word verification for your blog. Each time one post comment, to the one who post will be shown with a word verification. This will prevent bots from posting random, irrelevant comments in your blog post.

Show Backlinks: What if someone discuss about your blog post somewhere else? Enabling backlink will provide a link back to the post where discussion is being done over your blog post. 

If you have enable moderation in your blogger blog post, then it is good to periodically check comments that awaits moderation. It is good to publish comments as soon as your readers leave one. Yet comment moderation will help you prevent spams, ads, irrelevant links being posted on your blog.