Ready to step into the blogging world? Google's Blogger makes it incredibly easy to create a blog, and you can make your first post in just a couple of minutes. While you figure it out, you will have your own community of readers and, perhaps, even some income from advertising. To learn how to create and manage your Blogger blog, start reading at step one.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Create a Blog
Step 1. Create an account (account) in Google
Blogger is a Google product and therefore you need a Google account to create a blog on Blogger. Creating a Google account gives you access to a variety of Google products, including Gmail, Drive, and more.
- Click on the "Create Account" button to start the process.
- If you already have a Google account, you will be able to sign in and visit the Blogger home page.
Step 2. Create your new blog
On the Blogger homepage, click on the "New Blog" button. A new window will open where you can customize your initial settings.
- Enter your blog title in the Title field. This will be displayed at the top of the custom window.
- Enter the address in the Address field. When you create your first Blogger blog, the URL will be ".blogspot.com". It can be changed later, but for now you just need an address. The address availability will be checked as you enter characters.
- Choose one of the templates offered. Later you can fully customize your blog, but for now, just choose the template you like best.
Step 3. Click on "Create a blog
". When you're done entering your blog information, click the button to create your blog. In a few seconds, your new blog will appear in the list of blogs.
Method 2 of 3: Making your first post
Step 1. Create your first post
Your blog won't be a blog until you start writing, so you can post right away! You will do more detailed settings later. To start writing, click the "Post a new message!" under the name of the blog, or click on the button with the orange pencil. This will take you to the post editor.
Step 2. Give a title to your post
At the top of the editor, you will see the "Post Title" field. This title will appear at the top of a post on your blog, and will appear at the top of the window when you select a post. Keep your title interesting to grab the attention of your readers.
Typically, your first post should be introductory. Introduce yourself and your blog's goals, or skip directly to the content you plan to create
Step 3. Start writing
There are two main modes in which you can create your blog post: compose a post with the built-in text editor, or write this post in HTML. Use the buttons in the upper left corner of the editor to switch between the two modes.
- If you are not familiar with HTML, a text editor will provide you with many options for customizing your text post and will easily allow you to insert links, images, videos, and more.
- For more information on using HTML to create blog posts, see this article.
Step 4. Edit your text
Use the toolbar at the top of the editor window to edit the text properties. You can change the size, color, alignment, etc. just like you would in a regular text editor.
- The drop-down menu ("Normal") allows you to change the formatting depending on the type of content. You can choose between "Regular", "Title", "Subtitle" and "Secondary Subtitle". These settings affect not only the size of the text, but will also be taken into account by search engines when indexing page data.
- You should strive to keep your title format correct and easy to read. Section or chapter titles must be in Heading format, and smaller sections use the other two heading format styles. The content of your article should be in the "Normal" format.
Step 5. Add an image to your post
Images help grab the reader's attention and, in general, make the post more engaging. You can quickly add an image to your Blogger post by clicking on the Insert Image button on the toolbar.
- You will be presented with several options for adding photos. You can download them from your computer, link to other images on your blog, paste a link to photos from any of your Picasa albums, take a photo with your webcam, or paste a link to the URL of any picture on the Internet.
- If you link to images from another site, be aware that if the image is removed from that site, it will not appear on your blog either. Some sites do not like to be linked to their pictures because it increases their bandwidth every time a picture is loaded on your site.
Step 6. Configure message parameters before publishing
You will see a list of options in the menu on the right. This will allow you to change your post settings before posting.
- Labels are tags that are added to your posts and allow you to group posts into groups with similar content. This is handy if you have a lot of posts because it helps readers find related posts on your blog. Also, such tags help search engines find content that matches the user's search. Make sure your tags are accurate, short, and helpful.
- Schedule - you can post the message immediately or schedule it for a future time and date. This can be useful if you are at the peak of popularity and create a lot of content at once, but want to deliver information to your audience in a metered dose.
- Permalink - here you can set a direct URL to your post. By default, it will be generated based on the name of the message, but you can change it to whatever you want.
- Location - here you can mark the location for the message. Especially useful for travel blogs.
- Options - here you can configure other options for the post, including whether readers can comment on the post and how to display HTML code.
Step 7. Review your message
You should review each post you post to ensure that all settings look correct and that all content is displayed as you intended. Click the "View" button in the upper right corner to preview the post before posting.
