Skill Area 216Study Blogging Concept

Skill Area 216.3Customize Blogs

1.Configure custom blog themes2.Add and manage multimedia3.Work with categories and tags4.Promote blog

This topic will provide a step-by-step guide on how to correctly apply a new xml Blogger template to your blog. This process can be tricky depending on several factors (quality of the code in the new template, your existing widgets, etc) so you need to be careful when changing your template. Don’t worry though, just follow these step-by-step instructions below and we’ll hopefully get you through it without much pain.

How to Custom Blogger Themes

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YouTube has added the ability for its users to "link" just about any content on the web and have that video posted to the users' webpage. This facility lets you share video more readily and also gives you a chance to showcase your readership your creativity. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to add the "YouTube" video to your Blogger (BlogSpot) blog, one of the more commonly used blogging services.

How to Embed a YouTube in a Blogger Blog

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Blogging software, like that on Blogspot.com, makes it easy to have your own website and share your business, thoughts and ideas with the world. It even makes it easy to add images. Whether you're posting photos of your wedding, artwork you've drawn or humorous cartoons you're allowed to share, the process remains the same.

How to Add Pictures in Blog

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So you have an awesome blog, with witty content, educated opinions, or really pretty pictures. You've done all the work making it, now you need to get it out there! This guide will help you get your blog in front of as many readers as possible.

How to Promote Your Blog

Tweet your posts. Twitter is one of the more acceptable places to broadcast all of your blog posts, as it is designed for quick posts with links. Tweeting new posts is an easy task at face value, but you’ll need to spend some time planning it out. This is especially important as your global audience grows.

Using Twitter

Write an attention-grabbing lead-in tweet. Cover an aspect of your post in the lead-in; if you’re writing about fashion tips, write something like “Wondering what to wear to the club tonight? <link to blog>”. Keep it short and sweet, but make sure that you are directing readers to your content.

Write the lead-in as a question to the reader. “Need to lose a few pounds before swimsuit season?”

Offer advice and create the feeling that the reader needs your wisdom. “10 tips for managing your money.”

Write a fact from your post that will wow the reader. “30 million people can’t be wrong!”

Using Twitter

Schedule your tweets. As your audience grows, you will find that readers are coming to your blog from all different time zones. Your blog tweets can be easily lost when someone checks their twitter 8 hours after you post. Use a social media management tool such as Hoot Suite to plan out a schedule of tweets.

Try to post when your readers will be most active. Try to post the blog in the morning, and then support it with tweets later in the day. These tweets will bring in new users who are just getting on the internet for the first time that day.

When tweeting the same article out again, use a different lead-in to keep your tweets from become canned and spammy.

Using Twitter

Break up your blog update tweets. Use Twitter for more than linking your blog. If your followers only ever see blog posts in your Twitter feed, they will grow fatigued of the links. Add insights and respond to other Twitter users throughout the day.

Using Twitter

Post to Facebook. When you publish a blog article, link to it from your Facebook account to keep your friends and family in the loop. These people may not seem as important for your long-term readership, but who they share it with can have a large impact on your readership.As your blog grows in popularity, you will most likely see an increase in your Facebook activity, as readers and other bloggers add you as a Facebook friend.

Post to Facebook

Use StumbleUpon. Submit your blog posts to StumbleUpon to add them to the bookmark service. Make sure that you tag your article with appropriate tags so that it appears for the right viewers.

StumbleUpon

Use Google+. This service may not be as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but because it is run by Google you will get bonuses to your Google search engine ratings when you are linked through Google+. Blog posts on Google+ can also be rapidly shared with a wide variety of people.

Google+

Create an RSS feed.

An RSS feed will automatically push your blog posts to subscribers, and they can access your posts through reader programs. This is a great way to make sure that your subscribers stay as up-to-date as possible.

RSS feed

Find similar blogs. Look for blogs in your niche that have a high readership. Post thoughtful and informative responses to other authors and commenter. Avoid spamming links to your blog, and don’t just fill the comment box with search engine keywords. Instead, interact and be genuine; this will drive like-minded readers to find your blog.

Commenting on Other Blogs

Comment often. Become a part of the community. The more you make a name for yourself on others’ blogs, the more traffic you will drive to your site. You can also catch the eye of other, more successful bloggers who may link to your posts and even collaborate on projects.

Commenting on Other Blogs

Avoid overuse of keywords. A simple trap that many bloggers fall into is overloading their writing with keywords. This will lead to fake-sounding content and will actually provide little in the way of extra traffic. This is because as soon as a reader clicks your link and sees a jumbled mess of keywords, they’ll most likely leave immediately.

Tinkering With SEO

Review your Google Analytics. This tool will show you what search words are driving people to your site, as well as popular searches on the web. You can also see how long users stay on your page, which is an essential tool for determining how worthy they find your content.

Tinkering With SEO

Design content around what your readers are searching for. Use Analytics to see what your readers are searching for on the web. Use these results to tailor articles specifically towards your readers’ interests.

Tinkering With SEO

Use SEO smartly. Make sure that your Title tag has relevant keywords, as this is the part of your blog that is given the most weight in search engine results.

Write a powerful title. The title of your blog post is the second-most important aspect of your blog when determining search engine placement. Anything in the "H1" heading is given more weight in search engine results.

Optimize your content, but don’t overdo it. Good content will be much more valuable than a collection of keywords. Make sure that your post is well thought out and informative first, and then optimize it for the keywords that suit your content best.

Tinkering With SEO

Create a mailing list. Email is often overlooked with the advent of social media, but the fact of the matter is that almost everyone still uses email on a daily basis. Creating a mailing list will help you connect with your most passionate readers.

Using E-mail

Create a mailing list. Email is often overlooked with the advent of social media, but the fact of the matter is that almost everyone still uses email on a daily basis. Creating a mailing list will help you connect with your most passionate readers.

Using E-mail

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