Free Ebook - A Complete Guide To Blogger For Beginners

You know one of the things I constantly have to keep in mind while writing tutorials is the Newbie or Beginner Blogger.Whether it's tutorials for WordPress or Blogger blogs I always try to write posts as if I was writing them for a complete newcomer to blogging.Indeed I think this has been one of the reasons behind the success of Spice Up Your Blog.I have published many Basic Blog Tips and Video Tutorials specifically for new bloggers, along with this the steps in tutorials are usually accompanied by a Video showing the steps required.

But there is only so many posts we can publish which cover the basics of Blogging.For this reason I have often thought of putting together an Ebook on the topic.I never really got around to it but fear not Amanda Kennedy of Blogger Buster has recently done the job and a fantastic job at that.
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6 Common Do’s and Don’ts For Blogs

Guest Post By Liz Nelson.Want to get involved ? See how you can become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Consider this a friendly reminder or a refresher course for your blog. There are a few common do’s and don’ts to reflect on before you blog your next entry.
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How To Make A No Follow Link

Every link in your blog is not only seen by the readers but also by the search engines.When Google and other search engines crawl your blog they take note of each link and follow the link to it's source.Of course as your blog grows their will be hundreds and eventually thousands of links scattered through the archives.Having search engine bots follow links is helpful in most cases.If in your current post you link to a post in your archive you are not only sending readers to that post but also search engines.However many links on your blog lead to a dead end like Log in pages, Download links or links to bookmark posts on Digg or Stumble Upon.

Did you know you can add a small attribute to links on your blog telling Google and other search engines to not follow a link ?

This can also be added to links to sites you may be telling readers to avoid, you don't want to be sending search bots to these sites.The small attribute that we add to a link to tell Google not to follow it is called the 'No Follow' tag.

How To Make Links No Follow

Below you can see the code used to make a regular hyperlink :


Spice Up Your Blog

To make the link No Follow we simply add rel="nofollow" as shown below :

rel="nofollow" href="http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/">Spice Up Your Blog

It's that easy and the nofollow attribute can be added to links anywhere on your blog.


Note : While the nofollow attribute is useful and lets you be selective in who you give 'Link Juice' to don't over use it or start adding it to all outward links.

Did you know about no follow or have you used it before ?

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

The Most Popular Blogging Terms And Phrases

On a recent TV show i watched, one of the questions was about words in the Oxford English Dictionary.One of the words that has been added to the latest edition is 'Blogosphere' meaning the Blogging community or things within the Blogging community.This got me  thinking of other words and phrases that are only used within the Blogosphere.Blogging has been around for years and has built a large Glossary of terms you will have encountered or will encounter in the future.To be a proper Blogger you have to be able to talk the talk, so lets look at some of the most popular terms...



Blogging Glossary


Atom
Another popular feed format developed as an alternative to RSS.
Autocasting
Automated form of podcasting that allows bloggers and blog readers to generate audio versions of text blogs from RSS feeds.
Audioblog
A blog where the posts consist mainly of voice recordings sent by mobile phone, sometimes with some short text message added for metadata purposes. (cf. podcasting)

Blawg
A law blog.
Bleg
An entry in a blog requesting information or contributions.
Blog Carnival
A blog article that contains links to other articles covering a specific topic. Most blog carnivals are hosted by a rotating list of frequent contributors to the carnival, and serve to both generate new posts by contributors and highlight new bloggers posting matter in that subject area.
Blog client
(weblog client) is software to manage (post, edit) blogs from operating system with no need to launch a web browser. A typical blog client has an editor, a spell-checker and a few more options that simplify content creation and editing.
Blogger
Person who runs a blog. Also blogger.com, a popular blog hosting web site. Rarely: weblogger.
Bloggernacle
Blogs written by and for Mormons (a portmanteau of "blog" and "Tabernacle)". Generally refers to faithful Mormon bloggers and sometimes refers to a specific grouping of faithful Mormon bloggers.
Bloggies
One of the most popular blog awards.
Blogroll
A list of other blogs that a blogger might recommend by providing links to them (usually in a sidebar list).
Blogosphere
All blogs, or the blogging community. Also called blogistan or, more rarely, blogspace.
Blogware
A category of software which consists of a specialized form of a Content Management System specifically designed for creating and maintaining weblogs.
The BOBs
The largest international blog awards.

Collaborative blog
A blog (usually focused on a single issue or political stripe) on which multiple users enjoy posting permission. Also known as group blog.
Comment spam
Like e-mail spam. Robot “spambots” flood a blog with advertising in the form of bogus comments. A serious problem that requires bloggers and blog platforms to have tools to exclude some users or ban some addresses in comments.

Desktop Blogging Client
An off-line blog management (posting, editing and archiving) tool

Fisking
To rebut a blog entry in a line-by-line fashion.
Flog
A portmanteau of "fake" and "blog". A blog that's ghostwritten by someone, such as in the marketing department.

J-blog
A journalist blog.
A blog with a Jewish focus.

Milblog
Term for blogs written by members or veterans of any branch of military service - Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. A contraction of military and blog.
Moblog
A portmanteau of "mobile" and "blog". A blog featuring posts sent mainly by mobile phone, using SMS or MMS messages. They are often photoblogs.
Mommy blog
A blog featuring discussions especially about home and family.
Multiblog
A blog constructed as a conversation between more than two people.

Permalink
Permanent link. The unique URL of a single post. Use this when you want to link to a post somewhere.
Phlog
Type of blog utilising the Gopher protocol instead of HTTP
A Photoblog. A portmanteau of "photo" and "blog".
Photoblog
A blog mostly containing photos, posted constantly and chronologically.
Pingback
The alert in the TrackBack system that notifies the original poster of a blog post when someone else writes an entry concerning the original post.
Podcasting
Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcasting” (but not for iPods only). Posting audio and video material on a blog and its RSS feed, for digital players.
Post
An entry written and published to a blog.
Post Slug
For blogs with common language URLs, the post slug is the portion of the URL that represents the post. Example: http://domain.com/2010/01/this-is-the-post-slug

RSS
Really Simple Syndication is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts.
RSS aggregator
Software or online service allowing a blogger to read an RSS feed, especially the latest posts on their favourite blogs. Also called a reader, or feedreader.
RSS feed
The file containing a blog’s latest posts. It is read by an RSS aggregator/reader and shows at once when a blog has been updated. It may contain only the title of the post, the title plus the first few lines of a post, or the entire post.

