How To Create A Blank Page In Blogger

Share |

Having the option to create a blank page is very useful when you're a blogger. For example, you may see the need to create an 'About me' or 'Contact me' page and do not want to write either of these as a lone blog post. Some blogging directories insist you have a 'subscribe' page, and many 'blog for payment' sites won't accept your blog on their lists unless you have a 'disclosure' which is easily found on your blog. 

No one wants to read a blog post written merely for the aforementioned, this is why the ability to create a page is so welcome. You can create up to ten stand-alone pages for your blog. Here's how you do it.

~Go to your Dashboard

~Click New Post on your chosen blog

~At the top of the page you'll see 4 options: New Post, Edit Posts, Edit Pages and Comment Moderation.

~Choose Edit Pages

~Click on New Page

~Create your page and give it a suitable name

~Publish your page

~Make a note of the url of this new page. You may want it to show up as a link instead as 'Pages'.

~Go into your Layout (now Design) and Add a Gadget

~Add pages and customise it the way you want it to appear.

Drag and drop the gadget into position. You can place it in your header, side bar, or at the bottom of your posts. If you have a link bar the 'Add A Page' feature will allow you to place your new page beside the other links on this bar.

If you prefer for your page(s) to just show up as a link on your side bar, just Add A Gadget, Add a Link List, and put the link on your page where you want it to be.

Finally, if you blog for profit (get paid for blogging), adding pages to your blog is a good way of keeping all your sponsored posts in one area in your side-bar.

Good luck.

Free Gadgets To Increase Page Views

Share |





Blogger has always provided a variety of fun, interesting gadgets for your Blogger blog, and all for free! Today I want to emphasise some of Blogger's many useful gadgets to implement on your site. Just click on the  links and they will take you to the page from where you can easily add these on your blog. I've chosen these gadgets specifically because they help to convert all those passing viewers to actual readers who stay around to sample more than just your front page. One gadget, in one tiny space on your blog's homepage, can be wisely used to pique the interest of viewers who have no intention of staying for very long. Use your magic of enticement with the following!





Blogger Play Gadget

This gadget is useful for bloggers who have uploaded lots of pictures on their sites. It offers your reader a fabulous chance to see your images in a slide show to rival a professional film. There are 'previous', 'pause' and 'next' buttons for easy manoeuvrability. The best thing of all, is that clicking on any image will take your readers to the post in which it originally appeared, resulting in more page views for your blog.



Recent Post Gadget (with thumbnails)

I use this on all my blogs. It helps your readers to readily find your recent posts and enables search engines and passing traffic to easily decide what your blog is about. This gadget is completely customizable with several interesting options to choose from. At a glance you can display a thumbnail, date of post, number of comments and  more. You decide how many words of each summary you want to be included. You can opt for a larger or smaller box (or more or fewer words) in each section. This is also a crafty way to make fly-by traffic like those from Twitter, Blog Explosion or StumbleUpon take note of your other pages. Quickly convert these one-page viewers by enticing them with your other juicy 'products'.



'You May Also Like' Gadget

This one is pretty straight forward. It sits at the bottom of every post and suggests to your readers, other random (similar) articles on your blog that may be of interest to them. It requires some html knowledge, but you can find all directions to implement this gadget on the link provided above.



Link List



Finally, make use of your link list. This one is not linked because it's less complicated to find from your own Blogger blog. Go to your Dashboard. Select 'design' (formally 'layout') of the blog you want to edit. Choose 'add a gadget' from any of the side panels. Scroll down until you find 'link list' in the basic group of gadgets. Add 'link list' then drag and drop it to where you want it to appear. Use this gadget to showcase any important or popular post (s) that have appeared on your blog. All you need to do is to go to the page in question, copy the url of the post and paste it in the appropriate panel. Don't forget to give it an eye-catching title. Either use its original title or create a new one for optimum effect. If you need any more information or clarification, please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.



What other gadgets have you implemented to make full use of your previous posts? How do you ensure your hard work on past articles do not go to waste?

My First Google Adsense Cheque

Share |

I've been with Google Adsense for the past two years. Payment for ads placed on my blog and articles had always been something of a rumour. The elusive cheque was something big Bloggers talked about and promised to teach you, but never quite delivered. Earning pennies for all the hard work we bloggers put ourselves through can be quite depressing. We spend a lot of time on our sites, writing, devising and designing the best possible posts for our readers. This is why the news I'm about to reveal is so encouraging.





Last week I received an official-looking envelope with my name stamped on the front. As usual, these types of envelopes herald the arrival of bills - companies asking me for money. This one however, revealed a cheque from Google. It was only for $69.12, but a great start, nevertheless. This has finally made the promise (dream) of a Google payment a reality for me. Now I know from tangible experience that it can and does happen. This will propel me to drive myself harder to earn more as the months go by.



If you haven't already read this article, How to Monetize Adsense For Search on your blog, have a look at it and implement it on your blog to your advantage.



Here's to Google Adsense and lots of cheques in the future!

UPDATE: Now I receive cheques from Google every couple of months - each one bigger than the last. Thanks, Google!