Read your blog post and then edit it again. Grammar mistakes will quickly turn readers away from you, so make sure there are no mistakes
Step 8. Save the post for later
If you need to sign out before finishing writing your message, click on the “Save” button to save a draft that you can easily return to later. This is useful if you need to save your job in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Step 9. Post a message
You wrote a post, improved formatting, corrected errors (twice!) And added shortcuts (tags). Now it's time to send him on a "free voyage". Click the Publish button at the top of the editor. You will be taken to your posts page and a message will appear at the top of the list. Congratulations! It's time to really get to work!
Method 3 of 3: Expand Your Blog
Step 1. Regular updates
The key to a successful blog is keeping your content updated regularly. If you want to retain readers, your blog needs to be updated on an ongoing basis. You should aim to post at least once a week, but more often if the amount of content allows. You must provide your readers with a constant stream of information that brings them back to your blog.
- Try to create a schedule that you stick to and mark it on your calendar. Tell yourself that you have to update your blog at a specific time and on a specific day of the week, and try to keep this rule.
- If you're feeling kicked out, you can write multiple messages at once and schedule them to be posted at a later date.
Step 2. Find your niche
Successful blogs find their niches - communities in which they can become influencers. This will help you build a solid audience and, if you update regularly and with good content, you can quickly become the best source on the major search engines. Identify the circle of your interests and analyze how you can use any of them for the success of your blog.
Step 3. Communicate with your readers
When you start building an audience, you will most likely start getting comments on your posts. Taking some time to answer and communicate can help build a community around your blog. As the community grows, the loyalty of your readers increases, which leads to good blog views.
- Make sure you take some time to moderate comments, as the internet is not the friendliest place. Maintain a respectful tone of communication and your community will grow rapidly.
- You can view and reply to all comments by clicking on the "Comments" button in the Blogger menu.
- Blogger strives to find and eliminate spam comments, so be sure to check the Spam section to ensure that useful comments are not accidentally deleted.
Step 4. Advertise your blog
Good content goes a long way in attracting readers, as does advertising. Letting people know your blog exists will help your blog stand out from the crowd. Use social media to your advantage to create a community that will not be overlooked.
- Create a Twitter account and use it to add a title and links for every new blog post.
- Blogger allows you to quickly integrate with Google +, which can add a large number of new readers. You can enable Google+ integration by clicking on the Google+ menu item in the Blogger menu. Google + integration means your Google+ profile will become your Blogger profile.
- Let your friends and family know about your Facebook blog, but don't spam their inboxes! Nobody likes advertising in large quantities.
- Comment on other similar blogs and forums with posts with links to your article. It is one of the main sources of inbound links and an important prerequisite for search engine optimization.
Step 5. Include ads on your blog
After meeting several criteria, your blog will be eligible to add Adsense advertisements. You will receive payments from clicks and impressions of these ads.
- To qualify for Adsense, you must have an active blog for at least six months, be at least 18 years old, and ensure that your blog content does not violate the Adsense policy.
- You will need to sign up for Adsense and then decide how you want to display ads on your blog. See this guide for more details on how to enable ads and post them on your blog.
Step 6. Set up your blog
Blogger has many templates to choose from, but you can go ahead and really personalize your blog. Your blog settings will help you create a unique brand for your blog - from changing your blog icon to a completely redesigned website.
- Click on "Design" in the Blogger menu to manage your blog content blocks. You can move them according to your style.
- Click on "Edit" in content blocks to change their names and other settings.
- Add more interactivity to your blog by clicking the "Add Gadget" link in the Design section. You can choose from various add-ons created by Blogger as well as user-created extensions.
- Customize your templates by clicking on the “Template” option in the Blogger menu. You can choose from a variety of preset templates, each of which, once selected, can be further customized by clicking on the orange Customize button. This will allow you to change the background, content width, and text variations.
- If you are proficient in HTML and CSS, you can go into the code and create whatever you want by clicking on the "Edit HTML" option. This will give you complete control over the look and feel of your Blogger blog, but it slightly exceeds the standard blogger requests.
Step 7. Track statistics
The Statistics option in the Blogger menu allows you to monitor traffic on your blog. You can see which articles are being read, where the readers are coming from, track the number of page views over time, and more.
- Use page views to determine why some articles are read more than others.
- Your audience will help you tailor your content to suit their needs. You can also set the time for posting according to the peak reading time of a specific audience.