Spam blog
A blog which is composed of spam. A Spam blog or "any blog whose creator doesn't add any written value."
Slashdot effect
The Slashdot effect can hit blogs or other website, and is caused by a major website (usually Slashdot, but also Digg, Metafilter, Boing Boing, Instapundit and others) sending huge amounts of temporary traffic that often slow down the server.
Subscribe
The term used when a blogs feed is added to a feed reader like Bloglines or Google. Some blogging platforms have internal subscriptions, this allows readers to receive notification when there are new posts in a blog.
Search engine friendly URLs
or, for short, SEF URLs, implemented with a Rewrite engine.

Templates
Templates, used on the "back end" of a blog that work together to handle information and present it on a blog.
Theme
CSS based code that when applied to the templates will result in visual element changes to the blog. The theme, as a whole, is also referred to as a blog design.
TrackBack
A system that allows a blogger to see who has seen the original post and has written another entry concerning it. The system works by sending a 'ping' between the blogs, and therefore providing the alert.

Vlog
A video blog; a vlogger is a video blogger (e.g. someone who records himself interviewing people of a certain field).

Warblog
a blog devoted mostly or wholly to covering news events concerning an ongoing war.
Weblog
the unshortened version of 'blog'.

Source : Wikipedia

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its a quick and easy service Provided for Free by Google.Just fill in the Email form below the post or Click here for other Rss Options. If you need extra help on this or any tutorial just leave a comment, I love comments and feedback so this Blog is Do-Follow - when you comment here it helps Your Blogs Google rank !

What Blogging terms do you use most that i have left out ?

5 Key Factors To Writing Great Blog Posts

Many people enter the world of blogging with a strong opinion and a lot to say and these are key ingredients in making yourself a successful blogger.But there is a skill involved in transferring these great ideas in your mind to interesting posts on your blog.

After blogging for many years i have learned that a computer keyboard in the wrong hands can lead to disaster.This was true for me when i first started blogging, many posts were wild rants with no direction.

Like my old school report cards the message was clear 'Must Try Harder'.Putting pen to paper or fingers to keys and expressing yourself in a manner people will want to read is actually not too hard once you keep a few key factors in mind.

These were the 'Rules Of Thumb' i applied to writing blog posts.

1. Keep It Fresh - While you will want to write on a variety of topics try to publish lots of posts on current issues.This doesn't mean write about current topics in the news but rather the hot topics in your niche (Main Subject You Write About).People always remember where they heard something first so were possible be the one breaking the news or reviewing the latest products.

2. Speak Your Mind - Don't sit on the fence trying not to offend anyone, it's your blog and blogs are about opinion.Readers love blogs because they are different to regular websites and have personality.It's that very personality that will decide if your blog is 'a stud or a dud' in the blogisphere.

3. Get to the point - Even the most active souls become lazy and have short attention spans when sat in front of the computer screen.You don't have long to impress so let the reader know were you plan on going with the post early, and once your opinion or message is made wrap it up.You can mix in some longer posts by using the Killer Blog Post And Filler Blog Post method.

4. Think Of The Search Engines - Format your blog posts in a way the search engines will like as much as your readers.Add keywords for your chosen niche in the title of the post and in the opening paragraphs.Keywords are words people may search for, so think what search terms might lead someone to your post and more importantly what words do you want your post to be indexed under.Add these words and phrases to your post and take control of how Google and other search engines see your blog.But don't over do it, too many keywords can do more harm than good.

5. Keep Readers On Your Blog - In the closing paragraph ask for readers opinions in the comments, also make sure to add a link to another post on your blog that is on a similar topic.This will keep them busy and hopefully turn passers by into regular visitors.

You can make a Blog That Rocks, it's the little things that make all the difference.

Have you a 'rule of thumb' when it comes to writing blog posts ?

10 Methods of Refining Your Writing Technique

It’s a rare find to discover a writer who is ever truly happy with his or her technique. For most writers, there is a constant search for ways to better themselves when it comes to their trade. There is a variety of areas upon which an author might be looking to improve, including style, ability, proofreading, tone, grammar or descriptive word power. If you are looking for ways to better your writing technique, here are some tips that could help you in your efforts.

1. Understand Your Topic

There are few more aggravating things to someone reading your work than to think they are reading about one subject only to find themselves reading about something completely unrelated. Not only is this aggravating to the reader, but to the publisher as well. This is why it is important to read and understand the publisher’s directions before you start writing. You don’t want to write an entire article only to discover after the fact that you’ve completely missed the mark when it comes to discussing the assigned subject matter.

2. Know Your Audience

Understanding who will be reading your work is almost as important as how well you write it. Are you writing for children who still have a limited comprehension of the English language? Are your readers in foreign countries where American slang doesn’t quite compute? Knowing for whom you are writing content can significantly alter the way in which you write it.

3. Writing Style

With the recent prominence of online writing, styles have changed. Blog posts, search engine optimized writing, and keyword articles often differ greatly from newspaper and magazine writing. It is pertinent that you know what type of writing you are expected to do before you begin a work.

4. Try to Find Your Groove

Almost everyone has a certain time of day or night when they write more effectively. Try to find when you hit your stride and make an effort to buckle down and do the majority of your work or your most difficult work during these times. Knowing your more productive periods can allow you to schedule the rest of the day around those times and make the most of them, filling the down times with more menial, less mentally taxing activities, and putting the peddle to the metal when it’s time to work.

5. Outline

Sometimes getting started is the most difficult part of writing. Putting together an outline can bring the structure of your writing together and form a layout that you can follow to put your ideas in order in a coherent and easy to follow way. If you are tired and don’t feel like forming paragraphs or getting into detailed descriptions, jot down ideas, phrases, and keywords to remember your ideas by so that you can come back later when you are fresh and expound upon your thoughts.

