Basic Blogger Settings

I’m sorry. It has taken a while to post this Blog. No doubt, like yourself, I have been busy starting a new Blog… take a look by clicking Learning How To Draw.

Like ‘How To Design Your First Website’ it is a simple, straight forward and basic Blog. There isn’t anything fancy about it. It is something you could quickly set up for yourself (no copying, of course).

But this doesn’t interest you. You are trying to set up your own blog with Blogger.com and I left you with a promise of showing you what to do with the settings.

So let’s get on with the basic settings…

The picture above shows the basic settings page. There isn’t a great deal to do with the settings on this page other than to personalize with your title and description. The rest of the standard settings can be left as you find them.

Title...

Type the name of your Blog in the title box. For example…

How To Design Your First Website

(Use capitals for each of the words)

Description...

Here is where you place a brief description of your Blog. It’s a good idea to repeat the keywords 3 or 4 times to help the search engines. As an example, take a look at the description of How To Design Your First Website above…

"Welcome to how to design your first website, where you can follow the birth of a new website that shows you how you can easily design your own first successful website, even if you have never created a web page before. Simple websites are easy to create with free and easy to use web page creation software."

Add your Blog to our listings...

Leave this set to ‘Yes’ (the reasons are obvious)

Show Quick Editing on your Blog?...

Leave this setting as ‘Yes’

Show Email Post links?...

Leave this setting as ‘Yes’

For the global settings…

Show Compose Mode for all your Blogs...

Leave this setting as ‘Yes’

Show transliteration button for your posts?...

Unless you wish otherwise use ‘No’

Finally, Click Save Settings to register the changes you have made.

In the next post I’ll show you the settings I use for Publishing.

See you soon

Mike

“Choosing Your Blog Template - Time To Start Blogging”

This is the final stage before you begin writing your first web log.

When you complete Stage 2, ‘Name Your Blog’ and click the link ‘CONTINUE’ you are taken to the web page form shown below…

I’m not going to lecture you about which of the available templates to choose… it’s your choice.

When I began it was recommended that the first template ‘MINIMA’ was the best.

I have taken that recommendation and have no regrets. It gives a simple, clean and clear outlook. There are no distracting graphics and your visitor’s eye is quickly directed downwards to what you are saying.

MINIMA plainly follows the principle… Keep It Simple!

Why argue with great wisdom?

Well, that’s all folks… click the link ‘CONTINUE’ and you can start your first Blog.


Best of luck with your blogging… please let me know how you are getting on.

See you soon

Mike

p.s. There’s more… you’ll want to know how to reorganize the look of your blog and change the settings… don’t worry, I’ll help (look for future posts)

“What To Name Your Blog”

This will no doubt seem obvious to you but I’ll as the question just the same…

“What are you going to call your Blog?”

The final stage of setting up your Blogger web log is lost unless you know what you are going to call it. You will want a good name for your Blog.

So, what name are you going to give your Blog…

1. Do you call it after your own name?
2. Do you try to think up some gimmicky, unforgettable name?
3. Do you name it in keeping with your subject interest?
   

Think for a while…

1. Do you call it after your own name?

This possibly appeals to you… your own website that shouts your name to the world.

Beware, could this be vanity? Could this be the best way to get your name on the internet?

Okay, you could be a famous person already. Your name could be on the front page of all newspapers all the world around. If this is the case you must call your Blog after your name… your name is the Blog.

Otherwise, as an average man or woman you are most likely to be known only to your family, friends and colleagues at work.

Ask yourself “Will anyone be looking for my name?”

The answer will be “Perhaps… perhaps not!”


2. Do you try to think up some gimmicky, unforgettable name?

Where’s the harm in trying to come up with a new brand name?

You could be starting a revolution… the new Google or Amazon.

On the other hand, the name you choose could be unforgettable to just one person… YOU!

If you go down this path, you will have to work hard linking in your visitor’s mind to what you are saying. Okay, you might have invented a new drink that is better than COKE but how do you get your readers to understand?

Not so easy! Is there a better way?

YES! Take a close look at option 3...

3. Do you name it in keeping with your subject interest?

Well? What are people looking for? What are they searching for?

If your interest is snail racing then your Blog could be called something like ‘Snail Racing’.

See, it doesn’t have to be difficult.

You surely agree that if you are interested in snail racing you would be searching for websites and Blogs that told you exactly what you want to know. There‘s no question, ‘Snail Racing’ as a headline title tells you just that… its specialist subject is about snail racing.

What if Snail Racing has already been taken by somebody else?

Is this a problem?

No, just try some variations around the theme…

• How To Go Snail Racing
• How To Win At Snail Racing
• How To Breed A Snail Racing Champion
• Secrets of Snail Racing

See, there are thousands more variations that work. Its your job to choose what you like best.

Try to find a Blog name that describes what the subject is. Try to find a name that contains the key words people are searching for. Use key words that make it easy for your potential visitors to find your Blog.

Don’t place barriers in front of people who are looking for what you can give them.

If they want to know about snail racing and you are an expert… Give them what they want!