6. Proofread

Even the best writers must proofread and edit their material. You’ll be amazed that those words that flowed so fluently from your mind onto the paper or computer screen, and sounded so great, don’t always look so good when you re-read them. Look for grammatical mistakes, improper word usage, and tense changes as common errors when you proofread.

7. Read it Aloud

Sometimes proofreading your work isn’t enough. When mentally reading the words that you wrote, it’s easy to remember the phrases as you meant them to be read, and scan over typos. Try reading the words aloud. You might be surprised at the mistakes you catch.

8. Be Receptive to Criticism

There are few things a writer hates more than criticism. However, healthy, constructive criticism can be a great way to improve your writing. Don’t be frustrated by the opinions of others. Instead, listen to what they have to say, consider their ideas, and reevaluate what you have written or how you have written it.

9. Read Other Authors

Whether it is by way of blogs, news articles, magazines or novels, reading other authors can help to improve your writing by observing the style of others. Most great artists don’t become great on their own. By watching and learning from others, you can pull the best pieces of their creativity to mold your own unique writing style.

10. Put Yourself Out There

You likely won’t learn anything new by playing it safe. Sometimes you have to put yourself out there and take a chance. Explore new topics, try new writing styles, and look for new areas to discover. Expanding your horizons when it comes to writing can help you build your experience and can lead to new areas of writing in which you never imagined yourself working.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

Overcoming The Disadvantage Of Writing Blogs In Your Second Language

In this post i want to take a step back from design and gadgets and look at some of the home truths of blogging.

If your first language is not English and more to the point if you have some English but are not fluent and choose to write your blog in English you could be at a big disadvantage.Internet users couldn't care a less were your from but Internet users do want information in a clear to the point format and they want each step to be fully explained.If you don't offer that someone else will.

Blogging has turned into an information source, the original weblog idea of sharing photos and family and friend activity through blogging has moved to social networking sites.Your blog might not directly be presented in a 'How To' format but if you stand back and take a look most blogs are information blogs in some way.



Search Engine Trouble

Not only is it harder for bloggers without fluent English to connect with their readers and get their point across in a way that is understandable they are also at a disadvantage when it comes to search engines, the readers of your blog may take the time to understand the point your making Google will crawl and discard your blog without a second look.

Most of the blogs i subscribe to are in a similar niche as Spice Up Your Blog, Tech blogs, Gadget blogs and other Blogger help blogs.I really enjoy One blog in particular that posts some great content, although this blogger posts about all things tech and Internet based, he uses the blogger platform so he also posts lots of blogger tutorials and most are great useful tips.The writer of the blog is from India and is currently still learning English, this has had a huge impact on the success of his blog.


Finding Help

I have left lots of comments on his blog and we would often send five or six comments back and forth so i felt comfortable enough to contact him and offer him some help.

First lets look at an example of how his limited knowledge of English was effecting his blog.
(He has asked for his blog not to be named in the post)

Lets say for example this blogger writes a post with a new 'Recent Posts Gadget' this would be how the post is presented :

Post Title : "Another Blogger Gadget" <-- Does not include the name of the gadget or the purpose of the gadget.Its important that the title includes terms people will search for and titles that will be clicked in search results.Also if you are already on his blog and see the archive in the sidebar a title like this will not entice you to check it out, it could be anything.

Post Content- First Paragraph : "Step 1 click..." <-- The blogger has given no introduction or description for the post, just jumped into how its done.Not only is an introduction important for readers its absolutely Vital for search engines.Google place more importance in the first two paragraphs of posts than anything else.He should include the words 'Recent Posts Gadget' and 'Blogger' at least twice in the first two paragraphs as well as explaining the advantages of using it.Basically he needs to sell the Post.

End of the post : "Click Save that's it" <-- No explanation of what was just done, no links to other posts to keep readers on the blog (A link to a similar post before the finish will get much more clicks than a list of related posts), no offer of extra help or mention of comments.

The post is poorly set up for readers and is almost invisible to search engines.The main keyword in the post is 'Step' so his blog could be indexed totally wrong by search engines.This of course is not the bloggers fault, he is learning English and picking effective titles and post formats is at the moment beyond the leval he has reached.
(Although much better than any effort i would make at another language)

So what can be done to fix this ?

OK it's very easy point out the problems but are their solutions. The one thing their is no shortage of within the blogging community is people willing to help but most of the time you must seek help. I contacted this blogger and put forward two ideas :

Google Translate

First write his posts in his own language, once the post is complete copy the entire post go to Google Translate paste the content into the area provided and translate it into English.

Proof Readers

But Google translate can make errors so this was the second proposal - Once he has translated the post go to Google Docs and put the post into a document and send it to me, i will give the post a quick proof read and fix any errors, once that done i send it back and he publishes it.

Translating the post into English takes about 30 seconds, adding it to a document takes another 30 seconds, the proof read takes less than 2 minutes by me...Easy.

All you really need is to reach out and look for help, but to make sure this works you must look at some extra points.

Notes

I think it would be important to find more than one other blogger that is willing to proof read your posts, i will not always be available.I suggested this to him and he now has another blogger willing to help.

I think it's very important the blogger or bloggers you pick to proof read write in the same niche, it's easier if they understand the posts you write and what they are about.Also if you do contact a blogger see if you can offer anything in return, not cash this will only complicate the arrangement.

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its a quick and easy service Provided for Free by Google.Just fill in the Email form below the post.
If you need extra help on this or any tutorial just leave a comment, I love comments and feedback so this Blog is Do-Follow - when you comment here it helps Your Blogs Google rank !

This has worked out great for the blogger in question and he is already seeing the advantages with an increase in subscribers and an increase in search traffic.If you going to make it as a blogger you must be willing to to leave your comfort zone and put yourself out there.

Your Opinion ?

Are you writing a blog in your second language ? I would love to hear how it has effected you.

And if you were contacted by someone looking for a proof reader would you be willing to help ?

10 More Great Blogger Gadgets For Your Blog

Every now and then i like to write a post with lots of quick tips and gadgets for your blog.Most of the tips are too short for a full post but defiantly will spice up your blog.So in this post we will focus on ten Blogger gadgets you can use.I have the code for most of these gadgets in the post so it couldn't be easier.There are lots more gadgets available and more being created everyday, so it wont be long before the next list !

Most of these gadgets are added as Html/Javascript gadgets in your layout page.If your unsure about how to add a Html/JavaScript gadget, at the end of the posts i will show exactly how it's done.



Ten Great Blogger Gadgets

1. Display the current date on your blog - The first tip is great and very easy.Display the current date on your blog, and i have it broke down to just one line of code.

Preview :



Code - Add code to a Html/Javascript gadget :

2. Disable Right Click On Your Blog - Personally i don't like to see right click disabled but if you want it disabled on your blog here's how it's done.

Code: Add this code to a Html/JavaScript gadget on your blog :

3. When Did Google Last Visit Your Blog - This cool gadget will display when the google bot or spiders last crawled your blog.To get the gadget go to This website and enter your blog URL.When you click 'Check Google Bot Last Visit you will generate some html code.

Preview :



Note : Add your code to a Html/Javascript gadget on your blog

4. 5 Star Rating gadget for your blog - This is the ourbrain rating system, go to the outbrain website Click Here and they have an option to add the gadget directly to Blogger


Preview :



5. Add Google Talk To Your Blog - You can add a Google Chat widget to your blog and Chat with your friends without leaving your blog.

Preview :




Code : Add the following code to a Html/JavaScript gadget on your blog

6. Add A Wibiya Tool Bar To Your Blog - The Wibiya toolbar has become very popular amongst bloggers on all platforms.The Toolbar includes bookmarking buttons, Twitter integration, Facebook integration, Chat features, Rss features and lot more.I used it for a while and really liked it, you have a selection of colors to suit your template.

Preview :



You can go to the Wibiya website to set up your toolbar, once you generate the code paste it into a Html/Javascript gadget.

7. Add This To Your Technorati Favorites Button - Technorati is one of the most respected blog directories and list the most popular blogs online, and in each category.This nice button will allow your visitors to quickly add your blog to their faves.

Preview (It's live so you can save this blog to your faves)
:


Code :
(You must replace my URL in red with yours)

http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/">

8. Add popular posts list to your blog - I covered this in a previous posts but it's very simple to add to your blog.Go to This site and click the add to blogger button they will look after the rest.

Preview:




9. Round the corners of your images and let your readers round their images - This is a gadget from Roundpic and it can be easily added to your blog.The gadget allows you or anyone on your blog to round the corners of images.You will have the very same gadget as below on your blog.



Working preview :
(Try it out)

Image:
or URL:

Code :Add as a Html/Javascript gadget :

Image:
or URL:

10. Feeds In Tabs - This gadget is in the Blogger Gadget gallery (When you click 'add a gadget' in your layout page the pop up window contains the gadget gallery).But i don't see it used much even though it is very useful.If you have more than one blog you can display the recent posts for 3-4 of your blogs in a tabbed format, or you could add your twitter feed, feeds for your favorite blogs or news channels etc..

Preview :



To get this gadget go to This site and you will get more info, their is a one click 'add gadget to blogger' button.There are also lots more gadgets from the Blogger Gadget gallery on that blog.

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its a quick and easy service Provided for Free by Google.Just fill in the Email form below the post.
If you need extra help on this or any tutorial just leave a comment, I love comments and feedback so this Blog is Do-Follow - when you comment here it helps Your Blogs Google rank !

Adding a Html/Javascript gadget to your blog

1. In your dash board click 'Layout'

2. In your Layout page click 'Add a gadget'

3. From the pop up window choose 'Html/Javascript'

4. Paste the code into the area provided.


So there are 10 great gadgets you can use to make your blog stand out from the crowd.Improving your blog can be so easy, check out the last Quick Tips list - 5 Built In Blogger Features You Should Be Using

Have you a favorite gadget from the list ?

The 5 Best Tips To Get A New Blog Indexed In Google Search Results

One of the questions i am asked most here on Spice Up Your Blog is : "How do i get my blog in Google search results ?" or "Why has Google not indexed my blog ?" and recently i have looked into this a bit deeper.Most of the posts i write on S.E.O. (search engine optimization) are more targeted at blogs that have already been ranked and are looking to move up the Search ranks and get higher positions within Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

To answer the question "How to get a new blog ranked on Google?" i looked at the search engine tips and tricks we have covered and picked out the 5 best tips for new blogs, Blogs just starting out and wanting to get noticed.No matter what your blog is about it will eventually get indexed but everyone wants to be visable on Google quickly.

Before you try to get your blog indexed on Google you should try to have at least 4-5 posts published because you want to give the Google bot's or spiders something to crawl.

Here are the first 5 steps to take

1. Submit you blog to google - Step one is an easy one go direct to the source and tell Google you exist and want to be crawled.You can submit your blog to Google and Bing here :

Submit Your Blog To Google

Submit Your Blog To Bing

2. Ping you blog to Google blog search - Most new blogs find it easier to get indexed by Google blog search first and this helps speed up the process of being listed on Google web search.Once again go directly to the source and tell Google to come check you out :

Ping Your Blog To Google Blog Search

3. Build back links to your blog - Apart from good unique content Google respect nothing more than links to your blog.Getting links from other websites and blogs to your blog is an absolute key step in Getting noticed by Google.Of course if you have a new blog who is going to link to it ? There are steps you can take to build backlinks to your blog and the first step can be as easy as leaving a few well placed comments on blogs and websites :

Using Do-Follow blogs to build backlinks

4. Set up a webmaster tools account and submit a site map - Google Webmaster tools is a hub of information for your blog.It's easy to get started and your first task is to submit a sitemap for Google to crawl.

Set up a Google webmaster tools account and submit a sitemap for your blog

5. Submit your blog - Submit your blog to blog directory's, my favorite is Blog Catalog but there are lots more.Submit your blog and individual posts to Bookmarking sites, How to use Bookmarking Websites to help your blog.