In the next post “How To Name Your Blog” and complete the sign-up process…

See you soon


Mike

“Start Your First Blog… Quicker Than I Can Tell You How"

(For Part 1 see Blogger Makes It Quick And Easy To Start Your Own Blog)


I know this sounds stupid but it is true…

“It will take me longer to tell you how to set up your first blog with Blogger than it will take you to reigister and get started”

In under an hour you could be telling the world all you know about your favorite hobby or pastime. It doesn’t matter if it is model ship building, dress making or ‘snail racing’. You can quickly show your knowledge, talents and skills with your web log.

Imagine for a moment that you have a passion for snail racing (you never know) and you want to share your closely held secrets with other like minded snail fanciers. Perhaps you have a winning feeding program that turns a sluggish starter into a sprinter. You could be laying the snail trail to glory for 100’s or 1000’s of eager listeners crying out for your winning tips.
Your Blog “‘How To Win At Snail Racing’ is just what they are looking for.

Okay, snails may not be your passion but there is something that you know about. And you can be sure that somebody else wants to you to share your knowledge with them.

So what are you waiting for…

On the Blogger home page, click the link ‘Create Your Blog Now’ and it will take you to the page below…

The first image shows the top of the page and you will see highlighted ‘CREATE ACCOUNT’.

Remember, Blogger is part of Google. You must create a Google account. Without being registered you can’t take advantage of Blogger or use the other valuable Google services.

This is where you register your Google account. The next image shows what information Google need…

Email address…

You’ll need to have a current active email address. This email address will become your user name.

Note: -
When you sign into your Blogger account (you’ll see 2 dialogue boxes at the top of the Blogger home page) you will use this email address where it asks for ‘Username’.

Password…

It is recommended that you use a unique password that no one else knows. Its obvious that you don’t want somebody sabotaging your Blogger web log and using it as their own. Equally, you don’t want someone stealing your Google identity to create havoc.

The best type of password combines letters and numbers… ABC123 is the simplest example (don’t use it because it is far too obvious)

I could talk more about passwords and what to do to maintain your security, but there’s plenty of places you can find to give you the minutest of detail… type ‘password security’ into your favorite search engine.

Google make it easy for you… just click ‘Password strength’ to test.

Note: -
This is the password to use when you sign in to Blogger where it asks for ‘Password’ (don’t forget what your password is)

Type password again…

If this appears to be a waste of time to you, bear with it. Its for your own security that Google ask you to repeat what you have already done…

Just type your password again (Personally, I find that it helps me remember what it is)

Display name…

The name you choose hear will be the advertised name you will be known as by your blog readers. Choose wisely.

You could use a pseudonym (a made up name) that protects you from unwanted attention. Use a name that sounds real…

Be careful, Fancy names that hide your true identity might seem clever but will look false. You will look as if you are hiding something. You could seem untrustworthy… a liar…

I don’t know about you… “I don’t like liars”

If you lose your visitor’s trust before you start you have lost everything. They won’t come back.
So, unless you have a reason to do otherwise… use your real name.

It’s your choice.

Word verification…

This is something else that seems a waste of time. What the heck…

Type in the box whatever letters are shown directly above. In this instance, just type in ‘autedici’

Note: -
I don’t know if the text is case sensitive (capitals) but you are safe if you copy exactly as you see it.

The next image shows final stage of your Google registration…

All you have to do now is tick the box to confirm your Acceptance of Terms (after reading the terms of course) and move on to the next stage by clicking…

‘CONTINUE’

You’ll find out “How To Name Your Blog” in the next post.

See you soon

Mike

"Blogger Makes It Quick And Easy To Start Your Own Blog"

Would you like to know the secret of starting your own Blog?


Do you realize that you should be able to get your first web log set up in just a few minutes?



“It is easier to start your Blog than it is to create a normal website”



Are you interested? Yes!



Okay let's move on...


Before you begin, decide what your subject is… fishing, snail racing (as we’ll use here), stamp collecting…


Next, think of a name that describes your subject… for example ‘How To Win At Snail Racing’


Now, consider what you want to say and write a few words of introduction… “Learn the carefully guarded secrets about breeding your top champion snail… a snail to beat all others!”


You don’t need a great deal more than this to get going. When you are started you can go back and make any changes you like. You can even delete the blog if you hate it. In fact, it doesn’t matter if you make a few mistakes as you make your first steps… they can be put right later…


The bonus is that you could find that people visiting your blog will feel more comfortable with a real human being in charge… someone who makes mistakes like they do.


So, let’s get started…


First you need to find Blogger.


Just type http://www.blogger.com/ into any search engine (or click on the text link) and it will bring you straight to the home page that looks like this…

Like any good website this is a great front page it has a clear and simple structure that shows you exactly what you need to know.


If you don’t have a website already you aren’t interested in the top line. You’ll only need this after you have completed the set-up process when you want to come back and add new postings, review your feedback or make changes.


When you have a blog site all you have to do is log in with your username (your email address) and the password you have chosen.


I recommend that you take the quick tour… It doesn’t take long and helps you learn some of the advantages of choosing Blogger.


There’s no need to worry about clicking the other links. Go straight to the link ’Create Your Blog Now’.


You are on your way to creating your first web log…

See you soon


Mike


p.s. For further information about the best subjects to choose go to Internet Marketing Review … the 2 Neils will help you find the right niche.

p.p.s. Click the link www.internetmarketingreview.com/2months and you will get 2 months trial for just £9.95