These steps should speed up the process of getting your blog on Google, How many will you try ?

Lets look at some more steps that deserve a mention.

More Steps To Rank Your Blog On Google

Ping your blog to feedburner and pingomatic - We looked at using the Google blog search ping you can also use other ping services.

Pingomatic

Feedburner ping

Link within your own blog - This is sometimes over looked and can be an awesome tactic when used properly.You have to look no further than this post to see how it's done because i just built 2 links in this top ten list alone the the entire post has 4 links to other posts on the blog! When you write a post try to leave a link to other posts on your blog, Google do index links within you blog.As i have done in this post try to make the links relevant and not off topic.I have well over 100 posts here so it's easier for me but you can utilise this more as your blog grows.

Leave A Link Were Possible - Were ever you can leave a link without spamming you should.On a serious note leaving spam links will ruin your reputation and your blogs reputation, its simply not wort it !

You can find lots more tips on getting the most from search engines here.

More help is only a comment away.

10 Tips for Writing a Successful Blog

There are many key elements that go into creating a successful blog! Some of the most important key elements of a successful blog surround your content and its relative components. The actual content that you write in your blog posts will be one of your greatest tools for blog success. No matter what your blog is about you’ll want to start by making sure that it is user friendly and can be easily navigated. A reader usually decides within a short amount of time whether they will be sticking around or not! After you’ve got that down, you’ll need to focus on your purpose and your content.

10 of the best tips for writing a successful blog

Create a Niche - When creating a successful blog it is so important to narrow down what the general theme of your blog will be about. If you have yet to start a blog think about where you want to go with it, what do you know a lot about, what information could you share with others? The options are really endless! You just need to think about a topic or idea that can be turned into a daily or weekly post that people would want to check out.

Know Your Audience- Who are you writing for? One of the hardest things for bloggers to realize is that they are not just writing in a journal that no one will read. As a blogger you are potentially opening the door to hundreds, if not thousands, of readers. When it comes to writing a successful blog it is not only what you write but the way you write it that is going to make a huge difference in your level of success. Try to think about your audience when creating your posts and write just as if you were talking to them in person.

Content is Key- What you write about in your posts is what is going to keep your readers coming back. Your posts should be engaging, informative, and to the point.

Stay on Topic- This is one of the most well known tricks of the trade! When it comes to writing a successful blog it is important to write posts relevant to your blogs niche. Now if you write a blog for the fun of it, you can throw this tip out the window. However, if you’re writing to gain an audience you’ll need to stick to the theme of your blog so your readers don’t get confused.

SEO - SEO is a huge topic that is very important in writing a successful blog, I highly suggest doing a little research on it if you’re new to the game. To get you started, one of the best tips for utilizing SEO is in your blog posts is to have a keyword density of about 2.1% so if your post is 300 words long then you should use your keywords 6-7 times. Also try to keep your keywords in order. For example if your keyword phrase is “free Blogger templates”, type it just like that throughout the post and don’t break it up to unless you have to.

Research Before You Write - Another key component in writing a successful blog is to offer your readers something about a topic that they may not have known. I like to throw in facts because I think they’re fun, find what works for you! Some topics don’t require any research but if it is a complex topic make sure that you are well versed before you dive in to writing a post all about it! Show your readers that your information is creditable! Step by step instructions are also helpful in writing a successful blog, a clear description can really separate the successful blogs from the not so successful blogs!

Add a Little Character - One of the great things about blogs is that they allow you to be you! You’re working for yourself so inevitably you have the ability to set the tone for your blog. Try not to be an encyclopedia, don’t just type out a bunch of information and be done with it. In order to write a successful blog you should personalize your posts, share your experience or opinion, throw in some humor, and just let your readers know that you are a real person.

Break It Up - Blogs are supposed to be easy reads. If your posts will be on the longer side break them up by using images, lists, bullets, and splitting paragraphs into shorter sections.

Edit - Even if your blog post is short don’t forget to edit it! Re-read it and spell check it before posting. Mistakes will happen but another great thing about blogs is they aren’t expected to be perfect; still you should always double check your work.

Get Your Readers Involved - Most people LOVE to give their opinion so why not ask. Every now and then ask your readers to share their tips, tricks, success stories, or views on a certain topic. This is not only a great way to get readers involved but it also allows you to create a community within your blog which is another key element in running a successful blog.

Reply to Comments - Your readers are part of the foundation that forms your success, without them there is not much rhyme or reason to even having a blog in most cases. So take a few minutes every day or every other day to respond to comments left on your blog.

These tips combined with a user friendly blog with a great layout, theme, and style will have you well on your way to writing a successful blog in no time at all.

The Top 5 Built In Blogger Features You Should Be Using

I am always working hard to bring you the best new and fresh tips and tricks, hacks and templates, Traffic and S.E.O. advice.
But as this Blog has grown and built a great readership it has become apparent to me that, while you guys are awesome and even the complete newbies manage to go with the flow and are not afraid to jump into their templates and play with the code, some of the really useful default Blogger features and options are either not known to everyone or are not being used properly.

Over the last year alone Blogger has added some really helpful features.You can keep up to date with upcoming features by taking a look at the official Blogger In Draft blog.

This post is about 5 Great Built In Blogger Extras And Settings You should be using, OK you may have used some of these features but have you taken full advantage of them ?

Lets look at the list and how to get the most from each one.
(Don't be afraid to play around with each one if your unsure)

1. Post Template

Post template is a great time saver.

Is there something you use in all or most of your posts ?

Mabey you use some code or tables, images, text, banners etc..

You can use the post template feature to have them automatically added to your post editor.

What does this mean ?

In every post on this blog i include a message reminding you of the option to subscribe by Email, this is the message i use - regular readers will be familiar with it :

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its quick easy and of course a free service provided by Google just fill in the form below the post.

This message is made up of a Html Table with a grey background, here is the code used for the message :

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its quick easy and of course a free service provided by Google just fill in the form below the post.

If i was to write this message in every post it would take a lot of time so i paste the code into the post template area and save.Now every time i start a new post the table is already in the post area i just move it into position.

How To access post template :

In your dashboard click 'Settings'►'Formatting'►Scroll to the bottom of the page you will see the option.

If there is something you use in every post, place it in the area provided and click save.Now every time you start a new post it will be already in the post editor.

2. Comment Form Message

The comment form message is a great way to encourage people to comment on your blog or set some rules for people commenting.

You have the option to add a small message above the comment form.

You can write something simple like 'Share your views' or you can use it like i do for a longer message this is a screen shot of my Comment Form Message, you can scroll to my comment area to see the full message :

Some html is also allowed in the form.

How To Access Comment Form Message :

In your dashboard click 'Settings' ► 'Comments' ► Scroll to the 'Comment Form message' option.
Write your message into the box provided and click save.

3. Post Feed Footer

The Comment Feed Footer should be used by all bloggers.It's a great way to add something extra for your subscribers.

What can you add ?

There is a limit on how many characters you can use but there is enough allowed to add simple things like a banner ad or a short personal message.

Some people use this to offer a free giveaway to there subscribers like an Ebook or a free download.

The message you put in your Blogs Feed footer area and will be placed under every post in the feed pages and will be under every post in the Emails you mail subscribers receive.

At the moment i have a Theme Forest banner but sometimes i add links to free templates or Bookmarking sets etc..You can see it in my feed Click Here
(You might as well subscribe while your there :D)

How to Access Post feed footer :

In your Dashboard Click 'Settings' ► 'Site Feed' ► Scroll to Post Feed Footer section.
Add the message or code you want to be below the posts and click save.

4. Scheduled Post Publishing

Scheduled Post publishing is a must have feature and before it was properly added to blogger it was a pain not having the option.

How does it work ?

There are two ways this can be used posting to a future date and backdating posts.

Back-Dating.

If you add a 'About Me' Or 'Contact Me' Or 'Privacy Policy' page or any page i would call 'Extra Pages' to your blog you don't want it to be on the front home page of your blog or in your recent posts, with scheduled Post publishing you can back-date those posts.

Scheduled Future Posting.

If you write more than one post a day it would be advised to leave a gap between the times you publish the posts.Also there have been studies on the best times to publish posts so you could set your posts to be published at a certain time.

If you were going away for a few days or taking a break you could write 3-4 posts before you go and set them to be published one every day.

How to access scheduled Post Publishing.

When you write a post click 'Post Options' at the bottom of the post editor and you will see tithe 'Post Date And Time' Options as Shown below :

Simply set the time and date accordingly, if you set the date and time for next Tuesday at 9PM then the post will automatically publish Next Tuesday at 9PM.

If you set the date back to January 1st 2009 then the post will be archived as if that was the date it was published.

5. Posts On Homepage And Read More.

I actually think a lot of people do know about both these features, for those who don't or for those who are aware of it but still don't take advantage of it we will cover the posts on main page and read more options here.

Most of the blogs i look at use lots of images and videos in the posts and this is great it really spices up the appearance of a blog.
However images, videos and gadgets slow down the loading time of your blog.

If you have 10 full posts on your blogs homepage it could take a minute or two for the page to load and in the Hyper Fast Internet community people want instant results.Basically they wont hang around for your blog to load.

Your home page should not have more than 4-5 full posts or you should use the 'Read More' Function.If you look at my homepage i have a specialized template that only shows a short summery and re sizes the main image, this way i can display 16 posts on the home page and it will still load quickly.

To see how to use the 'Read More' function Click Here

How to set the amount of posts displayed on your homepage

In your dashboard click 'Settings' ► 'Formatting' and the first option is Show X Posts on homepage.

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There are lots more small features that could make the Blogging experience much easier for you so take some time to browse around your settings, and as always i will keep you updated with the latest news as it happens.

If you need more info or help on any of these features or if there is one you think i left out and would help the readers let us know.

How To Create A Privacy Policy To Comply With AdSense TOS

Did you know that AdSense require you to have a privacy policy on your Blog or website if you display their ads? Failure to have a privacy policy could see you account being closed and all earnings forfeited.

To be honest i didn't know this until recently and have just added a privacy policy to my own blogs.Here is a quote from the AdSense T.O.S. :

"We've also added some specific requirements that make it necessary for publishers to post and abide by a transparent privacy policy that users see. According to this policy, publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process. This change relates to advertisers' use of innovative products and features like Gadget Ads and other offerings in the future."

As ever this was something i knew my readers needed to be informed of and as most people wouldn't know were to start when writing a privacy policy i looked for and easy form you could copy and add to your blog.I actually found something much better.

While browsing around i found a 'Privacy Policy Generator' all you need to do is add your blog address and your email one click and you privacy policy is ready to be added to your blog or website.

I will show you how to generate a privacy policy and how to add it to your blog.I will also show you how to Back-Date the post so it wont be on your home page or in your recent posts.

Generate your privacy policy.

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its quick easy and of course a free service provided by Google just fill in the form below the post.

Click Here you can see the Privacy Policy Generated for me.

How to get your Privacy Policy.

Click Here to go to the Serprank Generator Page.

You will be asked to provide 3 sections of information as shown in the image below :

Part 1 : Self explanatory add your Email and URL

Part 2 use of cookies : I clicked yes for this because although this blog does not collect cookies directly gadgets like hit counters and stat analyzers do.This shouldn't count but to be honest it makes no difference if you click yes or no.If you say you don't collect cookie info but you actually do it could spell trouble, If you say you do but you don't it means nothing.

Part 3 Advertiser Information : Just tick the boxes of the advertisers you use.If your reading this post i will presume you use AdSense.I added Amazon because i use them somtimes and i also use Clickbank.I also clicked Chitika, although i don't use their ads at the moment i intend to in the near future.So click the ones you use you can always go back if you sign up to another one.

Once this is filled up we click 'Create My Privacy Policy' and you will get your complete policy, copy the whole lot and you are ready to add it to your blog.

Adding it to your blog.

Create a new post for your blog and paste in the copied policy, title the post 'Privacy Policy'.

Back-Date the post.

You don't want the post showing up on your home page or in your recent posts so you can back-date the post.

To do this you click 'Post Options' under the post editor as seen below, here you can change the date.

You can set the date back a few months (I checked the date of my first ever post and set it to the day before so its the first post on the blog).

In the image you can see the date is 1/5/10 you could just change it to 1/5/09.

Once you have changed the date publish the post and your privacy policy is in place.

Please spread the word of this as i don't think many people know it's required an visitors to your blog will thank you for the information.

You can Re-tweet this post to your twitter with the button at the top of the post or share it on Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupn and others with the buttons below the post.

Here is a link you can copy and add to your blog it leads directly back to this post :

Get A Privacy Policy Page

If you want to copy this Entire post and publish it on your blog you have my permission.
(Please link back here.)

That's it i would like to know if you were aware of this AdSense requirement let me know in the comments.If you need more help you can also leave a comment i'm always glad to help.

Spice Up Your Blog Information Page

The tutorials in this blog can be implemented by anyone however you may need some extra help and that's why i created this page.This page is just some extra info and some alternative code if your having trouble finding code.Before you start making changes to your template here is some information and techniques you will need.

Always back up your template before making changes - How to Back Up Your Template

Knowing these 3 techniques will help you with our tutorials

How to copy and paste code and text

How To Add A Gadget to Blogger Sidebar

How To Easily Find Code In Your Template using CTRL F for a search bar

Here are more tips for beginners :

The basics

Just leave a comment and i will reply with help or if i need to i will have a look at your blog to get it fixed.

How To Use A Search Bar To Find Code In Your Blogger Template

OK so your reading a tutorial in this Blog and im going through the steps and then i say 'Find the following piece of code in your blogs template' .You think "You want me to find a small piece of code among the millions of characters in my blogs html"?

So to help i always follow that line with :
(Click 'Ctrl F' for a search bar to find the code)

You think 'Click what for a what'?

So here I'm going to show you exactly how to use the search bar to find the code :


You have followed the steps of a tutorial and you have reached the 'Edit Html' page as seen below :

Now you have to find a piece of code in your Blogs Html, for this example lets say i told you to find this piece of code :

Heres the easy way to find it

The first thing you do is click and hold the 'CTRL' key on your keyboard.

Now while holding the 'CTRL' key Click the letter 'F' on your keyboard :

(If you use Safari don't worry, just use the Apple+F keys to get the same effect)

Once you have clicked 'CTRL + F' a search bar will appear at the bottom of your page as seen below :

Now paste or type the code or text your looking for into the search bar.

We are looking for so i typed it into the search bar and and as i did the search bar jumped to were the code is in my blogs html and highlighted it for me see the example below :

We Are Nearly Finished - First A Quick Reminder: If you need more help or have an opinion or suggestion Please leave a comment Below.It also really helps me to get feedback. This is a Do-Follow Blog so leaving a comment will also help Your blogs Google rank. OK Back to business....

Notes:

Now you have quickly found the code you can follow the rest of the steps to complete the tutorial.

You can also click "Next" or "Previous" to jump between instances of your search term on the page.

Depending on your Browser the search box may look different or be placed different don't worry it works the same.

The search bar can also be accessed by clicking"Edit" then "Find" in your browser's toolbar menu.

We all want to add some spice up our blogs did this helps you speed up the process ?

How To Edit, Add And Remove labels In Multiple Blogger Posts At Once

In this post i will share with you a function available to you on blogger that allows you to edit, add and remove labels to all your blog posts or selected posts at once.This is a feature i don't think many are aware of and can save a lot of time and effort if you wish to manage your labels.So i think the best way to do this is to show you how to add a label to all your blog posts at once explaining with screen shots as i go.Then i will explane how to add or remove labels in just a number of selected posts .

Lets do it:

OK so i have decided to add a label to all my posts here's how i do it:

1.Click 'Edit posts' for your blog you will go to this page:



2.To add our new label we do the following:
(See image below)

*Set the 'posts per page' in the top right to 300.
*In the top left click select 'All'.
*Click the 'Label actions..' drop down menu.
*Choose 'New Label..'



3.You will get this pop up window:

*Enter the new label in the area provided and click OK.
*Your new label has been added to all your posts.



To remove a label from all your posts:

Simply follow the steps above but this time..

When you click the 'Label Actions' Drop down menu scroll down to 'Remove Label'
Select the label you wish to remove, it will be automatically removed from all your posts.

Add or remove labels from selected posts.

If you want to edit labels on just a few selected posts:

Instead of clicking 'select all' click the check box beside the posts you want to add or remove labels to as shown below :



Now use the drop down menu to add or remove labels to those posts.

This should help speed up the process of editing the labels on you blog.

If you need more help leave a comment below.

What is social bookmarking /How does it work / How can it help my blog ?

Unless you have been living under a rock you will have seen these icons in the blogs and websites you visit.
These are the links to the webs fast growing list of social bookmarking websites.The social bookmarking phenomenon began in the later stages of the 90's with the appearance of Del.icio.us and has kept growing at pace.At the foot of this blog check the list of the most popular Social Bookmarking websites.

So what does it do?

You could see Social bookmarking as "search engine marketing" with a human touch. The information is seen as relevant due to the fact that it has been provided by a human being, rather than assessed by search engines like google for relevancy by a robot and through search engine algorithms.
As most of the individuals who use social bookmarking sites often give points to the content based on its relevancy and usefulness, this human touch is emphasised even further.


How can it help me and my blog?

Social bookmarking can be an awesome S.E.O (Search Engine Optimisation) tool for bloggers.
As bloggers most of us don't have the capital to invest in expensive tools to bump us up the rankings in search results but if you post relative content your readers enjoy with the help of social bookmarking websites you can create a kind of "Word of mouth" Buzz that will
as it feeds off the networking capabilities of the web. The most famous sites have incredible numbers of active followers who are essentially establishing a new trend by getting their news on any particular subject or niche online instead of through other more traditional methods. Social bookmarking sites can be linked and an RSS feed set up, thereby creating an aggregate of news that can be delivered efficiently with very little necessary effort.

Social bookmarking is a relatively new phenomenon. While we can look back to the mid-to-late 90’s for a predecessor, social bookmarking didn’t spring onto the unsuspecting world until the forerunner site Delicious appeared. Social bookmarking sites gather together information, articles and blog posts which are stored, organised and managed according to relevancy, or tags

While it is not always the case, you can build back links to your site by attaching URL’s to your content. There are quite a few social bookmarking sites out there that have a “no follow” policy, which means that the managing personnel involved attach tags to your links that neutralise any SEO advantage you may have otherwise achieved. This does not stop people from clicking through to your site and becoming a potentially valuable visitor, of course, but it means that you won’t gain any advantage in terms of the search relevancy ranking for your page.

If you’re savvy about your online marketing and website development

You can use social bookmarking to great effect. Put meaningful content out there with valid and informative material, and people within the social bookmarking arena will rate it highly. Sharing of content is actively encouraged, and as a user’s network is informed of the existence of your content, the potential to go viral appears.

Make sure that your marketing message is subtle, as with any Internet marketing initiative. Blatant advertising is frowned upon, but relevant links when displayed in a soft-sell way will result in an increase in visitors. Make sure that you accurately attach your tags or keywords, to ensure that your message can be found within this vast Internet world!

Thereare hundreds and hundreds of social bookmarking sites, and you should try and include a plug-in within your site to allow people to easily and quickly bookmark your content. Sites such as WordPress make this very easy for you. RSS feed aggregators essentially summarize blogs and content and allow users to categorize things they find of interest into one easy to find place.

We Are Nearly Finished - First A Quick Reminder: If you need more help or have an opinion or suggestion Please leave a comment Below. It also really helps me with future posts if you let me know if a tip has worked on your blog. This is a Do-Follow Blog so leaving a comment will also help Your blogs Google rank. OK Back to business....

List of social bookmarking websites available :



Phew...So there it is and i really hope this post has informed you as much as researching and writing it has helped me learn more on the subject!

How Back Up Your Blogger Template With Hard Drive Or Notepad

Within this blog we talk a lot about making changes to your template by editing the html that makes it up.Something i quickly realised is that changes don't always work first time so its vital to be able to revert back to the template before you made changes.

I do this in one of two ways :


1.Save to hard drive.



Simply click the "Download full template" option above the html area.
You will get a small window pop up,click "save" then save it (just save it to documents).

Then if your not happy with the changes you made instead of having to rummage through all the code again to discard the changes just click the browse button above your template html select the template as you just saved it upload and your back as you were.



2.Save to Notepad

Every computer has a notepad build in here's how to access it :

1.Click start menu (Bottom left of your screen)
2.From your start menu click all programmes
3.You get another menu just click accessories
4. In the accessories menu choose notepad.

Copy the code all from your template and paste it into notepad.Then If the changes you make to your template don't suit simply swap the code you saved to notepad back into the html area and save.

Important - Make Sure To Tick The 'Expand Widget Templates Box' Before You Copy The Code And Tick It Again Before Putting Code Back

If you have any questions drop a comment below !

How To Make An Easy Clickable Link

In this post i will show you how to make a text link or hyperlink.

Making the link is very simple.

This is how you would create a link directing to this site:

http://www.spiceupyourblog.com"> Click Here


And this is how it looks:

Click Here

To make the link direct to your site or any web page you want all you have to do is replace my link (the bit in red) with your link.

Replace this with your link">Here

You may also change the text that shows.

So instead of "Click Here" you could have :

http://www.spiceupyourblog.com">abcdefghij

Which appears as so:

abcdefghij

This is just a simple html text link for more help and a more indept look at creating links check out w3Schools.

More help is only a comment away.

How to get a Feedburner Rss feed for your blog

One of the first things you should do when you start Blogging is set up a Rss feed..All blogs no matter what platform have a default feed, for Blogger the default feed is

www.Yourblog.Blogspot.com/feed/post/default

But the Google Owned Feedburner offers so much more and don't worry it is very easy to set up.

Feedburner offer so many extras and as you build your blog you will notice so many areas that Feedburner can optimize your blog, we will also go into how feed burner give you the option to provide a 'Subscribe by Email' as you see on most blogs and also you can add AdSense units to your feeds.

I covered Rss feeds and how to use them in detail in a previous post Click Here to check it out.

Lets get your Feedburner Feed

As Feed burner is owned by Google you can log in with your google account details.
(same as for Blogger ,GMail ,You tube etc..).

Step 1. Go to www.Feedburner.com log in or create an account if you don't already have a google account.

Step 2. You will now come to this page:



Now just enter your blog URL in the space provided :

Example :

http://www.yourblog.blogspot.com

If you have a custom domain :

http://www.yourblog.com

Step 3. Your feed will be created and feed burner will take you through a few steps to get you started, don't panic and think you need to set up everything now as you can go back and make changes.

The one thing you need to set up is the address of your feed, this is similar as choosing the address of your blog and it is best to use your blog address or name.

Your feed URL will be :

http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouPickThis

Mine is :

http://feeds.feedburner.com/spiceupyourblog

Once you feed is ready take some time to look through the options in the menu to: Analyze, Optimize, Publicize and Monetize your new Rss feed.

You can now also change your blogger settings to use your new rss feed as default.

In your dashboard click 'Settings'--> 'Site feed' for your blog to find this option.

Email Subscriptions

You can allow visitors to your blog subscribe by Email.To activate this option you need to go to your Feedburner account and on the homepage click on your feed title.




This will bring you to the Manage feed area, in the top menu click 'Publicize"



In the side menu click Email subscriptions.



Here you can activate the Email subscriptions and get the code for a link or form to put on your blog.For more info on this Feedburner Email Settings.

For more info on getting a Feedburner Feed here is a link to 'Google Help' to set up a feed for :

o Blogger
o WordPress
o TypePad
o MySpace
o Podcasting

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.